As part of the 217 I.D. the 1. bay. Res Jäger Btln had spent Christmas of 1916 in Romania.  

On the 2nd January 1917 the Battalion relieved an Austrian unit a couple of Kilometres to the north of Gemenile. In front of them the Russian trenches ran from the village of Gurgueti in the North West to Romanul in the South East.  

The attack was to take place on a narrow front, the objective being a farmhouse forming part of the Russian line of defence. The 2nd and 4th company were to attack as the first wave; to the right of the battalion was the Res.-Jäger-Batl. 7 and to the left a 3km gap. There the 11th Bavarian Division was attacking along the Bazaul river. To the rear the Res.-Jäger-Batl. 9 was kept in reserve.  

The attack was to take place across a valley crossed by a number of gullies, a number of which had hidden barbed wire obstacles.  

On the night of the 3rd of January the two point companies took up position, joined by pioneers who were to cut the wire and machine gunners who would cover the advance.  

At 08:00 the artillery bombardment started cloaking the Russian lines and farmhouse in a cloud of dust. The Russian artillery responded but the firing went over the heads of the Jägers and caused no injuries.  

At 10:15 the bombardment moved to the left of the Jäger’s sector, the 3km gap in the German front was caused by a lack of troops and the Russians in these positions would pose a danger to the left flank of the attacking Jägers. around the farmhouse the Russians quickly took up positions, their machine guns sending bullets whistling through the barbed wire. The Jäger machine gunners answered and managed to silence the Russian guns while the Pioneers started cutting their way through the wire. Before they had finished the 4th Company was already pushing their way through sending the Russians fleeing and taking the rest prisoner. The 3rd Company joined with the 4th to add to the momentum of their advance. To the left the 1st and 2nd companies were held up by the flanking fire from the Russians in the 3km gap, two companies of the Res.-Jäger-Batl. 9 entered the line to their left and lengthened the attack front freeing the 1st and 2nd companies who were able to push forward at last.

The rush forward by the 3rd and 4th came to a halt as they reached a second farmhouse and were met with heavy Russian fire, but the arrival of the 1st and 2nd companies on the left and the Res.-Jäger-Batl. 7 on the right forced the Russian defenders to retreat and the Jägers advance continued to Hill 12, 4km North West of Romanul. Here they stopped and took up defensive positions, the attack to their right was not keeping up and they dared not risk getting to far ahead as a counter attack could cut them off from their own lines. The Russians retreated to the north east leaving isolated machine guns in position to bother the Jägers. 

Right: the Iron Cross Award certificate to Vizefeldwebel der Reserve Hillenbrand, the award made for the attack described in the article.


Res.-Jäger-Batl. 9 took up position to the left of the Bavarians and at 14:00 on the next day the Russians counter attacked. The position was precarious, to the left and the right the Res.-Jäger-Batl. 7 and Res.-Jäger-Batl. 9 were slightly to the rear of the Bavarians, whose positions jutted forward in a wedge shape. Swarms of Russians advanced, driven on by mounted officers with whips. The day was saved by a heavy artillery bombardment that swept through the Russian ranks bringing the attack to a halt.  

The losses of the bayerische Reserve-Jäger-Bataillon 1 had been relatively light, 2 dead and 22 wounded.

Above: A map drawn by Hillerbrand on the back of his award document.