Willy Rohr

Willy Martin Ernst Rohr (May 19, 1877 - March 8, 1930) was a Prussian Army officer who was a major contributor to the development of infantry tactics in World War I, particularly for the system of Storm Battalions.

Willy Rohr attended a military school in Bensberg and Karlsruhe before he transferred to the Prussian Hauptkadettenanstalt (Central Officer's Training School) in Lichterfelde, Berlin. He joined the 3rd Magdeburg Infantry Regiment No. 66 as a second lieutenant in 1896. From 1899 to 1903, Rohr was assigned to NCO School in Potsdam and became a battalion adjutant and later a regimental adjutant. In 1906, he was promoted as a first lieutenant. After working as a teacher in the infantry shooting school in Wünsdorf from 1911-1912, Rohr was transferred to the 10th Rhineland Infantry Regiment No. 161 in Trier and was promoted as a captain. At his request, in 1913, he was transferred to the Guards Rifle Battalion in Gross-Lichterfelde and served as the commander of the 3rd Company.

In World War I he fought in 3rd Company on the Aisne, in Champagne and on the Hartmannsweiler Kopf. In 1915, Rohr was transferred to the Major Calsow detachment and formed the Loretto Front with two pioneer companies. These fought unsuccessfully, the battalions were renamed the Sturmabteilung Calsow, and their leadership found other employment in the Armeeabteilung Gaede. The decimated storm detachment was recalled to the Kaiserstuhl. By command of General von Falkenhayn the captain, who had been brought in from the Guards Rifle Battalion, was temporarily entrusted with their command on 30 August 1915. The previously unused Kaiserstuhl became a training center.

The effectiveness of the detachment was improved by reequipping it with machine guns and flamethrowers. Rohr introduced the steel helmet, already used by the enemy, to his Storm Battalion or Shock Troop. Rohr's newly developed tactics were based on his experience at the front and made a great contribution to the development of assault team tactics. Major Reddemann was the first to designate the existing flamethrower squads as shock troops. They are both regarded as originators of the concept of shock troops.

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