The 16th Reserve Division (''16. Reserve-Division'') was a unit of the Imperial German

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 mobilization of the German Army in August 191416. Reserve-Division (Chronik 1914-1918)
/ref> as part of VIII Reserve Corps. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was recruited primarily in the Prussian

Rhine Province The Rhine Province (), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. ...

. At the beginning of the war, it formed the VIII Reserve Corps with the 15th Reserve Division.

Combat chronicle

The 16th Reserve Division fought on the Western Front, participating in the opening German offensive which led to the Allied

Great Retreat The Great Retreat (), also known as the retreat from Mons, was the long withdrawal to the River Marne in August and September 1914 by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French Fifth Army. The Franco-British forces on the Western F ...

, fighting at Sedan in late August 1914. It fought in the

First Battle of the Marne The First Battle of the Marne or known in France as the Miracle on the Marne () was a battle of the First World War fought from the 5th to the 12th September 1914. The German army invaded France with a plan for winning the war in 40 days by oc ...

. Thereafter, it remained in the line in the Champagne region and fought in the Second Battle of Champagne in September–October 1915. It fought on the Aisne until October 1916, and then joined 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 ...

. Its next major engagement was the

Second Battle of the Aisne The Second Battle of the Aisne ( or , 16 April – mid-May 1917) was the main part of the Nivelle Offensive, a French Third Republic, Franco-British attempt to inflict a decisive defeat on the German Empire, German armies in France. The Entente ...

, also called the Third Battle of Champagne (and by the Germans, the Double Battle on the Aisne and in the Champagne). In July 1917, the division was transferred to the Eastern Front for the counter-attack during the Kerensky offensive. It remained on the Eastern Front until November 1917, and then returned to the Western Front. The division fought in the 1918

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 ...

, and remained in the Flanders and Artois regions until the end of the war. Allied intelligence rated the division as second class in 1918.

Order of battle on mobilization

The order of battle of the 16th Reserve Division on mobilization was as follows: *29. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 29 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 65 *31. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 28 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 68 *Schweres Reserve-Reiter-Regiment Nr. 2 *Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 16 *1.Reserve-Kompanie/1. Rheinisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 8 *2.Reserve-Kompanie/1. Rheinisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 8

Order of battle on April 10, 1918

The 16th Reserve Division was triangularized in late September 1916. Over the course of the war, other changes took place, including the formation of artillery and signals commands and a pioneer battalion. The order of battle on April 10, 1918, was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle''. *31. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 29 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 30 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 68 *4.Eskadron/Kürassier-Regiment Graf Geßler (Rheinisches) Nr. 8 *Artillerie-Kommandeur 106 **Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 16 **Fußartillerie-Bataillon Nr. 127 *Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 316 *Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 416

References

16. Reserve-Division (Chronik 1914/1918) - 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 1815-1939.'' (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) {{DEFAULTSORT:16 Reserve divisions of Germany in World War I Military units and formations established in 1914 Military units and formations disestablished in 1919 1914 establishments in Germany