WW1 German Other Ranks Field Grey Shoulder Strap

Field grey wool with red stitched "216".

The Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 216 (RIR 216) was an infantry regiment of the Imperial German Army during World War I. Part of the 46th Reserve Division, assigned to the XXIII Reserve Corps of the German 4th Army. Raised primarily in the Hanseatic city of Hamburg, with additional conscripts and replacements from surrounding regions including Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, and Hanover.
The regiment suffered heavy losses and reductions in combat strength, leading to its disbandment late in the war (around August 1918) as the German army restructured.

The regiment spent the majority of its active service operating in Flanders and Artois on the Western Front, in particular the Second Battle of Ypres (1915): Fought heavily around Ypres, Langemarck, and Boezinge (Boezinge/Lizerne) in April and May 1915, where poison gas was deployed during German counter-attacks. Engaged in crater trench warfare and defensive line rotations in the Ypres/St. Eloi sector.

Code: 4879