1st Reserve Division (German Empire)

1st Reserve Division (1\. Reserve-Division)

Active| 1914-1919
Country| Germany
Branch| Army
Type| Infantry
Size| Approx. 15,000 World War I: Gumbinnen, Tannenberg, 1st Masurian Lakes, Łódź, German spring offensive, Hundred Days Offensive

Military unit

The 1st Reserve Division (1\. Reserve-Division) was a reserve infantry division of the Imperial German Army in World War I. It was formed, on mobilization in August 1914, from reserve infantry units, primarily from East Prussia, and was part of I Reserve Corps. The division served on the Eastern Front from the beginning of the war until October 1917, after which it was transferred to the Western Front for the war's final campaigns. Allied intelligence rated it a third-class division, mainly due to its losses in heavy fighting and reduced quality of replacement troops.[1][2]

## August 1914 organization

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The 1st Reserve Division's initial wartime organization was as follows:[3]

* 1.Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade:
* Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 1
* Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 3
* 72.Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade:
* Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 18
* Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 59
* Reserve-Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 1
* Reserve-Ulanen-Regiment Nr. 1
* Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 1
* 4./Pommersches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 2

## Late World War I organization

[edit]

Divisions underwent many changes during the war, with regiments moving from division to division, and some being destroyed and rebuilt. During the war, most divisions became triangular \- one infantry brigade with three infantry regiments rather than two infantry brigades of two regiments (a "square division"). The 1st Reserve Division triangularized in June 1917.[4] An artillery commander replaced the artillery brigade headquarters, the cavalry was further reduced, the engineer contingent was increased, and a divisional signals command was created. The 1st Reserve Division's order of battle on January 1, 1918, was as follows:[3]

* 1.Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade:
* Ostpreußisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 1
* Ostpreußisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 3
* Posensches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 59
* 4.Eskadron/2\. Garde-Ulanen-Regiment
* Artillerie-Kommandeur 71:
* Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 1
* II./Reserve-Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 1
* Stab Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 301:
* 4./Pommersches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 2
* 1.Reserve-Kompanie/Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 34
* Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 201
* Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 401

## References

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* 1.Reserve-Division at 1914-18.info
* Hermann Cron et al., Ruhmeshalle unserer alten Armee (Berlin, 1935)
* Günter Wegner, Stellenbesetzung der deutschen Heere 1815-1939, Bd. 1 (Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück, 1993)
* Histories of Two Hundred and Fifty-One Divisions of the German Army which Participated in the War (1914-1918), compiled from records of Intelligence section of the General Staff, American Expeditionary Forces, at General Headquarters, Chaumont, France 1919 (1920)

## Notes

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1. ^ 1\. Reserve-Division - Der erste Weltkrieg
2. ^ Histories of Two Hundred and Fifty-One Divisions of the German Army which Participated in the War (1914-1918), compiled from records of Intelligence section of the General Staff, American Expeditionary Forces, at General Headquarters, Chaumont, France 1919 (1920)
3. ^ a b Cron et al., Ruhmeshalle
4. ^ 1\. Reserve-Division - Der erste Weltkrieg

* v
* t
* e

Army level commands of the Imperial German Army in World War I

Numbered Armies|

* 1st
* 2nd
* 3rd
* 4th
* 5th
* 6th
* 7th
* 8th
* 9th
* 10th
* 11th
* 12th
* 14th
* 17th
* 18th
* 19th

8th|

| I Corps|

* 1st Division
* 2nd Division

|

XVII Corps|

* 35th Division
* 36th Division

XX Corps|

* 37th Division
* 41st Division

I Reserve Corps|

* 1st Reserve Division
* 36th Reserve Division

Landwehr Corps|

* 3rd Landwehr Division
* 4th Landwehr Division

* 3rd Reserve Division
* 1st Cavalry Division

18th|

| I Royal Bavarian Corps|

* 19th Reserve Division
* 29th Division
* 15th Reserve Division
* 200th Infantry Division
* 204th Infantry Division
* 34th Division

|

XXVI Reserve Corps|

* 75th Reserve Division
* 9th Division
* 18th Division
* 6th Royal Bavarian Division

XVIII Reserve Corps|

* 231st Division
* 238th Division
* 81st Reserve Division
* 2nd Division
* 1st Reserve Division
* 82nd Reserve Division
* 5th Reserve Division

XIV Corps|

* 232nd Division
* 237th Division
* 11th Division
* 221st Division
* 105th Infantry Division
* 87th Infantry Division

Armee-Abteilung|

* A (Falkenhausen)
* B (Gaede)
* C (Strantz)
* D (Scholtz)
* Gronau
* Lauenstein
* Woyrsch

Named Armies|

* Bug
* Niemen
* North
* South
* High Command of Coastal Defence

Related|

* Army order of battle (1914)
* Army order of battle, Western Front (1918)
* Ober Ost
* Army Group Mackensen

* List of Divisions
* List of Corps

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