The 33rd Reserve Division (''33. Reserve-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 ...

, 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 the mobilization of the German Army in August 1914.33. Reserve-Division (Chronik 1914-1918)
/ref> The division was disbanded in August 1918. The division began the war as part of the central reserve of Fortress Metz (''Hauptreserve/Festung Metz''). Although designated a reserve division, it was initially composed of one active and one reserve infantry brigade. The active brigade was the 8th Bavarian Infantry Brigade, which had been detached from the 4th Bavarian Infantry Division. The rest of the division's troops came primarily from 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 ...

and the

Province of Westphalia The Province of Westphalia () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946. In turn, Prussia was the largest component state of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918, of the Weimar Republic and from 1918 ...

Combat chronicle

The 33rd Reserve Division began the war 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 ...

, where it fought in the Battle of the Frontiers and advanced to the Verdun region. From September 1914 to August 1916, it occupied the line in the region between the Meuse and Moselle Rivers. In late 1916, it suffered heavy losses in the later phases of the 1916 Battle of Verdun. After a few months in the trenches in Lorraine, it went to the Chemin des Dames region and 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 (and to the Germans as the Double Battle on the Aisne and in the Champagne), and again suffered heavy losses. In September 1917, the division was transferred to the Eastern Front, arriving shortly before the December armistice on that front. It returned to the Western Front in January 1918, where it fought in several engagements, including the

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345.Champagne-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 ...

offensives against French and American forces, after which it was disbanded and its troops distributed to other divisions. Allied intelligence rated it as a good division in 1917, but before its dissolution in 1918, it was rated as fourth class.

Order of battle on mobilization

The order of battle of the 33rd Reserve Division on mobilization was as follows: *8.Kgl. Bayerische Infanterie-Brigade **Kgl. Bayerisches 4. Infanterie-Regiment König Wilhelm von Württemberg **Kgl. Bayerisches 8. Infanterie-Regiment Großherzog Friedrich II. von Baden *66.Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 67 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 130 *Reserve-Husaren-Regiment Nr. 2 *Ersatz-Abteilung/1. Lothringisches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 33 *Ersatz-Abteilung/2. Lothringisches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 34 *Ersatz-Abteilung/3. Lothringisches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 69 *Ersatz-Abteilung/4. Lothringisches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 70 In early August 1914, the following were also attached: *I.Bataillon/Kgl. Bayerisches Reserve-Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 2 *II.Bataillon/Kgl. Bayerisches Reserve-Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 2 *4.Kompanie/Kgl. Sächsisches 2. Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 22

Order of battle on 10 October 1917

The 33rd Reserve Division was triangularized in August 1916, when the 8th Bavarian Infantry Brigade was sent to the 14th Bavarian Infantry Division. This also made the division entirely Prussian in composition. 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 10 October 1917 was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle''. *66. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 67 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 130 **Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 364 *6. Eskadron/Ulanen-Regiment Hennigs von Treffenfeld (Altmärkisches) Nr. 16 *Artillerie-Kommandeur 125 **Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 33 *Stab Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 333 **1. Ersatz-Kompanie/2. Lothringisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 20 **1. Landwehr-Pionier-Kompanie/IV. Armeekorps **Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 233 *Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 433

References

33. 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)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:33 Infantry divisions of Germany in World War I Military units and formations established in 1914 Military units and formations disestablished in 1918 1914 establishments in Germany