Welschtirol

Vorarlberg

Standschützen from Enneberg with their CO, Major Kostner

Preparation and mobilization

At the beginning of the First World War, the three regiments of Landesschützen were transferred to the Russian front, although, according to the letter of the law, they should only have been used to defend the Tyrol. As a result, in Tyrol, the only trained troops available to protect the border with Italy were two fully effective battalions (No. X march battalion of the 59th Infantry (K.u.k. Salzburgisch-Oberösterreichisches Infanterie-Regiment „Erzherzog Rainer“ Nr. 59) and the Tyrolean Ist Landsturm Battalion. A further 19 battalions were only partially effective. The Tyrol defence command soon began to distrust "neutral" Italy.

Since the Standschützen, who were liable to call-up, had already been mobilized and were no longer available, the remaining, non-liable Standschützen were rapidly trained in military skills.

These included, for example, disabled or otherwise discharged Kaiserjäger or Landesschützen riflemen. Training took place in the national costume or shooting jackets; in addition the men had to furnish their own hunting rifles. Their initial tasks involved guard duties at military installations and on bridges or the like. Since no uniforms were available, black and yellow armbands were made.^[2] Training was not easy. In particular, the younger conscripts, who had not yet received any regular military training, but also the elderly, who had not done any military service for decades, gave their leaders headaches. The youngest rifleman was just 14 years old;^{[A. 3]} the oldest was over 80.^[4] Because of these deficiencies, many serving officers did not take the Standschützen seriously for a long time, and often patronized or even insulted them. This was not surprising, because suddenly people were appointed as majors, in an instant, as it were, whereas a normal officer only attained this rank after serving about 15 years. A captain with ten or more years of service suddenly found himself facing a Standschützen major, who had only been a lance corporal or corporal when on active military service or who even had no military service at all.^[5] This inevitably caused tension. The commander in chief in Tyrol, Feldmarschalleutnant Dankl, issued an order in November 1915 that insults and improper treatment of Standschützen officers would be severely punished.

In April, the Standschützen units were inspected for the first time.^[2] In the wake of this inspection, the Standschützen were divided into those capable of service at the front (thus considered field formations) and those of lower capability (deployed on guarding duties or used as replacements). It was expected that Italy would declare war on Austria-Hungary. For this reason the Standschützen were mobilized on 18 May 1915. Only a day later, the first formations in South Tyrol advanced to the southern front. Another three days later trains arrived at the new front, having crossed the Brenner Pass, carrying North Tyrolese Standschützen. Italy finally declared war on Austria-Hungary on 23 May.

Welsch Tyrolese Standschützen

The Imperial and Royal leadership of the Army were uneasy about members of the Standschützen units in Trentino. Although the Schießstände had existed for a long time, they were mistrustful of the Italian-speaking Tyrolese and attempted to classify them according to their reliabity. The classification ranged from "fully reliable" to "completely unreliable". Weapons and uniforms were only issued to the Welsch Tyrolese Standschützen that were absolutely reliable units; even so they were only deployed in combat on a few occasions. In most cases they were assigned to guard duties or used as porters, or were divided into work details.

Equipment

Until the end of March 1915, no military clothing or weapons had even been envisaged for the Standschützen, much less made available or issued. But after it became increasingly evident that Italy would enter the war on the side of the Entente, the formation of Standschützen units, which had started in the January, began to accelerate. Initially they were issued with whatever uniforms could be found. On 23 May 1915, the two companies of the Schwaz battalion, for example, drew pike gray parade uniforms of the pattern designed for the Jägertruppe.

Mannlicher repeating rifles were initially either unavailable or only available in small numbers so, to begin with, the Standschützen were issued with old, single-shot Werndl rifles or forced to use their own weapons. In May 1915, the North Tyrol and Vorarlberg Standschützen received 16,000 Model 98 guns from German sources; at that time the South Tyrolean units were still only armed with Mannlicher rifles. The Welsch Tyrolese units kept their Werndl guns; only a few units, assigned to combat missions, were given Model 98s. Schwarzlose machine guns were allocated to individual units when needed and, where they had good relations, like the Bolzano battalion, were even given their own machine gun sections. The Standschützen had no artillery; only the Schlanders battalion had a very old 6 inch mountain gun of unknown origin.

After some initial difficulties, the Standschützen were issued with mountain infantry uniform.^{[A. 4][2]} The sudden effort made to do this stemmed from fears that non-uniformed combatants might be treated as guerrillas. Nevertheless, significant deficiencies in the quality of equipment remained. For example, instead of sashes (Riemenzeug), web belt material (Webgurtmaterial) was issued. There were no bread bags or spades - both were initially fashioned or improvised out of anything possible.

As a badge, troops wore the Tyrolean eagle of Tyrolese units on grass green gorgets. The Vorarlberg troops wore the Vorarlberg coat of arms. On the left side of the cap, the edelweiss of the mountain infantry could be attached. The front of the cap itself was specially designed for the additional badge with the slogan "Hands off Tyrol" (Hände weg von Tirol). The celluloid stars of the regular army were used as rank badges for non-commissioned officers and men, instead of the envisaged silver embroidered rosettes. The difficulties of ordering the latter in large quantities meant that they could only be issued to the officers.

The rescue equipment of the Alpine huts in the mountains were made to serve as medical facilities. Their equipment and medical stores were emptied out, packed onto wooden frames and assigned to the battalions. Each battalion was given two medicine and two bandage knapsacks.

Units were intended to have standards, but the only ones to receive them were the battalions at Bozen, Kaltern, Passeier and Meran II. Many of the other units flew their club standards for the swearing-in ceremonies and march off parades.

Deployment

Following the mobilization order issued by Emperor Franz Joseph I on Tue 18 May 1915, 39 German Tyrolese rifle battalions and 2 independent rifle companies, 6 Vorarlberg battalions, 4 Welsch Tyrolese battalions and 41 Welsch Tyrolese rifle companies were formed.

On 22 May 1915, one day before Italy declared war, the Standschützen deployed to protect the frontier in the south and southwest. The only exceptions were the Zillertal and Nauders-Ried battalions, which remained to protect the main chain of the Alps, and the Lienz battalion, which was initially deployed to protect the East Tyrolean border south of the River Drau and remained there until September 1915.

Operational theatre and operations

The operational theatre of the Standschützen covered all five districts of the South Tyrolean front. It stretched from the Dreisprachenspitze mountain on the Swiss border to the eastern foothills of the Carnic Alps at the Kreuzberg Saddle.

Although the Standschützen were used almost exclusively to defend the Tyrol against the frequent Italian attacks, they also participated in attacks against Italy. In addition to trench warfare they also conducted patrols and reconnaissance operations. Their other main task was in the construction and repair of defensive works: they built defensive positions, accommodation, caverns and barbed wire barriers, and assisted in repairing damaged fortifications. They were also used to transport supplies, as stretcher bearers and on guard duties.

Mention of the Sarnthein Standschützen in the war diary of Zugsführer Franz Pomykahler of the IIIrd Innichen Rifles in 1917

In the early weeks the Standschützen were asked to defend the Tyrolean front on their own. Despite that, these weak forces were sufficient to withstand the Italian attacks, as the Italian leadership could not believe that the border stood virtually unprotected. Only later did regular troops and soldiers of the German Alpine Corps, the Kaiserschützen and Kaiserjäger arrive. Unlike many other officers, they recognized the Standschützen as proper soldiers. The Austrian war strategists described the Standschützen initially as "a disorderly mob with no experience of war."^[2] However, by their courage, marksmanship and mountaineering skills, the Standschützen soon acquired respect and esteem.

Summary

There is no doubt that the use of the Standschützen saved Austria-Hungary at that stage of the war in May 1915. There were only 12,000 regular troops available, which theoretically meant that a man with a rifle could only be stationed every 30 metres. Thus the 23,000 Standschützen men under arms, at two thirds of the total available strength, formed the backbone of the defensive line. The German Alpine Corps could initially only intervene in a limited way, because Germany was not yet at war with Italy at that time and German troops were not allowed to enter Italian soil.

Thanks especially to the excellent local knowledge of the Standschützen, they were often able to intercept Italian patrols and reconnaissance companies and repulse them. In particular, since the correct uniforms had now been issued, the impression was given that they constituted regular forces, which may have influenced the reluctance of the Italian commanders. The moral value of the Standschützen lay in the fact his property and his family were often not far behind the front and had to be protected. The purely military value of Standschützen formations was highly variable. The proverbial obstinacy and stubbornness, particularly amongst the miners, often led to indiscipline and high-handedness. For example, Feldmarschalleutnant Goiginger reported on 12 Jun 1915 to Innsbruck that the Monte Piano Standschützen "had left the battle without authorization." However, such incidents were not common and restricted to isolated cases. In order to strengthen military discipline, active duty army officers began to be appointed as commanders to the Standschützen. Furthermore, after the manning situation had eased with the arrival of troops from the Eastern Front, work began to train the Standschützen and strengthen them militarily. Officers and men were sent off on various training courses in order to learn the latest tactics and techniques. At the suggestion of the German Alpine Corps, regular units were inserted into sections of the front that had previously been held by the Standschützen alone. In this way, a kind of "corset" was formed that further strengthened the combat power available.