IX. Reserve Corps (German Empire)

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General Command

The IX. Reserve Corps was a major unit of the army of the German Empire .

structure

At the beginning of the First World War, the corps were :

set up from

First World War

Max von Boehn

With the mobilization at the outbreak of the First World War, General of the Infantry von Boehn was reactivated and the commanding general of the IX. Reserve Corps appointed. As chief of staff acted Colonel of pride man , the 17th Reserve Division led Lieutenant General Wagener , the 18th Reserve Division was under the command of General of Infantry Gronen .

Until August 22, 1914, the corps was responsible for protecting the coast in Schleswig-Holstein against a possible British landing. After these fears did not materialize, the corps was transported to Belgium on August 23 . On August 25th, subordinate units in Leuven were embroiled in alleged skirmishes that turned into war crimes . This was followed by fighting near Mechelen and the attack on Termonde fortress . After the withdrawal of the German army wing from the Marne , the corps had orders to advance as reinforcement from Belgium via St. Quentin to the extreme right wing of the 1st Army . On September 11th Boehn's troops reached the Tournai - Leuze line , the accompanying 7th Cavalry Division stood on the Marchiennes - Solesmes line . On the evening of September 12th the corps was north of Denain and at Valenciennes .

During the battle of the Aisne , the 18th Reserve Division reached Noyon on the afternoon of September 14, coming from St. Quentin , parts pushed the opponent, who was swinging from Carlepont to Blerancourt, in the flank and secured on the outer right wing against the enemy's intentions to surround. On September 16, the 18th Reserve Division advanced between Semigny and Pontoise to the edge of the forest northeast of Carlepont. The 17th Reserve Division was on the way from Thiescourt to Ribecourt. Both divisions, north-east of Carlepont, encountered tough resistance from the French and ran aground. The 7th Cavalry Division secured the right flank at Margny and failed when attempting to advance to Compiègne via Lassigny , before Elincourt. On September 20, the right wing of the 1st Army won with the IX. Army Corps the line Bailly-Tracy le Val and the western adjoining 18th Reserve Division the line north of Puisaleine- Autrêches . The Bavarian 4th Brigade and the 17th Reserve Division secured the Lassigny-Dreslincourt line on the far right.

In October 1914, the corps fended off attacks by the newly deployed French 2nd Army between Roye and Noyon. On the right wing the newly introduced XVIII. Army Corps extended the front to the north and both went into trench warfare.

From October 21, 1915, the corps was placed under the 6th Army , followed by trench warfare in Flanders and Artois . On February 21, 1916, the so-called "Gießler-Höhe" was stormed near Angres , and further battles followed near Givenchy .

Memorial on the windmill hill near Pozières

On July 19, 1916, the corps was added to the newly formed 1st Army and thrown into the Battle of the Somme . The Boehn group fought alongside the 17th and 18th RD, with the 5th and 117th Divisions in the Battle of the Somme. After the loss of Pozières by the XIX. Army corps replaced. From August 25, the corps fought again with the 6th Army in Flanders and Artois, before returning to the Somme on September 26, 1916 . From October 26, 1916, the corps was part of the 4th Army in new position battles on the Yser .

Karl Dieffenbach

In February 1917 the corps was under Lieutenant General Karl Dieffenbach before Ypres before it took over the southern section of the 6th Army between St. Laurent and Croisilles on April 2 and was used in the spring battle of Arras . The corps, now known as the “Arras” group, held the Font in the eastern apron of Arras - the 11th Division and 17th Reserve Division were at Monchy, the 18th Reserve Division was between Guenappe and Wancourt, and the 220th Division was standing at Cherisy and Fontaine-lès-Croisilles. During the British major attack on April 9, 1917, the 18th division at Gavrelle and the 17th division at Baileul-Gabain came up to the front line.

After the loss of the front arch of Wytschaete ( Battle of Messines ) by the General Command XIX. Army Corps on June 7, 1917, the corps was transferred to Flanders to lead the "Wytschaete" group of the 4th Army . The 11th , 24th , 119th , 195th and 207th divisions were subordinate to the group on June 20 . During the Great Battle of Flanders , the “Dieffenbach” corps struggled for several months to maintain the new front line Hollebeke-Zandvoorde-west of Warneton on the southern section of the battle.

In January 1918 the group "Dieffenbach" was added to the newly formed 17th Army for the planned spring offensive . On March 22, 1918, the subordinate troops fought in the Battle of Monchy - Cambrai and then took part in the attack in the Scarpe . On April 11, 1918, the Dieffenbach group returned to the 6th Army in Flanders, took command of the 16th , 239th and 240th Divisions during the Fourth Battle of Flanders south of Merville and led the attack against the British 1st Army . Army ( Horne ) proceeded towards Robecq .

From May to August 1918, trench warfare followed again in Artois and French Flanders. Then the army command moved the IX. Reserve corps to reinforce the 1st Army , which was hard- pressed in the Soissons - Reims area . After the following retreat battles , the corps wrestled in the second Battle of Cambrai in September 1918 .

Commanding general

Rank Surname date
General of the Infantry Max von Boehn 0August 2, 1914 to February 1, 1917
Lieutenant General Viktor Kuehne 0February 2 to March 12, 1917 (in charge of the tour)
Lieutenant General Karl Dieffenbach March 12, 1917 to November 8, 1918

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Reichsarchiv (Ed.): Volume I, Kriegsgliederungen p. 682.
  2. ^ Reichsarchiv (Hrsg.): Volume IV: The Marne campaign. Berlin 1926, p. 467.
  3. ^ Reichsarchiv (Hrsg.): Volume IV: The Marne campaign. Berlin 1926, p. 71.
  4. ^ Reichsarchiv (ed.): The World War 1914-1918. Volume XIII, ES Mittler & Sohn, Appendix 2a.
  5. ↑ 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 , p. 630.