Part 76
─────────────┬─────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────── │ 1915 │ 1916 ─────────────┼──────────────┬──────────────┼──────────────┬────────────── │ Brigade. │ Regiment. │ Brigade. │ Regiment. ─────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┼────────────── Infantry. │116. │106. │116. │106. │ │107. │ │107. │ │120 Res. │ │120 Res. ─────────────┼──────────────┴──────────────┼──────────────┴────────────── Cavalry. │4 Sqn. 18 Uhlan Rgt. │2 Sqn. 18 Uhlan Rgt. ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Artillery. │58 Brig.: │58 Brig.: │ 115 F. A. Rgt. (Saxon) (6 │ 115 F. A. Rgt. │ Btries.). │ │ 116 F. A. Rgt. (Wurtt.) (6 │ 116 F. A. Rgt. │ Btries.). │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Engineers and│115 Pion. Co. (Saxon). │115 Pion. Co. Liaisons. │ │ │116 Pion. Co. (Wurtt.). │116 Pion. Co. │ │58 Tel. Detch. │ │58 Pont. Engs. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Medical and │ │ Veterinary.│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Transports. │ │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Odd Units. │ │58 Cyclist Co. ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Attached. │ │7 Labor Btn. ─────────────┴─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────
─────────────┬─────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────── │ 1917 │ 1918 ─────────────┼──────────────┬──────────────┼──────────────┬────────────── │ Brigade. │ Regiment. │ Brigade. │ Regiment. ─────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┼────────────── Infantry. │116. │106. │116. │106. │ │107. │ │107. │ │103 Res. │ │103 Res. ─────────────┼──────────────┴──────────────┼──────────────┴────────────── Cavalry. │4 Sqn. 18 Uhlan Rgt. │4 Sqn. 18 Uhlan Rgt. ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Artillery. │58 Art. Command: │58 Art. Command: │ 115 F. A. Rgt. (9 Btries.). │ 115 F. A. Rgt. │ │ │ │ 97 Ft. A. Btn. │ │ │ │ 711 Light Am. Col. │ │ 832 Light Am. Col. │ │ 931 Light Am. Col. ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Engineers and│Pion. Btn.: │142 Pion. Btn.: Liaisons. │ │ │ 2 Res. 22 Pions. │ 115 Pion. Co. │ 115 Pion. Co. │ 404 Pion. Co. │ 404 Pion. Co. │ 58 T. M. Co. │ 58 T. M. Co. │ 127 Searchlight Section. │ 115 Searchlight Section. │58 Signal Command. │ 58 Tel. Detch. │ 58 Tel. Detch. │ │ 135 Wireless Detch. ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Medical and │58 Ambulance Co. │58 Ambulance Co. Veterinary.│ │ │353 Field Hospital. │353 Field Hospital. │354 Field Hospital. │354 Field Hospital. │58 Vet. Hospital │58 Vet. Hospital. ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Transports. │M. T. Col. │580 M. T. Col. ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Odd Units. │ │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Attached. │ │ ─────────────┴─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────
HISTORY.
(19th Corps District—Saxony.)
1915.
The 58th Division was formed on March 7, 1915, at Roulers, of surplus regiments taken from old divisions—the 106th and 107th Infantry Regiments, Saxon, came from the 24th Division; the 120th Reserve Infantry Regiment (Wurttemberg), from the 26th Reserve Division. At the end of 1916 the last-named regiment was replaced by the 103d Reserve Regiment (Saxon). The provincial homogeneity is thus realized.
1. The division remained at Roulers until the beginning of May.
ARTOIS.
2. On May 12, 1915, the 58th Division took part in the battle of Artois (Carency, May 12–15) and suffered heavy losses. On May 12 and 14 the 1st Battalion of the 106th Infantry Regiment had casualties of 22 officers and 642 men. (Official List of Casualties.) The casualties of the division amounted to 116 officers and 4,194 men.
3. At the beginning of June the division fought at Neuville St. Vaast (Le Labyrinthe.)
4. It was at rest in the middle of June in the vicinity of Douai.
RUSSIA.
5. On July 21 the division was transferred to Russia. (Itinerary: Roubaix-Sedan-Longwy-Thionville-Trèves-Coblentz-Cassel-Berlin- Marienburg-Koenigsberg-Loetzen.)
6. It took part in the offensive against the Russians in August and September (Narew, Bobr, Bielostok, Vilna) as far as Lake Narotch.
FRANCE.
7. Brought back to France between October 16 and 22 (Itinerary: Vilna- Kovno-Koenigsberg-Berlin-Hanover-Cassel-Frankfort-Mayence-Coblentz- Trèves-Sarrebreucken), it took over a sector in Lorraine (Leintrey- Domèvre) in November and December.
1916.
1. In January and February, 1916, the 58th Division was at rest in the vicinity of Sarreburg.
LORRAINE.
2. About February 25 it returned to the sector of Leintrey-Embermenil and remained there until the middle of March. It celebrated its first anniversary there—150 days of fighting, 1,200 kilometers on foot, 4,400 by railroad (notebook).
VERDUN.
3. Brought back to Verdun at this time, it took part in the attack of Caillette wood, near Douaumont, on April 2.
CHAMPAGNE.
4. The division was withdrawn from the Verdun front about April 7 and sent to rest in the vicinity of Rethel. On April 30 it went to Champagne, where it occupied the sector east of Rheims (Bétheny-Cernay, La Pompelle).
SOMME.
5. In September the division was engaged on the Somme (Barleux). The 2d Company of the 20th Reserve Infantry Regiment, 177 strong, was destroyed, with the exception of 22 prisoners.
6. After occupying a calm sector on the Yser from September 29 to October 23, it again fought on the Somme (Courcelette-Grandcourt) in November.
7. On December 20 the division was withdrawn and reorganized—the 120th Reserve Infantry Regiment left the division for the 204th Division, a new formation, and went to Belgium.
1917.
VERDUN.
1. In January and February, 1917, the 58th Division became exclusively Saxon (106th, 107th, 103d Reserve Infantry Regiments). It went to the Verdun front and remained to the end of March, 1917.
CHAMPAGNE.
2. The latter part of March it went into line at Auberive, and suffered heavy losses in the attack of April 16–17. Because of these losses, the 8th Company of the 103d Infantry Regiment required a minimum reenforcement of 70 men.
RUSSIA-LAKE NAROTCH.
3. Relieved about April 20, the 58th Division entrained on the 24th for Russia. (Itinerary: Coblentz-Giessen-Halle-Lissa-Lodz-Warsaw-Brest- Litowsk (Apr. 28).) It held the sector south of Lake Narotch from the beginning of May until the beginning of October.
BELGIUM.
4. On October 6 it was brought back to France. (Itinerary: Vilna- Koenigsberg-Luebeck-Hamburg-Crefeld-Aix la Chapelle-Liége-Ghent-Bruges- Thourout (Oct. 11).)
HOUTHULST WOOD.
5. On October 17 it took over the sector south of Houthulst wood and received the attack of October 22; it was relieved on the 24th.
6. On October 31 it again occupied the sector which it left at the end of November.
7. It spent December at rest in the vicinity of Bruges.
RECRUITING.
Mixed at the beginning (Saxon and Wurttemberg), like the 54th Reserve Division, the division became homogeneous by exchanging its Wurttemberg troops for Saxon units.
VALUE—1917 ESTIMATE.
When the 58th Division was on the Russian front, a division school was formed in the month of June, 1917, with the purpose of teaching men the method of attack.
The division school was dissolved a few days before the departure for Russia. As soon as they arrived on the Western Front it was made an assault detachment of the division.
On the Flanders front the 58th Division did not show any high combat value. Rather frequent cases of abandoning the front line have been proved (October, 1917).
1918.
YPRES.
1. About April 3 the division extended its left flank and relieved the 38th Division. At that time the division was holding two divisional sectors. About May 19, it was relieved by the 49th Reserve Division and moved to the Locre sector where it relieved the 31st Division a day later. This sector was held by the division until the night of June 13–14 when it was relieved by the 52d Reserve Division.
2. It rested in the Courtrai area until July 7 when it returned to line west of Dranoutre in relief of the 121st Division. The 52d Reserve Division again relieved it on August 9.
SCARPE-SOMME.
3. The division entrained at Menin on August 25 and detrained at Sancourt on the evening of the 26th coming into line on August 28 near Hardecourt and Bullecourt. It sideslipped south about the 1st of September and replaced the 52d Division which had been withdrawn. About September 10 the division was withdrawn from the battle front after suffering heavy losses. About this time the regiments of the division were reduced to two battalions of three companies each.
4. On September 27, the division relieved the 39th Division north of Ecourt-St. Quentin. It retreated by Arleux to a point west of Valenciennes where it was relieved about October 22. Two days later it came into line farther south at Ghent and fought until November 7. The final identifications were at Hecq (Nov. 4), north of Berlaimont (Nov. 5) and north of Pont-sur-Sambre (Nov. 6).
VALUE—1918 ESTIMATE.
The division was rated as second class. It was used as a strong defensive division exclusively on the British front during 1918.
75th Reserve Division.
COMPOSITION.
─────────────┬─────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────── │ 1915 │ 1916 ─────────────┼──────────────┬──────────────┼──────────────┬────────────── │ Brigade. │ Regiment. │ Brigade. │ Regiment. ─────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┼────────────── Infantry. │75 Res. │249 Res. │75 Res. │249 Res. │ │250 Res. │ │250 Res. │ │251 Res. │ │251 Res. ─────────────┼──────────────┴──────────────┼──────────────┴────────────── Cavalry. │75 Res. Cav. Detch. │75 Res. Cav. Detch. ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Artillery. │75 Res. Brig.: │75 Res. Brig.: │ 55 Res. F. A. Rgt. (6 │ 55 Res. F. A. Rgt. │ Btries.). │ │ 57 Res. F. A. Rgt. (6 │ 57 Res. F. A. Rgt. │ Btries.). │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Engineers and│75 Res. Pion. Co. │75 Res. Pion. Co. Liaisons. │ │ │75 Res. Pont. Engs. │275 T. M. Co. │ │75 Res. Pont. Engs. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Medical and │1 Ambulance Co. │ Veterinary.│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Transports. │75 Res. Train Detch. │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Odd units. │75 Res. Cyclist Co. │75 Res. Cyclist Co. ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Attached. │ │Ers. Field Btn. of the 75th │ │ Res. Div. │ │Balloon Sqn. of the 75th Res. │ │ Div. │ │90 Labor Btn. ─────────────┴─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────
─────────────┬─────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────── │ 1917 │ 1918 ─────────────┼──────────────┬──────────────┼──────────────┬────────────── │ Brigade. │ Regiment. │ Brigade. │ Regiment. ─────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┼────────────── Infantry. │75 Res. │249 Res. │75 Res. │249 Res. │ │250 Res. │ │250 Res. │ │251 Res. │ │251 Res. ─────────────┼──────────────┴──────────────┼──────────────┴────────────── Cavalry. │1 Sqn. 2 Uhlan Rgt. │3 Sqn. 2 Drag. Rgt. ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Artillery. │(?) Art. Command: │55 Res. F. A. Rgt. │ 55 Res. F. A. Rgt. (9 │82 Ft. A. Btn. │ Btries.). │ │ │826 Light Am. Col. │ │ │ │1189 Light Am. Col. │ │1190 Light Am. Col. ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Engineers and│(375) Pion. Btn.: │375 Pion. Btn.: Liaisons. │ │ │ 75 Res. Pion. Co. │ 384 Pion. Co. │ 384 Pion. Co. │ 75 Res. Pion. Co. │ 275 T. M. Co. │ 275 T. M. Co. │ 333 Searchlight Section. │ 65 Searchlight Section. │ Tel. Detch. │475 Signal Command: │ │ 475 Tel. Detch. │ │ 145 Wireless Detch. ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Medical and │537 Ambulance Co. │537 Ambulance Co. Veterinary.│ │ │95 Res. Field Hospital. │98 Res. Field Hospital. │99 Res. Field Hospital. │99 Res. Field Hospital. │Vet. Hospital. │169 Vet. Hospital. ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Transports. │586 M. T. Col. │742 M. T. Col. ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Odd units. │75 Res. Cyclist Co. │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Attached. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┴─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────
HISTORY.
(249th and 250th Reserve Infantry Regiments, 14th Corps District—Grand Duchy of Baden. 251st Reserve Infantry Regiment; 11th Corps District—Electorate of Hesse.)
1915.
RUSSIA.
1. The 75th Reserve Division, trained at the Heuberg Camp in Baden, included two regiments of the 14th Corps District and one from the 11th Corps District. The first two were formed from the six field battalions from Baden, Nos. 61 to 66; the third, from three Thuringian field battalions, Nos. 58 to 60.
2. Forming a part of the 38th Reserve Corps with the 76th Reserve Division, it was sent to the Eastern Front at the end of January, 1915.
3. On February 17 it was in the vicinity of Augustowo, after taking part in the battle of Mazurian Lakes, where it lost heavily (250th Reserve Infantry Regiment).
4. At the end of February and the beginning of March it occupied the front near Chtabin.
5. On March 9 it attacked north of Ostrolenka and marched to Ossowiec. It remained in the region north of Ostrolenka until the end of April.
6. In the summer, it took part in the march upon Vilna and advanced beyond this by way of Wileisk (Sept. 24), south of Lake Drisviaty (Oct. 6).
7. At the end of October, the 75th Reserve Division went somewhat to the south and took over the sector of Spiagla, south of Lake Narotch.
1916.
LAKE NAROTCH.
1. The division remained in line in the vicinity of Lake Narotch until the end of July, 1916. In the spring of 1916, it received the Russian offensive in this area.
2. At the beginning of August, it was transferred to the Stokhod. We find it southwest of Sviniouki on October 1; south of Kisselin on November 9 (except the 251st Reserve Infantry Regiment sent to Galicia on Oct. 30).
GALICIA.
3. At the end of November, the entire division was in Galicia, where it occupied the sector of the Narajowka (north of Halicz, Rohatyn).
1917.
GALICIA.
1. The 75th Reserve Division was retained in the vicinity of Halicz, and of Brzezany until July, 1917 (in reserve from the end of March to the end of May).
COURLAND.
2. On July 25 the division left Galicia to go to Smorgoni, from which place it was transferred to the Riga sector (Uxkull) at the end of August. After the taking of Riga, it advanced beyond the Dvina and took up its position on the Meloupe.
FRANCE.
3. On December 1 the division entrained for France. (Itinerary: Riga- Mitau-Kovno-Marienburg-Berlin-Hanover-Cassel-Cologne-Coblentz-Trèves- Thionville-Metz-Charleville-Hirson-Vervins.) It detrained at St. Gobert and Vervins about December 7.
AISNE.
4. Sent to rest near Vervins, about December 26, the division took over the sector of Chavignon-Urcel on the 27th.
RECRUITING.
The divisions formed in 1915 were not homogeneous. The 75th Reserve Division consists of two regiments from Baden and one from the Electorate of Hesse.
VALUE—1917 ESTIMATE.
Since the 75th Reserve Division comes from Russia and has only been on the French front since the end of December 1917, it is difficult to form a judgment as to the combat value of this organization.
At the end of December elements of the division took part in maneuvers supported by tanks (at Voulpaix, west of Verdun). (Interrogation of prisoner, Feb. 20, 1918.)
At the beginning of February the 251st Reserve Infantry Regiment took part in a division maneuver in which the infantry had to fight simulated tanks. (Interrogation of prisoner, Mar. 11, 1918.)
DISCIPLINE.
It is to be noted that during the trip from Russia to France 40 men belonging to the Minenwerfer and pioneer companies, were reported missing. (Interrogation of prisoner, Jan. 31, 1918.)
1918.
PICARDY.
1. The division was relieved south of Laon on March 26 and went to Laon. By way of Champignon (west of Crepy), Charmes, it marched to Chauny, where it went into line on March 30. It was engaged until about April 14, and then went to rest north of St. Gobain.
BATTLE OF THE MATZ.
2. It returned to line southeast of Canny sur Matz on the night of May 16–17 and took part in the battle of Noyon in June. It was relieved about June 20 and rested until July 2. It was in line at Courcelles from that date until August 18. Prior to the French attack on August 18, the division counted about 3,000 combatants. It suffered important losses between the 8th and 18th.
3. The division rested in the Bois de Champien and Bois de Glandon until August 23 and then in the Bois du Tunnel. On the 27th it went to Ham. On the night of August 31-September 1 it relieved the 1st Reserve Division in the sector Libermont-Bois du Tunnel. It fell back across the Canal du Nord on September 3 and continued its retreat through Sommette, Dury, Bray St. Christophe until it reached a position at Happencourt on September 7. It was relieved on the 13th by the 22d Reserve Division. The attack of August and September had completely disorganized the division and greatly reduced its morale.
LE CATEAU.
4. The division returned to line west of Bellenglise on September 20 and was heavily engaged for 10 days.
WOEVRE.
5. On November 10 the division came into line near Jametz on the American front.
VALUE—1918 ESTIMATE.
The division was rated as third class. Throughout 1918 its morale appears to have been low, and after the battle of Matz its effectives were greatly reduced.
76th Reserve Division.
COMPOSITION.