The 121st Infantry Division (''121. Infanterie-Division'') was a formation of the Imperial German

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 March 25, 1915, and organized over the next several weeks.121. 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 that were being triangularized. The 60th Infantry Regiment was formerly part of the 31st Infantry Division, the 7th Reserve Infantry Regiment came from the 9th Reserve Division, and the 56th Reserve Infantry Regiment came from the 13th Reserve Division. The division was mainly composed of Westphalians.

Combat chronicle

The 121st Infantry Division initially fought on the Western Front in World War I, entering the line in the

Woëvre The Woëvre () (German: ''Waberland'') is a natural region of Lorraine in northeastern France. It forms part of Lorraine plateau and lies largely in the department of Meuse. Along with the Côtes de Moselle, the Woëvre is one of the areas in ...

region at the beginning of May 1915. It remained in that area until March 1916, fighting in the Battle of Bois-le-Prêtre. It then fought in the

Battle of Verdun The Battle of Verdun (french: Bataille de Verdun ; german: Schlacht um Verdun ) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and took place on the hills north ...

. It briefly fought in the Battle of the Somme until July 18 when it was transferred to the Eastern Front, where it went into the line on the

Styr River The Styr (; ; ) is a right tributary of the Pripyat, with a length of 494 km. Its basin area is 13,100 km2 located in historical region of Volhynia. The Styr begins near Brody, in the Ukrainian Oblast of Lviv, then flows into Rivne Ob ...

until the end of the year. It then went into the line near Lake Narač until May 1917, when it returned to the Western Front. It fought in the Battle of Passchendaele in late 1917, and saw action in the

Second Battle of the Marne The Second Battle of the Marne (french: Seconde Bataille de la Marne) (15 July – 18 July 1918) was the last major German offensive on the Western Front during the First World War. The attack failed when an Allied counterattack, supported by s ...

and the Second Battle of the Somme, also known as the Third Battle of the Somme, in 1918. It remained in the line until the end of the war. Allied intelligence rated the division as third class.

Order of battle on formation

The 121st 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 hea ...

. The order of battle of the division on March 25, 1915, was as follows: *241. Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 7 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 56 **Infanterie-Regiment Markgraf Carl (7. Brandenburgisches) Nr. 60 *2.Eskadron/ Jäger-Regiment zu Pferde Nr. 12 *3.Eskadron/ Jäger-Regiment zu Pferde Nr. 12 *Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 241 *Fußartillerie-Batterie Nr. 121 *Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 241

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 1, 1918, was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle''. *241. Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 7 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 56 **Infanterie-Regiment Markgraf Carl (7. Brandenburgisches) Nr. 60 *2.Eskadron/ Jäger-Regiment zu Pferde Nr. 12 *Artillerie-Kommandeur 121 **Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 241 **Fußartillerie-Bataillon Nr. 85 *Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 121 **Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 241 **Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 260 **Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 121 *Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 121

References

121. 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:121st 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