The 103rd Infantry Division (''103. Infanterie-Division'') was a unit of the

Imperial German ', literally translated "Germans of the ", is an archaic term for those ethnic Germans who resided within the German state that was founded in 1871. In contemporary usage, it referred to German citizens, the word signifying people from the Germ ...

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The division was formed on May 3, 1915, and organized over the next few weeks.103. Infanterie-Division (Chronik 1915/1918)
/ref> It was part of a wave of new infantry divisions formed in the spring of 1915. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was formed primarily from the excess infantry regiments of existing divisions which were being triangularized. The division's 205th Infantry Brigade was formerly the 44th Infantry Brigade of the 22nd Infantry Division, and came to the division with the 32nd Infantry Regiment. The 71st Infantry Regiment came from the 38th Infantry Division and the 116th Reserve Infantry Regiment came from the 25th Reserve Division. The 32nd and 71st Infantry Regiments were Thuringian units, raised in the Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen, the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, and Prussian Thuringia (part of the Prussian

Province of Saxony The Province of Saxony (german: link=no, Provinz Sachsen), 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 merge ...

). The 116th Reserve Infantry Regiment was from the

Grand Duchy of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (german: link=no, Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein) was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Grand Duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 ...

Combat chronicle

The 103rd Infantry Division initially served on the Eastern Front, seeing its first action in the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive. It was then transferred south to participate in the Serbian Campaign. It advanced to the Greek border and remained on the

Macedonian front The Macedonian front, also known as the Salonica front (after Thessaloniki), was a military theatre of World War I formed as a result of an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, against the combined attack of German ...

until April 1916. The division was then sent to the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

, entering the line in the Champagne region. From June to July 1916, it fought in the Battle of Verdun. In October and November, it fought in the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

, after which it returned to the trenchlines in the Champagne region and by Verdun. In May 1917, the division fought in the

Second Battle of the Aisne The Second Battle of the Aisne (french: Bataille du Chemin des Dames or french: Seconde bataille de l'Aisne, 16 April – mid-May 1917) was the main part of the Nivelle Offensive, a Franco-British attempt to inflict a decisive defeat on the Germa ...

, also called the Third Battle of Champagne (and by the Germans, the Double Battle on the Aisne and in the Champagne). Afterwards, it was in the trenchlines in the Chemin des Dames region and later near St. Quentin and on the Oise River. In April 1918, the division participated in the German spring offensive, fighting in the First Battle of the Somme (1918), also known as the Battle of St. Quentin or the Second Battle of the Somme (to distinguish it from the 1916 battle), and in the

Third Battle of the Aisne The Third Battle of the Aisne (french: 3e Bataille de l'Aisne) was a battle of the German spring offensive during World War I that focused on capturing the Chemin des Dames Ridge before the American Expeditionary Forces arrived completely in ...

. It later fought in the Second Battle of the Marne and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. The division remained in the line until the end of the war. Allied intelligence rated the division as a good division in 1917 but as third class in 1918.

Order of battle on formation

The 103rd Infantry Division was formed as a

triangular division A triangular division is a designation given to the way military divisions are organized. In a triangular organization, the division's main body is composed of three regimental maneuver elements. These regiments may be controlled by a brigade head ...

. The order of battle of the division on May 15, 1915, was as follows: *205. Infanterie-Brigade **2. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 32 **3. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 71 **Großherzoglich Hessisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 116 **Reserve-Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 22 *2.Eskadron/Grenadier-zu-Pferd-Regiment Freiherr von Derfflinger (Neumärkisches) Nr. 3 *4.Eskadron/Grenadier-zu-Pferd-Regiment Freiherr von Derfflinger (Neumärkisches) Nr. 3 *Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 205 *Fußartillerie-Batterie Nr. 103 *Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 205

Late-war order of battle

The division underwent relatively few organizational changes over the course of the war. Cavalry was reduced, artillery and signals commands were formed, and combat engineer support was expanded to a full pioneer battalion. The order of battle on April 19, 1918, was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle''. *205.Infanterie-Brigade **2. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 32 **3. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 71 **Großherzoglich Hessisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 116 *5.Eskadron/Magdeburgisches Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 6 *Artillerie-Kommandeur 103 **Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 205 **III.Bataillon/Reserve-Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 11 *Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 103 **9.Kompanie/2. Brandenburgisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 28 **Reserve-Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 87 **Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 103 *Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 103

References

103. Infanterie-Division (Chronik 1915/1918) - 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 1825-1939.'' (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:103 Infantry divisions of Germany in World War I Military units and formations established in 1915 Military units and formations disestablished in 1919 1915 establishments in Germany