John:
Yes, the unit identification that George listed is WWI vintage.
Thought you might be interested in a little more of history that your handsome Luger "experienced"…….This unit was first organized on 10 January 1753 with its headquarters and all its battalions and companies located in Metz and remained in Metz until 1914.
This unit was part of the 8th Bavarian Brigade, of the 33rd Reserve Division of the 16th Corps and remained with this division until July/August of 1916. During this period, it fought in battles around Nomeny, Gondrecourt, Rouvres Etain, Woevre, Cotes de Meuse, Les Eparges and Calonne.
In July/August of 1916, the 8th Bavarian Brigade (including the 8th Bavarian Regiment) was detached from the 33rd Bavarian Reserve Division and was used to form the 14th Bavarian Division. The 8th Bavarian Regiment remained with the 14th Bavarian Division for the remainder of the war and fought in the battles of Verdun, Somme-Ancre and experienced heavy casualties in early 1917 during the Battle of Artois (Arras) against the British.
During April 26-28, 1917, the 14 Bavarian Division was sent to the Eastern Front, going on line in Lipsk and participated in the Battle of Riga, and then Galicia. On December 19, 1917, this division was sent back to the Western Front initially going on line on January 12, 1918 in the Mont Haut Sector where it participated in the Battle of Champagne followed by Picardy.
In terms of combat effectiveness, initially the 33rd Reserve Division was rated as a good fighting vigorously against the French at Verdun. However, this division was never able to recover from its combat losses for the remaining portion of the war and was disbanded in August of 1918.
Previous to 1918, the 14th Bavarian Division was rated by the Allies as First Class. But after that date, the effectiveness of this division seems to have fallen off and was not used in any of the German offensives.
The above information was extracted from "Histories of Two Hundred and Fifty-One Divisions of the German Army Which Participated in the War (1914-1918) and published by the United States War Office in 1920.
Congrats as you have an excellent piece of History from a interesting unit!!
Ron
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