The 4th Guards Infantry Division (''4. Garde-Infanterie-Division'') was a unit of the Imperial German

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The division was formed on May 18, 1915.4. Garde-Infanterie-Division (Chronik 1915/1918)
/ref> It was part of a wave of new infantry divisions formed in the spring of 1915. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. It was a division of the Prussian Guards and hence recruited from all over the Kingdom of Prussia. The division was formed primarily from the excess infantry regiments of regular infantry divisions which were being triangularized. The division's 5th Guards Infantry Brigade was transferred from the

3rd Guards Infantry Division Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

, and came to the division with the 5th Foot Guards and the 5th Guard Grenadiers. The

93rd Reserve Infantry Regiment The 93rd Reserve Infantry Regiment (German: Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment, Nr. 93) was unit in the Imperial German Army during the First World War. Established shortly after the outbreak of war in 1914, it was affiliated with the 4th Foot Guards ...

came from the 1st Guards Reserve Division.

Combat chronicle

After formation, the division entered the line north of

Przasnysz Przasnysz (; yi, פראשניץ, russian: Прасныш) is a town in north-central Poland. Located in the Masovian Voivodship, about 110 km north of Warsaw and about 115 km south of Olsztyn, it is the capital of Przasnysz County. It ...

, where it remained until July 1915. It then participated in the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive, breaking through at Przasnysz and fighting in the follow-on battles to the lower Narew and then to the upper Narew. Continuing the offensive, it crossed the Neman River in September 1915 and fought in the Battle of Vilnius. The division then went into reserve and was transferred to the Western Front. It arrived in the trenchlines in Flanders and the Artois in October and remained there until the end of the year. After four months in reserve, it returned to the line in Flanders and the Artois in April 1916. It fought in the Battle of the Somme until November 1916, and then remained in the line on the Somme until March 1917. The division then fought in the Battle of Arras and remained in the line in Flanders and the Artois until September 1917, when it entered the Battle of Passchendaele. In 1918, it participated in the German spring offensive, fighting in the

First Battle of the Somme (1918) Operation Michael was a major German military offensive during the First World War that began the German Spring Offensive on 21 March 1918. It was launched from the Hindenburg Line, in the vicinity of Saint-Quentin, France. Its goal was to ...

, also known as the Second Battle of the Somme (to distinguish it from the 1916 battle). It remained in the line until July, when it went to a quieter sector in Lorraine to rest. In late July and August, it fought in the

Second Battle of the Marne The Second Battle of the Marne (french: Seconde Bataille de la Marne) (15 July – 18 July 1918) was the last major German offensive on the Western Front during the First World War. The attack failed when an Allied counterattack, supported by s ...

. It remained in the line until the end of the war. Allied intelligence rated the division as a first class fighting division.

Order of battle on formation

The 4th Guards Infantry Division was formed as a

triangular division A triangular division is a designation given to the way military divisions are organized. In a triangular organization, the division's main body is composed of three regimental maneuver elements. These regiments may be controlled by a brigade hea ...

. The order of battle of the division on May 19, 1915, was as follows: *

5th Guards Infantry Brigade The 5th Guards Infantry Brigade (German: 5. Garde-Infanterie-Brigade) was a unit in the Imperial German Army prior to and during the First World War. At the outbreak of war, it was part of the 3rd Guards Infantry Division of the Guards Reserve Co ...

5th Foot Guards , disbanded=1919 , commander1= , commander1_label= , commander2= , commander2_label= , commander3= , commander3_label= , commander4= , commander4_label= , notable_commanders= , identification_symbol= , identification_symbol_label= , identificatio ...

5th Guards Grenadiers The 5th Guard Grenadiers (German: Garde-Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 5) was a regiment of the Prussian Army prior to and during the First World War. Established in 1897, it was part of the 5th Guard Infantry Brigade. The regiment was disbanded foll ...

**Guards Reserve ''Jäger'' Battalion * Staff,

Guards Reserve Uhlans The Guard Reserve Uhlan Regiment (German: Garde-Reserve-Ulanen-Regiment) was a cavalry regiment in the Imperial German Army during the First World War. Upon formation of the 4th Guard Infantry Division in May 1915, the regimental HQ and 1st a ...

**1st Squadron, Guards Reserve Uhlans **3rd Squadron, Guards Reserve Uhlans *

2nd Guards Field Artillery The 2nd Guards Field Artillery Regiment (German: 2. Garde-Feldartillerie-Regiment) was an artillery unit in the Prussian Army prior to and during the First World War. The regiment was part of the 4th Guards Infantry Division. See also *List of I ...

* "1/3" 1st Company/28th (2nd Brandenburg) Pioneer-Battalion

Late-war order of battle

The division underwent relatively few organizational changes over the course of the war. Cavalry was reduced, artillery and signals commands were formed, and combat engineer support was expanded to a full pioneer battalion. The order of battle on March 8, 1918, was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle''. * 5th Guards Infantry Brigade **

**Maschinengewehr-Scharfschützen-Abteilung Nr. 14 * 2nd Squadron, Guard Reserve Dragoon Regiment * 4th Guards Artillery Command **6th Guards Field Artillery Regiment **3rd Battalion, 1st Guards Foot Artillery Regiment * 106th Pioneer Battalion **261st Pioneer Company **269th Pioneer Company **4th Guards ''Minenwerfer'' Company * 4th Guards Division Signal Command

References

4. Garde-Infanterie-Division (Chronik 1915/1918) - Der erste Weltkrieg
* Hermann Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle unserer alten Armee'' (Berlin, 1935) * Hermann Cron, ''Geschichte des deutschen Heeres im Weltkriege 1914-1918'' (Berlin, 1937) * Günter Wegner, ''Stellenbesetzung der deutschen Heere 1825-1939.'' (Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück, 1993), Bd. 1 * ''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

{{DEFAULTSORT:4th Guards Infantry Division (German Empire) Infantry divisions of Germany in World War I Military units and formations established in 1915 Military units and formations disestablished in 1919 1915 establishments in Germany