The 19th Reserve Division (''19. 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 191419. Reserve-Division (Chronik 1914-1918)
/ref> as part of X Reserve Corps. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was raised in the Prussian

Province of Hanover The Province of Hanover () was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1866 to 1946. During the Austro-Prussian War, the Kingdom of Hanover had attempted to maintain a neutral position, alo ...

, the

Grand Duchy of Oldenburg The Grand Duchy of Oldenburg (, also known as Holstein-Oldenburg) was a grand duchy within the German Confederation, North German Confederation and German Empire, that consisted of three widely separated territories: Oldenburg, Eutin and Bir ...

, and the

Duchy of Brunswick The Duchy of Brunswick () was a historical German state that ceased to exist in 1918. Its capital city, capital was the city of Braunschweig, Brunswick (). It was established as the successor state of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel ...

Combat chronicle

The 19th Reserve Division began the war under command of Generalleutnant

Max von Bahrfeldt Max Ferdinand Bahrfeldt (), ennobled as von Bahrfeldt in 1913 (6 February 1856 – 11 April 1936), was a royal Prussian General of the Infantry (Germany), General of the Infantry, a local historian, and a numismatist of world renown. In the anglo ...

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 ...

and ended with 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, the division remained in the line on the Aisne and in the Champagne. From May 1915 to March 1916, the division fought in Upper Alsace. It then fought in the

Battle of Verdun The Battle of Verdun ( ; ) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in French Third Republic, France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north ...

until July, when it went into the Argonne Forest. In October 1916, it saw action in the later phases of 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 ...

. In April 1917, the division fought in 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 known as the Third Battle of Champagne. In May, it was sent to the Eastern Front, and fought around Riga until September. It then returned to the Western Front, where it saw action in the Battle of Passchendaele. It was back in the trenchlines at Verdun from October 1917 to April 1918. In August–September 1918, the division faced the French and American Oise-Aisne Offensive. It remained in the line until war's end. Allied intelligence rated the division as first class.

Order of battle on mobilization

The order of battle of the 19th Reserve Division on mobilization was as follows: *37. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 73 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 78 *39. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 74 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 92 **III. (Großherzoglich Oldenburgisches) Bataillon/Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 79 *Großherzoglich Oldenburgisches Reserve-Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 6 *Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 19 *1.Reserve-Kompanie/Hannoversches Pionier-Bataillon Nr.10 *2.Reserve-Kompanie/Hannoversches Pionier-Bataillon Nr.10

Order of battle on March 8, 1918

The 19th Reserve Division was triangularized in September 1916, sending the 37th Reserve Infantry Brigade headquarters and the 74th Reserve Infantry Regiment to the newly formed 213th Infantry Division. 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 March 8, 1918, was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle''. *39. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 73 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 78 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 92 *3.Eskadron/Reserve-Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 6 *Artillerie-Kommandeur 114 **Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 19 **II.Bataillon/Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 3 *Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 319 *Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 419

References

19. 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)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:19 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