The 16th Reserve Division (''16. Reserve-Division'') was a unit 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 mobilization of the German Army in August 191416. Reserve-Division (Chronik 1914-1918)
/ref> as part of VIII Reserve Corps. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was recruited primarily in the Prussian

Rhine Province The Rhine Province (german: Rheinprovinz), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. It ...

. At the beginning of the war, it formed the VIII Reserve Corps with the 15th Reserve Division.

Combat chronicle

The 16th Reserve Division fought on the Western Front, participating in the opening German offensive which led to the Allied

Great Retreat The Great Retreat (), also known as the retreat from Mons, was the long withdrawal to the River Marne in August and September 1914 by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French Fifth Army. The Franco-British forces on the Western Fr ...

, fighting at Sedan in late August 1914. It fought in the

First Battle of the Marne The First Battle of the Marne was a battle of the First World War fought from 5 to 12 September 1914. It was fought in a collection of skirmishes around the Marne River Valley. It resulted in an Entente victory against the German armies in the ...

. Thereafter, it remained in the line in the Champagne region and fought 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 September–October 1915. It fought on the Aisne until October 1916, and then joined 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 ...

. Its next major engagement was 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). In July 1917, the division was transferred to the Eastern Front. It remained on the Eastern Front until November 1917, and then returned to the Western Front. The division fought in the 1918 German spring offensive, and remained in the Flanders and Artois regions until the end of the war. Allied intelligence rated the division as second class in 1918.

Order of battle on mobilization

The order of battle of the 16th Reserve Division on mobilization was as follows: *29. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 29 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 65 *31. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 28 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 68 *Schweres Reserve-Reiter-Regiment Nr. 2 *Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 16 *1.Reserve-Kompanie/1. Rheinisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 8 *2.Reserve-Kompanie/1. Rheinisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 8

Order of battle on April 10, 1918

The 16th Reserve Division was triangularized in late September 1916. Over the course of the war, other changes took place, including the formation of artillery and signals commands and a pioneer battalion. The order of battle on April 10, 1918, was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle''. *31. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 29 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 30 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 68 *4.Eskadron/Kürassier-Regiment Graf Geßler (Rheinisches) Nr. 8 *Artillerie-Kommandeur 106 **Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 16 **Fußartillerie-Bataillon Nr. 127 *Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 316 *Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 416

References

16. Reserve-Division (Chronik 1914/1918) - 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 1815-1939.'' (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) {{DEFAULTSORT:16 Infantry divisions of Germany in World War I Military units and formations established in 1914 Military units and formations disestablished in 1919 1914 establishments in Germany