The 44th Reserve Division (''44. 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 in August 1914 and organized over the next two months.44. Reserve-Division (Chronik 1914-1918)
/ref> It was part of the first wave of new divisions formed at the outset of World War I, which were numbered the 43rd through 54th Reserve Divisions. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was part of the XXII Reserve Corps and was recruited primarily in the Prussian

Province of Brandenburg The Province of Brandenburg (german: Provinz Brandenburg) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1945. Brandenburg was established in 1815 from the Kingdom of Prussia's core territory, comprised the bulk of the historic Margraviate of Brandenburg ...

, but the 208th Reserve Infantry Regiment was raised in the

Province of Hanover The Province of Hanover (german: Provinz Hannover) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1868 to 1946. During the Austro-Prussian War, the Kingdom of Hanover had attempted to maintain a neutral position ...

and the

Duchy of Brunswick The Duchy of Brunswick (german: Herzogtum Braunschweig) was a historical German state. Its capital was the city of Brunswick (). It was established as the successor state of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel by the Congress of Vienna ...

Combat chronicle

The 44th Reserve Division initially fought on the Western Front, fighting on the Yser in October–November 1914 and storming Diksmuide in mid-November. It remained in positional warfare along the Yser until June 1915, and fought around Ypres in April–May. In June, it was transferred to the Eastern Front. It fought in the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive, including the 1915 Battle of Lemberg and the assault on Brest-Litovsk. It then participated in the

Serbian Campaign The Serbian campaign was a series of military expeditions launched in 1914 and 1915 by the Central Powers against the Kingdom of Serbia during the First World War. The first campaign began after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on 28 J ...

. After the campaign, it remained in reserve until returning to the Western Front in February 1916. 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 ...

. In July 1916 the division fought in the Battle of the Somme and then occupied various parts of the trenchline. In April 1917, it fought in the Second Battle of the Aisne, also known as the Third Battle of Champagne (and to the Germans as the Double Battle on the Aisne and in the Champagne). Thereafter, the division went into the trenchline around Verdun, remaining there until October 1917, when it joined the Battle of Passchendaele. The division then remained in the line mainly around Flanders until September 1917, when it went to Lorraine. It ended the war at the Germans' Antwerp/Meuse position. In 1918, Allied intelligence rated the division as first class, although in 1917 it had noted shortcomings in the division's performance as an assault division.

Order of battle on formation

The 44th Reserve Division was initially organized as a

square division A square division is a designation given to the way military divisions are organized. In a square organization, the division's main body is composed of four "maneuver," i.e., infantry regimental elements. Other types of regiments, such as artillery ...

, with essentially the same organization as the reserve divisions formed on mobilization. The order of battle of the 44th Reserve Division on September 10, 1914, was as follows: *87. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 205 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 206 **Reserve-Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 16 *88. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 207 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 208 *Reserve-Kavallerie-Abteilung Nr. 44 *Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 44 *Reserve-Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 44

Order of battle on April 9, 1918

The 44th Reserve Division was triangularized in January 1917. 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 9, 1918, was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle''. *87. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 205 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 206 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 208 *Reserve-Kavallerie-Abteilung Nr. 44 *Artillerie-Kommandeur 44 **Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 44 **II.Bataillon/Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 21 *Stab Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 344 **Reserve-Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 44 **5.Kompanie/Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 29 **Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 244 *Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 444

References

44. 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:44 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