217th Division (German Empire)

217th Division
active	September 8, 1916 to January 4, 1919
Country	German Empire
Armed forces	Prussian Army
Type	Infantry division
structure	See: Outline
Strength	15,000
First World War	Eastern Front
Commanders
Please refer:	List of commanders

The 217th Division was a major unit of the Prussian army in the First World War .

structure

Division of War of February 20, 1918

• 18th Landwehr Brigade
  • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 9
  • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 21
  • Landwehr Infantry Regiment No. 22
  • Reserve Cavalry Division No. 47
• Artillery Commander No. 217
  • Reserve Field Artillery Regiment No. 65
  • Foot Artillery Battalion No. 77
• Reserve Engineer Battalion No. 17
• Mine thrower company No. 427
• Division News Commander No. 217

history

The division was formed on September 8, 1916 on the Eastern Front and was in action there until the end of the war. Subsequently, in association with Army Group Mackensen, she began the march back home from the Balkans via Hungary . Here the division was demobilized until January 4, 1919 and finally dissolved.

Battle calendar

1916

• 0September 8-20 - Army Group Reserve Woyrsch
• September 21 to October 18 - fighting in Dobruja
• October 19-21 - Battle of Topraisar-Cobadinu
• October 22 to 25 - taking Constanta - Cernawoda
• October 25-26 - Persecution battles in North Dobruja
• October 27th to November 15th - Army Group Mackensen Reserve
• 03 November to 14 December - position battle in the Norddobrudscha (Parts Division)
  • 0November 5 to 16 - coastal protection in us near Constana (parts of the division)
  • November 23rd - Danube crossing
  • 0December 1st to 5th - Battle of the Argesch
  • 0December 6th - capture of Bucharest
• 0December 9-20 - Persecution fights against Jalomita-Prahova and Buzaul
• from December 15 - pursuit battles in the north Dobruja (parts of the division)

1917

• until January 5th - pursuit battles in the north Dobruja (parts of the division)
• 0January 5th - Brăila captured
• 0January 6th to July 21st - Trench warfare on Putna and Sereth
• July 22nd to 25th - defensive battles on the Sereth
• July 26th to December 9th - trench warfare on the Sereth and Șușița
• from December 10th - Armistice on the Romanian front

1918

• to March 7th - Armistice on the Romanian front
• 0March 8 to April 18 - fighting in support of Ukraine
• April 19 to September 30 - Occupation of the Crimea
  • April 30th to May 1st - capture of Sevastopol
• September 29th to October 7th - fighting against Bulgarian insurgents near Sofia
• 0October 1st to 29th - withdrawal fighting in Macedonia and Serbia
• October 29th to November 2nd - crossing over the Sava and Danube
• from December 12th - Army Group Mackensen's march back from the Balkans through Hungary

Commanders

Rank	Surname	date
Lieutenant General	Paul von Liebeskind	0September 7th to November 12th, 1916
Major general	Kurt von Gallwitz called Dreyling	November 13, 1916 to January 3, 1919

literature

• Hall of Fame of our Old Army. Published on the basis of official material from the Reichsarchiv , Militär-Verlag, Berlin 1927, pp. 75, 168.
• 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. 687-688.

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. 156.