XXVII. Reserve Corps (German Empire)

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The XXVII. Reserve Corps (II. Royal Saxon) was a major unit of the Saxon Army in World War I , which also included units from Württemberg.

structure

The corps was subordinate to the 4th Army at the beginning of the First World War and was structured as follows:

  • 105th Reserve Infantry Brigade
  • Saxon Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 241
  • Saxon Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 242
  • 106th Reserve Infantry Brigade
  • Saxon Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 243
  • Saxon Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 244
  • Saxon Reserve Jäger Battalion No. 25
  • Saxon Reserve Cavalry Division No. 53
  • Saxon Reserve Field Artillery Regiment No. 53
  • Saxon Reserve Pioneer Company No. 53
  • Saxon Reserve Division Bridge Train No. 53
  • Saxon Reserve Medical Company No. 53
  • 107th Reserve Infantry Brigade
  • Saxon Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 245
  • Württemberg Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 246
  • 108th Reserve Infantry Brigade
  • Württemberg Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 247
  • Württemberg Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 248
  • Saxon Reserve Jäger Battalion No. 26
  • Württemberg Reserve Cavalry Division No. 54
  • Württemberg Reserve Field Artillery Regiment No. 54
  • Saxon Reserve Pioneer Company No. 54
  • Saxon Reserve Division Bridge Train No. 54
  • Württemberg Reserve Medical Company No. 54
  • Württemberg Reserve Field Hospital No. 93
  • Württemberg Reserve Field Hospital No. 94

Additional supply units of the corps

  • Saxon Reserve Landwehr Pioneer Company No. 21
  • Saxon Reserve Infantry Ammunition Column No. 55
  • Saxon reserve artillery ammunition column No. 73
  • Württemberg Reserve Artillery Ammunition Column No. 74
  • Saxon reserve fleet column No. 88
  • Saxon reserve fleet column No. 89
  • Saxon Reserve Bakery Column No. 34
  • Württemberg reserve horse depot No. 27

history

Adolph von Carlowitz

The corps was set up with the mobilization at the outbreak of the First World War on August 2, 1914. The regiments met for the first time on September 1, and the senior staffs on September 11. It was only when they arrived on the Western Front in Belgium on October 11 that the Saxon and Württemberg troops met in the army corps.

The corps formed the left wing of the 4th Army deploying in Flanders, the XXVII. Reserve Corps had in the First Battle of Ypres the order Ypres take. On 18 October, the troops reached the line without a fight Lendelende - Courtrai , 19 places Ledeghem and Moor soul were occupied in the next steps. On October 20, 1914, the 54th Reserve Division advanced to Menen via Gheluwet and Wevelghem . The 53rd Reserve Division did not get beyond Osthoek. After reaching and crossing the hamlet of Terhand, the formations remained in the English defensive fire in front of Becelaere. After the artillery intervened, the place could be taken. The 53rd Reserve Division on the left wing of the corps had supported the Bavarians fighting near Koelberg on October 21 and had to dig in between Bercelaere and Broodseinde that evening. Despite multiple attempts to advance across the line reached, the attacks had to be stopped after heavy losses. On October 22nd, General von Carlowitz's Infantry ordered the attack on Gheluvelt to continue. To do this, the 53rd Reserve Division had to attack from Terhand over the Reutelbeek against Vieux-Chien south of Becelaere. This attack, too, was repulsed before the target was achieved, and the demoralized associations withdrew to their original positions. On October 24th, the 54th Reserve Division stormed the hamlet of Reutel and tried to take the Polygon Forest. The 53rd Reserve Division had to fend off English counter-attacks from Zonnebeke . After overcoming the first English line, the attack on the polygonal forest remained with great losses. After days of attacks, the attack was canceled on the evening of October 24th and the positions reached had to be secured against counterattacks the next day. Instead of the overwhelmed General von Carlowitz, General von Schubert took over command of the corps on October 27, 1914.

At the beginning of September 1916, the General Command with two main divisions was briefly deployed on both sides in the Clery area in the Battle of the Somme . On September 6, 1916, General of the Infantry von Ehrenthal took command on the left wing of the 1st Army , and by inserting the 13th Division , which was also subordinate to it, narrower sections were created for easier defense against the French mass attacks.

In November 1916, the corps was transported to the Eastern Front and assigned to the southern section of the Southern Army on the Narajowka . During the Kerensky offensive in July 1917, all attacks by the Russian 7th Army against Bothmer's south wing failed. The corps deployed there asserted itself in its positions with the subordinate 75th and 53rd Reserve Divisions . On September 22nd, the XVIII. Corps (Schenk Group) the section.

From December 1917 until the end of the war, the corps was again deployed on the western front, mainly between Oise and Aisne .

Battle calendar

1914

1915

1916

  • March 31 to June 23 --- Trench warfare in Flanders and Artois
  • June 24th to July 7th --- Reconnaissance and demonstration battles by the 6th Army
  • July 7th to August 30th --- Trench warfare in Flanders and Artois
  • September 1st to 15th --- Battle of the Somme
  • September 22nd to October 9th --- Trench warfare in the Artois
  • October 10 to November 12 --- Trench warfare in Champagne
  • November 12 to 23 --- OHL reserve and transport to the east
  • November 23 to July 20 --- Position battles on the Narajowka, between Narajowka and Zlota-Lipa and on the Ceniowka

1917

  • July 21st to 30th --- Persecution battles in East Galicia
  • July 30th to 31st --- Bilki Bach, storming Niwar and Zalesie
  • July 31 to August 2 --- Fights for the Zbrucz
  • August 3 to November 30 --- Trench warfare on the Zbrucz
  • November 30th to December 17th --- OHL reserve and transport to the west
  • December 18th to January 24th --- Border guards on the Belgian-Dutch border

1918

  • January 25th to February 15th --- Trench warfare in Flanders
  • February 22 to March 20 --- Trench warfare in the Artois and deployment to the Great Battle of France
  • March 21st to April 6th --- Great battle in France
  • April 7th to 12th --- Fights on the Ancre , Somme and Avre
  • April 16 to June 13 --- Position battles in front of Verdun
  • June 14th to July 4th --- Position battles between Oise , Aisne and Marne
  • July 5th to 17th --- Trench warfare west of Soissons
  • July 18th to 25th --- Defensive battle between Soissons and Reims
  • July 26th to August 3rd --- Mobile defensive battle between Marne and Vesle
  • 4th to 16th August --- Position battles between Oise and Aisne
  • 17th August to 4th September --- Defensive battle between Oise and Aisne

Commanding general

Rank Surname date
General of the Infantry Adolph von Carlowitz September 1 to October 26, 1914
General of the artillery Richard von Schubert October 27, 1914 to September 6, 1916
General of the Infantry Oskar von Ehrenthal September 6, 1916 to June 15, 1917
General of the cavalry Hans Krug from Nidda July 16, 1917 to September 9, 1917
Lieutenant General Bernhard von Watzdorf September 9, 1917 to February 22, 1919

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Artur Baumgarten-Crusius, Johann Edmund Hottenroth: Saxony in a great time, history of the Saxons in the world war. Volume 2, page 148, re-establishment of the XXVII. Reserve Corps , Academic Bookshop R. Max Lippold, Leipzig 1919–1921.
  2. ^ Reichsarchiv Volume V: The Autumn Campaign 1914, Mittler and Son, Berlin 1929, p. 303 f.
  3. ^ Reichsarchiv Volume V: The Autumn Campaign 1914, Mittler and Son, Berlin 1929, pp. 304, 310
  4. ^ Reichsarchiv Volume V: The Autumn Campaign 1914, Mittler und Sohn, Berlin 1929, p. 323