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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;DonnaML, post: 8366467, member: 110350&quot;]In many European countries, Jews either weren&#039;t allowed to serve in the military at the time of the Napoleonic Wars or could not become officers. One of my great-great-great-grandfather&#039;s brothers, Gerson Marcus Abel (1792-1886), from Stargard in Pomerania (now in Poland), is the only person I know of in my family who was in the military prior to World War I. The information I have found for him is as follows:</p><p><br /></p><p>Prussian (Pomeranian) cavalry &amp; light infantry, Napoleonic Wars: 1813/14, 1 yr. 4 months&nbsp; in Pommerschen National-Kavalleriereg Jäger - Det. (See: Martin Philippson, Liste der jüdischen Kriegsfreiwilligen in den Jahren 1813/14, in MGWJ SO 1906, citing Archiv des Kriegsnächsten nach dem Befreiungskriege veröffentlichten); see also Jacob Jacobson, <i>Die Judenbürgerbücher der Stadt Berlin, 1809-1851</i>, entry for 17 Apr. 1826, p. 207, no. 984 (entry for Gerson Marcus Abel states &quot;im Militär - nach Phillippson beim Pommerschen National-Kavalleriereg - 1 J. 4 Monate - 1813/1814).</p><p><br /></p><p>When he died on 14 Dec 1886, an obituary appeared for him in a Jewish newspaper in the Netherlands (a place he certainly never lived, so I imagine it was &quot;human interest&quot;-type filler):</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1484716[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1484718[/ATTACH]</p><p>A transcription and translation:</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://resources3.kb.nl/010870000/pdf/DDD_010872150.pdf" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://resources3.kb.nl/010870000/pdf/DDD_010872150.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://resources3.kb.nl/010870000/pdf/DDD_010872150.pdf</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Nieuw Israelietisch Weekblad&nbsp; Friday 31 Dec. 1886, Vol. 22 No. 26, p. 3 (Amsterdam, Netherlands)</p><p><br /></p><p>Dezer dagen overleed te Stargard</p><p>in Pommeren een der weinige nog levende</p><p>krijgers uit de vrijheidsoorlogen, de</p><p>rentenier Gerson Abel, in den ouderdom</p><p>van 96 jaren, na een ongesteldheid van</p><p>eenige dagen. Hij heeft de veldtochten als</p><p>vrijwilliger in het nationale regiment meegemaakt</p><p>en was tot nu toe, in weerwil</p><p>van zijn hoogen leeftijd, nog zeer kras.</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;These days, died in Stargard</p><p>in Pomerania one of the few surviving</p><p>warriors from the wars of liberation, the</p><p>rentier Gerson Abel, aged</p><p>of 96 years, after an illness of</p><p>some days. He experienced the campaigns as</p><p>a volunteer in the national regiment</p><p>and until now, in spite</p><p>of his great age, was still very alert.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>It&#039;s actually rather amazing what one can find if one knows how and where to look. The research skills necessary aren&#039;t really so different from those useful in researching and collecting ancient coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>It&#039;s quite difficult, though, to research people like my maternal grandfather who served in the German military during World War I, since the service records were destroyed in the bombing of Potsdam in 1945 (except for those who served in the Bavarian army, which was administered separately). Therefore, I&#039;ve had to piece together the following information I have for him from quite a few sources, including photos and postcards:</p><p><br /></p><p>Stationed in France, 1915-1916, Infanterie-Regiment Nr.&nbsp; 24.&nbsp; (Stationed at Cambrai, Rosh Hashanah [Sep 8-9], 1915.)&nbsp;&nbsp; In Serbia, 23 Sep 1915-Dec 1915.&nbsp; Served at Battle of Verdun as Unteroffizier (6. Infanterie Division, 12. Infanterie Brigade, Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 24 [Brandenburg],*&nbsp; 11. Kompagnie), wounded late Feb.- early March 1916.&nbsp; See <i>Deutsche Verlustlisten Nr. 917</i>, 27 Mar. 1916, p. 11760, col. 2:&nbsp; Utffz.&nbsp; Ernst Mosevius - Berlin - leicht verwundet. [bullet penetrated wrist and entered stomach.]&nbsp; (Soldiers in the 11th Kompagnie who were killed and are on same list were killed&nbsp; 22 Feb. -&nbsp; 4. Mar., 1916.)&nbsp; Fought in 3rd Battle of Champagne, April-May 1917. In 1917:&nbsp; Unteroffizier [non-commissioned officer, equivalent to corporal/sergeant], Army Battalion 178, Second Company.&nbsp; Headed squad of 20 men (a Korporalschaft, = 2 gruppen).&nbsp; Probably in Serbia/Slovenia and/or Ukraine (Tarnopol) in summer of 1917.&nbsp;&nbsp; In Sofia, Bulgaria, October 1917 for Kaiser Wilhelm&#039;s negotiations with Bulgarian govt.</p><p><br /></p><p>* Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 24 = Infanterie-Regiment Großherzog Friedrich Franz II von Mecklenburg-Schwerin (4. Brandenburgisches) Nr. 24.</p><p><br /></p><p>References:</p><p><br /></p><p>For 6th Infantry Divison, 12th Brigade, 24th Infantry Regiment, see:</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6th_Division_%28German_Empire%29" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6th_Division_%28German_Empire%29" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6th_Division_(German_Empire)</a></p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;<a href="http://www.dffv.de/Projekte/IR24/Regiment/Regiment.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.dffv.de/Projekte/IR24/Regiment/Regiment.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.dffv.de/Projekte/IR24/Regiment/Regiment.htm</a></p><p><br /></p><p>And see:&nbsp; Histories of Two Hundred and Fifty-One Divisions of the German Army Which Participated in the War (1914-1918) (Compiled from Records of Intelligence Section of the General Staff, American Expeditionary Forces, at General Headquarters: Chaumont, France: 1919), War Dept. Doc. 905 (Washington, D.C., Govt. Printing Office, 1920), at pp. 127-130</p><p><br /></p><p>Retrieved at: <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=VfoLAAAAYAAJ&amp;printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://books.google.com/books?id=VfoLAAAAYAAJ&amp;printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false" rel="nofollow">https://books.google.com/books?id=VfoLAAAAYAAJ&amp;printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false</a>, at pp. 127-130.</p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;ve posted these photos of my grandfather before, including the ones from the field hospital after he was wounded, but here they are again for anyone interested who hasn&#039;t seen them before.</p><p><br /></p><p>Sep 8-9, 1915, Cambrai, age 20:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1484720[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>March 1916 at Field Hospital after wounding at Verdun, sitting up in bed at front center with nurse holding left wrist:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1484721[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Still in hospital, on far right:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1484722[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>24 April, 1917 before Third Battle of Champagne, back row center, with his Korporalschaft.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1484723[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>A couple of photos of my grandmother&#039;s older brother Sepp (Josef) in his uniform. He was in a camp from October 1940, deported from Drancy (near Paris) with his wife Toni on Convoy 25 on 28 August 1942, and gassed at Auschwitz upon his arrival. (My grandmother&#039;s parents, and three other siblings, also perished):</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1484724[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1484725[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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