German Landsturm Unit in Smocks, c. 1915.
This cheerful lot can be identified as Landsturm by their tendency toward middle age and the numerals on the collar (see close up). The Roman IX signifies the IX Corps whose home region was Schleswig-Holstein. Unfortunately, I cannot make out the Arabic number under the IX which is the battalion number. This system of numbering was first introduced in 1915.
Page by Mark Conrad, 2005.