The 4th Guards Infantry Division (''4. Garde-Infanterie-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 ...

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 May 18, 1915.4. Garde-Infanterie-Division (Chronik 1915/1918)
/ref> It was part of a wave of new infantry divisions formed in the spring of 1915. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. It was a division of the Prussian Guards and hence recruited from all over the Kingdom of Prussia. The division was formed primarily from the excess infantry regiments of regular infantry divisions which were being triangularized. The division's 5th Guards Infantry Brigade was transferred from the

3rd Guards Infantry Division Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...

, and came to the division with the 5th Foot Guards and the 5th Guard Grenadiers. The

93rd Reserve Infantry Regiment The 93rd Reserve Infantry Regiment (German: Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment, Nr. 93) was unit in the Imperial German Army during the First World War. Established shortly after the outbreak of war in 1914, it was affiliated with the 4th Foot Guards ...

came from the 1st Guards Reserve Division.

Combat chronicle

After formation, the division entered the line north of

Przasnysz Przasnysz () is a town in north-central Poland. Located in the Masovian Voivodship, about north of Warsaw and about south of Olsztyn, it is the capital of Przasnysz County. It has 18,093 inhabitants (2004). It was one of the most important towns ...

, where it remained until July 1915. It then participated in the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive, breaking through at Przasnysz and fighting in the follow-on battles to the lower

Narew The Narew (; ; or ) is a 499-kilometre (310 mi) river primarily in north-eastern Poland. It is a tributary of the river Vistula. The Narew is one of Europe's few braided rivers, the term relating to the twisted channels resembling braided h ...

and then to the upper Narew. Continuing the offensive, it crossed the

Neman River Neman, Nemunas or Niemen is a river in Europe that rises in central Belarus and flows through Lithuania then forms Lithuania–Russia border, the northern border of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia's western exclave, which specifically follows its s ...

in September 1915 and fought in the Battle of Vilnius. The division then went into reserve and was transferred to the Western Front. It arrived in the trenchlines in Flanders and the Artois in October and remained there until the end of the year. After four months in reserve, it returned to the line in Flanders and the Artois in April 1916. It fought in 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 ...

until November 1916, and then remained in the line on the Somme until March 1917. The division then fought in the Battle of Arras and remained in the line in Flanders and the Artois until September 1917, when it entered the

Battle of Passchendaele The Third Battle of Ypres (; ; ), also known as the Battle of Passchendaele ( ), was a campaign of the First World War, fought by the Allies of World War I, Allies against the German Empire. The battle took place on the Western Front (World Wa ...

. In 1918, it participated 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 ...

, fighting in the

First Battle of the Somme (1918) Operation Michael () was a major German military offensive during World War I that began the German spring offensive on 21 March 1918. It was launched from the Hindenburg Line, in the vicinity of Saint-Quentin, France. Its goal was to bre ...

, also known as the Second Battle of the Somme (to distinguish it from the 1916 battle). It remained in the line until July, when it went to a quieter sector in Lorraine to rest. In late July and August, it fought in the Second Battle of the Marne. It remained in the line until the end of the war. Allied intelligence rated the division as a first class fighting division.

Order of battle on formation

The 4th Guards Infantry Division was formed as a

triangular division A triangular division is a designation given to the way military divisions are organized. In a triangular organization, the division's main body is composed of three regimental maneuver elements. These regiments may be controlled by a brigade hea ...

. The order of battle of the division on May 19, 1915, was as follows: *

5th Guards Infantry Brigade The 5th Guards Infantry Brigade (German: 5. Garde-Infanterie-Brigade) was a unit in the Imperial German Army prior to and during the First World War. At the outbreak of war, it was part of the 3rd Guards Infantry Division of the Guards Reserve ...

5th Foot Guards The 5th Guard Regiment of Foot (German: 5. Garde-Regiment zu Fuß) was a regiment in the Prussian Army prior to and during the First World War. Established in 1897, it was part of the 5th Guards Infantry Brigade and the 2nd Guards Division. Du ...

5th Guards Grenadiers The 5th Guard Grenadiers (German: Garde-Grenadier-Regiment Nr. 5) was a regiment of the Prussian Army prior to and during the First World War. Established in 1897, it was part of the 5th Guard Infantry Brigade. The regiment was disbanded fol ...

**Guards Reserve ''Jäger'' Battalion * Staff,

Guards Reserve Uhlans The Guard Reserve Uhlan Regiment (German: Garde-Reserve-Ulanen-Regiment) was a cavalry regiment in the Imperial German Army during the First World War. Upon formation of the 4th Guard Infantry Division in May 1915, the regimental HQ and 1st and 3 ...

**1st Squadron, Guards Reserve Uhlans **3rd Squadron, Guards Reserve Uhlans *

2nd Guards Field Artillery The 2nd Guards Field Artillery Regiment (German: 2. Garde-Feldartillerie-Regiment) was an artillery unit in the Prussian Army prior to and during the First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), ...

* "1/3" 1st Company/28th (2nd Brandenburg) Pioneer-Battalion

Late-war order of battle

The division underwent relatively few organizational changes over the course of the war. Cavalry was reduced, artillery and signals commands were formed, and combat engineer support was expanded to a full pioneer battalion. The order of battle on March 8, 1918, was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle''. * 5th Guards Infantry Brigade **

**Maschinengewehr-Scharfschützen-Abteilung Nr. 14 * 2nd Squadron, Guard Reserve Dragoon Regiment * 4th Guards Artillery Command **6th Guards Field Artillery Regiment **3rd Battalion, 1st Guards Foot Artillery Regiment * 106th Pioneer Battalion **261st Pioneer Company **269th Pioneer Company **4th Guards ''Minenwerfer'' Company * 4th Guards Division Signal Command

References

4. Garde-Infanterie-Division (Chronik 1915/1918) - 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 1825-1939.'' (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:4th Guards Infantry Division (German Empire) Guards infantry divisions of Germany in World War I Military units and formations established in 1915 Military units and formations disestablished in 1919 1915 establishments in Germany