XVIII. Army Corps (German Empire)

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The XVIII. Army Corps was a large unit of the Prussian Army from 1899 to 1919.

structure

Kuno Graf von Hardenberg : The war schaubuch of the XVIII. AK , 1918

Peace structure 1914

The corps has:

history

The corps was established on April 1, 1899 and had its headquarters in Frankfurt am Main . It was subordinate to the VII Army Inspection and included the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt , the southern parts of the provinces of Hesse-Nassau as well as Wetzlar and Arnsberg.

First World War

General of the Infantry Dedo von Schenck

In August 1914, the XVIII. Army Corps under the commanding General von Schenck with 21st and 25th divisions in the 4th Army under Duke Albrecht von Württemberg on the western front and advanced through Luxembourg into the Ardennes . Deployed in the center of the army, the corps advanced through Villance to Maissin during the Battle of Neufchâteau on August 22, 1914. The Duke of Württemberg appeared in Libramont at the headquarters of General von Schenck and insisted on assistance from the XVIII. Army corps in favor of the southern at Neufchâteau strongly oppressed XVIII. Reserve Corps . Although he himself was tied up on the whole front, General Schenck had to promise that his left wing division, the 21st division, would be turned to Betrix. Meanwhile, the 25th Division met a strong French counterattack on the heights south of Maissin, which severely hindered the 21st Division as it marched off to the left on Bertrix. The battle ended victoriously after the French broke off the battle early. After the battle of the Marne where the corps via Vouziers on the right wing of the XVIII. Reserve Corps proceeded parallel to the south, moved it to the section of the 2nd Army , where it took part in the battle of the Aisne in the area southeast of Berry-au-Bac . In October 1914, the Corps moved as a result of Wettlaufes the sea into the room Roye - Nesle and went into the trench warfare over.

At the beginning of 1916 the corps of the 5th Army was transferred and took part in the offensive against Verdun . On February 21, 1916, it was at the center of the attack and attacked the village of Beaumont and the Caures Forest. On the right the VII. Reserve Corps attacked the southwestern edge of the Haumont forest and on the left the III. Army corps against the village and the forest of Soumazannes. Until February 24, the XVIII. Corps Beaumont, in the further course the villages Samogneux, Brabant, Wavrille, Herbebois, the height 344, the Vaux cross and the forests of Caures, Chaume and Wavrille were taken. On April 7, 1916 there was a regrouping in the main attack area of ​​the Battle of Verdun : The XVIII. Corps joined the 21st and 25th divisions until April 9th ​​instead of the 58th division to be relieved in the area south of Douaumont, the X. Reserve Corps ( Kosch ) was subordinate to the 113th Division and the 19th Reserve Division . The XVIII. Corps took up its new position on the line Vaux-Tal - Werk von Bezonvaux - villages Spincourt and Joppecourt between the 5th Reserve Corps and the Xth Reserve Corps.

In mid-September 1916 the corps joined the 1st Army and fought in the Battle of the Somme . At the end of September 1916, the association cleared the Bavarian I. Reserve Corps at Bauchavesnes on the northern bank of the Somme. It was set up opposite the French 5th and 6th Corps, on the two wings the corps command also received the 214th division on the right, and the 217th division on the left as far as the Somme at Clery . Already at the beginning of October 1916 all units were replaced by the V Reserve Corps ( Garnier ). Because of the heavy losses, the XVIII. Army Corps withdrawn from the front and assigned to Strantz Army Division. After fighting on the Meuse and at St. Mihiel, it was used again on the Somme , this time in the association of the 2nd Army, and made General Command XXIII. Reserve corps free.

On January 24, 1917 General Viktor Albrecht was appointed Commanding General of the XVIII. Army Corps. In June 1917 his troops defended the Wytschaete Arch and were together with the IX. Reserve Corps involved in the Battle of Messines . After the climax of the Battle of Flanders , the XVIII. Army Corps between October 13th and November 14th 1917 referred to as the “ Dixmude ” group. Then relocated and renamed the group "Lewarde", the troops of the XVIII. Army corps in the battle of Cambrai in early December 1917 between Fontaine-les-Croisilles to Bellicourt on the German counter-offensive. During the German spring offensive in March 1918, the corps was assigned to the 17th Army and participated in the breakthrough battle of Monchy-Cambrai and the advance towards Bapaume . At the end of the war, the Corps was part of the 17th Army in the retreat on the Hunding position and Valenciennes , subordinate to the 6th , 35th and 220th Divisions in October 1918 .

Commanding general

Rank Surname date
General of the Infantry Oskar von Lindequist March 25, 1899 to April 30, 1904
General of the Infantry Hermann von Eichhorn 0May 1, 1904 to September 12, 1912
General of the Infantry Dedo von Schenck September 13, 1912 to January 20, 1917
Lieutenant General Viktor Albrecht January 21, 1917 to August 26, 1918
Lieutenant General Günther von Etzel August 27, 1918 to April 9, 1919
Lieutenant General Ernst von Hoeppner April 10 to September 30, 1919

Flags / flag decorations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Henning Roet de Rouet: Frankfurt am Main as Prussian garrison from 1866 to 1914. Frankfurt am Main 2016, p. 163.
  2. ^ Reichsarchiv: The World War 1914–1918. Volume I: The Border Battles in the West. ES Mittler & Sohn, Berlin 1925, pp. 311f., 326f.
  3. ^ Crown Prince Wilhelm: My memories. IT middle and son. Berlin 1923, p. 174f.
  4. ^ Crown Prince Wilhelm: My memories. ES Mittler and Son, Berlin 1923, p. 191.
  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. 82.