I. Royal Bavarian Reserve Corps

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The I. Royal Bavarian Reserve Corps of the Bavarian Army was set up on August 2, 1914 as part of the mobilization at the beginning of the First World War .

structure

At the beginning of the war, the corps was structured as follows:

  • 1st Bavarian Reserve Division
    • 1st Bavarian Reserve Infantry Brigade
    • 2nd Bavarian Reserve Infantry Brigade
    • Bavarian Reserve Cavalry Regiment 1
    • Bavarian Reserve Field Artillery Regiment 1
    • 1st reserve company / 1. Bavarian Pioneer Battalion
  • 5th Bavarian Reserve Division
    • 9th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Brigade
    • 11th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Brigade
    • Bavarian Reserve Jäger Battalion 1
    • Bavarian Reserve Cavalry Regiment 5
    • Bavarian Reserve Field Artillery Regiment 5
    • 4th company / 2. Bavarian Pioneer Battalion
    • 1st reserve company / 2nd Bavarian Pioneer Battalion

history

The corps was established in August 1914 and served on the Western Front throughout the war . At the beginning of the war it was in Lorraine , from October 1914 permanently in the Arras area in the section of the 6th Army . From August 1916 it was part of the "Kronprinz Rupprecht" Army Group ; in February 1918 it was subordinated to the newly formed 17th Army .

First World War

Karl von Fasbender

On August 10, 1914, Karl Ritter von Fasbender took over the leadership of the 6th Army corps in the Saargemünd area . Following upstream of the Saar, the corps reached Drulingen by August 17th and advanced into the area north of Lauterfingen , where there was communication with the right neighbor, the XXI. Army Corps established. On the morning of August 20, as part of the Battle of Lorraine , the Corps and the 1st Reserve Division entered the staging area west of Mittersheim, pushed past Lauterfingen to the east and broke through the lines of the 16th Corps (General Louis Taverna) in the Battle of Mörchingen. of the French 2nd Army. The attack by the Bavarian 1st and 5th Reserve Divisions advanced via Avricourt to Blamont , other parts of the corps were assigned to take away Fort Manonviller. On the left wing accompanied the I. Bavarian Army Corps under General der Infantry Oskar von Xylander , this broke the resistance of the French 8th Corps (General Marie Joseph de Castelli), recaptured Saarburg and advanced on Baccarat . In August 1914 it was used in the battle of the Trouée de Charmes between Épinal and Toul .

As a result of the race to the sea , the corps was transported to the Douai area, where on October 2 the French 88th Territorial Division was forced out of the city. The 1st Reserve Division (Lieutenant General Alfred Göringer ) advanced via Cuincy and Esquerchin to the eastern apron of Arras, while at the same time the French 70th Reserve Division marched threateningly on the flank of the 1st Reserve Corps. The corps immediately deployed its forces, its own right flank covered by the 5th Reserve Cavalry Regiment, and reached the line to the west of Drocourt-Bois Bernard-Izel fighting. The corps had orders to take Ecurie and Roclincourt; the city of Arras was only to be enclosed for the time being. On October 5th the 5th Reserve Division (Lieutenant General Friedrich Kress von Kressenstein) reached Souchez and Thélus, troops of the 1st Reserve Division were close to Blangy. After that, the corps could not get beyond the heights of Vimy due to counter attacks by the French 33rd Corps (General Philippe Pétain ) . On October 6th, however, the 9th Reserve Infantry Brigade (Major General Friedrich Ritter von Hurth ) secured the Loretto Heights and climbed the plateau of Ablain St. Nazaire and Carency . The corps dug in on the line they won and spent the winter in trench warfare. On the right was the XIV Army Corps , on the left the IV Army Corps . On December 17, 1914, strong attacks by the French 21st and 33rd Corps against the Loretto-Höhe and Carency were repulsed. The hard-pressed corps surrendered the northern section between Vermelles-Loretto-Souchez to the 28th Division and withdrew between Carency-La Targette-east Ecurie-east Roclincourt-St. Laurent closer together on the northern apron of Arras.

In the Loretto Battle from May 9 to July 23, 1915, the French 10th Army tried again to force a breakthrough. On May 9, the corps was attacked by the French 21st Army Corps (70th and 77th Divisions and Marine Division) and the 20th Army Corps (11th and 39th Divisions). The 5th Reserve Division defended the section between Carency-Ecurie. The 10th French Army and the 21st Army Corps under Paul Maistre were able to achieve a three kilometer deep break. On May 14, 1915, the intensity of the battle subsided and the 5th Reserve Division could be detached from the front.

In the autumn battle at La Bassée and Arras from September 23 to October 13, 1915, the corps was also attacked south of the Scarpe. For this he was subordinated to the 2nd Royal Saxon Jäger Battalion No. 13 and parts of the 9th Royal Saxon Infantry Regiment No. 133 , which was connected to the 111th Division on the left wing . In September 1915, the French were again unable to force a breakthrough despite extremely massive use of artillery, the Bavarians were able to withstand the onslaught again.

In the Battle of the Somme in July 1916, the corps of the 2nd Army (from July 19, AOK 1 command area ) was initially assigned to the Combles area as a reserve . On August 13, 1916, it replaced the hard-pressed Bavarian 8th Reserve Division on both sides of Maurepas . For days in battle the (Bavarian) 5th Reserve Division held the village, which finally fell into the hands of the French on August 24th. Until the detachment at the end of August, the Fasbender group held the front between Combles and Clery, subordinate to the 1st and 2nd Guard Divisions. In the heavy fighting the 5th Reserve Division had lost about 4,500 men and had to be pulled from the front on August 27th. In September the General Command defended the positions on both sides and in Sailly against the attacks of the French and was then by the XVIII. Army Corps replaced.

During the spring battle at Arras in 1917, the corps was again with the 6th Army ( Ludwig von Falkenhausen ) at the old battlefield on the heights of Vimy, which, however, could no longer be held due to a break-in by the English at the neighboring 14th Infantry Division . The commanding general von Fasbender therefore decided to move the defense about five kilometers to the rear in order to force the English artillery to move to a new position. On April 13, 1917, the corps moved into its new position, further advances by the English between April 23 and 28 failed. The III. The Bavarian Army Corps under General Hermann von Stein replaced the I. Reserve Corps on May 10th. It was possible to repel the attacks by English troops, which were carried out at great expense, and to establish a new, stable front line by retaking the village of Fresnoy.

During the spring offensive of 1918, the corps was part of the newly formed 17th Army ( Otto von Below ) and on March 28th, north of the Scarpe near Gavrelle, in the direction of Arras. The "Mars attack" was expected by the British 3rd Army and hit well-prepared positions. As a result, it did not advance. The corps had to go back into defense for the next few months.

After the German front collapsed on August 8, 1918 in the battle east of Amiens , the corps of the British 3rd Army further north expanded their attack on August 26, also south of the Scarpe and reached a break in width of eleven kilometers in the section of the corps . The corps had to finally give up the long-contested positions east of Arras in September. The British 3rd Army broke through the front of the German 17th Army again on October 8 at the Battle of Cambrai and liberated the city the following day. After the breakthrough of the British Cavalry Corps at Le Cateau, General Otto von Below was replaced by General Mudra on October 12th. The British 3rd Army pushed the German 17th Army back to Solesmes - Le Cateau in the Battle of the Selle on October 20th . At the end of the war, the I. Bavarian Reserve Corps wrestled with the 187th division , the 208th division and the 10th replacement division in the Valenciennes area and led retreat battles on the Antwerp-Maas position until November 11, 1918.

Commanding general

Rank Surname date
General of the Infantry Karl von Fasbender August 10, 1914 to November 8, 1918

literature

Individual evidence

  1. Dermot Bradley (ed.), Günter Wegner: Occupation of the German Army 1815-1939. Volume 1: The higher command posts 1815–1939. Biblio Publishing House. Osnabrück 1990, ISBN 3-7648-1780-1 , p. 658.