Organization 1917

The Romanian army in 1917

Rebirth of the army : January to May 1917

At the start of 1917, the Romanian army was down to 300.000 men. Therefore, the 1917 and 1918 generations were called up and some of the auxiliary personnel was used to rebuild the fighting units, until the regular army was 460.000 men strong. But these men had to be equipped with modern weapons if they were to stand any chance of victory in the coming battles. Throughout the winter, the army's arsenal and several factories, improvised with whatever machineries that had been hastily evacuated in 1916 into Moldavia or imported, worked day and night to manufacture the badly needed weapons and ammunitions. Still, the army couldn't have been properly equipped if the long-awaited shipments of armament had not finally arrived. From February to April 1917, large amounts of modern weapons arrived at last from France : 150.000 rifles, 1957 medium machine guns, 2736 light machine guns, 1.300.000 grenades, 184 light artillery pieces ( 75 mm guns ), almost 300 heavy artillery pieces ( 105 mm and 120 mm long-range guns, 150 mm and 152.4 mm Schneider-Creusot heavy howitzers and even some 210 mm "super-heavy" guns ), 130 trench mortars ( 58 mm ). The fledgling Romanian air force received some 100 fighters, reconnaissance planes and light bombers. The infantry received new helmets, gas masks for every frontline soldier and large amounts of communication equipment, including telephones and wireless telegraphy devices. Some armored cars were also delivered, whilst the workshops improvised a few more using existing automobiles. All the "armor" was given to the cavalry units, which were also rebuilding. Even a batch of 50 Renault FT17 light tanks had been ordered but these didn't arrive until after the war. The French had actually dispatched even larger amounts of weapons and equipment, but some 40% of them mysteriously "disappeared" somewhere in Russia during transit. In spite of all the Romanian protests, the missing shipments were never recovered, thus forcing the Romanian government to pay for something it hadn't received.

The Romanian troops spent the spring of 1917 training with the new equipment and improving the battle tactics. A French military mission, led by general Berthelot arrived in late 1916, bringing in numerous and experienced French advisors. These men passed their knowledge of trench warfare and modern tactics to the Romanian officers and soldiers. There were occasional frictions because of the "big brother" attitude of some Frenchmen. But, overall the reports were excellent, as the Romanians had realized that the realities of modern warfare demanded new skills and worked feverishly to adapt their tactics to the modern battlefield.

In May 1917, the necessary weapons had been delivered and the new men had completed the training. The army now entered a period of structural changes, as the Supreme HQ understood that it was useless to have many understrength divisions. Instead, it was decided to raise only as many divisions as could be equipped at the same level as the enemy ones. Therefore, in the spring of 1917, the army had 15 infantry divisions, 2 cavalry divisions and 4 independent cavalry brigades, a brigade of border guards and 4 independent heavy artillery regiments. An infantry division was made up of 2 brigades of 2 regiments each ; a regiment had three infantry battalions. Divisions from 1 to 10 also had an independent elite regiment of "vanatori" ( highly trained infantrymen destined to exploit breaches ). The average infantry battalion had 8 machine guns and 24 light machine guns, 32 automatic weapons altogether ( except for the "vanatori" who had only light machine guns to increase mobility ). Artillery support was provided by the division's own artillery brigade : two full regiments ( one of 9 light artillery batteries equipped with Model 1897 Schneider 75 mm field guns and another one of 4 artillery batteries ( 2 medium and 2 heavy )equipped with 105 mm or 120 mm Schneider howitzers and 150 or 152.4 mm howitzers, were part of every infantry division. In addition, each infantry brigade received a battery of 53 mm guns ( used mostly for direct fire ) and one of 58 mm trench mortars. Altogether, the average division could call upon 68 guns for fire-support. It also bolstered a cavalry squadron for reconnaissance and a battalion of engineers.

A cavalry division was also made up of 2 brigades of 2 regiments ; each regiment had 4 cavalry squadrons . There was another regiment which had to move on foot due to the lack of horses, a company of cyclists and a battalion of horse artillery. The 4 independent elite cavalry regiments were made up of two regiments of 4 squadrons each : there were two "Rosiori" and two "Calarasi" brigades ( there was no difference between them except for the name ). It must also be said that although these units were called "cavalry" they actually fought as regular infantry ; the horses were used merely for transport.

Besides for the division's organic artillery, 4 independent heavy artillery regiments, totaling 49 batteries were formed up. Using the new mountain guns received, the mountain artillery was also reorganized in 2 independent regiments of 7 batteries each. Only the anti-aircraft artillery remained pretty much the same, as it only received 16 guns from France as replacements for the ones lost. The airforce now had modern airplanes and 12 full-strenght squadrons and 5 observation balloons.

The men and the officers

As the new weapons arrived, the men were trained for new form of war. The infantry went through intensive training programs were they learned the use of grenades, machine guns and were instructed on how to build efficient defenses. The officer corps was ruthlessly purged of all incompetents, cowards and second-rate elements. For once, the command positions were reserved exclusively for the finest officers and no exceptions were made, regardless of social status of external pressures. General Nicolae Iliescu, who bore much of the responsability for the defeats of 1916, was at last sacked and sent to France, as far away of the front as possible.

The new officers studied the battles of the west front and looked for ways if adapting the lessons learned to the realities of the Romanian front. The artillery rehearsed day and night the new types of barrage, rolling barrage, harrassing and counterbattery fire, while many young artillery officers were trained as observers and taught how to direct the artillery fire, either from the ground or from the air. The engineer troops were expanded as their importance became obvious. The bloody frontal assaults were finally deemed as something to be avoided at all costs.

As the spring of 1917 was drawing to a close, the Romanian leaders had achieved a near miracle. The army was back to fighting shape and was stronger than ever. Although it was smaller than at the start of the war, its fighting potential had been given a huge boost thanks to the new equipment and tactics. The morale of the men was high, as they felt that their weapons, training and tactics were comparable to the enemy's ( in terms of automatic weapons, the Romanian infantry battalion actually had a few more than the German one ). All over the frontline, the Romanians were eager to fight for the liberation of their country.

Rebirth of the army : January to May 1917
Organization
At the start of 1917, the Romanian army was down to 300.000 men. Therefore, the 1917 and 1918 generations were called up and some of the auxiliary personnel was used to rebuild the fighting units, until the regular army was 460.000 men strong. But these men had to be equipped with modern weapons if they were to stand any chance of victory in the coming battles. Throughout the winter, the army's arsenal and several factories, improvised with whatever machineries that had been hastily evacuated in 1916 into Moldavia or imported, worked day and night to manufacture the badly needed weapons and ammunitions. Still, the army couldn't have been properly equipped if the long-awaited shipments of armament had not finally arrived. From February to April 1917, large amounts of modern weapons arrived at last from France : 150.000 rifles, 1957 medium machine guns, 2736 light machine guns, 1.300.000 grenades, 184 light artillery pieces ( 75 mm guns ), almost 300 heavy artillery pieces ( 105 mm and 120 mm long-range guns, 150 mm and 152.4 mm Schneider-Creusot heavy howitzers and even some 210 mm "super-heavy" guns ), 130 trench mortars ( 58 mm ). The fledgling Romanian air force received some 100 fighters, reconnaissance planes and light bombers. The infantry received new helmets, gas masks for every frontline soldier and large amounts of communication equipment, including telephones and wireless telegraphy devices. Some armored cars were also delivered, whilst the workshops improvised a few more using existing automobiles. All the "armor" was given to the cavalry units, which were also rebuilding. Even a batch of 50 Renault FT17 light tanks had been ordered but these didn't arrive until after the war. The French had actually dispatched even larger amounts of weapons and equipment, but some 40% of them mysteriously "disappeared" somewhere in Russia during transit. In spite of all the Romanian protests, the missing shipments were never recovered, thus forcing the Romanian government to pay for something it hadn't received.
			The Romanian troops spent the spring of 1917 training with the new equipment and improving the battle tactics. A French military mission, led by general Berthelot arrived in late 1916, bringing in numerous and experienced French advisors. These men passed their knowledge of trench warfare and modern tactics to the Romanian officers and soldiers. There were occasional frictions because of the "big brother" attitude of some Frenchmen. But, overall the reports were excellent, as the Romanians had realized that the realities of modern warfare demanded new skills and worked feverishly to adapt their tactics to the modern battlefield.