Part 16
─────────────┬───────────────────┬─────────────────── │ 1917 │ 1918 ─────────────┼─────────┬─────────┼─────────┬───────── │Brigade. │Regiment.│Brigade. │Regiment. ─────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────── Infantry. │2 Bav. │1 Bav. │2 Bav. │1 Bav. │ Ldw. │ Ldw. │ Ldw. │ Ldw. │ │ │ │ │ │2 Bav. │ │3 Bav. │ │ Ldw. │ │ Ldw. │ │ │ │ │ │12 Bav. │ │12 Bav. │ │ Ldw. │ │ Ldw. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼─────────┴─────────┼─────────┴───────── Cavalry. │2d Sqn. 2 Bav. │2 Sqn. 2 Bav. Light │ Light Cav. Rgt. │ Cav. Rgt. │ │ │2d Sqn. 2 Bav. │ │ Light Cav. Rgt. │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Artillery. │23 Bav. Art. │6 Bav. Ldw. F. A. │ Command: │ Rgt. (3 Abt., │ │ Staff, and 8 │ │ Btry.). │ 6 Bav. Ldw. F. A. │ │ Rgt. │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Engineers and│26 Bav. Pion. Btn.:│26 Bav. Pion Btn.: Liaisons. │ │ │ 16 Bav. Res. Pion.│ 16 Bav. Res. Pion. │ Co. │ Co. │ 306 Bav. T. M. Co.│ 26 Bav. │ │ Searchlight │ │ Section. │ 10 Bav. Res. │ 506 Bav. Signal │ Searchlight │ Command: │ Section. │ │ 506 Bav. Tel. │ 506 Bav. Tel. │ Detch. │ Detch. │ │ 192 Bav. Wireless │ │ Detch. │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Medical and │560 Ambulance Co. │19 Bav. Ambulance Veterinary.│ │ Co. │19 Bav. Field │60 Bav. Field │ Hospital. │ Hospital. │59 Bav. Field │59 Bav. Field │ Hospital. │ Hospital. │36 Vet. Hospital. │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Transports. │47 Bav. M. T. Col. │794 Bav. M. T. Col. │49 Bav. M. T. Col. │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Attached. │Neustadt Landst. │ │ Inf. Btn. (2 Bav.│ │ C. Dist. Btn. No.│ │ 4). │ │Bomberg Landst. │ │ Inf. Btn. (2 Bav.│ │ C. Dist. Btn. No.│ │ 10). │ │Ansbach Landst. │ │ Inf. Btn. (3 Bav.│ │ C. Dist. Btn. No.│ │ 2). │ │1 Cologne 2 Landst.│ │ Inf. Btn. (8 C. │ │ Dist. Btn. No. │ │ 14). │ ─────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────
HISTORY.
(First Bavarian District.)
1914.
ALSACE.
1. The division was sent into the Vosges at the beginning of the campaign (3 brigades, of which one was from Wurtemberg). It fought in the valley of the Fecht in August, 1914. Beginning with October it occupied the region Ste. Marie aux Mines-Col du Bonhomme. October 2 the 1st Bavarian Brigade entrained at Colmar for Belgium and garrisoned Antwerp until December.
2. At the beginning of November the 3d Bavarian Landwehr Division took
## part in the attacks on the Violu.
1915.
1. From February to April, 1915, the units which at that time made up this division were again separated. The 1st Bavarian Landwehr (mixed) Brigade came back from Belgium in the middle of December and went to Champagne (Souain-Somme-Py) to reinforce the 15th Division; the 2d Mixed Brigade continued to hold the Orbey la Poutroye sector south of Bonhomme (valley of the Weiss). The Wurtemberg Brigade (von Frech) was transferred in April to the 7th Landwehr Division (Wurtemberg) in upper Alsace.
2. In April, 1915, the remaining two brigades were assembled on the Vosges front (Orbey, Valley of the Weiss) and from that time on held this sector without much change.
3. In July some units of the division fought in the region of the Linge.
1916.
1. Vosges sector (valley of the Weiss, Col du Bonhomme). At the end of December, 1916, the 2d Bavarian Landwehr was transferred to the 2d Bavarian Landwehr Division (new).
1917.
1. In 1917 the division extended its sector from the region of Col du Bonhomme to the valley of the Fecht (Munster).
VALUE—1917 ESTIMATE.
The division was in line in the region of Orbey (south of Col du Bonhomme) from 1915 on. It is a mediocre division made up of elderly men. The companies have no shock troops. All the important operations are executed by the assault company of the division.
1918.
ALSACE.
1. The 6th Bavarian Landwehr Division occupied the sector extending from south of Le Bonhomme to just west of Muenster, all through the year, being still in line when the armistice was signed.
VALUE—1918 ESTIMATE.
The division is a fourth-class one, being used only to hold one of the calmest sectors on the western front. All the young men were taken away from the division (except those in machine-gun and assault companies) and exchanged for older ones. In October the father of six children was captured. Morale was low, discipline poor. Several prisoners stated that the men did not hesitate to say, even in front of their officers, that the war had been lost by Germany and that they were thoroughly sick of it.
6th Cavalry Division (Dismounted).
COMPOSITION.
───────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────── │ 1918 ───────────────────────┼───────────────────────┬─────────────────────── │ Brigade. │ Regiment. ───────────────────────┼───────────────────────┼─────────────────────── Cavalry. │5 Cav. │2 Drag. │ │3 Uhlan. │ │7 Cuirassier. │45 Cav. │7 Res. Drag. │ │13 Hus. │ │13 Horse Jag. │3 Cav. │2 Cuirassier. │ │9 Uhlan. │ │12 Hus. ───────────────────────┼───────────────────────┴─────────────────────── Artillery. │133 Art. Command. ───────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────── Engineers and Liaisons.│21 Pion. Btn. │319 T. M. Co. │674 Wireless Detch. ───────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────── Medical and Veterinary.│256 Ambulance Co. │106 Field Hospital. │261 Vet. Hospital. ───────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────── Attached. │70 Ldw. Inf. Brig. ───────────────────────┴───────────────────────────────────────────────
HISTORY.
1918.
ALSACE.
1. The division held the Badonviller sector until the last of April, when it was relieved by the 21st Landwehr Division. It rested at Mulhausen until July. At this time it was reorganized as a division of nine dismounted cavalry regiments.
YPRES.
2. On July 1 it entrained at Sierenz and traveled via Saarburg-Eupen- Liege-Brussels-Courtrai to Ingelmunster, where it detrained on July 3. The division then went into rest billets in the Iseghem-Winkel St. Eloi and Lendelede area, and on the night of July 27–28 it relieved the 1st Landwehr Division east of Ypres.
CAMBRAI.
3. It was relieved in Flanders and railed via Cambrai to Fins, where it detrained August 31. On September 4 it was in line at Manancourt and Nurlun. It was engaged in heavy fighting until September 25, when it was withdrawn from the battle front southwest of Cambrai after losing 400 prisoners.
BELGIUM.
4. It reinforced the Ypres battle front at Ledeghem on October 1 and fought there for about one week. It rested out of line a week and returned on October 15 to line east of Gulleghem. Two weeks later it was withdrawn in the Waereghem area.
5. On November 3 the division was again in line at Hermelgem. It was withdrawn within a few days and on the day of the armistice it was considered to be in reserve of the 4th German Army.
VALUE—1918 ESTIMATE.
The division was rated as fourth class. Its use in the active Ypres and Cambrai fronts indicates that it should have been rated higher after its reorganization in the summer.
7th Division.
COMPOSITION.
─────────────┬───────────────────┬───────────────────┬─────────────────── │ 1914 │ 1915 │ 1916 ─────────────┼─────────┬─────────┼─────────┬─────────┼─────────┬───────── │Brigade. │Regiment.│Brigade. │Regiment.│Brigade. │Regiment. ─────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────── Infantry. │13. │26. │13. │26. │14. │26. │ │66. │ │66. │ │27. │14. │27. │14. │27. │ │165. │ │165. │ │165. │ │ ─────────────┼─────────┴─────────┼─────────┴─────────┼─────────┴───────── Cavalry. │10 Hus. Rgt. (3 │10 Hus. Rgt. (3 │10 Hus. Rgt. (3 │ Sqns.). │ Sqns.). │ Sqns.). ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Artillery. │7 Brig.: │7 Brig.: │7 Brig.: │ 4 F. A. Rgt. │ 4 F. A. Rgt. │ 4 F. A. Rgt. │ 40 F. A. Rgt. │ 40 F. A. Rgt. │ 40 F. A. Rgt. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Engineers and│ │1 Pion. Btn. No. 4.│1 Pion. Btn. No. 4: Liaisons. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Field Co. 4 Pions.│ 1 Co. 4 Pions. │ │ 7 Pont. Engs. │ 7 T. M. Co. │ │ 7 Tel. Detch. │ 7 Pont. Engrs. │ │ │ │ │ │ 7 Tel. Detch. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Medical and │ │ │ Veterinary.│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Transports. │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Attached. │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────
─────────────┬───────────────────┬─────────────────── │ 1917 │ 1918 ─────────────┼─────────┬─────────┼─────────┬───────── │Brigade. │Regiment.│Brigade. │Regiment. ─────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────── Infantry. │14. │26. │14. │26. │ │165. │ │165. │ │393. │ │393. │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼─────────┴─────────┼─────────┴───────── Cavalry. │2 Sqn. 10 Hus. Rgt.│2 Sqn. 10 Hus. Rgt. │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Artillery. │7 Brig.: │7 Art. Command: │ 40 F. A. Rgt. │ 40 F. A. Rgt. │ │ 4 Abt. 24 Res. Ft. │ │ A. Rgt. │ │ 1244 Light Am. │ │ Col. │ │ 1298 Light Am. │ │ Col. │ │ 1301 Light Am. │ │ Col. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Engineers and│118 Pion. Btn. │4 Pion. Btn.: Liaisons. │ (formerly 1 Pion.│ │ Btn. No. 4): │ │ 1 Co. 4 Pions. │ 1 Co. 4 Pions. │ 3 Co. 4 Pions. │ 3 Co. 4 Pions. │ 7 T. M. Co. │ 43 Searchlight │ │ Section. │ 7 Tel. Detch. │7 Signal Command: │ 7 Pont. Engs. │ 7 Tel. Detch. │ │ 132 Bav. Wireless │ │ Detch. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Medical and │10 Ambulance Co. │10 Ambulance Co. Veterinary.│ │ │Field Hospital. │37 Field Hospital. │Vet. Hospital. │41 Field Hospital. │ │7 Vet. Hospital. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Transports. │M. T. Col. │540 M. T. Col. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Attached. │88 Labor Btn. (5th │ │ Co.). │ ─────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────
HISTORY.
(Fourth District—Prussian Saxony.)
1914.
The Seventh Division was recruited in the Province of Prussian Saxony and, with the 8th Division, belonged to the 4th Army Corps (Magdeburg).
MARNE.
1. The 14th Brigade, which had already obtained reservists July 30, entrained on the evening of August 2 and was one of the six brigades ordered to take Liege. The whole division moved into the region of Liege August 15. It belonged to the 1st Army (Von Kluck), and passed through Louvain August 18 and through Brussels the 20th. On the 23d it was on the Haine, west of St. Ghislain. On the 24th between Quiévrain and Audregnies it threatened to envelop the Allied left. Going through Le Cateau and Peronne on August 28, the division passed through Grand Morin and arrived at Choisy, southeast of Coulommiers, from where it was sent in all haste to the aid of the right wing of the 1st Army (Etavigny, etc.).
BELGIUM.
2. After the retreat it went to the north of the Aisne below Soissons until the last days of September (fights at Cuisy en Almont, Morsain, Nouvron, Fontenoy).
3. At the end of September it was attached to the 6th Army (Crown Prince of Bavaria) and sent to Artois.
ARTOIS.
4. At the beginning of October it fought south of Arras (Monchy aux Bois, Ransart, Wailly). It established itself south of the Scarpe.
5. It held the sector until the end of May, 1915. During this period it limited itself to organizing defensively.
1915.
1. In March the division was reduced to three regiments by the transfer of the 66th Infantry to the 52d Division (new).
2. In May, 1915, at the time of the French offensive in Artois some units of the division were sent as reinforcements to the region of Neuville-St. Vaast. It left some prisoners and suffered heavy losses on May 12 to 13.
ARTOIS.
3. June 12 the division left the sector south of the Scarpe and went into line the 13th between Lorette and Angres (from the Souchez-Aix Noulette Road to the Blanc work). The French offensive struck it June 13 and the days following north of the road from Souchez to Aix Noulette. It was forced to give ground and lost many prisoners (250 men, among them 6 officers from the 26th Infantry north of Bois Carre; the 2d Battalion of the 26th Infantry lost 12 officers and 597 men out of
## action, according to the Prussian casualty lists).
4. At the beginning of July the division established itself south of the railroad from Grenay to Lens, north of Souchez. September 25 it fought in the third battle of Artois, north of Bois en Hache, before Angres and Lievin. It showed considerable energy, but again had many of its men captured.
5. The division remained in this sector southwest of Loos (south of the Lens-Béthune Road; Lene-Grenay Railroad) until July, 1916.
1916.
1. Until the beginning of July, 1916, the division had no serious battles.
2. About July 3 the division was relieved from the Loos front. On the 13th it was at Cambrai.
SOMME.
3. July 14 and 15 it began to be engaged in the battle of the Somme between Pozieres and Bazentin le Petit. It suffered terrible losses. Relieved May 28.
ARTOIS.
4. After a rest in the region of Valenciennes it went into line east of Arras August 9 and stayed there until September 17. At this time it transferred its 27th Infantry to the 211th Division and took in exchange the 393d Infantry, composed of levies from the regiments of the 7th, 8th, and 12th Divisions, 50th Reserve Division and 38th Landwehr Brigade.
SOMME.
5. About September 18 it again took part in the battle of the Somme in the sector of Courcelette. It fought bravely and again suffered heavily.
ARTOIS.
6. Withdrawn from the Somme about October 2 and went into the sector southeast of Loos October 5. Again withdrawn from this sector November 10 it went almost immediately into the line south of the La Bassee Canal and stayed there until May 28, 1917.
1917.
ARTOIS.
1. During the winter of 1916–17 the division had no big battles, but suffered from raids executed by the British troops.
FLANDERS.
2. May 28 it was withdrawn from the La Bassee front and sent to the region of Ypres (sector of Hollebeke-Wytschaete) June 8 to 19.
ALSACE.
3. At the beginning of July it was sent to Alsace to the vicinity of Mulhouse where it rested.
4. July 27 to 28 it entrained again for Artois via Mulhouse-Strassbourg- Sarreguemines-Metz-Thionville-Sedan-Hirson-Valenciennes-St. Amand.
ARTOIS.
5. After a few days’ rest in the region of St. Amand and Orchies July 28 to August 3, it went into the lines north of Lens (Loos sector) where it lost heavily from August 9 to the beginning of September.
BELGIUM.
6. Relieved then and sent to rest at Pont a Marcq, it went back into the line between the La Bassee Canal and Hulluch September 21. Withdrawn from this sector during October and sent to the region of Ypres where it held a front on October 29 between Becelaere and Gheluvelt. It was still identified there January 29, 1918.
RECRUITING.
Province of Magdeburg (Prussian Saxony) and part of Thuringia. The 393d Infantry gets replacements from the depot of the 153d Infantry (Altenburg). Its resources from these replacements are as a rule sufficient and the Fourth District has even furnished recruits to the regiments of the Fourteenth. In exchange when it has relatively few replacements it has been helped out by Polish drafts from Silesia (Sixth District).
1918.
1. The division was relieved on February 4 and rested in the Eecloo area, participating in a large-scale maneuver.
2. It returned to line in the Becelaere sector on March 3, relieving the 8th Bavarian Reserve Division. It was withdrawn March 26.
BATTLE OF THE LYS.
3. It fought near Hollebeke, Messines, Wytschaete, between April 9 and May 1. It took part in the attack on the Ypres-Comines Canal on April 25.
4. During May it was at rest in Belgium near Deyuze (Cruyhautern). It entrained for Nesle about June 8, moving through Audenarde, Coutrai, Lille, Douai, Cambrai, and Ham. It marched to the front, southeast of Montdidier by Roye and Tilloloy June 9–11.
5. It was in line near Ressons-Marqueglise from June 14 to 24.
6. The division rested south of St. Quentin June 26 to 29, then at Origny June 30 to July 4. It entrained at Origny on July 4 and moved to Sedan by Guise, Hirson, Liart, and Charleville. It was north of Grandpre from July 5 to 10. On the 10th it was sent toward the Champagne front by Grandpre, Monthois, and Maure.
BATTLE OF RHEIMS.
7. The division was engaged at Repon, east of Tahure, on July 15. Heavy losses were incurred during the attack of July 15. It was taken out on August 15.
AILETTE.
8. It was moved by railroad to Chauny (by Laon) and detrained about August 20. About this time a dozen men per company were received.
9. On August 26–27 it entered line south of Juvigny (north of Soissons). In the fighting that followed the division was withdrawn to Leuilly on the night of August 31-Sept 1. It was relieved on the 3d after losing 605 prisoners. The German communique of August 30 credited the 165th Regiment with the destruction of 20 tanks in one attack.
BATTLE OF THE ARGONNE.
10. The division rested near Attigny until September 24, when it reinforced the Somme-Py front. It was engaged until October 22 with very heavy losses. It returned from the second line two days later to assist in covering the retreat between La Neuville en Tourne a Fuy and Juniville. From there it fell back on the Aisne (Ambly) and was retired on October 14.
VALUE—1918 ESTIMATE.
The division was rated as first class.
7th Reserve Division.
COMPOSITION.
─────────────┬───────────────────┬───────────────────┬─────────────────── │ 1914 │ 1915 │ 1916 ─────────────┼─────────┬─────────┼─────────┬─────────┼─────────┬───────── │Brigade. │Regiment.│Brigade. │Regiment.│Brigade. │Regiment. ─────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────── Infantry. │13 Res. │27 Res. │13 Res. │27 Res. │14 Res. │36 Res. │ │36 Res. │ │36 Res. │ │66 Res. │14 Res. │66 Res. │14 Res. │66 Res. │ │72 Res. │ │72 Res. │ │72 Res. │ │ │ 4 Res. Jag. Btn. │ 4 Res. Jag. Btn. │ 4 Res. Jag. Btn. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Cavalry. │1 Res. Heavy Cav. │ │1 Res. Heavy Cav. │ Rgt. (3 Sqns.). │ │ Rgt. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Artillery. │7 Res. F. A. Rgt. │7 Res. F. A. Rgt. │7 Res. F. A. Rgt. │ (6 Btries.). │ │ (9 Btries.). │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Engineers and│4 Field Co. 2 Pion.│4 Field Co. 2 Pion.│4 Field Co. 2 Pion. Liaisons. │ Btn No. 4. │ Btn. No. 4: │ Btn. No. 4: │ │ 7 Res. Pont.-Engs.│ 248 Pion. Co. │ │ 7 Res. Tel.-Detch.│ 207 T. M. Co. │ │ │ 7 Res. Pont.-Engs. │ │ │ 7 Res. Tel.-Detch. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Medical and │ │ │ Veterinary.│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Transports. │ │ │ ─────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────
─────────────┬───────────────────┬─────────────────── │ 1917 │ 1918 ─────────────┼─────────┬─────────┼─────────┬───────── │Brigade. │Regiment.│Brigade. │Regiment. ─────────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼───────── Infantry. │14 Res. │36 Res. │14 Res. │36 Res. │ │66 Res. │ │66 Res. │ │72 Res. │ │72 Res. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ─────────────┼─────────┴─────────┼─────────┴───────── Cavalry. │1 Res. Heavy Cav. │3 Sqn. 9 Drag. Rgt. │ Rgt. (1 Sqn.). │ ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Artillery. │95 Art. Command: │95 Art. Command: │ │ │ 7 Res. F. A. Rgt. │ 7 Res. F. A. Rgt. │ (9 Btries.) │ │ │ 52 Ft. A. Btn. │ │ 889 Light Am. Col. │ │ 1106 Light Am. │ │ Col. │ │ 1126 Light Am. │ │ Col. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Engineers and│307 Pion. Btn.: │307 Pion. Btn.: Liaisons. │ │ │ 4 Co. 4 Pions. │ 4 Co. 4 Pions. │ 248 Pion. Co. │ 248 Pion. Co. │ 207 T. M. Co. │ 207 T. M. Co. │ 407 Tel.-Detch. │ 180 Searchlight │ │ Section. │ │407 Signal Command: │ │ 407 Tel. Detch. │ │ 42 Wireless Detch. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Medical and │504 Ambulance Co. │504 Ambulance Co. Veterinary.│ │ │22 Res. Field │22 Res. Field │ Hospital. │ Hospital. │49 Res. Field │24 Res. Field │ Hospital. │ Hospital. │Vet. Hospital. │407 Vet. Hospital. ─────────────┼───────────────────┼─────────────────── Transports. │M. T. Col. │707 M. T. Col. ─────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────
HISTORY.
(Fourth District—Prussian Saxony.)
1914.
1. At the beginning of the war the 7th Reserve Division was part of the 4th Reserve Corps.
BELGIUM.
2. It detrained August 10 to 12, 1914, near Dusseldorf, and was part of the 1st Army (Von Kluck). Reached Brussels via Tongres (Aug. 19) and Louvain, and advanced toward Paris through Enghien, Ath, Conde, Amiens (Aug. 30–31), Clermont, Creil, and Senlis (Sept. 4).
MARNE.
3. At the battle of the Marne it was engaged northwest of Crouy sur Ourcq (Puisieux, Neufmoutiers, Monthyon) and suffered heavy losses, September 6 and 7.
4. From September 8 to 11 it withdrew through Villers Cotterets, Coeuvres, Port Fontenoy. It fought for a long time in the region of Nouvron.
AISNE.
5. After the front was stabilized it held the lines between the Soissons-Laon Road to southwest of Nouvron.
6. November 12 it had considerable losses at the attack of the Plateau of Nouvron.
1915.
1. The division held the Nouvron sector until September, 1915.
2. In January, 1915, some of the units of the division were engaged in the fights around Soissons, January 12 and 13.
3. In June several battalions were sent toward Quennevieres as reinforcements at the beginning of the French attack.
CHAMPAGNE.
4. Relieved about September 22 to 25, the division was sent to Champagne at the beginning of October. Suffered heavy losses in the region of Tahure October 30.
1916.
1. Withdrawn at the end of January, 1916, from the sector of Tahure. It was sent to rest north of Rethel. It went back into line only for a short time toward the end of February north of Prosnes (the 36th Reserve Regiment alone appeared in this sector).
2. About May 10 the division was sent to the camp of Sissonne.
VERDUN.
3. It was sent to the Verdun front and took part in the attack of June 1 on Thiaumont-Damploup in the sector of Bois de la Caillette. Suffered very heavy losses June 2 and 3 and at the attack of Bois de Vaux Chapitre on June 21. Total of losses before Verdun, 8,200 men. On June 16 the companies of the 36th Reserve were reduced to an average of 30 men (prisoners’ statements). From June 1 to 5 the 10th Company of the 72d Reserves received no less than 138 replacements.
ARGONNE.
4. The division was withdrawn from the Verdun front about July 1. Sent to the Argonne and occupied the sector north of Ville sur Tourbe (between Main de Massiges and the Aisne) until the end of August. It was reorganized in this region.
SOMME.
5. After a rest in the vicinity of Longwy it was sent to the Somme and fought in the region of Gueudecourt September 23 to October 11.
ARGONNE.
6. About October 14 the division took over its old sector north of Ville sur Tourbe, south of Cernay en Dormois.
1917.
MEUSE.
1. Withdrawn from the Argonne front about January 8, 1917, and sent, February 5, before Verdun (region of Louvemont, north of Chambrettes), where it was kept until the beginning of April.
2. The division next held the sector of Cernay les Reims at the end of April to May 25.
CHAMPAGNE.
3. About May 30 and 31 it was sent into line before Teton (region of Moronvilliers) until the middle of August.
4. After a rest in the vicinity of Aussonce the division went into line at the beginning of September in the region of Nauroy, sector of Mont Haut-Cornillet. Relieved January, 1918, and sent to rest north of Rethel.
RECRUITING.
Prussian Saxony and part of Thuringia.
VALUE—1917 ESTIMATE.
At Tahure in October, 1915, and at Verdun the division obtained only mediocre results in spite of heavy losses. “This division seems to be rather a sector division than a shock unit.”
1918.
RETHEL.