The 2nd Guards Reserve Division (''2. Garde-Reserve-Division'') was a reserve infantry division of the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...

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 ...

. Despite its name, it was not a reserve formation of the Prussian Guards like the 1st Guards Reserve Division. Instead, other than the 55th Reserve Infantry Regiment, which was raised by the 4th Guards Grenadiers, it was primarily made up of non-Guards reservists from

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

and

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. It was formed on mobilization in August 1914 as part of X Reserve Corps and dissolved in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after the Armistice.2. Garde-Reserve-Division
/ref> The division spent the entire war on the Western Front. 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 ...

in 1914, the

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in 1916, the Battles of

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and

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in 1917, and occupied various parts of the front throughout the war. It participated in the 1918

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. It was rated by American Army intelligence in 1918 as a second class division.

Order of battle on mobilization

On mobilization in August 1914, reserve infantry regiments from Westphalia and Hannover, as well as smaller German states adjoining these Prussian provinces, were called up and formed the core of the 2nd Guards Reserve Division. They were joined by artillery, cavalry, and engineer units also from various parts of Germany. The 2nd Guards Reserve Division's initial wartime organization was as follows: *26. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Westfälisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 15 **Westfälisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 55 *38. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Hannoversches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 77 **Hannoversches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 91 **Hannoversches Reserve-Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 10 *Reserve-Ulanen-Regiment Nr. 2 *Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 20 *4./Hannoversches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 10

Order of battle on February 23, 1918

Divisions underwent many changes during the war, with regiments moving from division to division, and some being destroyed and rebuilt. During the war, most divisions became

triangular A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called ''vertices'', are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called ''edges'', are one-dimensional ...

- one infantry brigade with three infantry regiments rather than two infantry brigades of two regiments (a "

square division A square division is a designation given to the way military divisions are organized. In a square organization, the division's main body is composed of four "maneuver," i.e., infantry regimental elements. Other types of regiments, such as artiller ...

"). An artillery commander replaced the artillery brigade headquarters, the cavalry was further reduced, the engineer contingent was increased, and a divisional signals command was created. The 2nd Guards Reserve Division's order of battle on February 26, 1918, was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle'' *38. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Westfälisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 15 **Hannoversches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 77 **Hannoversches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 91 *Maschinengewehr-Scharfschützen-Abteilung Nr. 65 *Kavallerie-Eskadron Nr. 4 *Artillerie-Kommandeur 116 **Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 20 **II.Bataillon/Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 23 *Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 302 *4./Hannoversches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 10 *6./Hannoversches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 10 *6. Garde-Minenwerfer-Kompanie *Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 402

References

2.Garde-Reserve-Division - Der erste Weltkrieg
* ''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
online
* Hermann Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle unserer alten Armee'' (Berlin, 1927) * Hermann Cron, ''Geschichte des deutschen Heeres im Weltkriege 1914-1918'' (Berlin, 1937)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:2nd Guards Reserve Division (German Empire) Guards 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