Hat 8276 German Jaeger Bicyclists (1914-1918)

At the start of World War I, in August 1914, the army of imperial Germany was considered the best and most efficient in the Old Continent. Such a conviction resulted mainly from the fame of the victories won in the course of the wars with Austria in 1866 and with France in the years 1870-1871. Also, many organizational solutions used at that time in the Prussian army, and later in the German army (e.g. strategic railway lines or mobilization techniques) were copied in other European countries. As in the French and Russian armies, the largest number of armed forces in the German army in 1914 was infantry. And this infantry included units of jegrs (Ger. Jäger ), who were treated as light infantry intended for reconnaissance, reconnaissance or performing the role of the forward vanguard of their own troops. At the time of the outbreak of the Great War, these units differed from the line infantry mainly in the uniform - it was dark green, and on the head instead of Pickelhaub, a Jager soldier had a shako. At the start of World War I, the German army had approx. 20 Yegra battalions (Ger. Jäger-Bataillon), and in the course of mobilization, this number was doubled. In September 1914, a further 12 Jäger-Bataillon were formed. Interestingly, in 1915 regiments began to be formed, and in 1917 - even divisions composed of jegrs. It is also worth remembering that along with the ongoing World War I, jegr units became more and more similar to ordinary, line infantry. As an aside, it can be mentioned that in the Balkans and on the Eastern Front, the German army used jegrs as cyclists.