The 50th Reserve Division (''50. Reserve-Division'') was a formation 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 in September 1914 and organized over the next month, arriving in the line in October.50. 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 initially part of XXV Reserve Corps. It was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.
Recruitment
The division was relatively mixed in composition. The 229th Reserve Infantry Regiment was raised in
Lower Silesia
Lower Silesia ( pl, Dolny Śląsk; cz, Dolní Slezsko; german: Niederschlesien; szl, Dolny Ślōnsk; hsb, Delnja Šleska; dsb, Dolna Šlazyńska; Silesian German: ''Niederschläsing''; la, Silesia Inferior) is the northwestern part of the ...
. The 230th Reserve Infantry Regiment was raised throughout Silesia. The 231st Reserve Infantry Regiment was raised in Thuringia, mainly in the duchy of
Saxe-Altenburg
Saxe-Altenburg (german: Sachsen-Altenburg, links=no) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin in present-day Thuringia. It was one of the smallest of the German states with an area of 1323 square kilometer ...
and the Prussian
Province of Saxony
The Province of Saxony (german: link=no, Provinz Sachsen), also known as Prussian Saxony () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg.
It was formed by the merge ...
. The 232nd Reserve Infantry Regiment was raised in Prussian Saxony and the
Duchy of Anhalt
The Duchy of Anhalt (german: Herzogtum Anhalt) was a historical German duchy. The duchy was located between the Harz Mountains in the west and the river Elbe and beyond to the Fläming Heath in the east. The territory was once ruled by the House ...
. The 232nd Reserve Infantry Regiment was transferred to the 107th Infantry Division in June 1915, and new replacements for the other regiments tended to come from the Prussian
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 city, capital was the city of Braunschweig, Brunswick ().
It was established as the successor state of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel ...
, with the 229th being described in Allied intelligence documents as becoming a Brunswick regiment.
Combat chronicle
The 50th Reserve Division initially fought on the Eastern Front, entering the line in mid-October. It fought in the Battle of Łódź in November–December 1914 and then spent most of the period until mid-1915 fighting along the Rawka and
Bzura
The Bzura is a river in central Poland, a tributary of the Vistula river (in Wyszogród), with a length of 173 kilometres and a basin area of 7,764 km2.Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive and then participated in the follow-on battles and engagements until reaching the
Berezina River
The Berezina or Biarezina ( be, Бярэ́зіна; ) is a river in Belarus and a right tributary of the Dnieper. The river starts in the Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve. The length of the Berezina is 613 km. The width of the river is 15-20 m, the ...
at the end of September. The division was then transferred to the Western Front. It 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 October and November 1915 and remained in the line in the Champagne until late December, when it went to Flanders and the Artois, where it remained into 1916. It saw action 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 ...
later that year, and remained in the Somme until April 1917. In 1917, it fought in the Battle of Arras and the Battle of Passchendaele, and saw action at Cambrai. In 1918, it fought in the German spring offensive and 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 ...
. It resisted the various Allied counter-offensives, including the
Hundred Days Offensive
The Hundred Days Offensive (8 August to 11 November 1918) was a series of massive Allies of World War I, Allied offensives that ended the First World War. Beginning with the Battle of Amiens (1918), Battle of Amiens (8–12 August) on the Wester ...
, and was fighting in the Champagne and on the Meuse when World War I ended. In 1918, Allied intelligence rated the division as second class, and noted its tough fighting in numerous battles.
Order of battle on formation
The 50th 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 50th Reserve Division on September 10, 1914, was as follows:
* 99.Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade
** Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 229
** Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 230
** Reserve-Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 22
* 100. Reserve-Infanterie -Brigade
** Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 231
** Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 232
* Reserve-Kavallerie-Abteilung Nr. 50
* Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 50
* Reserve-Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 50
Order of battle on February 27, 1918
The 50th Reserve Division was triangularized in June 1915. Over the course of the war, other changes took place, including the formation of artillery and signals commands and the enlargement of combat engineer support to a full pioneer battalion. The order of battle on February 27, 1918, was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle''.
* 99.Reserve-Infanterie -Brigade
** Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 229
** Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 230
** Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 231
** Maschinengewehr-Scharfschützen-Abteilung Nr. 60
* Reserve-Kavallerie-Abteilung Nr. 50
* Artillerie-Kommandeur 68
** Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 50
** Fußartillerie-Bataillon Nr. 81
* Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 350
* Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 450
References
50. 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)