18th Reserve Division (German Empire)

18th Reserve Division
active	August 2, 1914 to May 1919
Country	German Empire
Armed forces	Prussian Army
Type	Infantry division
structure	See: Outline
Insinuation	IX. Reserve Corps
First World War	Western front Battle of the Somme Battle of Arras Third Battle of Flanders Second battle of Cambrai
Commanders
Please refer:	List of commanders

The 18th Reserve Division was a major unit of the Prussian army in the First World War .

structure

Organization of war during mobilization in 1914

• 34th Reserve Infantry Brigade
  • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 31
  • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 90
• 35th Reserve Infantry Brigade
  • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 84
  • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 86
  • Reserve Hunter Battalion No. 9
• Reserve Hussar Regiment No. 7
• Reserve Field Artillery Regiment No. 18
• 1st Reserve Company / Schleswig-Holstein Pioneer Battalion No. 9
• 2nd Reserve Company / Schleswig-Holstein Pioneer Battalion No. 9

Division of War of January 29, 1917

• 35th Reserve Infantry Brigade
  • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 31
  • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 84
  • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 86
• 3rd squadron / hussar regiment "Graf Goetzen" (2nd Silesian) No. 6
  • Reserve Field Artillery Regiment No. 18
• Staff 2nd Battalion / Engineer Regiment No. 9
  • 1st Reserve Company / Engineer Battalion No. 9
  • 2nd Reserve Company / Engineer Battalion No. 9
  • Spare headlight cable 9
  • Mine thrower company No. 218

Battle calendar

The division was formed during mobilization at the outbreak of World War I on August 2, 1914 and consisted of troops from the Free Hanseatic Cities and Schleswig-Holstein as well as the Grand Duchies of Mecklenburg . The Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 31 was a Hanseatic one , which came mainly from Hamburg and Bremen . The reserve infantry regiments No. 84 and 86 were formed in Schleswig , with a battalion of the 84th in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz . The Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 90 was set up in Mecklenburg-Schwerin . The Reserve Jäger Battalion No. 9 came from the Duchy of Lauenburg . Together with the 17th Reserve Division , it formed the IX at the beginning of the war . Reserve Corps .

The division fought exclusively on the Western Front , was involved in the war crimes of Leuven and was in the Aisne area until September 1915. From here it went to Flanders and the Artois. Here she stayed in trench warfare until June 1916. From mid-July to late October she fought in the Battle of the Somme . The division remained in the trenches off Ypres until May 1917. In May she fought in the Siegfried Line before going back to Flanders, where she fought in the Third Battle of Flanders . In 1918 she fought against offensives by the Allies in various places, such as B. in the Second Battle of Cambrai .

After the end of the war , the remnants of the division marched back home, where the large association was demobilized and finally disbanded in May 1919.

1914

• August 25th to September 7th --- Security against Antwerp
  • August 25th --- Street fighting in Leuven
  • August 25-27 --- Battle of Mechlin
• from September 15th --- fighting on the Aisne
  • September 13th to 18th --- Battle of Noyon
  • October 2nd to 15th --- Fights at Roye
• from October 16 --- Trench warfare west of Roye-Noyon

1915

• until September 17th --- fighting on the Aisne
  • January 8-14 --- Battle of Soissons
  • June 6th to 16th --- Fights at Quennevières-Ferme
• until October 16 --- Trench warfare west of Roye-Noyon
• from October 21st --- Trench warfare in Flanders and Artois

1916

• until June 23rd --- Position battles in Flanders and Artois
• June 24th to July 7th --- Reconnaissance and demonstration battles by the 6th Army in connection with the Battle of the Somme
• July 7th to 19th --- Position battles in Flanders and Artois
• July 19 to August 25 --- Battle of the Somme
• August 25th to September 26th --- Trench warfare in Flanders and Artois
• September 28th to October 26th --- Battle of the Somme
• from October 26th --- Trench warfare on the Yser

1917

• until May 9th --- Trench warfare on the Yser
• May 9th to 20th --- Spring battle near Arras
• May 21st to June 10th --- Trench warfare in Flanders and Artois
• June 11th to August 11th --- Battle of Flanders
• August 11th to October 20th --- Trench warfare in Flanders and Artois
• October 20th to December 3rd --- Autumn battle in Flanders
• from December 4th --- Trench warfare in Flanders

1918

• until March 25th --- Trench warfare in Flanders
• March 25th to 31st --- Reserve of the Army Group "Crown Prince Rupprecht"
• March 31 to April 30 --- Trench warfare in Flanders and Artois
  • April 9th ​​to 18th --- Battle of Armentières
• May 1st to August 4th --- Trench warfare in French Flanders and Artois
• August 5th to September 4th --- Fighting on the Ypres Front - La Bassée
• September 5th to 26th --- Fighting on the Siegfried Front
• September 27th to October 8th --- Defensive battle between Cambrai and St. Quentin
• October 9th to November 4th --- Fights in front of and in the Hermann position
• November 5th to 11th --- fighting in retreat in front of the Antwerp- Maas position
• from November 12th --- evacuation of the occupied territory and march home

Commanders

Rank	Surname	date
General of the Infantry	Karl Wilhelm Gronen	0August 2 to October 6, 1914
Major general	Leo Sunday	0October 7, 1914 to February 22, 1915
Lieutenant General	Richard Wellmann	February 23, 1915 to September 30, 1916
Major general	Theodor von Wundt	0October 1, 1916 to August 25, 1917
Lieutenant General	Paul Winiker	August 26 to December 26, 1917
Major general	Ernst von Wrisberg	December 27, 1917 to May 8, 1919

literature

• Hall of Fame of our Old Army. Published on the basis of official material from the Reich Archives . Military Publishing House. Berlin 1927. pp. 66, 116.
• Histories of Two Hundred and Fifty-One Divisions of the German Army Which Participated in the War (1914-1918). United States War Office as War Department Document No. 905. Office of the Adjutant. 1920. pp. 289-292.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 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 . P. 173.