26th Reserve Division (Württemberg)

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26th Reserve Division (Württemberg)

active August 2, 1914 to 1919
Country Kingdom of Württemberg Kingdom of Württemberg
Armed forces Württemberg Army
Type Infantry Division
structure See: Outline
Insinuation XIV. Reserve Corps
First World War Western front
Battle of the Somme
Battle of Arras (1917)
Great battle in France
Commanders
Please refer: List of commanders

The 26th (Württemberg) Reserve Division was a major unit of the Württemberg Army from 1914 to 1919 .

history

According to the mobilization plan , the 26th Division (1st Royal Württembergische) set up the staff of the 26th ( Württemberg ) Reserve Division in Stuttgart on August 2, 1914, the first day of mobilization . This was joined by the three newly established Reserve Infantry Regiments No. 119 , 120 and 121 , each with three battalions of 1,000 men, the Reserve Dragoon Regiment No. 19 with three squadrons , and the Reserve Field Artillery Regiment No. 26 with three departments of three batteries each , a reserve medical company, and a number of reserve trains and columns. The only active units were the 10th Infantry Regiment No. 180 with three battalions and the 4th Company of the II. Pioneer Battalion No. 13 .

While there were only active teams and the youngest age groups in the reserve in the active formations, half of the reserve formations from the older age groups were made up of the reserve and half of the Landwehr , i.e. men who were on average 24 to 30 years old. In the infantry battalions of the reserve infantry regiments only 16 active non-commissioned officer ranks were used. The battalions consisted of four infantry companies and one heavy machine-gun company with six machine guns .

The Reserve Dragoon Regiment was a mixture of reservists from the two active Dragoon and Uhlan regiments. With a few exceptions, the horses had been raised from the country or bought privately according to the horse distribution lists. The first two divisions of the Reserve Field Artillery Regiment were equipped with the 96 field cannon . The third division consisted of light field howitzers caliber 10.5. Each division also had a light ammunition column.

On the eighth day of mobilization, the division was ready to march and so it met for the first time on August 10, 1914 in the Vosges . On August 14, 1914, the division was assigned the Prussian Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 99 set up in Alsace . This remained in the division association until 1917. Subsequently, the division was again a purely Württemberg association. After the 52nd (Württ.) Reserve Infantry Brigade was disbanded, in March 1915 the Württ. Infantry Regiment No. 120 was subordinated to the newly formed 58th (Saxon) Infantry Division .

After the end of the war, the division staff in Stuttgart was demobilized and the 26th (Württemberg) Reserve Division dissolved.

Garrisons

Set up as a war formation, the division had no peace garrison.

Battle calendar

The division before Albert in September 1914

The division was set up as part of the mobilization at the beginning of the First World War and was used exclusively on the Western Front during the course of the war .

After completion of the setup, the division was moved by rail to the border guard on the Rhine and marched there in the Kenzingen area . From mid-August 1914, she penetrated the Vosges into the Breuschtal and fought on the Donon near Schirmeck and Wildersbach from August 20 to 23 . It then marched out of the Breuschtal towards the Meurthe and took possession of St. Dié on August 29th . At the beginning of September the offensive against Epinal was continued until the 6th Army swung back and the XIV Reserve Corps marched off to Saarburg . In Hartgarten , the division was wagons and moved to northern France by rail. She arrived there at the end of September and was used in the first summer battle. In mid-October 1914 the fighting turned into a positional warfare and the division fought in the Albert area until early July 1915 .

Position of the division from October 1916 to March 1917 south of Arras.

The trench warfare on both sides of the Ancre west of Bapaume im Artois dragged on from 1915 until the beginning of the next summer battle . From July 1, 1916, she was exposed to the most violent British attacks in the Thiepval area until the detachment on October 10. On October 10th it was relieved and moved around 25 km to the north. There she remained around 15 km south of Arras in the area of ​​Ficheux, Blaireveille, Ransat and Monchy-au-Bois until mid-March 1917 in position combat.

From March 16, 1917, she fought in front of the Siegfried Line , especially in April in the spring battle near Arras . After further position battles in the Artois, the division was transferred to Flanders in the summer and was used there as a position division until mid-February 1918.

Withdrawal fights from May to November 1918.

From mid-February 1918 it was used as a reserve of the OHL for border protection on the Belgian-Dutch border and refreshed and prepared for the Great Battle in France . After the battle was broken off in early April, the division fought again in the old position from 1915 to 1917 on the Somme. In April between Arras and Albert, in August in the battle of Monchy-Bapaume and from September to early October in the defensive battle between Cambrai and St. Quentin . After fighting in front of and in the Hermann position , retreat battles followed from November 5th in front of the Antwerp - Meuse position.

After the armistice was declared on November 11th, the occupied territories were evacuated and the march back home began. There she arrived on December 8th. Then the various units of the division were demobilized and disbanded in early 1919.

organization

Association membership

The division was subordinated to the XIV Reserve Corps under General Richard von Schubert and was part of the 7th Army under the command of Colonel General Josias von Heeringen .

structure

Organization of war during mobilization in August 1914

Division of War from May 1, 1918

  • Division staff
  • 51st (Württ.) Reserve Infantry Brigade
    • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 119
    • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 121
    • 10th Infantry Regiment No. 180
    • MG Sniper Division No. 54
  • Artillery Commander No. 122
    • Reserve Field Artillery Regiment No. 26
    • Foot Artillery Battalion No. 59
  • 2nd Squadron / Uhlan Regiment "King Wilhelm I." (2nd Württembergisches) No. 20
  • Engineer Battalion No. 326
  • Division News Commander No. 426
  • Reserve field hospitals No. 502 and 505
  • Field recruits depot of the 26th Reserve Division

Commanders

Rank Surname date
General of the Infantry Franz von Soden 0August 2, 1914 to December 16, 1916
Lieutenant General Albert von Fritsch December 17, 1916 to December 15, 1918

Others

Combat value

In 1917 the Entente rated the 26th (Württ.) Reserve Division as a very good division. Their combat value was similar to that of an active infantry division. In the Battle of the Somme, it convinced with stubborn resistance and powerful counter-attacks. Subsequently deployed in quieter sections of the front, she retained her high morale.

Not worn out in the great and costly battles of 1917 and 1918, it continued to be rated as a first-class division by American military intelligence in 1918.

See also

References

swell

literature

  • Hall of Fame of our Old Army. Published on the basis of official material from the Reichsarchiv , Militär-Verlag, Berlin 1927, pp. 68, 127.
  • Fritz von Graevenitz: The development of the württemb. Heerwesens and the German top leadership in the world war in their meaning for the Württ. Armed Forces (Württemberg's Army in World War II). Issues 1 and 2. [double volume], Bergers Literar. Office and publishing house, Stuttgart 1921.
  • Otto von Moser : The Wuerttembergians in the World War. Belser-Verlag, Stuttgart 1927.
  • Franz von Soden: The 26th (Württemberg) Reserve Division in World War 1914-18. Part 1: The years 1914, 1915 and 1916. (Württemberg's Army in World War I, Volume 6), Bergers Literar. Office and publishing house, Stuttgart 1939.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See von Soden 1939, p. 152.

Remarks

  1. ↑ From 1917 Württ. Field Hospital No. 502.
  2. ↑ From 1917 as Württ. Field Hospital No. 503 for the 242nd (Württ.) Infantry Division.
  3. ^ Until July 1916.
  4. ↑ From 1917 Württ. Field Hospital No. 505.
  5. ↑ The division was formed on December 10, 1916 from MG sniper troops No. 91, 141 and 198.