The 22nd Reserve Division (''22. Reserve-Division'') was a unit of the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

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 the mobilization of the German Army in August 1914.22. Reserve-Division (Chronik 1914-1918)
/ref> The division was disbanded during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.

Recruitment

Although the division was raised primarily in the Province of Prussian Saxony and the Thuringian states ( XI Corps District), it was mobilised as part of the IV Reserve Corps. The 32nd Reserve Infantry Regiment was raised in the

Reuss principalities Reuss ( ) was the name of several historical states located in present-day Thuringia, Germany. Several lordships of the Holy Roman Empire which arose after 1300 and became Imperial Counties from 1673 and Imperial Principalities in the late 18th ...

. The 71st Reserve Infantry Regiment had one battalion each from

Saxe-Meiningen Saxe-Meiningen ( ; ) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine duchies, Ernestine line of the House of Wettin, located in the southwest of the present-day Germany, German state of Thuringia. Established in 1681, by partition of the Ern ...

, Prussian Saxony and the

Electorate of Hesse The Electorate of Hesse (), also known as Hesse-Kassel or Kurhessen, was the title used for the former Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel after an 1803 reform where the Holy Roman Emperor elevated its ruler to the rank of Elector, thus giving him ...

. The 82nd Reserve Infantry Regiment had one battalion each from Prussian Saxony,

Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was a small principality in Germany, in the present day state of Thuringia, with its capital at Sondershausen. History Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was a county (earldom) until 1697. In that year, it became a principal ...

, and

Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (), or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha ( ), was an Ernestine duchy in Thuringia ruled by a branch of the House of Wettin, consisting of territories in the present-day states of Thuringia and Bavaria in Germany. It lasted from 1826 to ...

. The 94th Reserve Infantry Regiment was raised in the Grand Duchy of

Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach () was a German state, created as a duchy in 1809 by the merger of the Ernestine duchies of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach, which had been in personal union since 1741. It was raised to a grand duchy in 1815 by resolutio ...

. The 11th Jäger Battalion came from the Electorate of Hesse. Divisional cavalry, artillery and pioneer troops came from Prussian Saxony and the Electorate of Hesse.

Combat chronicle

The 22nd Reserve Division began the war on the Western Front. It fought in the opening campaigns against the Belgian Army and the British Expeditionary Force, including the

Battle of Mons The Battle of Mons was the first major action of the British Expeditionary Force (World War I), British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in the First World War. It was a subsidiary action of the Battle of the Frontiers, in which the Allies of World W ...

, and pursued the Allies during the

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 ...

, culminating 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 ...

. After 1st Marne, the division held the line between the Aisne and the Oise until the Autumn of 1915, when it went to the Champagne region. In 1916, it 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 ...

. It then 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 ...

. The division occupied various parts of the line in 1917, and then fought in the Battle of Passchendaele. In 1918, it saw action 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 ...

, including the Battle of the Lys. Allied intelligence rated the division as second class.

Order of battle on mobilization

The order of battle of the 22nd Reserve Division on mobilization was as follows: *43. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 71 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 94 **Reserve-Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 11 *44. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 32 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 82 *Reserve-Jäger-Regiment zu Pferde Nr. 1 *Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 22 *1.Reserve-Kompanie/Magdeburgisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 4 *2.Reserve-Kompanie/Magdeburgisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 4

Order of battle on March 28, 1918

The 22nd Reserve Division was triangularized in March 1915. Over the course of the war, other changes took place, including the formation of artillery and signals commands. The order of battle on March 28, 1918, was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle''. *43. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 71 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 82 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 94 *2.Eskadron/schweres-Reserve-Reiter-Regiment Nr. 1 (Heavy Cavalry Regiment No. 1) *Artillerie-Kommandeur 96 **Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 22 **I.Abteilung/Kgl. Bayerisches 2. Fußartillerie-Regiment *Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 322 *Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 422

References

22. 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:22 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