XXVI. Reserve Corps (German Empire)

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Langemarck Cross of the Veterans Association of the XXVI. Reserve Corps, 1933

The XXVI. Reserve Corps of the German Army was formed at the beginning of the First World War as part of the first wave of mobilization, mainly from volunteers.

structure

When it was set up in August 1914, the corps were:

51st Reserve Division :

  • 101st Reserve Infantry Brigade
    • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 233
    • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 234
    • Reserve Hunter Battalion No. 23
  • 102nd Reserve Infantry Brigade
    • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 235
    • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 236 (transferred to 195th Infantry Division in August 1916 )
  • Division troops
    • Reserve Cavalry Division No. 51
    • Reserve Field Artillery Regiment No. 51
    • Reserve Engineer Company 51

52nd Reserve Division :

  • 103rd Reserve Infantry Brigade
    • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 237
    • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 238
  • 104th Reserve Infantry Brigade
    • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 239
    • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 240
    • Reserve Cavalry Division No. 52
  • Reserve Field Artillery Regiment No. 52
  • Reserve Engineer Company No. 52

First World War

The Württemberg infantry general Otto von Hügel was appointed commanding general of the newly established XXVI on August 25, 1914 . Reserve Corps appointed. Until the end of the war in November 1918, it stood exclusively on the Western Front .

Otto von Hügel
Location in Flanders 21.-24. October 1914

In the first year of the war, the corps was subordinate to the 4th Army , during the First Battle of Flanders it fought in the Battle of the Yser between October 20 and November 30 . On October 21, the attack took place between Poelkapelle and Langemarck in the direction of Steenstraat, Het Sas and Pilkem . At Ypres was to pass right and the city to the simultaneous attack of the XXVII. Reserve corps are left. The 51st Reserve Division (under Lieutenant General Waenker von Dankenschweil ) reached Langemark with its left wing and the hamlet of Mangelaare with its right wing against strong infantry fire, but had to return to its starting positions with heavy losses due to insufficient artillery support. The 52nd Reserve Division (under Lieutenant General Waldorf ) had two columns from Moorslede to target the road from Langemarck to Zonnebeke . The attack by the northern column got stuck on the Mosselmark - Fortuin road. The associations advancing to the south got stuck about 800 meters from Broodseinde. On October 24th, the corps' units received orders to dig in on the lines they had reached. At the beginning of April 1915, the corps fought in the Second Battle of Flanders . It was not until April 24 that XXVI took hold. Reserve Corps entered the battle and involved the 1st Canadian Division northwest of Ypres near St. Julien in heavy fighting, with German gas troops attacking the Allied troops at Langemarck and St. Julien with chlorine gas . The battle raged between Broodseinde and Langemarck Unconditionally back and forth ebte again in trench warfare from.

During the height of the Battle of the Somme , the corps was freed in Flanders in autumn 1916 and transferred to the 2nd Army . To an impending British breakthrough at Bapaume to prevent was approved by the Supreme Command , the XXVI. Reserve corps moved from Flanders to Combles from mid-September 1916. The 51st Reserve Division under General Balck replaced the 185th Division and was based on a 5 km position between Morval and Combles , followed by the 52nd Reserve Division on the right. Another major attack by the Gough Army followed between 25 and 28 September at Morval, in which the British Guard Corps as well as the III., XIV. And XV. Corps involved. In the process, the British were finally able to conquer the ruins of Combles and Morval and push back the German front on Le Transloy.

Between April 28, 1917 and April 6, 1918, the General Command was known as Gruppe Dormoise . It was subordinate to the 3rd Army , which held the positions opposite the French 4th Army in eastern Champagne . On June 20, 1917, the Dormoise group was subordinate to the 51st Reserve Division, the 20th and 214th Divisions .

On March 6, 1918 General von Hügel was removed from his position and retired, and General Oskar von Watter was appointed as the new commanding general . In July 1918 the XXVI. Reserve Corps, together with the I. Reserve Corps, joined the 18th Army on the difficult Matz sector southeast of Montdidier . On August 8th, the 17th Reserve Division and the 54th Division were subordinate to the command. Defensive battles for Roye and Lassigny followed .

Commanding general

Rank Surname date
General of the Infantry Otto von Hügel August 25, 1914 to March 5, 1918
Lieutenant General Oskar von Watter March 6, 1918 to December 22, 1918

literature

  • Hermann Cron: History of the German Army in the World War 1914–1918. Siegismund, Berlin 1937 ( History of the Royal Prussian Army and the German Imperial Army 5).

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Reichsarchiv: The World War, Volume XIII, ESMittler and Son, Berlin, Appendix 6a
  2. ^ Reichsarchiv: The World War 1914-1918, Volume XIV., ESMittler and Son, Berlin 1944, card insert 25
  3. ↑ 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. 633.