The 7th Reserve Division (''7. 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 ...

, 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 mobilization of the German Army in August 1914.7. Reserve-Division (Chronik 1914-1918)
/ref> The division was disbanded during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was a reserve division of the IV Reserve Corps and was raised primarily in the Province of

Prussian Saxony The Province of Saxony (), also known as Prussian Saxony (), was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg. It was formed by the merger of various territories ceded ...

, the

Duchy of Anhalt The Duchy of Anhalt () was a historical German duchy. The duchy was located between the Harz Mountains in the west and the River Elbe and beyond to the Fläming Heath in the east. The territory was once ruled by the House of Ascania, and is now ...

, and the Thuringian states.

Combat chronicle

The 7th 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 in the Aisne region until September 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 ...

, where it suffered heavy losses. 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 into 1918, before participating 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 ...

. After the offensive, it occupied various parts of the line again, facing Allied offensives and counteroffensives, and was hit by U.S. troops in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Allied intelligence rated it second class and noted that it was almost annihilated by the Armistice in November 1918.

Order of battle on mobilization

The order of battle of the 7th Reserve Division on mobilization was as follows: *13.Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Magdeburgisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 27 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 36 *14.Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 66 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 72 **Reserve-Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 4 *schweres Reserve-Reiter-Regiment Nr. 1 (Heavy Reserve Cavalry Regiment No. 1) *Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 7 *4. Kompanie/Magdeburgisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 4

Order of battle on March 12, 1918

The 7th Reserve Division was triangularized in April 1915. Over the course of the war, other changes took place, including the formation of the artillery and signals commands. The order of battle on March 12, 1918, was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle''. *14.Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 36 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 66 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 72 **Maschinengewehr-Scharfschützen-Abteilung Nr. 71 *1.Eskadron/Reserve-Reiter-Regiment Nr. 1 *Artillerie-Kommandeur 95 **Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 7 **Fußartillerie-Bataillon Nr. 52 *Stab Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 307 **4.Kompanie/Magdeburgisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 4 **Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 248 **Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 207 *Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 407

References

7. 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:7th 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 1919 1914 establishments in Germany