113th Infantry Division (German Empire)
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The 113th Infantry Division (''113. Infanterie-Division'') was a formation 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 ...
in
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 March 25, 1915, and organized over the next several weeks.113. 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 regular infantry divisions which were being triangularized. The division's 225th Infantry Brigade staff was formerly the staff of the 44th Reserve Infantry Brigade of the 22nd Reserve Division, which came to the new division along with the 32nd Reserve Infantry Regiment. The 36th Füsilier Regiment was formerly part of the 8th Infantry Division. The 48th Infantry Regiment came from the 5th Infantry Division. The 32nd Reserve Infantry Regiment was raised in the Thuringian states, primarily the Reuss principalities. The 36th Füsiliers was a "Magdeburg" regiment, raised in 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 48th Infantry was a Brandenburg regiment. The 48th Infantry was replaced by the 66th Infantry, another Magdeburg regiment, making the division primarily Prussian Saxon and Thuringian in character. Cavalry support came in the form of cuirassiers from the Rhineland. The artillery and combat engineer units were newly formed.


Combat chronicle

The 113th Infantry Division fought on 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 ...
in World War I, entering the line between the Meuse and Moselle in April 1915. In 1915, it saw action in the
Second Battle of Champagne The Second Battle of Champagne ( or Autumn Battle) in World War I was a French offensive against the German army at Champagne that coincided with an Anglo-French assault at north-east Artois and ended with French retreat. Battle On 25 Septem ...
. In 1916, the division fought in the Battle of Verdun and 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 a period in the trenchlines in the Woëvre region and in Upper Alsace, 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 known as the Third Battle of Champagne. It then went into the line on the Chemin des Dames and north of the river Ailette, where it remained until preparing for the 1918 German spring offensive. It fought in the First Battle of the Somme (1918) and the Second Battle of the Marne, and later faced various Allied offensives collectively known as the
Hundred Days Offensive The Hundred Days Offensive (8 August to 11 November 1918) was a series of massive Allies of World War I, Allied offensives that ended the First World War. Beginning with the Battle of Amiens (1918), Battle of Amiens (8–12 August) on the Wester ...
. Allied intelligence rated the division as second class.


Order of battle on formation

The 113th 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 March 25, 1915, was as follows: *225. Infanterie-Brigade **Thüringisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 32 **Füsilier-Regiment General-Feldmarschall Graf Blumenthal (1. Magdeburgisches) Nr. 36 **Infanterie-Regiment von Stülpnagel (5. Brandenburgisches) Nr. 48 *3.Eskadron/Kürassier-Regiment Graf Geßler (Rheinisches) Nr. 8 *4.Eskadron/Kürassier-Regiment Graf Geßler (Rheinisches) Nr. 8 *Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 225 *Fußartillerie-Batterie Nr. 113 *Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 225


Late-war order of battle

The division underwent relatively few organizational changes over the course of the war. In March 1917, the 48th Infantry Regiment was sent to the
228th Infantry Division The 228th Infantry Division (german: 228. Infanterie-Division) was an Infantry Division, infantry division of the German German Army (1935–1945), Heer during World War II. It was formed in Wehrkreis, Wehrkreis I (East Prussia) in August 1939 and ...
and the division received the 66th Infantry Regiment from the 52nd Infantry Division. 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 March 12, 1918, was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle''. *225.Infanterie-Brigade **Thüringisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 32 **Füsilier-Regiment General-Feldmarschall Graf Blumenthal (1. Magdeburgisches) Nr. 36 **3. Magdeburgisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 66 **Maschinengewehr-Scharfschützen-Abteilung Nr. 34 *3.Eskadron/Kürassier-Regiment Graf Geßler (Rheinisches) Nr. 8 *Artillerie-Kommandeur 113 **Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 225 **Fußartillerie-Bataillon Nr. 407 *Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 113 **Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 225 **Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 251 **Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 113 *Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 113


References


113. 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:113th Infantry Division (German Empire) 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