The 43rd Reserve Division (''43. 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 in August 1914 and organized over the next two months.43. Reserve-Division (Chronik 1914-1918)
/ref> It was part of the first wave of new divisions formed at the outset of World War I, which were numbered the 43rd through 54th Reserve Divisions. The division was disbanded in 1918 and its assets redistributed to other divisions. The division was part of the

XXII Reserve Corps The XXII Reserve Corps () was a corps level command of the German Army in World War I. Formation XXII Reserve Corps was formed in October 1914. It was part of the first wave of new Corps formed at the outset of World War I consisting of XXII ...

and was raised through the depots of the elite Prussian Guard, and thus recruited throughout

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

Combat chronicle

The 43rd Reserve Division initially fought on the Western Front, fighting on the

Yser The Yser ( , ; ) is a river that rises in French Flanders (the north of France), enters the Belgian province of West Flanders and flows through the '' Ganzepoot'' and into the North Sea at the town of Nieuwpoort. The source of the Yser is in ...

in October–November 1914 and storming

Diksmuide (; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of proper and the former communes of Beerst, Esen, Kaaskerke, Keiem, Lampernisse, Leke, Nieuwkapelle, Oostkerke ...

in mid-November. It then remained in positional warfare along the Yser until June 1915. In June, it was transferred to the Eastern Front. It fought in the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive, including the 1915 Battle of Lemberg and the assault on

Brest-Litovsk Brest, formerly Brest-Litovsk and Brest-on-the-Bug, is a city in south-western Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the Polish town of Terespol, where the Bug and Mukhavets rivers meet, making it a border town. It serves as the admini ...

. It then participated in the

Serbian Campaign The Serbian campaign was a series of military expeditions launched in 1914 and 1915 by the Central Powers against the Kingdom of Serbia during the First World War. The first campaign began after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on 28 ...

. After the campaign, it remained in reserve until returning to the Western Front in February 1916. 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 ...

. In June 1916 the division was again sent to the Eastern Front to face the Russian Brusilov Offensive. Returning from the Eastern Front to France in November, it was in army reserve for a month and then returned to the trenches at Verdun. In April 1917, it 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). The division remained in the trenches after that, until November 1917, when it was again transferred to the Eastern Front. After the armistice on the Eastern Front, it returned to Germany for training and then to France. The division then fought in a series of battles and engagements until it was dissolved in September 1918. Before 1918, the division was considered a good division, but by 1918 and prior to the division's dissolution Allied intelligence rated the division as third class.

Order of battle on formation

The 43rd Reserve Division was initially organized as 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 ...

, with essentially the same organization as the reserve divisions formed on mobilization. The order of battle of the 43rd Reserve Division on September 10, 1914, was as follows: *85. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 201 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 202 **Reserve-Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 15 *86. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 203 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 204 *Reserve- Kavallerie-

Abteilung (; abbrv. ''Abt.'') is a German word that is often used for German or Swiss military formations and depending on its usage could mean detachment, department or battalion; it can also refer to a military division. In German, it is used both ...

Nr. 43 *Reserve- Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 43 *Reserve-

Pionier Pionier may refer to: * PIONIER, the Polish academic network * ''Pionier'', the German-language paper published by Karl Heinzen * PIONIER (VLTI), an instrument at the VLTI astronomical observatory * "Pioniere", combat engineering A combat eng ...

-Kompanie Nr. 43

Order of battle on April 3, 1918

The 43rd Reserve Division was triangularized in April 1917. Over the course of the war, other changes took place, including the formation of artillery and

signals A signal is both the process and the result of Signal transmission, transmission of data over some transmission media, media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processin ...

commands and a pioneer battalion. The order of battle on April 3, 1918, was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle''. *85. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 201 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 202 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 203 *2. Eskadron/Braunschweigisches Husaren-Regiment Nr. 17 *Artillerie-Kommandeur 43 **Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 43 **I. Bataillon/Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 16 *Stab Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 343: **4.Kompanie/1. Westpreußisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 17 **Reserve-Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 43 ** Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 243 *Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 443

References

43. 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:43rd Reserve Division (German Empire) 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