The 111th Infantry Division (''111. Infanterie-Division'') was a formation of the Prussian Army and part of the

Imperial German (, literally translated ) is an archaic term for those ethnic Germans who resided within the German state that was founded in 1871. In contemporary usage, it referred to German citizens, the word signifying people from the German ', i.e., Imp ...

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The division was formed on March 25, 1915, near

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, Belgium, and organized over the next several weeks.111. 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. The division was formed primarily from the excess infantry regiments of regular infantry divisions which were being triangularized. The division's 221st Infantry Brigade was formerly the 38th Infantry Brigade of the 19th Infantry Division, which came to the new division along with the 73rd Füsilier Regiment. The 76th Infantry Regiment came from the 17th Infantry Division. The 164th Infantry Regiment was formerly part of the 20th Infantry Division. The 73rd Füsiliers and the 164th Infantry were

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

ian regiments, and the 76th was the regiment of the Hanseatic City of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. Cavalry support came in the form of two squadrons of Baden's 22nd Dragoons. The artillery and combat engineer units were newly formed.

Combat chronicle

The 111th Infantry Division entered the line on the Western Front in the region between the

Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...

and

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

rivers in April 1915. It fought in several engagements, and was then transferred to the front in the

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

and

Artois Artois ( , ; ; Picard: ''Artoé;'' English adjective: ''Artesian'') is a region of northern France. Its territory covers an area of about 4,000 km2 and it has a population of about one million. Its principal cities include Arras (Dutch: ...

region. The division fought in the battle by

La Bassée La Bassée () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Population Heraldry Personalities La Bassée was the birthplace of the painter and draftsman Louis-Léopold Boilly (1761–1845). Another native was Ignace Franç ...

and

Arras Arras ( , ; ; historical ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the Artois region, with a ...

in June 1915, and in the

Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used Chemical weapons in World War I, ...

in September and October 1915. It remained in positional warfare in the Flanders and Artois region into 1916, and fought in the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

. The division remained in the trenchlines in the Somme region into 1917. In April and May, it fought in the Battle of Arras. Later in the year, it fought in the

Battle of Passchendaele The Third Battle of Ypres (; ; ), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele ( ), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by the Allies of World War I, Allies against the German Empire. The battle took place on the Western Front (World Wa ...

, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres. In 1918, the division participated in the

German spring offensive The German spring offensive, also known as ''Kaiserschlacht'' ("Kaiser's Battle") or the Ludendorff offensive, was a series of German Empire, German attacks along the Western Front (World War I), Western Front during the World War I, First Wor ...

, fighting in the

Second Battle of the Somme The Second Battle of the Somme of 1918 was fought during the First World War on the Western Front from late August to early September, in the basin of the River Somme. It was part of a series of successful counter-offensives in response to th ...

. It remained in the line, except for brief respites until the end of the war. Allied intelligence rated the division as second class.

Order of battle on formation

The 111th 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 March 25, 1915, was as follows: *221. Infanterie-Brigade **Füsilier-Regiment Feldmarschall Prinz Albrecht von Preußen (Hannoversches) Nr. 73 **Infanterie-Regiment Hamburg (2. Hanseatisches) Nr. 76 **4. Hannoversches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 164 *3. Eskadron/3. Badisches Dragoner-Regiment Prinz Karl Nr. 22 *4. Eskadron/3. Badisches Dragoner-Regiment Prinz Karl Nr. 22 *Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 221 *Fußartillerie-Batterie Nr. 111 *Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 221

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 May 1, 1918, was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle''. *221.Infanterie-Brigade **Füsilier-Regiment Feldmarschall Prinz Albrecht von Preußen (Hannoversches) Nr. 73 **Infanterie-Regiment Hamburg (2. Hanseatisches) Nr. 76 **4. Hannoversches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 164 *4.Eskadron/3. Badisches Dragoner-Regiment Prinz Karl Nr. 22 *Artillerie-Kommandeur 111 **Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 94 **II.Bataillon/Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 25 (from May 4, 1918) *Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 111 **Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 221 **Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 262 **Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 111 *Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 111

References

111. 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) pp. 600–602

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:111th 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