III. Royal Bavarian Army Corps

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The III. Army Corps was a large unit and at the same time a territorial command authority of the Bavarian Army . It was formed on 1 April 1900, took under the command of Crown Prince Rupprecht at the First World War in part. The army corps district under the general command in Nuremberg comprised Middle Franconia , the Upper Palatinate and parts of Upper Franconia , Lower Bavaria and Upper Bavaria .

structure

Like all Bavarian army units , the corps was subordinate to the IV Army Inspectorate at the beginning of the First World War .

Peace structure 1914

General Command

Division of War of August 2, 1914

  • 5th Infantry Division
  • 6th Infantry Division
  • Corps troops consisting of the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Foot Artillery Regiment (1st – 4th battery of heavy field howitzers, light ammunition column), Field Aviation Department 3, Telephone Department 3, floodlight train of the 3rd Engineer Battalion and Corps Bridge Train 3.
  • Munitions columns and trains

Staffing

  • Commanding general: General of the cavalry Ludwig von Gebsattel
  • Chief of the General Staff:
    • Lieutenant Colonel Hans Braun
  • General Staff:
    • Major Gustav Kress von Kressenstein
    • Captain listen
    • Captain Karl Eberth
    • Captain Friedrich Kriebel
  • Commander of the pioneers: Major Rabung

history

The large association was set up on April 1, 1900. The corps took part in the First World War as part of the 6th Army under Crown Prince Rupprecht .

First World War

Ludwig Freiherr von Gebsattel

From August 2, 1914, the corps marched under the command of the General of the Cavalry von Gebsattel southeast of Metz near Remilly and Falkenberg in Lorraine . On August 16, 1914, the large association went back to the western bank of the German Nied as ordered. In the course of the Battle of Lorraine , the corps attacked south on August 20, 1914, penetrated the lines of the French 68th Reserve Division at Delme and reached the Delme-Fresnes line by August 21 in the evening. The corps had orders to pursue the Meurthe and to cover the army's right flank against Nancy . In August 1914 it was used in the battle of the Trouée de Charmes between Épinal and Toul . On September 12, 1914, the corps moved east of Nancy and reached Metz fortress by September 19, 1914 . Here the corps was subordinated to Strantz's army division and was commissioned to advance from Champley via the Côtes Lorraines to St. Bénoit. With a focus on the right, the 6th Infantry Division advanced quickly across the Maashee to St. Mihiel . After a French attack on the northern flank was parried from the movement, the attack on the eastern bank of the Meuse and the Fort Camp des Romains began on September 24, 1914 . On the afternoon of September 24th, St. Mihiel was in German hands, the bridge over the Maas to Chauvoncourt taken in one stroke and a bridgehead formed. Fort Camp des Romains was stormed on September 25, 1914. On October 8, 1914, the corps was assigned the replacement division, which moved into positions in the Ailly forest.

From the end of March 1915 on, the French tried to push in the promontory and took action against the German positions in the forests of Ailly and Apresmont using saps and mine tunnels. With a concentrated attack by the 6th Bavarian Division, the enemy maneuvers were thwarted, so that no more French attacks came about in this section of the front for the next few months. In the course of the autumn battle in Champagne from September 22nd to November 3rd, 1915, the corps was able to prevent the loss of the positions south of Tahure by deploying the Corps Reserve (5th Infantry Division) on September 24th, 1915 and the old positions claim, but there were heavy losses.

During the Battle of the Somme , the corps was introduced into the front at Flers from September 8, 1916, in order to initially strengthen the already badly damaged II Army Corps and to replace it from September 18. On September 25, 1916, the Bavarians were still able to repel the British attacks, when the British rolled over the 6th Infantry Division with tanks on the following day, the lines could only be held with the help of non-Bavarian troops. Until October 12, 1916, the corps withstood the attacks of the British on the Ligny-Le Transloy line, after which it was replaced by the I. Army Corps .

General of the artillery Hermann Freiherr von Stein

On January 12, 1917, Lieutenant General Hermann von Stein took over command of the corps, which was deployed at Aubers from April 19 to the beginning of May . The corps replaced the I. Reserve Corps on May 10 at the Battle of Arras . It was possible to repel the attacks by English troops, which were carried out at great expense, and to establish a new, stable front line by retaking the village of Fresnoy. Between June 15 and September 9, 1917, the General Command was relocated to the Ypres area and used in the Third Battle of Flanders . In June 1917, the 17th and 233rd Divisions and the 80th Reserve Division were subordinate to the Corps under the name of the “Ypres” group . On August 16, 1917, another British offensive began between the Yser and Lys (Battle of Langemarck). The British managed to break into Langemark and fight their way to Poelcapelle. To the north of it Drie Grachten was taken, but the hoped-for breakthrough could not be achieved this time either.

In October 1917, the vacated General Command took part in the 12th Isonzo Battle in Italy as the “Stein” group . It was subdivided into the German 14th Army , the 12th and 117th divisions were assigned to the corps, and temporarily the Austro-Hungarian 50th division. The breakthrough of the also assigned Alpine Corps at Tolmein was immediate on October 24th, and the 12th Division reached the old border near Robic on the same day. After the storming of Monte Matajur, Monte Hum and Globocak, the second Italian position was overcome and the general breakthrough was achieved on October 26th. On November 10th, the Piave was reached by the 12th division at Vidor. The offensive was canceled and the general command was withdrawn from Italy.

The corps was assigned to the 17th Army on the Western Front. On March 21, 1918, the large unit took part in the Michael Battle and from mid-April in the Fourth Flanders Battle, all attacks came to a standstill by the end of April 1918 due to the tough resistance of the English and their own heavy losses. Under the leadership of the 9th Army succeeded in the late summer of 1918 the III. Corps between Oise and Aisne to move the front back in an orderly manner and to prevent the enemy from breaking through. From the beginning of September 1918 under the 17th Army again, the corps was deployed on the Dutch border. At the beginning of November 1918, the general command was in the Antwerp-Maas position between Antwerp and Termonde.

Commanding general

Rank Surname date
General of the Infantry Heinrich von Xylander 0April 1, 1900 to March 18, 1904
General of the Infantry Carl von Horn March 19, 1904 to April 9, 1905
General of the Infantry Luitpold von der Tann-Rathsamhausen 0April 9, 1905 to May 3, 1910
General of the cavalry Otto Kreß von Kressenstein 0May 4, 1910 to February 5, 1912
General of the artillery Luitpold von Horn 0February 6, 1912 to March 18, 1914
General of the cavalry Ludwig von Gebsattel March 19, 1914 to January 11, 1917
General of the artillery Hermann von Stein January 12, 1917 to December 19, 1918

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Reichsarchiv: The World War 1914-1918, Volume XIII, ES Mittler and Son, Appendix 2a
  2. ↑ Dermot Bradley (Ed.), Günter Wegner: Occupation of the German Army 1815-1939. Volume 1: The higher command posts 1815-1939. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1990, ISBN 3-7648-1780-1 , pp. 657-658.