XXXVIII. Reserve Corps (German Empire)

The XXXVIII. Reserve Corps was a major unit of the German Empire during the First World War . Between April 1915 and October 1917 it was called the Beskidenkorps during its deployment in the Carpathian Mountains and on the central eastern front and then moved to the western front under its original name .

structure

After its mobilization, the corps was subordinate to the 10th Army and was structured as follows:

• 75th Reserve Division
  • 75th Reserve Infantry Brigade
  • 75th Reserve Field Artillery Brigade
  • Reserve Cavalry Division No. 75
  • Reserve Engineer Company No. 75
• 76th Reserve Division
  • 76th Reserve Infantry Brigade
  • 76th Reserve Field Artillery Brigade
  • Reserve Cavalry Division No. 76
  • Reserve Engineer Company No. 76
• 2nd, 3rd and 4th mobile replacement squadrons / 1st Army Corps
• Foot Artillery Battalion No. 38

In the course of the war the structure changed several times.

history

The large association was formed after the outbreak of World War I in December 1914 and mobilized in January 1915. From this point on it was in service on the Eastern Front and from April 1, 1915 was called the Beskid Corps . On October 22nd, 1917, the corps moved to the Western Front and was given its original name here again.

Georg von der Marwitz

General Max Hofmann

Arthur von Lüttwitz

On December 24, 1914, General der Kavallerie von der Marwitz took command of the newly established XXXVIII. Reserve Corps, to which the 75th and 76th Reserve Divisions were initially assigned. The corps was placed under the newly established Army Command 10 of General Hermann von Eichhorn in East Prussia . During the winter battle in Masuria , the corps - deployed on the right wing of the 10th Army - attacked together with the XXXIX. Reserve Corps and the XXI. Army corps from the area north of Gumbinnen across the Russian border to the east. About Suwalki breaching succeeded in space Augustow embracing large parts of the Russian 10th Army under General Thadeus von Sievers . After fighting on the Bobr section, positional battles followed at Lipniki-Lyse until the end of March .

As of April 1, 1915, the general command was renamed "Beskidenkorps" and received the 25th and 35th Reserve Divisions . The corps was pushed into the East Beskids at the seam between the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army ( Boroevic ) and the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army ( Böhm-Ermolli ) in the Laborczatal in front of Mezőlaborc and supported the breakthrough of the 11th Army's south wing on Sanok with its own Approach to Lisko. On June 7, 1915, the kuk XVII was in the Czerniawa area. Corps (General Kritek ) cleared by the Beskid Corps and the 11th Bavarian Division . At the beginning of July the 11th Army and the Austro-Hungarian 4th Army ( Joseph Ferdinand ) under General von Mackensen tried to roll up the southern flank of the Russian western front in Poland after the reconquest of Lemberg by advancing between the Bug and the Vistula with a northerly thrust. During the Bug Offensive, the Beskid Corps acted as a link between the 11th Army and the eastern, newly formed Bug Army . On July 21, General of the Infantry Max Hofmann was appointed deputy leader of the Beskid Corps, which was assigned to the newly formed army under Alexander von Linsingen . The corps took part in the battles for Wojslawice and was able to assert itself victoriously against the Russian 3rd Army in the battles at Cholm (July 31) and Ucherka . During Linsingen's Bug crossing at Wlodowa between August 16 and 18, the corps had orders to remain on the western bank of the Bug and to advance northwards via Koden to Brest-Litovsk and to conquer this fortress. Together with the kuk 6th Corps ( Arz von Straussburg ) and the XXII. Reserve Corps ( Eugen von Falkenhayn ) of the 11th Army finally captured the fortress on August 25th. The corps pursued the enemy together with the Gerok corps ( XXIV. Reserve Corps ) through the Pripet swamps on Kobryn , which was taken on August 29th. After fighting at Bereza Kartuska, the corps went over to the Woyrsch Army Detachment and took part in the fighting for Slonim . On October 8, 1915 Hofmann was appointed Commanding General appointed the Beskidenkorps as his chief of staff acted Lieutenant Colonel von Lettow-Vorbeck.

In the following year, 1916, the Beskid Corps finally went into positional warfare between the Upper Shchara and the Serwetsch . In June 1916, the corps was subordinate to the 35th Reserve Division (Lieutenant General von der Becke) and the newly assigned 47th Reserve Division (Lieutenant General Besser). During the Baranovichi offensive , attacks by the Russian 3rd Army (General Leonid Lesch ) prevented the section of the front from supporting the center of the beleaguered Woyrsch army division .

In July 1917 General Hofmann moved with the general command during the Kerensky offensive in the Zloczow section back to Galicia and was assigned to the Winckler attack group. With the 96th and 223rd divisions , the corps took part in the breakthrough battle at Zalocze in the direction of Tarnopol on July 19 . In late July 1917, the southern army ( Felix von Bothmer transferred) followed fighting between Zbrucz and Siret , after a strong Russian counter-offensive at Hussjatyn followed again the transition to trench warfare .

In mid-October 1917 the general command was transferred to the western front and from October 31st it was deployed under the name " Gruppe Gorze " within the framework of Army Division C ( Georg Fuchs ) between the Maas and Moselle.

General Hofmann was appointed commanding general on January 27, 1918. From May 8, 1918, the General Command was again as XXXVIII. Reserve Corps and was used as part of the 18th Army ( Oskar von Hutier ) on the Avre. From June 9, 1918, the corps led the 11th and 202nd Divisions , as well as the Bavarian 9th Division in the battle of Noyon . At the beginning of August the corps wrestled with the 53rd Reserve Division , 14th and 222nd Divisions between Oise and Aisne . During the retreat fighting General Arthur von Lüttwitz was on September 15, 1918 with the command of the XXXVIII. Reserve Corps, the 42nd Division , the 103rd Division and the 4th Bavarian Division were subordinate to him. At the end of the war the corps still had orders to secure the rear position on the Meuse .

Commanding general

Rank	Surname	date
General of the cavalry	Georg von der Marwitz	December 24, 1914 to July 20, 1915
Lieutenant General	Max Paul Otto Hofmann	July 21 to October 7, 1915 (substitute)
Lieutenant General	Max Paul Otto Hofmann	October 8, 1915 to January 26, 1918 (responsible for the tour)
General of the cavalry	Manfred von Richthofen	September 23, 1916 to November 19, 1918 (substitute)
General of the Infantry	Max Paul Otto Hofmann	January 27 to August 2, 1918
Lieutenant General	Arthur von Lüttwitz	August 3 to September 14, 1918 (substitute)
Lieutenant General	Arthur von Lüttwitz	September 15 to November 15, 1918 (in charge of the tour)

literature

• Reichsarchiv (Ed.): The World War 1914–1918. Volume 7: The operations of 1915. ES Mittler & Sohn . Berlin 1931. pp. 674-675
• Hermann Cron: History of the German Army in the World War 1914–1918. Volume V. Berlin 1937.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 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. 637.