Part 51
─────────────┬───────────────────┬───────────────────┬─────────────────── │ 1914 │ 1915 │ 1916 ─────────────┼─────────┬─────────┼─────────┬─────────┼─────────┬───────── │Brigade. │Regiment.│Brigade. │Regiment.│Brigade. │Regiment. ─────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────── Infantry. │47 Res. │104 Res. │47 Res. │104 Res. │48 Res. │104 Res. │ │106 Res. │ │106 Res. │ │107 Res. │ │13 Res. │ │13 Res. │ │133 Res. │ │ Jag. │ │ Jag. │ │ │ │ Btn. │ │ Btn. │ │ │48 Res. │107 Res. │48 Res. │107 Res. │ │ │ │133 Res. │ │133 Res. │ │ ─────────────┼─────────┴─────────┼─────────┴─────────┼─────────┴───────── Cavalry. │Saxon Res. Hus. │Saxon Res. Hus. │3 Sqn. Saxon Res. │ Rgt. │ Rgt. │ Hus. Rgt. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Artillery. │24 Res. F. A. Rgt. │24 Res. F. A. Rgt. │24 Res. F. A. Rgt. │ (9 Btries.). │ │ (6 Btries.). │ │ │40 Res. F. A. Rgt. │ │ │ (6 Btries.). │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Engineers and│ │Res. Co. 2 Pion. │3 Res. Co. 12 Liaisons. │ │ Btn. No. 12. │ Pions. │ │24 Res. Pont. Engs.│4 Res. Co. 12 │ │ │ Pions. │ │24 Res. Tel. Detch.│224 T. M. Co. │ │ │ │ │ │24 Res. Pont. Engs. │ │ │ │ │ │24 Res. Tel. Detch. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Medical and │ │ │ Veterinary.│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Transports. │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Attached. │ │ │28 Labor Btn. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────
─────────────┬───────────────────┬─────────────────── │ 1917 │ 1918 ─────────────┼─────────┬─────────┼─────────┬───────── │Brigade. │Regiment.│Brigade. │Regiment. ─────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────── Infantry. │48 Res. │104 Res. │48 Res. │104 Res. │ │107 Res. │ │107 Res. │ │133 Res. │ │133 Res. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼─────────┴─────────┼─────────┴───────── Cavalry. │3 Sqn. Saxon Res. │3 Sqn. 18 Res. Hus. │ Hus. Rgt. │ Rgt. (Saxon). ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Artillery. │120 Art. Command: │120 Art. Command: │ │ │ 40 Res. F. A. Rgt.│ 68 F. A. Rgt. │ (9 Btries.). │ │ │ 5 Btry. 7 Res. Ft. │ │ A. Rgt. │ │ 64 (Saxon) Ft. A. │ │ Btn. │ │ 1115 Light Am. │ │ Col. │ │ 1116 Light Am. │ │ Col. │ │ 1117 Light Am. │ │ Col. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Engineers and│324 Pion. Btn.: │324 Pion. Btn.: Liaisons. │ │ │ 5 Res. Co. 12 │ 1 Res. Co. 12 │ Pions. │ Pions. │ 6 Res. Co. 12 │ 6 Res. Co. 12 │ Pions. │ Pions. │ 224 T. M. Co. │ 126 Searchlight │ │ Section. │ 424 Tel. Detch. │424 Signal Command: │ │ 424 Tel. Detch. │ │ 138 Wireless │ │ Detch. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Medical and │271 Ambulance Co. │271 Ambulance Co. Veterinary.│ │ │1 Res. Field │1 Res. Field │ Hospital. │ Hospital. │424 Vet. Hospital. │7 Res. Field │ │ Hospital. │ │424 Vet. Hospital. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Transports. │M. T. Col. │722 M. T. Col. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Attached. │ │50 M. G. S. S. │ │ Detch. │ │207 Reconnaissance │ │ Flight. │ │50 Balloon Sqn. │ │17 Sound Ranging │ │ Section. │ │40 Art. Observation │ │ Section. │ │(Elements attached │ │ June, 1918. │ │ German document, │ │ June 15–16, │ │ 1918.) ─────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────
HISTORY.
(19th Corps District—Saxony.)
1914.
1. The 24th Reserve Division (12th Reserve Corps with the 33d Reserve Division) belonged at the outbreak of the war to the 3d German Army (Von Hausen).
2. Detraining on August 12–13, 1914, northeast of Trèves, (Coblentz- Trèves railroad), entering Belgium by way of Viel-Salm on the 19th, it advanced into France by way of the Ardennes and Champagne and from there to Sompuis (west of Vitry le François, Sept. 8).
MARNE.
3. Going into action on September 8 and 9 in the vicinity of Mailly, it retired by way of Mourmelon and Sept-Saulx to the east of Rheims (Moronvilliers-Vaudesincourt). It made a stand in this sector and established its position there (end of September).
1915.
CHAMPAGNE.
1. The 24th Reserve Division remained in line on the Champagne front (north of Souain, south of St. Souplet-Moronvilliers) from September, 1914, until the beginning of July, 1916. In April, 1915, the 106th Reserve Infantry Regiment was transferred to the 123d Division, a new formation.
2. At the end of September, 1915, it suffered very heavy losses while opposing the French offensive.
1916.
SOMME.
1. Relieved from its sector in Champagne about the beginning of July, 1916, the 24th Reserve Division was transferred to the Somme. It went into action between Longueval and Hardecourt, from the middle to the end of July.
2. Some elements of the division were still fighting on the Somme (near Martinpuich in September).
ARTOIS.
3. About September 21, the 24th Reserve Division was put in line north of Arras (area from Lievin to Roclincourt).
SOMME.
4. It left Artois in the middle of November to return to the Somme, south of Bapaume (Le Transloy-Gueudecourt). It remained there until December 12, then returned to Artois (sector east of Arras) at the end of December.
1917.
ARTOIS.
1. The 24th Reserve Division occupied the sector east of Arras until March 25, 1917. Relieved at this date, it was sent to rest northeast of Ghent.
GALICIA.
2. On April 26 it entrained for the Eastern Front. Itinerary: Herbestal- Aix la Chapelle-Dusseldorf-Barmen-Leipzig-Dresden-Georlitz-Lemberg. Detraining in Galicia, it went into line south of Brzezany, at the beginning of May. It underwent the Russian offensive at the beginning of July, in the course of which prisoners of the three regiments and a part of the artillery of the division were left in the hands of the Russians (366 prisoners from the 133d Reserve Infantry Regiment).
3. Withdrawn from the front and reorganized, the 24th Reserve Division again went into action on July 20 (German counterattack). It advanced as far as Zbrucz and suffered new losses.
4. About August 16 it took over the sector of Skala.
5. Entraining for the Western Front on October 24, it detrained at Bruges on the 31st. Itinerary: Stanislau-Lemberg-Breslau-Dresden- Leipzig-Cassel-Trèves—Brussels.
CAMBRAI.
6. After a rest in Belgium during the month of November, the 24th Reserve Division fought at Cambrai (end of November). It remained in the sector Flesquieres-Graincourt until the end of February, 1918.
VALUE—1917 ESTIMATE.
The 24th Reserve Division took part in numerous battles; it is a fairly good division.
1918.
1. The division was relieved in the Cambrai sector on February 6 by the 27th Division and went to rest in the Ivny area. On the 28th it marched via Cambrai-Sains Inchy to Prouville and went into line.
BATTLE OF THE SOMME.
2. It took part in the initial attack and by the 22d had reached Boursies. On the following day, the division advanced through Hermies to Ruyaulcourt and was relieved in the evening. The division rested until April 6 when it came into line north of Hangard where it was engaged until April 19, when the 19th Division relieved it. The division suffered very heavily from artillery and machine gun fire in this sector.
3. The division was at rest until May 1, when it returned to the front south of the Somme, relieving the 1st Division. About the 24th of May the division sideslipped north and took the sector astride the Somme. It was relieved about the middle of June.
SECOND BATTLE OF THE MARNE.
4. The division rested in the Cambrai area undergoing training. It left Cambrai about July 19 and was engaged west of Fere en Tardenois on July 24. The division took part in the fighting on the Aisne until about September 5. It passed to second line for about two weeks and returned to line at Pinon on September 20. Until the armistice, it was constantly engaged in resisting the Allied advance. It was identified at Verneuil (Oct. 19), Chalaudry (21st), Mortiers (26th), Crecy (28th), and south of Landouzy on November 7.
VALUE—1918 ESTIMATE.
The division was rated as third class. It was used as an attack division in March, but thereafter was engaged entirely on the defensive. It appears to have resisted as well as the average German division.
24th Landwehr Division.
COMPOSITION.
─────────────┬───────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────── │ 1917 │ 1918[16] ─────────────┼─────────────┬─────────────┼─────────────┬───────────── │ Brigade. │ Regiment. │ Brigade. │ Regiment. ─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼───────────── Infantry. │9 Landwehr. │24 Landwehr. │ │24 Landwehr. │ │48 Landwehr. │ │48 Landwehr. │ │427. │ │ ─────────────┼─────────────┴─────────────┼─────────────┴───────────── Artillery. │Art. Command: │ │ 250 Ldw. F. A. Rgt. │ ─────────────┴───────────────────────────┴───────────────────────────
Footnote 16:
The 24th Landwehr Division is considered as dissolved.
HISTORY.
(24th and 48th Landwehr Regiments: 3d Corps District—Brandenburg.)
1917.
RUSSIA.
1. The 24th Landwehr Division was formed on the Eastern Front about October, 1917, by the transformation of the 9th Landwehr Brigade (24th and 48th Landwehr Regiments).
This brigade, after forming a part of the war garrison of Koenigsberg (August, 1914), then of the Sommer Division, had gone over to the new 10th Landwehr Division in 1915.
Becoming independent, it held the sector of Lake Svir until September, 1915.
SPIAGLA.
2. Made up of the 24th and 48th Landwehr Regiments, to which was temporarily joined the 427th Infantry Regiment coming from the 205th Division, the 24th Landwehr Division occupied the sector south of Lake Narotch-Spiagla until February, 1918.
VALUE—1917 ESTIMATE.
The 24th Landwehr Division is of mediocre quality.
1918.
1. In January, 1918, the division was reduced to two regiments, the 427th Regiment having been sent to the Western Front.
LIVONIA.
2. In March the division advanced into Russia and was identified about the middle of May in the Ostrov-Reijitsa region. The 427th Regiment was dissolved, but the 48th Landwehr Regiment was identified in Russia on the 19th of September. It seems possible that the divisional staff was also disbanded and that the 9th Landwehr Brigade, with the 48th Landwehr Regiment under its orders, again became independent.
VALUE—1918 ESTIMATE.
The division was rated as fourth class.
25th Division.
COMPOSITION.
─────────────┬───────────────────┬───────────────────┬─────────────────── │ 1914 │ 1915 │ 1916 ─────────────┼─────────┬─────────┼─────────┬─────────┼─────────┬───────── │Brigade. │Regiment.│Brigade. │Regiment.│Brigade. │Regiment. ─────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────── Infantry. │49. │115 Body │49. │115 Body │49. │115 Body │ │ Gd. │ │ Gd. │ │ Gd. │ │ Inf. │ │ Inf. │ │ Inf. │ │116. │ │116. │ │116. │50. │117 Body │50. │117 Body │ │117 Body │ │ Inf. │ │ Inf. │ │ Inf. │ │118. │ │118. │ │ ─────────────┼─────────┴─────────┼─────────┴─────────┼─────────┴───────── Cavalry. │6 Dragoon Rgt. │ │6 Dragoon Rgt. (3 │ │ │ Sqns.). ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Artillery. │25 Brig.: │25 Brig.: │25 Brig: │25 F. A. Rgt. │ 25 F. A. Rgt. │ 25 F. A. Rgt. │61 F. A. Rgt. │ 61 F. A. Rgt. │ 61 F. A. Rgt. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Engineers and│ │1 Pion. Btn. No. │1 Pion. Btn. No. Liaisons. │ │ 21: │ 21: │ │ Field Co. 21 │ 2 Co. 21 Pions. │ │ Pions. │ │ │ 25 Tel. Detch. │ 89 Res. Pion. Co. │ │ 25 Pont. Engs. │ Field Co. 25 │ │ │ Pions. │ │ │ 25 T. M. Co. │ │ │ 25 Tel. Detch. │ │ │ 25 Pont. Engs. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Medical and │ │ │ Veterinary.│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Transports. │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Attached. │ │ │14 Anti-Aircraft │ │ │ Section. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────
─────────────┬───────────────────┬─────────────────── │ 1917 │ 1918 ─────────────┼─────────┬─────────┼─────────┬───────── │Brigade. │Regiment.│Brigade. │Regiment. ─────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────── Infantry. │49. │115 Body │49. │115. │ │ Gd. │ │ │ │ Inf. │ │ │ │116. │ │116. │ │117 Body │ │117. │ │ Inf. │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼─────────┴─────────┼─────────┴───────── Cavalry. │3 Sqn. 6 Drag. Rgt.│1 Sqn. 6 Drag. Rgt. │ (?) │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Artillery. │25 Art. Command: │25 Art. Command: │ 61 F. A. Rgt. │ 25 F. A. Rgt. │ │ 1 Abt. 24 Res. Ft. │ │ A. Rgt. │ │ 823 Light Am. Col. │ │ 866 Light Am. Col. │ │ 1294 Light Am. │ │ Col. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Engineers and│(1/21 or 134) Pion.│129 Pion. Btn.: Liaisons. │ Btn.: │ │ 2 Co. 21 Pions. │ 3 Co. 21 Pions. │ │ │ 3 Co. 21 Pions. │ 89 Res. Pion. Co. │ 89 Res. Pion. Co. │ 68 Searchlight │ │ Section. │ 25 T. M. Co. │25 Signal Command: │ 25 Tel. Detch. │ 25 Tel. Detch. │ │ 7 Wireless Detch. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Medical and │45 Ambulance Co. │45 Ambulance Co. Veterinary.│ │ │Field Hospital. │298 Field Hospital. │Vet. Hospital. │304 Field Hospital. │ │25 Vet. Hospital. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Transports. │M. T. Col. │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Attached. │14 Anti-Aircraft │ │ Section. │ │16 Anti-Aircraft │ │ Section (3.7 cm. │ │ automatic guns). │ ─────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────
HISTORY.
(18th Corps District—Grand Duchy of Hesse.)
1914.
LUXEMBURG.
1. The 25th Division, also known as the Hessian Grand Ducal Division, formed, in August, 1914, with the 21st Division, the 18th Army Corps. On August 3 its 50th Brigade set out for Koenigsmacher, near Thionville, as covering troops. On August 10 and 11 the 25th Division entered the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, which it crossed, and entered Belgian Luxemburg on the 19th.
ARDENNES.
2. It formed a part of the 4th Army (Duke of Wurttemberg) and fought at Maissin, northwest of Neufchateau on August 22. On August 24, it entered France; on the 27th it crossed the Meuse below Mouzon. (On Aug. 31 the losses had been such that the remnants of the 116th Infantry Regiment formed only four companies.)
MARNE.
3. On September 6 and the days immediately following the 25th Division took part in the battle of the Marne between Vitry and Sermaize. In the middle of the month, it was northwest of Rheims, on the Aisne-Marne Canal. On September 26 it entrained at Laon for Ham.
SOMME.
4. In October the 18th Army Corps was reattached to the 2d Army which formed at this time the extreme right flank of the German Army (Péronne area) and the division went into line—the Lihons-Chaulnes road to the banks of the Avre.
1915.
SOMME.
1. The 25th Division was retained in this sector north of the Avre until October 15, 1915. During this time it did not take part in any important action. In March it ceded the 118th Infantry Regiment to the 56th Division, a new formation.
2. After a long rest in the St. Quentin area (the staff of the 18th Army Corps was at Fresnoy le Grand in December, 1915, and that of the 25th Division at Busigny in January, 1916) the 25th Division was transferred to the sector north of Verdun at the beginning of February, 1916.
1916.
VERDUN.
1. On February 21, 1916, it took part in the general attack north of Verdun. After advancing rapidly, the 18th Army Corps was stopped in the area west of Douaumont. On March 9 it failed in its attacks on the Haudremont Farm.
2. The Army Corps was then sent to rest in the rear area to be reorganized.
3. About April 10, the 18th Army Corps reappeared in line (Caillette wood). The 25th Division suffered very heavy losses in its attacks.
4. Relieved about April 25, it was put in line about the middle of May in the vicinity of Craonne.
SOMME.
5. It was withdrawn from this sector about the 1st of September and transferred to the Somme, where it went into action from September 15 to October 1, and again lost very heavily.
6. At the beginning of October the 25th Division left the Somme to occupy the sector Apremont-Ailly wood in the Woevre.
7. Again transferred to the Somme at the end of November, it was put into line in the area north of Chaulnes (sector from Kratz wood to the Demi-Lune). It was in this sector at the time of the retirement on March 16, 1916.
1917.
1. On this date it carried out its retreat by way of Villecourt-Matigny- Douchy-Roupy, in the direction of St. Quentin.
ST. QUENTIN.