XIV Reserve Corps (German Empire)

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The XIV Reserve Corps was a large unit of the army of the German Empire .

structure

At the beginning of the war, the corps was subordinate to the 7th Army and was structured as follows:

  • 26th (Württ.) Reserve Division
    • 51st (Württ.) Reserve Infantry Brigade
    • 52nd (Württ.) Reserve Infantry Brigade
    • Württ. Reserve Dragoon Regiment
    • Württ. Reserve Field Artillery Regiment No. 26
    • 4th company / II. Württemberg Pioneer Battalion No. 13
  • 28th Reserve Division
    • 55th Reserve Infantry Brigade
    • 56th Reserve Infantry Brigade
    • Reserve Hunter Battalion No. 14
    • Reserve Dragoon Regiment No. 8
    • Reserve Field Artillery Regiment No. 29
    • 1st and 2nd Reserve Company / Engineer Battalion No. 13

history

With the mobilization on August 2, 1914 at the outbreak of the First World War , the corps was set up and lay on the western front for the entire war . General of the artillery von Schubert was the first commanding general , while the chief of staff was Lieutenant Colonel Bronsart von Schellendorff . The subordinate 26th and 28th Reserve Divisions were commanded by General der Infanterie von Soden and Lieutenant General Curt von Pavel .

Assigned to the 7th Army in Alsace in August 1914 , the corps was transported to the west of St. Quentin on the Somme at the end of September during the race to the sea and placed under the 2nd Army . Deployed in the area of Combles west of Bapaume , an almost two-year trench war followed .

Hermann von Stein
Otto von Moser

At the beginning of the Battle of the Somme in July 1916, the XIV Reserve Corps under General von Stein was in the main area of ​​attack for the British attacks between Gommecourt , Ovillers-la-Boisselle and Thiepval . The corps held 36 kilometers of front, assigned to the 52nd Division , 26th and 28th Reserve Divisions, and the 12th Division . On the first day of the attack, the attacked front had to be reinforced by the introduction of the 185th Division and the Bavarian 10th Reserve Division , the positions could essentially be held. On July 3, the 28th Reserve Division had to give up the place Fricourt against the British 7th Division Mametz, before the opposing 21st and 17th Divisions. The section was additionally supported by the brought up Bavarian division Burkhardt and the 183rd division . The section of the 12th Division between Longueval and the Somme, which was hardest hit by the enemy, was already taken over by the intervening General Command of VI. Reserve Corps ( 11th and 12th Reserve Divisions ) under General von Goßler .

In March 1917, General von Moser became the commanding general of the XIV Reserve Corps, which, after retreating to the Siegfried Line, took over the positions in the Bullecourt area. During the Battle of Arras , the General Command, known as the "Queant" group in mid-April 1917, was established on the south wing of the 6th Army (Falkenhausen). Assuming were made between Croisilles up in the area northwest of Cambrai , the 26th Reserve Division (in replacement by since 7 April, presented the 27th Division ) and the 2nd Guards Reserve Division between Pronville to Moevres. On April 11, a strong British tank attack between Bullecourt and Queant was repulsed. At the beginning of May the 27th Division, which had been tried and tested, left the corps section, where the replacing 3rd Guards Division on May 12th and 13th repelled new enemy attacks at Bullecourt.

On June 12, 1917, the General Command took over the command of the northern group "Arras". The 26th , 220th and 236th Divisions and the 17th Reserve Division were now assigned . After the British tank attack at Cambrai on November 20, the corps was pushed back to the western apron of the city, Havrincourt, Marcoing and Masnieres were lost. The counterattack of the superordinate AOK 2 , scheduled on November 30, was followed by the northern group "Arras" (Gen.Kdo. XIV. RK) somewhat delayed and with less success than the scheduled southern groups. The attack between Mouvres and Bourlon was carried out with seven divisions - the 240th and 20th divisions , 49th and 21st reserve divisions in the first meeting, followed by the 214th and 221st in the second line, pushing south. The 3rd Guard Division acted as a reserve on the northern edge of the Bourlon Forest. The 119th Division in the south maintained contact with the 107th Division of the Caudry Group (Gen.Kdo. XIII. AK ) and initially remained defensive. The group "Arras", which had started later and had met stronger resistance, managed to take back four kilometers of lost terrain over a width of only ten kilometers by December 6th. The British had only evacuated the hotly contested Bourlon Forest on December 5th.

On February 8, 1918, General von Lindequist took over the XIV. Reserve Corps, which was deployed in the section of the newly formed 17th Army during the spring offensive . The Lindquist group took part in the Michael attack on March 21 with the 20th and 195th divisions in the first and with the 39th division in the second meeting. Together with the VI. Reserve Corps ( from the Borne ) the second position between St. Léger and Beaumetz could not be breached immediately because of the unexpectedly tough British resistance. Finally, after deploying the reserves, the British IV Corps (General Woollcombe ) succeeded in snatching the town of Bapaume on March 24th. On March 26th the corps moved the 4th , 24th and 39th Divisions forward via Puisieux, the 3rd Guards Division on the right tried in vain to reach Gommecourt. The breakthrough on Hébuterne sought by the General Command could no longer be enforced. The corps eventually formed the left wing of 17th Army in the area north of Albert . After four months of positional warfare, the withdrawal was initiated in mid-August, with the 3rd Marine Division , the 16th Reserve Division and the 183rd Division reporting to the Association.

Commanding general

Rank Surname date
General of the artillery Richard von Schubert August 2 to September 15, 1914
Lieutenant General Hermann von Stein September 16, 1914 to October 28, 1916
Lieutenant General Georg Fuchs October 29, 1916 to March 11, 1917
Lieutenant General Otto von Moser March 12, 1917 to February 7, 1918
Lieutenant General Arthur von Lindequist February 8 to June 14, 1918
Lieutenant General Richard Wellmann June 15 to August 24, 1918
General of the Infantry Curt of tomorrow August 24, 1918 to January 9, 1919

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Reichsarchiv: The World War 1914-1918, Mittler, Volume I, p. 681
  2. ^ Reichsarchiv: The World War 1914–1918, Volume XIII, ES Mittler und Sohn, supplement with insert 10 (location November 20) and insert 12 (location November 30), text pp. 124–142
  3. ^ Reichsarchiv: The World War 1914-1918, Volume XIV., ESMittler and Son, Berlin 1944, Supplement No. 6b and 9
  4. ^ Reichsarchiv: The World War 1914-18, Volume XIV., ES Mittler und Sohn, 1944, card insert 25
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g 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. 632