The 5th Royal Bavarian Division was a unit of the Royal Bavarian Army which served alongside the Prussian Army as part of the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...

. The division was formed on October 1, 1890, in

Landau Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990 ...

as the 5th Division and swapped division numbers with the Nuremberg-based 3rd Royal Bavarian Division in 1901. In Bavarian sources, it was not generally referred to as a "Royal Bavarian" division, as this was considered self-evident, but outside Bavaria, this designation was used for it, and other Bavarian units, to distinguish them from similarly numbered Prussian units. The division was part of the III Royal Bavarian Army Corps.

Combat chronicle

During

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 served on the Western Front. It fought initially in the

Battle of the Frontiers The Battle of the Frontiers (, , ) comprised battles fought along the eastern frontier of France and in southern Belgium, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. The battles resolved the military strategies of the French Chief of Staff ...

. It then served in the area between the Meuse and Moselle Rivers until October 1915, seeing action on the Meuse heights by St. Mihiel and in the Bois-brulé, and then 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 ...

. After a brief period in reserve, the division went in the trenchlines in the Meuse-Moselle region until September 1916, and then fought briefly 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 ...

, where it suffered heavy losses. From October 1916 into 1918, the division occupied the trenchlines in Flanders and the Artois, and fought in the Battle of Arras and the Battle of Passchendaele. After a month in reserve, it went into the 1918 German spring offensive, fighting in the

First Battle of the Somme (1918) Operation Michael was a major German military offensive during the First World War that began the German Spring Offensive on 21 March 1918. It was launched from the Hindenburg Line, in the vicinity of Saint-Quentin, France. Its goal was to ...

, also known as the Second Battle of the Somme (to distinguish it from the 1916 battle). It then remained on the defensive in the region until the end of the war, including fighting in the

Second Battle of the Somme (1918) The Second Battle of the Somme of 1918 was fought during the First World War on the Western Front from late August to early September, in the basin of the River Somme. It was part of a series of successful counter-offensives in response to the ...

, also known as the Third Battle of the Somme. Allied intelligence rated the division as first class, although not one of the best Bavarian divisions.

Pre–World War I peacetime organization

In 1914, the peacetime organization of the 5th Royal Bavarian Division was as follows: *9. bayerische Infanterie-Brigade **Kgl. Bayerisches 14. Infanterie-Regiment Hartmann **Kgl. Bayerisches 21. Infanterie-Regiment Großherzog Friedrich Franz IV. von Mecklenburg-Schwerin *10. bayerische Infanterie-Brigade **Kgl. Bayerisches 7. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Leopold **Kgl. Bayerisches 19. Infanterie-Regiment König Viktor Emanuel III. von Italien *5. bayerische Kavallerie-Brigade **Kgl. Bayerisches 1. Chevaulegers-Regiment Kaiser Nikolaus von Rußland **Kgl. Bayerisches 6. Chevaulegers-Regiment Prinz Albrecht von Preußen *5. bayerische Feldartillerie-Brigade **Kgl. Bayerisches 6. Feldartillerie-Regiment Prinz Ferdinand von Bourbon, Herzog von Calabrien **Kgl. Bayerisches 10. Feldartillerie-Regiment *Landwehr-Inspektion Nürnberg

Order of battle on mobilization

On mobilization, in August 1914, at the beginning of World War I, most divisional cavalry, including brigade headquarters, was withdrawn to form cavalry divisions or split up among divisions as reconnaissance units. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from their higher headquarters. The 5th Bavarian Division was renamed the 5th Bavarian Infantry Division. The division's initial wartime organization (major units) was as follows: *9. bayerische Infanterie-Brigade **Kgl. Bayerisches 14. Infanterie-Regiment Hartmann **Kgl. Bayerisches 21. Infanterie-Regiment Großherzog Friedrich Franz IV. von Mecklenburg-Schwerin **Kgl. Bayerisches Reserve-Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 2 *10. bayerische Infanterie-Brigade **Kgl. Bayerisches 7. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Leopold **Kgl. Bayerisches 19. Infanterie-Regiment König Viktor Emanuel III. von Italien *Kgl. Bayerisches 7. Chevaulegers-Regiment Prinz Alfons *5. bayerische Feldartillerie-Brigade **Kgl. Bayerisches 6. Feldartillerie-Regiment Prinz Ferdinand von Bourbon, Herzog von Calabrien **Kgl. Bayerisches 10. Feldartillerie-Regiment *1.Kompanie/Kgl. Bayerisches 3. Pionier-Bataillon *3.Kompanie/Kgl. Bayerisches 3. Pionier-Bataillon

Late World War I organization

Divisions underwent many changes during the war, with regiments moving from division to division, and some being destroyed and rebuilt. During the war, most divisions became

triangular A triangle is a polygon with three edges and three vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, any three points, when non- collinea ...

- one infantry brigade with three infantry regiments rather than two infantry brigades of two regiments (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, ...

"). The 5th Bavarian Infantry Division was triangularized in January 1917, sending the 9th Bavarian Infantry Brigade headquarters and the 14th Bavarian Infantry Regiment to the newly formed

16th Bavarian Infantry Division 16 (sixteen) is the natural number following 15 and preceding 17. 16 is a composite number, and a square number, being 42 = 4 × 4. It is the smallest number with exactly five divisors, its proper divisors being , , and . In English speech, ...

. An artillery commander replaced the artillery brigade headquarters, the cavalry was further reduced, and the engineer contingent was increased. Divisional signals commanders were established to better control communications, a major problem in coordinating infantry and artillery operations during World War I. The division's order of battle on March 20, 1918, was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle'' *10. bayerische Infanterie-Brigade **Kgl. Bayerisches 7. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Leopold **Kgl. Bayerisches 19. Infanterie-Regiment König Viktor Emanuel III. von Italien **Kgl. Bayerisches 21. Infanterie-Regiment Großherzog Friedrich Franz IV. von Mecklenburg-Schwerin **Kgl. Bayerische Maschinengewehr-Scharfschützen-Abteilung Nr. 1 *4.Eskadron/Kgl. Bayerisches 2. Chevaulegers-Regiment Taxis *Kgl. Bayerischer Artillerie-Kommandeur 5 **Kgl. Bayerisches 10. Feldartillerie-Regiment **III.Bataillon/Kgl. Bayerisches 1. Fußartillerie-Regiment vakant Bothmer *Kgl. Bayerisches 3. Pionier-Bataillon **Kgl. Bayerische Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 10 **Kgl. Bayerische Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 13 **Kgl. Bayerische Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 5 *Kgl. Bayerischer Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 5

References

5. Bayerische-Infanterie-Division (Chronik 1914/1918)
a
1914-18.info
* Claus von Bredow, bearb., ''Historische Rang- und Stammliste des deutschen Heeres'' (1905) * 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 1825-1939.'' (Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück, 1993) * ''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:5th Royal Bavarian Division Infantry divisions of Germany in World War I Military units and formations established in 1890 Military units and formations of Bavaria 1890 establishments in Bavaria 1919 disestablishments in Germany Military units and formations disestablished in 1919