Oberst Carl Willy Winkelhausen: Pictured below left, and from whom Roberts Barracks, (Winkelhausen Kaserne), was named, was from a well to do, and highly successful German business family in the town of Starogard Gdanski, located in North West Poland.
Or as it was known before the great war, Preußisch Stargard, then in West Preußen.
There were and still are, several other branches of the family located throughout Germany
It is primarily with the kind co-operation of Oberst Willy Winkelhausen’s direct descendant, Herr Gerd Winkelhausen of Bammental in Baden-Württemberg, that we are able to provide the reader here, with a brief account of the Oberst’s life, and military career up until his death in battle during the early days of the great war.

Carl Willy Winkelhausen was born on 24th of October 1860. He was one of 10 children born to Hermann Alexander Winkelhausen and his wife. His father, Hermann was the founder of a well known Spirit and Brandy distillery. This distillery is still in operation to this day, albeit as a Polish state operated venture. Carl Willy married Margarethe John von Freyend in 1896, they had three children.

Willy’s Military Career; Began on 14th October 1880 when he was accepted as an officer by the then “Fusilier-Regiment Nr 40 - Fürst Carl Anton von Hohenzollern” at Rastatt in Bavaria. Willy was based with this regiment from 1889 - 1896 at Köln am Rhein . During this period, he was attached to the army general staff and military academy in Berlin from 1889 - 1892. Then in 1896 Willy was posted as Captain & Company Commander to Grenadier-Regiment König Wilhelm I, at Liegnitz, in Niederschlesien, (Lower Silesia), now Legniça in Poland.

In 1904 Carl Willy Winkelhausen was promoted to the rank of major. From then until 1910 he remained with Grenadier-Regiment Nr 1 as commander of the 2nd battalion which had now moved to Königsberg in Ost Preußen, (East Prussia). In January 1913 Willy was promoted to the rank of Oberst-Leutnant, (Lieutenant Colonel).
 

Oberst Winkelhausen arrives in Osnabrück
On 1st January 1913, Oberst Leutnant Carl Willy Winkelhausen took up a new appointment as Colonel and Commander of “Infanterie-Regiment Nr 78 - Herzog Friedrich von Braunschweig”. This regiment was of several Battalions in size. The 3rd Battalion was garrisoned at Aurich, a town of some 41,000 inhabitants in the north western part of Lower Saxony in what is really part of the old province of Ost-Friesland. He was also Standortkommandant or (Military Commander), of all military units in the Osnabrück area. His office and home during this period was at the Schloss am Neuen Graben in Osnabrück.

History of the 78th Infanterie Regiment
It will be of interest to readers to learn that the 78th regiment had a long and glorious history. Many battle honours adorned the colours of the 78th regiment, included amongst which is the proud legend, “WATERLOO”. The regiment earned this battle honour during the Napoleonic War of 1815, whilst under the famous prussian general Blucher, they supported Wellington’s British army during the Napoleonic campaign and especially during that battle.
The 78th regiment was particularly involved in the valiant action around La Haye Sainte farm and elsewhere. In later years, including up until the great war, the regiment continued to proudly wear a helmet band bearing the battle honour, “WATERLOO”.

August 1914 - The Outbreak of War:
 On the 8th of August 1914, the 78th regiment was mobilised and left Osnabrück by rail. The regiment and their equipment were loaded aboard 3 trains, and headed west. However, the 3rd battalion was sent to the island of Borkum in East Friesland, their task, to protect the island against anticipated attack by the British. Six days later, on 14th of august, the battalion had received fresh orders and were moved on to join the rest of the 78th regiment, close to Neuville en Condroz, near Liege in the Ardenne region of Belgian. it is at Neuville, on the 15th of August that the 78th regiment endure their baptism of fire, when they come under bombardment from a French Artillery unit. The picture on the right, is a good example of how a typical 78th regiment Rifleman, or “Landser” as he was known in the German army of 1914 went to war.

Advance to the Marne:
Five days later, the 19th of the month finds the regiment, now part of General Karl von Bulow’s 2nd Army, in action at the small Belgian town of Orbais, to the south east of Brussels. Then on the 22nd of August, the 78th regiment is once more in the thick of the fighting at Pont de Loup, to the east of Charleroi. The very next day they are a few miles further south, and involved in further action somewhere between the towns of Hanzinne and Hanzinelle. On the 24th of the month they are involved in further actions at Walcourt some 8 miles further to the south. Then on the 27th of august 1914, the regiment are once again in action at Le Nouvion some 40 miles further south and now into France.
Finally, between the 28th and 30th August, the 78th regiment are carrying out sustained attacks against the allied defendants at Guise near St Quentin. This is where Oberst Winkelhausen is highly praised and complimented by his divisional commander for the fine professional manner in which he led the attack on Guise.

Assault on the Marne:
Following Oberst Winkelhausen’s successful leadership during the battle of Guise, his divisional commander assigned him to command a battlegroup for the forthcoming assault on the Marne. This battlegroup to be named, “Gruppe Winkelhausen”, was to consist of the 78th Infanterie Regiment, the 77th Infanterie Regiment, (which had lost its commander), and Feldartillerie Regiment 26. Their task was to advance to the river Marne, force a crossing, and then continue the advance and capture the hills which overlook the river to the south of the Marne. During their advance to the Marne, von Bulow’s army would be up against Lanrezac’s 5th French Army. Following a great deal of heavy fighting, much of which took place during the hours of darkness, and which was oftentimes against North African Zouave troops in their distinctive and colourful blue jackets with decorative gold braid and crimson pantaloons. The photograph on the left gives a good impression of how these french colonial troops dressed in the early part of the Great War.



The Death of Oberst Winkelhausen:
The German 2nd army under von Bulow managed to cross the river Marne early on the morning of 4th September. At this point, they were still facing determined opposition from the 5th French army. However, the commander of the 5th French army, General Lanrezac, had by now been replaced by General Franchet d’Esperey. By the time the 78th regiment had crossed the river, they were very short of ammunition, utterly exhausted, following their long advance from southern Belgium, and had lost a considerable number of their officers and men to the stubborn and dogged resistance being shown by their French opponents. It was here, south of the Marne, that Oberst Carl Willy Winkelhausen fell whilst leading his men in battle. He was buried within the grounds of the chateau at Verneuil sur Marne together with the other fallen men from the regiment that he commanded. His officer’s sword was recovered from the battlefield by the French and is now amongst the exhibits at the French army museum in Paris.

Conclusions:
From the foregoing account, so kindly provided to the author by the descendant of Oberst Winkelhausen, Herr Gerd Winkelhausen, it can be deduced that; From the arrival of the 3rd battalion of the 78th regiment at Neuville en Condroz on the 15th of August, to his death in battle at Verneuil, on the 4th of September, Oberst Winkelhausen, and the men of the 78th Infanterie-Regiment marched or travelled some 210 miles over a period of less than 3 weeks, and were involved in at least 8 separate and no doubt sizeable combat actions during that period. A remarkable achievement, considering the military equipment and tactics of the period.

For further information and lots of images about the Winkelhausen family you should visit their excellent family website. You can go to the Winkelhausen homepage by clicking on the link below.