The 33rd Reserve Division (''33. Reserve-Division'') was a unit 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 ...

, in

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 1914.33. Reserve-Division (Chronik 1914-1918)
/ref> The division was disbanded in August 1918. The division began the war as part of the central reserve of Fortress Metz (''Hauptreserve/Festung Metz''). Although designated a reserve division, it was initially composed of one active and one reserve infantry brigade. The active brigade was the 8th Bavarian Infantry Brigade, which had been detached from the 4th Bavarian Infantry Division. The rest of the division's troops came primarily from 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. ...

and the

Province of Westphalia The Province of Westphalia () was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946. In turn, Prussia was the largest component state of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918, of the Weimar ...

Combat chronicle

The 33rd Reserve Division began the war on the Western Front, where it fought in the

Battle of the Frontiers The Battle of the Frontiers (; ; ) comprised battles fought along the eastern frontier of French Third Republic, France and in southern Belgium, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. The battles resolved the military strategy, milita ...

and advanced to the Verdun region. From September 1914 to August 1916, it occupied the line in the region between the Meuse and Moselle Rivers. In late 1916, it suffered heavy losses in the later phases of the 1916

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 ...

. After a few months in the trenches in Lorraine, it went to the Chemin des Dames region and 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 (and to the Germans as the Double Battle on the Aisne and in the Champagne), and again suffered heavy losses. In September 1917, the division was transferred to the Eastern Front, arriving shortly before the December armistice on that front. It returned to the Western Front in January 1918, where it fought in several engagements, including the

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; ) is a French departments of France, department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne (river), Aisne. In 2020, it had a population of 529,374. Geography The department borders No ...

and the Champagne-Marne offensives against French and American forces, after which it was disbanded and its troops distributed to other divisions. Allied intelligence rated it as a good division in 1917, but before its dissolution in 1918, it was rated as fourth class.

Order of battle on mobilization

The order of battle of the 33rd Reserve Division on mobilization was as follows: *8.Kgl. Bayerische Infanterie-Brigade **Kgl. Bayerisches 4. Infanterie-Regiment König Wilhelm von Württemberg **Kgl. Bayerisches 8. Infanterie-Regiment Großherzog Friedrich II. von Baden *66.Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 67 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 130 *Reserve-Husaren-Regiment Nr. 2 *Ersatz-Abteilung/1. Lothringisches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 33 *Ersatz-Abteilung/2. Lothringisches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 34 *Ersatz-Abteilung/3. Lothringisches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 69 *Ersatz-Abteilung/4. Lothringisches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 70 In early August 1914, the following were also attached: *I.Bataillon/Kgl. Bayerisches Reserve-Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 2 *II.Bataillon/Kgl. Bayerisches Reserve-Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 2 *4.Kompanie/Kgl. Sächsisches 2. Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 22

Order of battle on 10 October 1917

The 33rd Reserve Division was triangularized in August 1916, when the 8th Bavarian Infantry Brigade was sent to the 14th Bavarian Infantry Division. This also made the division entirely Prussian in composition. 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 10 October 1917 was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle''. *66. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 67 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 130 **Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 364 *6. Eskadron/Ulanen-Regiment Hennigs von Treffenfeld (Altmärkisches) Nr. 16 *Artillerie-Kommandeur 125 **Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 33 *Stab Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 333 **1. Ersatz-Kompanie/2. Lothringisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 20 **1. Landwehr-Pionier-Kompanie/IV. Armeekorps **Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 233 *Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 433

References

33. 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:33 Reserve divisions of Germany in World War I Military units and formations established in 1914 Military units and formations disestablished in 1918 1914 establishments in Germany