The 10th Bavarian Infantry Division (''10. Bayerische Infanterie-Division'') was a unit of the

Royal Bavarian Army The Bavarian Army was the army of the Electorate (1682–1806) and then Kingdom (1806–1919) of Bavaria. It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereignty (''Wehrhoheit'') of Bavaria into that of ...

, part 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 3, 1915, and organized over the next few weeks.10. Bayerische 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 August 1918 and its assets distributed to other units. The division was formed primarily from the excess infantry regiments of existing divisions which were being triangularized. The division's 20th Bavarian Infantry Brigade was formerly the 1st Bavarian Infantry Brigade of the 1st Bavarian Infantry Division. The 16th Bavarian Infantry Regiment also came from the 1st Bavarian Infantry Division; the 6th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment came from the

5th Bavarian Reserve Division The 5th Bavarian Reserve Division (''5. Bayerische Reserve-Division'') was a unit of the Royal Bavarian Army, part of the German Army, in World War I. The division was formed on mobilization of the German Army in August 1914 as part of I Royal Bav ...

; and the 8th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment came from the 4th Bavarian Infantry Division.

Combat chronicle

The 10th Bavarian Infantry Division initially served on the Western Front, entering the line on the Somme in March 1915. It remained on the Somme into 1916 and 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 ...

in June and July 1916. It was then transferred to the Eastern Front, arriving in Galicia in August. It then fought in the Romanian campaign, fighting in Bukovina and Transylvania. From February to May 1917, the division served on the Galician front under the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army against the Russian Army, where it engaged in several assault troop (''Stoßtrupp'') operations. It then returned to the Western Front, arriving in Alsace at the end of May and remaining in the line there for several weeks. It then fought in the battles in Flanders known generally as the Battle of Passchendaele. In October 1917, the division left the line and returned to the Eastern Front, deploying along the Upper Styr and Stokhod rivers but reportedly seeing no action. In late November, it went back to the Western Front, and went into the line in Lorraine until May 1918. It then fought near Soissons for the next several months and 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 (World War I), Western Front during the World War I, First World War. The attack failed wh ...

. On August 6, 1918, the division was dissolved, with its assets distributed to other units. Allied intelligence rated the division as second class.

Order of battle on formation

The 10th Bavarian 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 4, 1915, was as follows: *20. bayerische Infanterie-Brigade **Kgl. Bayerisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 6 **Kgl. Bayerisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 8 **Kgl. Bayerisches 16. Infanterie-Regiment Großherzog Ferdinand von Toskana **Kgl. Bayerische Radfahrer-Kompanie Nr. 10 *3.Eskadron/Kgl. Bayerisches 5. Chevaulegers-Regiment Erzherzog Friedrich von Österreich *10. bayerische Feldartillerie-Brigade **Kgl. Bayerisches 19. Feldartillerie-Regiment **Kgl. Bayerisches 20. Feldartillerie-Regiment **Kgl. Bayerisches 10. Fußartillerie-Bataillon *Kgl. Bayerische Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 19 *Kgl. Bayerische Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 20

Late-war order of battle

The division underwent relatively few organizational changes over the course of the war. Artillery and signals commands were formed, and combat engineer support was expanded to a full pioneer battalion. The order of battle on February 15, 1918, was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle''. *20. bayerische Infanterie-Brigade **Kgl. Bayerisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 6 **Kgl. Bayerisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 8 **Kgl. Bayerisches 16. Infanterie-Regiment Großherzog Ferdinand von Toskana *3.Eskadron/Kgl. Bayerisches 5. Chevaulegers-Regiment Erzherzog Friedrich von Österreich *Kgl. Bayerischer Artillerie-Kommandeur 10 **Kgl. Bayerisches 20. Feldartillerie-Regiment **Kgl. Bayerisches 17. Fußartillerie-Bataillon *Kgl. Bayerisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 10 **Kgl. Bayerische Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 20 **Kgl. Bayerische Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 23 **Kgl. Bayerische Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 10 *Kgl. Bayerischer Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 10

References

10. Bayerische 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:10 Infantry divisions of Germany in World War I Military units and formations established in 1915 Military units and formations of Bavaria Military units and formations disestablished in 1918 1915 establishments in Germany