8th Division (German Empire)

8th division
active	November 5, 1816 to March 31, 1919
Country	Kingdom of Prussia
Armed forces	Prussian Army
Type	Infantry division
structure	See: Outline
Insinuation	IV Army Corps
First World War	Western front Battle of Mons Battle of the Somme Spring battle at Arras Autumn battle in Flanders
Commanders
Please refer:	List of commanders

The 8th Division , also known as the 8th Infantry Division for the duration of the mobile relationship , was a large unit of the Prussian Army .

structure

The division was part of the IV Army Corps .

German war

• 15th Infantry Brigade
  • 1st Thuringian Infantry Regiment No. 31
  • 3rd Thuringian Infantry Regiment No. 71
• 16th Infantry Brigade
  • 4th Thuringian Infantry Regiment No. 72

Peace structure 1914

• 15th Infantry Brigade in Halle (Saale)
  • Fusilier regiment "General-Feldmarschall Graf Blumenthal" (Magdeburgisches) No. 36 in Halle (Saale) and Bernburg (2nd battalion)
  • Anhalt Infantry Regiment No. 93 in Dessau and Zerbst (2nd Battalion)
• 16th Infantry Brigade in Torgau
  • 4th Thuringian Infantry Regiment No. 72 in Torgau and Eilenburg (3rd Battalion)
  • 8th Thuringian Infantry Regiment No. 153 in Altenburg and Merseburg (3rd Battalion)
• 8th Cavalry Brigade in Halle (Saale)
  • Cuirassier regiment "von Seydlitz" (Magdeburgisches) No. 7 in Halberstadt and Quedlinburg (1st squadron)
  • Thuringian Hussar Regiment No. 12 in Torgau
• 8th Field Artillery Brigade in Halle (Saale)
  • Torgau Field Artillery Regiment No. 74 in Torgau and Wittenberg (II. Department)
  • Mansfeld Field Artillery Regiment No. 75 in Halle (Saale)
• Landwehr Inspection Halle (Saale)

Organization of war during mobilization in 1914

• 15th Infantry Brigade
  • Fusilier regiment "General-Feldmarschall Graf Blumenthal" (Magdeburgisches) No. 36
  • Anhalt Infantry Regiment No. 93
  • Magdeburg Hunter Battalion No. 4
• 16th Infantry Brigade
  • 4th Thuringian Infantry Regiment No. 72
  • 8th Thuringian Infantry Regiment No. 153
• 3rd Squadron / Magdeburg Hussar Regiment No. 10
• 8th Field Artillery Brigade
  • Torgau Field Artillery Regiment No. 74
  • Mansfeld Field Artillery Regiment No. 75
• 2nd and 3rd Company / Magdeburg Pioneer Battalion No. 4

Division of War of October 31, 1918

• 16th Infantry Brigade
  • 4th Thuringian Infantry Regiment No. 72
  • Anhalt Infantry Regiment No. 93
  • 8th Thuringian Infantry Regiment No. 153
  • 5th Squadron / Magdeburg Hussar Regiment No. 10
• Artillery Commander No. 8
  • Torgau Field Artillery Regiment No. 74
  • 1st Battalion / Reserve Foot Artillery Regiment No. 1
• Engineer Battalion No. 118
• Division News Commander No. 8

history

The large association emerged from the troop brigade formed in Erfurt on November 5, 1816 and was expanded to the 8th division on September 5, 1818. The command was in Erfurt and then from 1901 to 1919 was based in Halle (Saale) .

Battle calendar

First World War

1914

• August 18th to 19th --- Battle of the Gete
• 23rd to 24th August --- Battle of Mons
• August 25-27 --- Fights at Solesmes and Battle of Le Cateau
• August 28th to 30th --- Fights on the Somme
• 0September 3rd --- Battle at Lizy
• 0September 5th to 9th --- Battle of the Ourcq
• September 12th to 28th --- Fights on the Aisne
• 0October 1st to 13th --- Battle of Arras
• October 13 to December 13 --- Trench warfare in Flanders and Artois
• December 14th to 24th --- December battle in French Flanders
• from December 25th --- Trench warfare in Flanders and Artois

1915

• until May 8th --- Trench warfare in Flanders and Artois
• 0May 9th to July 23rd --- Battle of La Bassée and Arras
• July 24th to September 24th --- Trench warfare in Flanders and Artois
• September 25th to October 13th --- Autumn battle at La Bassée and Arras
• from October 14th --- Trench warfare in Flanders and Artois

1916

Field postcard, IV.AK / 8th Inf.Div.,
Transit postmark III.AK,
Flanders & Artois, March 1916

• until June 23rd --- Position battles in Flanders and Artois
• June 24th to July 7th --- Reconnaissance and demonstration battles by the 6th Army
• 0July 7th to 11th --- Trench warfare in Flanders and Artois
• July 14th to August 6th --- Battle of the Somme
• 0August 8 to September 18 --- Trench warfare in Flanders and Artois
• September 19 to October 7 --- Battle of the Somme
• from October 8th --- Trench warfare in Flanders and Artois

1917

• until January 31st --- Trench warfare in Flanders and Artois
• 0February 1st to April 1st --- Trench warfare in French Flanders and Artois
• 0April 2nd to May 20th --- Spring battle near Arras
• May 21st to August 5th --- Trench warfare in Flanders and Artois
• 0August 5th to September 26th --- Position battles in Champagne
• September 27th to December 3rd --- Autumn battle in Flanders
• from December 4th --- Trench warfare in Flanders

1918

• until March 31 --- Trench warfare in Flanders
• 0April 1 to 30 --- Trench warfare in Flanders and Artois
• 0May 1st to 19th --- Trench warfare in French Flanders and Artois
• May 19 to September 18 --- Trench warfare in Flanders
• September 22nd to October 8th --- Defensive battle between Cambrai and St. Quentin
• 0October 9th to 26th --- Fights in front of and in the Hermann position
• 0November 5th to 11th --- fighting in retreat in front of the Antwerp - Meuse position
• November 12th to December 19th --- Evacuation of the occupied territory and march home

Commanders

Rank	Surname	date
Lieutenant General	Ernst Ludwig von Tippelskirch	October 30, 1825 to January 29, 1827
Lieutenant General	Oldwig from Natzmer	January 30, 1827 to March 29, 1832
Major General / Lieutenant General	August von Hedemann	March 30, 1840 to March 4, 1848
Major General / Lieutenant General	Ferdinand von Voss-Buch	0March 5, 1848 to March 27, 1854
Major General / Lieutenant General	Karl Albert von Rudolphi	November 21, 1858 to June 13, 1859
Lieutenant General	Karl Albert von Rudolphi	November 19, 1859 to May 5, 1862
Major General / Lieutenant General	August von Horn	0May 6, 1862 to July 20, 1866
Major general	Alexander von Schoeler	July 15 to September 16, 1866 (in charge of the tour)
Major General / Lieutenant General	Alexander von Schoeler	September 17, 1866 to April 22, 1871
Lieutenant General	Hans von Schachtmeyer	May 23, 1871 to May 24, 1875
Lieutenant General	Louis Levin by Rothmaler	May 25, 1875 to August 4, 1880
Lieutenant General	Georg Albert von Schwarzburg-Rudolstein	0August 5 to September 24, 1880 (in charge of the tour)
Lieutenant General	Georg Karl von Brandenstein	September 25, 1880 to November 15, 1882
Lieutenant General	Wilhelm von Grolmann	November 16, 1882 to April 16, 1888
Lieutenant General	Maximilian of verses	April 17, 1888 to April 5, 1889
Lieutenant General	Wilhelm von Blume	0April 6, 1889 to August 28, 1891
Lieutenant General	Hugo von Oidtmann	August 29, 1891 to April 17, 1895
Lieutenant General	Viktor von Mikusch-Buchberg	April 18, 1895 to April 4, 1898
Lieutenant General	Julius Heinrich von Gemmingen-Steinegg	0April 5, 1898 to March 24, 1899
Lieutenant General	Cécil von Renthe called Fink	March 25, 1899 to May 17, 1901
Lieutenant General	Maximilian von Prittwitz and Gaffron	May 18, 1901 to April 23, 1906
Lieutenant General	Maximilian Roehl	April 24, 1906 to March 21, 1910
Lieutenant General	Albert Busso from Werder	March 22, 1910 to November 18, 1912
Lieutenant General	Georg Karl August Hildebrandt	November 19, 1912 to March 19, 1915
General of the Infantry	Ernst II of Saxe-Altenburg	March 20 to May 30, 1915
Major general	Thilo von Hanstein	0June 1, 1915 to April 3, 1916
General of the Infantry	Ernst II of Saxe-Altenburg	0April 4 to August 30, 1916
Lieutenant General	Arthur Hamann	August 31, 1916 to March 31, 1919

literature

• Hall of Fame of our Old Army. Published on the basis of official material from the Reichsarchiv , Militär-Verlag, Berlin 1927, pp. 63, 101.
• 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. 157-159.

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 , pp. 100-101.