52nd Reserve Division (German Empire)

52nd Reserve Division
active	August 2, 1914 to January 1919
Country	German Empire
Armed forces	Prussian Army
Type	Infantry division
structure	See: Outline
Insinuation	XXVI. Reserve Corps
First World War	Western front First Battle of Flanders Battle of the Somme Battle of the Aisne Third Battle of Flanders
Commanders
1914-1918	Lieutenant General Emil Waldorf

The 52nd Reserve Division was a large unit of the Prussian Army .

structure

Division of War 1914

• 103rd Reserve Infantry Brigade
  • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 237
  • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 238
• 104th Reserve Infantry Brigade
  • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 239
  • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 240
• Reserve Cavalry Division No. 52
• Reserve Field Artillery Regiment No. 52
• Reserve Engineer Company No. 52

Division of War of October 19, 1918

• 104th Reserve Infantry Brigade
  • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 238
  • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 239
  • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 240
  • Reserve Cavalry Division No. 52
• Artillery Commander No. 69
  • Reserve Field Artillery Regiment No. 52
  • Foot Artillery Battalion No. 51
• Engineer Battalion No. 352
• Division News Commander # 452

Battle calendar

The division was formed mainly from volunteers at the beginning of World War I as part of mobilization . In 1914 it was under the XVI. Army Corps and was used exclusively on the Western Front for the rest of the war .

1914

• October 18 to November 30 --- Battle of Ypres , occupied Passchendaele on October 20
• December 1 to April 21 --- Trench warfare on the Yser

1915

• April 22nd to May 25th --- Fighting for Ypres
  • April 22 to 23 --- Big breakthrough via Pilkem , Langemarck to the heights north of Ypres (first gas attack on the German side)
• May 26 to September 16, 1916 --- Trench warfare on the Yser

1916

• September 17th to October 2nd --- Battle of the Somme
• October 7th to April 29th --- Position battles in Champagne

1917

• April 29th to May 27th --- Aisne-Champagne double battle
• May 28th to July 9th --- Trench warfare near Reims
• July 9th to 20th --- Trench warfare in Flanders and Artois
• July 22nd to August 12th --- Summer battle in Flanders
• August 15 to December 31 --- Trench warfare in Champagne

1918

• January 1st to April 27th --- Trench warfare in Champagne
• April 26-29 --- Battle of Kemmel
• April 30 to August 29 --- Trench warfare in Flanders
• August 29th to 31st --- Fighting in front of the Ypres- La Bassée front
• September 1st to 2nd --- Battle of Monchy - Bapaume
• September 3 to 26 --- Fighting in front of the Siegfried Front
• 28 September to 17 October --- Defensive battle in Flanders
• October 18th to 4th --- rearguard fighting between Yser and Lys
• October 25th to November 1st --- Battle of the Lys
• November 2nd to 4th --- Rearguard fighting on both sides of the Scheldt
• November 5th to 11th --- fighting in retreat in front of the Antwerp - Meuse position
• from November 12th --- evacuation of the occupied territory and march home

Commanders

Rank	Surname	date
Lieutenant General	Emil Waldorf	September 10, 1914 to December 12, 1918

literature

• Hall of Fame of our Old Army. Published on the basis of official material from the Reichsarchiv , Militär-Verlag, Berlin 1927, pp. 71, 145.