The 45th Reserve Division (''45. 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.45. 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 XXIII Reserve Corps and was recruited primarily in the Prussian provinces of

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

and

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 177 ...

, but the 212th Reserve Infantry Regiment was a Hanseatic regiment, raised in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

and

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

Combat chronicle

The 45th Reserve Division fought on the Western Front, entering the line in October along the Yser and remaining there until April 1915, when it went into the fight for Ypres. The division remained in the Yser region until September 1916. In September, the division 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 ...

. Thereafter, it remained in the Aisne region until April 1917. In April and May 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 the end of September 1917, when it joined the Battle of Passchendaele. The division then returned to Verdun. In 1918, it fought in the German spring offensive, including the breakthrough at St. Quentin and the follow-on battles in the Montdidier-Noyon region. It later 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 Meuse-Argonne Offensive. In 1918, Allied intelligence rated the division as second class.

Order of battle on formation

The 45th 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 45th Reserve Division on September 10, 1914, was as follows: * 89. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade ** Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 211 ** Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 212 * 90. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade ** Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 209 ** Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 210 ** Reserve-Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 17 * Reserve-Kavallerie-Abteilung Nr. 45 * Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 45 * Reserve-Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 45

Order of battle on March 30, 1918

The 45th Reserve Division was triangularized in 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 March 30, 1918, was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle''. * 90. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade ** Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 210 ** Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 211 ** Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 212 * Reserve-Kavallerie-Abteilung Nr. 45 * Artillerie-Kommandeur 45 ** Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 45 ** I.Bataillon/Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 20 * Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 345 * Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 445

References

45. 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:45 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