Part 89
─────────────┬─────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────── │ 1915 │ 1916 ─────────────┼──────────────┬──────────────┼──────────────┬────────────── │ Brigade. │ Regiment. │ Brigade. │ Regiment. ─────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┼────────────── Infantry. │237. │46. │237. │46. │ │58. │ │58. │ │46 Res. │ │46 Res. ─────────────┼──────────────┴──────────────┼──────────────┴────────────── Cavalry. │ │Wedel. Rgt. (1 and 3 Sqn. 1 │ │ Uhlan Rgt. and 4 Sqn. 1 │ │ Mounted Jag. Rgt.). ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Artillery. │237 F. A. Rgt. (7 Btries.). │237 F. A. Rgt. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Engineers and│237 Pion. Co. │237 Pion. Co. Liaisons. │ │ │ │119 T. M. Co. │ │119 Pont. Engs. │ │119 Tel. Detch. │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Medical and │ │ Veterinary.│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Transport. │ │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Attached. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┴─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────
─────────────┬─────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────── │ 1917 │ 1918 ─────────────┼──────────────┬──────────────┼──────────────┬────────────── │ Brigade. │ Regiment. │ Brigade. │ Regiment. ─────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┼────────────── Infantry. │237. │46. │237. │46. │ │58. │ │58. │ │46 Res. │ │46 Res. ─────────────┼──────────────┴──────────────┼──────────────┴────────────── Cavalry. │4 Sqn. 1 Mounted Jag. Rgt. │4 Sqn. 1 Jag. z. Pf. │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Artillery. │119 Art. Command: │119 Artillery Command: │ 237 F. A. Rgt. (9 Btries.). │ 237 Field Art. Rgt. │ │ 2 Abt. 27 Foot Art. Rgt. │ │ (Btries. 5 to 7). │ │ 1274, 1275, and 1338 Light │ │ Mun. Col. ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Engineers and│119 Pion. Btn.: │119 Pion. Btn.: Liaisons. │ │ │ 237 Pion. Co. │273 Pion. Co. │ 273 Pion. Co. │91 Searchlight Section. │ 3 Res. Co. 32 Pion. Btn. │119 Div. Signal Command. │ 119 T. M. Co. │119 Tel. Detch. │ 237 Searchlight Section. │65 Div. Wireless Detch. │ 119 Tel. Detch. │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Medical and │119 Ambulance Co. │119 Ambulance Co. Veterinary.│ │ │605 Ambulance Co. │382 and 383 Field Hospitals. │381 Field Hospital. │168 Vet. Hospital. │382 Field Hospital. │ │383 Field Hospital. │ │168 Vet. Hospital. │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Transport. │600 M. T. Col. │600 M. T. Col. ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Attached. │16, 17, 60, and 61 (?) Light │ │ Machine Gun Sections. │ │79 M. G. S. S. Detch. │ │1 Co. 3 T. M. Btn. │ │352 Pion. Mining Co. │ │Kortemarck Pion. Park. │ │Strovendorp Pion. Park. │ │57 Ft. Art. Btn. │ │157 Ft. Art. Btn. │ │5 Btry. 7 Res. Ft. A. Rgt. │ │404 Ft. Art. Btn. │ │5 Btry. 39 Ldw. Ft. A. Rgt. │ │6 Btry. 29 Ldw. Ft. A. Rgt. │ │8 Quick-firing Mortar Co. │ │182 Ft. A. Btry. │ │187 Ft. A. Btry. │ │428 Ft. A. Btry. │ │478 and 642 Mountain Ft. Art.│ │ Btries. │ │2 and 4 Mountain Ft. Art. │ │ Btries. (18 C. Dist.) │ │1,000 Ft. Art. Btry. │ │9 Art. Survey Section. │ │819 Tel. Detch. │ │62 Div. Wireless Detch. │ │21 Pigeon Loft. │ │218 Messenger-dog Detch. │ │48 Reconnaissance Sqns. │ │26 Combat Sqn. │ │30 Balloon Sqn. │ │4 Co. 44 Labor Btn. │ │3 Co. 53 Labor Btn. │ │4 Co. 122 Labor Btn. │ │61 Supply Train. │ │19, 108, 121 Bav. and 835 M. │ │ T. Col. │ │491 Ammunition Train. │ │682, 711, and 758 Truck │ │ Trains. │ │587 Supply Train. │ │571 Depot Supply Col. │ │119 Supply Depot. │ │ (According to a captured │ │ document dated Sept. 29, │ │ 1917.) │ ─────────────┴─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────
HISTORY.
(5th Corps District—Posen and Lower Silesia.)
1915.
GALICIA-POLAND.
1. Formed in April, 1915. Its three regiments were obtained from divisions belonging to the 5th Army—the 46th from the 10th Division, the 58th from the 9th Division, and the 46th Reserve from the 10th Reserve Division. Assembled in annexed Lorraine, it was sent to Galicia for the April German offensive. The division took part in the battle of Gorlice at the end of the month.
2. In July it was in Poland, west of the Wieprz, and at the end of October in the region of Baranovitchi.
1916.
BARANOVITCHI.
1. In January, 1916, the division held a sector to the east of Baranovitchi (Russia).
NAROTCH LAKE.
2. About March 28 it went to Narotch Lake and opposed the Russian offensive.
3. Sorely tried on March 30, it was relieved on April 7.
SMORGONI.
4. In May it was found at the west of Smorgoni.
GALICIA.
5. It was transferred to Galicia at the end of June at the time of the Russian offensive. Engaged on July 27, it suffered heavy losses. The 1st Battalion of the 58th was almost entirely captured and the division retired 15 km. (letter). On August 7 new losses at Tlumacz. The division was placed in reserve behind Stanislau until the beginning of September. On September 6 it reappeared on the front in the region of Halicz.
1917.
GALICIA.
1. The division stayed near Halicz until March 9, 1917. It was then sent to the vicinity of Brzezany, where it was almost immediately put in reserve.
2. At the beginning of May it was sent to the Western Front. (Itinerary: Brzezany (May 3)-Lemberg-Breslau-Liegnitz-Dresden-Leipzig-Cassel- Frankfort-Aix la Chapelle-Liége-Brussels-Roulers (May 8).)
FLANDERS.
3. Ypres sector; went into line at the beginning of June and was relieved on July 18.
4. Bixschoote sector; went into line at the beginning of August. The division met the attack in Flanders, in which it suffered serious losses on August 16. The 9th Company of the 58th Infantry was reduced to 38 men (notebook). On the 9th and 10th of October there were new engagements.
5. Relieved from the front on October 15 the division rested in the vicinity of Gand.
CAMBRAI.
6. After a month’s rest the 119th Division went into line on the Cambrai front to participate in the counterattacks which followed the surprise attack of November 20. It fought here from the 23d to the 27th, not without some losses.
7. Relieved after December 6, the division was reorganized in the vicinity of Solesmes.
RECRUITING.
This division recruited from the 5th Corps District. A document dated November 23, 1917, described the division as composed of “regiments of Lower Silesia and Posen.” In order to overcome the majority of Poles, the division received recruits from the 3d and 6th Corps Districts (Brandenburg and Silesia), which were fruitful sources of recruiting.
Twenty-one per cent of the prisoners taken from the 119th Division in August, 1917, belonged to the 1917 class. The 1918 class was meagerly represented. The 46th Reserve Regiment had a large proportion of Poles. The soldiers from Alsace-Lorraine remained on the Eastern Front when the division left Galicia (May, 1917).
1918.
1. About the end of January the division was relieved near Pronville by the 20th Division. It replaced the 3d Guard Division astride the Bapaume-Cambrai road about February 12. The date of its relief in this sector is not known. A captured diary shows that the division was training in the Helesmes area (north of Denain) until the middle of March. On the 16th it marched to Noyelles sur Selle, and on the following day reached Cambrai, where it remained until March 20.
BATTLE OF PICARDY.
2. The division came into line near Inchy on the 21st and took part in the initial attack. It was withdrawn on the 23d and rested two days. It reappeared in line on the 25th and fought southeast of Hebuterne until relieved by the 5th Bavarian Reserve Division on April 7–8. The division lost heavily in this fighting.
BATTLE OF THE LYS.
3. Withdrawn from the Somme, the division reentered the Lys battle line on April 26 near Locon. It was engaged there until early in May (6th), when it was withdrawn near Hinges and rested in the area Lille-Tournai until June 11. On that date it marched to Orchies, was railed to Le Forest, and from there came into line via Noyelles, relieving the 12th Reserve Division on the night of June 13–14. While at rest the division received a number of drafts, mostly of the 1919 class.
4. The division held the Mericourt sector until the night of July 12–13, when it was relieved by the 52d Division and took over the billets of the 52d Division in the Orchies area.
5. The division rested until August 1, when it moved to Ham via Douai- Cambrai-Caudry-Bohain-St. Quentin. Then it rested until August 8, when it was alarmed and rushed up in busses to the Le Quesnel sector.
BATTLE OF THE SOMME.
6. On August 9 the division was engaged south of the Somme. In the fighting it lost about 900 prisoners before its relief on August 17. On August 27–28 it returned to line in the Misery-Licourt sector and remained in line until September 24, when it was withdrawn from west of Bellenglise. After a week’s rest the division reentered line at Estrees; was engaged for 17 days in the Beaurevoir-Le Cateau area. Since August 8 it has lost nearly 3,000 prisoners.
YPRES.
7. The division rested at Ghent until October 27, when it relieved the 3d Landwehr Division south of Machelen. It retreated via Olsene to Nazareth, in which area it was withdrawn about November 9.
VALUE—1918 ESTIMATE.
The division was rated as second class. It was used as an attack division in the March and April offensives. While on the defensive in August and September on the Somme it was decimated.
121st Division.
COMPOSITION.
─────────────┬─────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────── │ 1915 │ 1916 ─────────────┼──────────────┬──────────────┼──────────────┬────────────── │ Brigade. │ Regiment. │ Brigade. │ Regiment. ─────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┼────────────── Infantry. │241. │60. │241. │60. │ │7 Res. │ │7 Res. │ │56 Res. │ │56 Res. ─────────────┼──────────────┴──────────────┼──────────────┴────────────── Cavalry. │2 and 3 Sqns. 12 Horse Jag. │12 Horse Jag. Rgt. (? 2 │ Rgt. │ Sqns.). │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Artillery. │241 F.A. Rgt. │241 F.A. Rgt. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Engineers and│241 Pion. Co. │241 Pion. Co. Liaisons. │ │ │ │260 Pion. Co. │ │4 Co. 27 Pions. │ │121 T. M. Co. │ │121 Pont. Engs. │ │121 Tel. Detch. │ │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Medical and │ │ Veterinary.│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Transport. │ │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Attached. │ │Labor Btn. of the 121 Div. ─────────────┴─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────
─────────────┬─────────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────── │ 1917 │ 1918 ─────────────┼──────────────┬──────────────┼──────────────┬────────────── │ Brigade. │ Regiment. │ Brigade. │ Regiment. ─────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┼──────────────┼────────────── Infantry. │241. │60. │241. │60. │ │7 Res. │ │7 Res. │ │56 Res. │ │56 Res. ─────────────┼──────────────┴──────────────┼──────────────┴────────────── Cavalry. │3 Sqn. 12 Horse Jag. Rgt. │2 Sqn. 12 Jag. z. Pf. │ (?). │ │2 Sqn. 12 Horse Jag. Schutz. │ │ Rgt. │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Artillery. │(?) Art. Command: │121 Art. Command: │ 241 F. A. Rgt. │ 241 F.A. Rgt. │ │85 Foot Art. Btn. │ │1217, 1219, and 1223 Light │ │ Mun. Col. ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Engineers and│(121 Pion. Btn.): │121 Pion. Btn. Liaisons. │ │ │ 241 Pion. Co. │241 Pion. Co. │ 260 Pion. Co. │260 Pion. Co. │ 121 T. M. Co. │104 Searchlight Section. │ 241 Searchlight Section. │121 Div. Signal Command. │ 121 Tel. Detch. │121 Tel. Detch. │ │59 Div. Wireless Detch. ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Medical and │229 Ambulance Co. │229 Ambulance Co. Veterinary.│ │ │384 Field Hospital. │384 and 385 Field Hospitals. │385 Field Hospital. │206 Vet. Hospital. │Vet. Hospital. │ ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Transport. │M. T. Col. │601 M. T. Col. ─────────────┼─────────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────── Attached. │ │ ─────────────┴─────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────
HISTORY.
(60th Regiment: 21st Corps District—Lower Alsace. 7th Reserve Regiment; 5th Corps District—Posen. 56 Reserve Regiment; 7th Corps District—Westphalia.)
1915.
The 121st Division was formed in the Falkenhausen Army in Lorraine in April, 1915. Its three regiments came from divisions which had been in existence for some time. The 60th came from the 31st Division (21st Corps), the 7th Reserve from the 9th Reserve Division (5th Reserve Corps), and the 56th Reserve from the 13th Reserve Division (7th Reserve Corps). These regiments were brought together in the region of St. Avold-Faulquemont at the beginning of April and on the 9th reached Thiaucourt, Euvezin, and the Mort Mare wood (notebooks).
HAYE.
1. The 121st Division next appeared in the Bois de Prêtre sector at the beginning of May, 1915.
2. It stayed there until the end of February, 1916.
1916.
1. The division left the Bois de Prêtre on March 1, 1916, and rested in the vicinity of Metz.
VERDUN.
2. On March 15 it came to the Verdun front (north of Vaux). On April 1 it attacked and took the village of Vaux; it again attacked on April 11 and made progress between Vaux and Douaumont, paying dearly for the advance.
3. Relieved from the Verdun front on April 20, it was put at rest near St. Avold until May 15. It had lost 58 per cent of its infantry strength in front of Verdun. From March 18 to May 30 the 6th Company of the 7th Reserve Regiment received no less than 192 replacements.
SOMME.
4. Transferred to Péronne by way of Sedan, Charleville, Hirson, and Bohain, the 121st Division went into line on the left bank of the Somme on May 18.
5. On July 1, while in this sector, it was surprised by the French offensive and suffered heavy losses (numerous prisoners).
6. Relieved on July 4, it was put at rest and reorganized.
RUSSIA.
7. On July 18 it entrained for the Eastern Front. (Itinerary: Aix la Chapelle-Cologne-Thorn, Warsaw, and Brest-Litowsk.)
KOVEL.
8. Taking over the Kovel sector on July 26, it launched counterattacks, in which it was sorely tried.
1917.
NAROTCH LAKE.
1. At the beginning of January, 1917, the 121st Division left the Kovel sector to go into the region of Narotch Lake and stayed in the latter place until May 17.
FRANCE.
2. On May 20 it entrained for France. (Itinerary: Vilna-Insterberg- Allenstein-Bromberg-Landsberg-Berlin-Stendal-Minden-Duesseldorf-Aix la Chapelle-Verviere-Liége-Brussels-Audenarde.) It detrained at Elsegem on May 25.
CAMBRÉSIS.
3. Transferred to Cambrai on June 10, it took over the Moruvres- Avrincourt sector, which it occupied from June 12 to the beginning of August.
FLANDERS.
4. It was thereafter brought to the Ypres front to the south of the railway running from Ypres to Roulers (Aug. 19). Artillery fire caused it to lose heavily; the British attack of September 20, of which it bore the brunt, increased its losses. Before the battle of the 20th the 12th Company of the 56th Reserve Regiment was reduced to 65 men, of whom 40 were men of the class of 1918. The 9th Company was entirely destroyed or captured.
5. Relieved in the night of the 21st of September the division was sent to rest (region of Mars la Tour) and reorganized (more than 2,000 men coming from the 605th and 614th Landstrum, Batallion X 12, and the 109th Landwehr). These replacements were very heterogeneous—soldiers from Westphalia, Hanover, Baden, Magdeberg (men previously wounded and convalescents).
COTES DE MEUSE.
6. At the beginning of October the 121st Division took over a sector near Cotes de Meuse (les Éparges, Ravin de Malochis). It stayed there until about April 10, 1918.
RECRUITING.
The name “7th Brandenberger” for the 60th Infantry was only of historic interest. The regiment recruited almost entirely in Westphalia. The 56th Reserve Regiment was also recruited in Westphalia, and there were numerous soldiers from there in the 7th Reserve Regiment to counterbalance the numerous Poles in the 5th Corps District; hence the make-up of the division was for the most part Westphalian.
VALUE—1917 ESTIMATE.
The 121st Division fought very well in its last battle in Flanders (September, 1917) and was put to a good test.