28th Division (German Empire)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

28th division

active July 1, 1871 to September 30, 1919
Country German EmpireThe German Imperium German Empire
Armed forces Prussian Army
Type Infantry division
structure See: Outline
First World War Western front
Battle of Lorraine
Battle of La Bassée and Arras
Battle of the Somme
Cambrai tank battle
Great battle in France
Commanders
Please refer: List of commanders
Seal of the 28th Division

The 28th Division , also known as the 28th Infantry Division for the duration of the mobile relationship , was a large unit of the Prussian Army .

structure

The command was in Karlsruhe and the division was part of the XIV Army Corps .

Peace structure 1914

Organization of war during mobilization in 1914

  • 55th Infantry Brigade
    • 1st Baden Leib Grenadier Regiment No. 109
    • Grenadier Regiment "Kaiser Wilhelm I." (2nd Badisches) No. 110
  • 56th Infantry Brigade
    • Fusilier regiment "Prince Karl-Anton von Hohenzollern" (Hohenzollernsches) No. 40
    • Infantry regiment “Margrave Ludwig Wilhelm” (3rd Baden) No. 111
  • Hunter Regiment on Horseback No. 5
  • 28th Field Artillery Brigade
    • Field artillery regiment "Grand Duke" (1st Baden) No. 14
    • 3rd Baden Field Artillery Regiment No. 50
  • 2nd and 3rd Company / Engineer Battalion No. 14

Division of War of May 26, 1918

  • 55th Infantry Brigade
    • Fusilier regiment "Prince Karl-Anton von Hohenzollern" (Hohenzollernsches) No. 40
    • Infantry regiment “Margrave Ludwig Wilhelm” (3rd Baden) No. 111
    • Machine gun sniper detachment No. 37
    • 2nd Squadron / Jäger Regiment on Horseback No. 5
  • Artillery Commander No. 28
    • Field artillery regiment "Grand Duke" (1st Baden) No. 14
    • Foot Artillery Battalion No. 55
  • Engineer Battalion No. 14
  • Division News Commander No. 28

First World War

The division was used exclusively on the Western Front during the First World War . In August 1914 she was first in the association of the XIV Army Corps (General von Huene-Hoiningen ) in the section of the 7th Army in the Vosges and Alsace . Moved north after the fighting near Mulhouse , she fought in the Battle of Lorraine on August 20 . From September 16, 1914, she was in the priest forest for two weeks; afterwards she was transported to northern France in the course of the race to the sea in early October with General Command XIV.

The XIV Army Corps (General Theodor von Watter ) tried to outflank the enemy lines to the north via Lille . The commanding General von Watter urged the 28th Division, unloaded at Douai , to advance on Lille, which had been reported free from the enemy by the army cavalry under General von der Marwitz .

The following, almost nine-month deployment with the 6th Army in the area of La Bassée north of Arras brought the division heavy fighting with the English and French troops in the battles in Artois . From May 9th to May 13th, 1915, the division was under the leadership of Major General Franz von Trotta-Treyden in the major battle for the Lorettohöhe . Released on June 20, 1915, the division moved into positions in Champagne . Initially used until mid-September on a quieter section off Reims , it then fought in the autumn battle in Champagne . Pulled out of the major battle at the beginning of November, the division then took over the section south of Vouziers near Ripont and on Kanonenberg. Here she remained, except for a three-month transfer to the Somme , until January 1917 in trench warfare .

From mid-July to early October 1916, the Division was during the Battle of the Somme first section of the group Liebert , after their separation in IX. Army Corps ( Quast ) deployed in the Peronne area. From the end of January to September 1917, the 28th Division was in a losing position in the Ornes area to the east of Verdun , after which it was briefly in Upper Alsace until October 22nd. In June 1916, the field artillery regiment No. 50, which had previously belonged to the division, was detached and withdrawn as army artillery.

After the loss of the Lauffaux corner, the division was transferred to the 7th Army via Laon on the Aisnefront. After rearguard battles south of the Ailette, she remained in trench warfare north of the river until November 21, 1917.

After the British tank attack at Cambrai, transferred to the 2nd Army , the division took part in the section of the group "Caudry" (General Command XIII Army Corps ) in the German counter-offensive in the area north of Banteux. From December 9, 1917 to January 20, 1918, the division in Mézières acted as a reserve of the Supreme Army Command .

After renewed trench warfare in the Reims area, the rear division of the newly formed 18th Army was prepared for the 1918 spring offensive . On March 21, the division participated in the III. Army Corps at the breakthrough battle between St. Quentin and La Fère . After reaching the Avre section, it was stopped in the area north of Montdidier and pulled out at the end of April. From April 25 to May 27, 1918, it served as an OHL reserve in the Avesnes area.

During the attack operation "Blücher" transferred back to the 7th Army, the division was used from May 27th to June 13th as part of the IV Reserve Corps ( Conta ) in the Third Aisne Battle . This was followed by positional battles between Oise, Aisne and Marne until mid-July. After the French counter-offensive on July 18, the division was engaged in heavy defensive battles between Soissons and Aisne. Taken out of combat at the end of July, she recovered in the Vouziers area by August 18 . This was followed by positional battles in eastern Champagne, first at Tahure and until September 13 at Reims. From 15 to 25 September in the Woevre plain and west of the Moselle as an army reserve, the division stood on the Maas for the last weeks of the war.

After the end of the war, the division cleared the occupied area on November 12th and marched back home, where the association was demobilized and finally disbanded on September 30th, 1919.

Battle calendar

1914

  • 05th to 9th August - Battles in the Vosges
  • 0August 9-10 - Battle near Sennheim - Mulhouse
  • August 20-22 - Battle of Lorraine
  • August 22nd to September 14th - Battle of Nancy-Epinal
  • 0October 1st to 13th - Battle of Arras
  • October 13th to December 13th - Trench warfare in Flanders and Artois
    • October 15-28 - Battle of Lille
  • December 14th to 24th - December battle in French Flanders
  • from December 25th - trench warfare in Flanders and Artois

1915

1916

  • until July 17th - Trench warfare in Champagne
  • July 20th to October 4th - Battle of the Somme
  • from October 5th - trench warfare in Champagne

1917

  • until January 31st - trench warfare in Champagne
  • January 30th to August 12th - trench warfare in front of Verdun
  • August 12th to September 18th - defensive battle near Verdun
  • September 18 to October 22 - trench warfare in Upper Alsace
  • October 24th to November 2nd - rearguard battles on and south of the Ailette
  • 03rd to 21st November - trench warfare north of the Ailette
  • November 21 to December 5 - fighting in the Siegfried Line
  • from December 5th - Reserve of the OHL at Mézières

1918

  • until January 20th - Reserve of the OHL at Mézières
  • January 20th to February 15th - Trench warfare near Reims
  • February 16 to March 20 - resting time behind the 18th Army
  • March 21 to April 6 - Great battle in France
    • March 21-22 - Breakthrough battle at St. Quentin-La Fère
  • 0April 7th to 25th - fighting on the Avre and near Montdidier and Noyon
  • April 25th to May 27th - Reserve of the OHL at Avesnes
  • May 27th to June 13th - Battle of Soissons and Reims
  • June 14th to July 4th - trench warfare between Oise, Aisne and Marne
  • 0July 5th to 14th - Trench warfare between Aisne and Marne
  • July 15-17 - trench warfare west of Soissons
  • July 18-27 - Defensive battle between Soissons and Reims
  • July 30th to August 30th - Trench warfare in Champagne
  • August 31 to September 13 - Trench warfare near Reims
  • September 15 to 25 - Trench warfare in the Woevre plain and west of the Moselle
  • September 26th to November 11th - defensive battle in Champagne and on the Meuse
  • from November 12th - evacuation of the occupied territory and march home

Commanders

Rank Surname date
Lieutenant General Gustav von Pritzelwitz 0June 3, 1871 to November 29, 1875
Major general Karl von Willisen 0December 7, 1875 to November 20, 1876 (in charge of the tour)
Lieutenant General Kar from Willisen November 21, 1876 to November 22, 1882
Lieutenant General Oskar von Meerscheidt-Hüllessem November 23, 1882 to May 14, 1886
Major General / Lieutenant General Alfred von Keßler May 15 to December 3, 1886 (in charge of the tour)
Lieutenant General Alfred von Keßler 0December 4, 1886 to March 23, 1890
Lieutenant General Emil Weinberger March 24, 1890 to February 22, 1892
Lieutenant General Wilhelm von Roessing February 23, 1892 to August 10, 1895
Lieutenant General Otto von Grone August 11, 1895 to November 28, 1898
Lieutenant General Wilhelm von Oertzen November 29, 1898 to May 19, 1900
Major general Emil von Lessel May 20 to July 8, 1900 (in charge of the tour)
Lieutenant General Paul von Hindenburg 0July 9, 1900 to January 26, 1903
Lieutenant General Curt von Pfuel January 27, 1903 to April 9, 1906
Lieutenant General Max von Fabeck April 10, 1906 to January 26, 1910
Lieutenant General Georg von Krosigk January 27, 1910 to April 1, 1912
Lieutenant General Hans Gustav von der Goltz 0April 2, 1912 to February 28, 1914
Lieutenant General Kurt von Kehler 0March 1, 1914 to January 10, 1915
Major general Franz von Trotta called von Treyden January 11, 1915 to July 7, 1916
Lieutenant General Hermann Heidborn 0July 8, 1916 to August 19, 1916
Lieutenant General Felix Langer August 20, 1916 to February 18, 1918
Lieutenant General Hans von Wolff February 18, 1918 to February 28, 1918
Major general Kurt Prince of Buchau February 28 to May 29, 1918, fallen
Major general Otto von Arnim May 30 to June 3, 1918 (Führer)
Major general Emil Hell 0June 3 to September 7, 1918
Major general Rudolf of the East 0September 7, 1918 to March 25, 1919
Major general Otto von Deimling March 26 to September 30, 1919

literature

  • Hall of Fame of our Old Army. Published on the basis of official material from the Reichsarchiv , Militär-Verlag, Berlin 1927, pp. 68, 128.
  • 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. 723-724.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Reichsarchiv: The World War 1914 to 1918, Volume V: The Autumn Campaign 1914. ES Mittler, Berlin, 1929, pp. 203 f.
  2. ^ Reichsarchiv Volume 31: The Tank Battle of Cambrai. Berlin 1929, counter attacks, pp. 174f.
  3. ↑ 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. 124-125.