The 9th Bavarian Reserve Division (''9. Bayerische 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 ...

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 September 26, 1916, and entered the line in October. It was a Bavarian unit and was part of a large wave of new divisions (approximately 40) formed in the summer and autumn of 1916. It was disbanded in June 1918 and its assets distributed to other units.

Order of battle on formation

The 9th Bavarian Reserve Division was formed as a

triangular division A triangular division is a designation given to the way military divisions are organized. In a triangular organization, the division's main body is composed of three regimental maneuver elements. These regiments may be controlled by a brigade head ...

. The order of battle of the division on October 25, 1916, was as follows: *17. Bayer. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Kgl. Bayer. Ersatz-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 3 **Kgl. Bayer. Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 8 **Kgl. Bayer. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 14 *1. Eskadron/Kgl. Bayer. Reserve-Kavallerie-Regiment Nr. 1 *Kgl. Bayer. Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 11 *4. Kompanie/Kgl. Bayer. 2. Pionier-Bataillon *Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 209

Combat chronicle

The 9th Bavarian Reserve Division fought on the Western Front, seeing its first action on the Aisne, where it remained until December 1916 when it went into reserve until late January. It then returned to the trenchlines along the Aisne, 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 called the Third Battle of Champagne. The division then went to the trenchlines in Lorraine. It went to Flanders in August and saw action in the Battle of Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres. It then returned to the southern part of the front and went into the St. Mihiel salient. The division returned to Flanders in November 1917 and saw action in the Allied tank attack in the Battle of Cambrai, as well as the subsequent German counterattack. In 1918, the division fought in the German spring offensive, seeing action 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). They were decisively beaten by the 15th Australian Brigade in a counterattack at Villers-Bretonneux that effectively ended the offensive. The 9th Bavarian Reserve Division's last major action was in the German attack in the Montdidier-Noyon sector in June 1918. The division was dissolved soon thereafter. Allied intelligence rated the division as second class.

Order of battle on March 21, 1918

Over the course of the war, various structural changes took place, including the formation of artillery and signals commands and the expansion of combat engineer support to a full pioneer battalion. The order of battle on March 21, 1918, was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle''. missing volume (band) and page number. *17. Bayer. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade: **Kgl. Bayer. Ersatz-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 3 **Kgl. Bayer. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 11 **Kgl. Bayer. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 14 *1. Eskadron/Kgl. Bayer. Reserve-Kavallerie-Regiment Nr. 1 *Kgl. Bayer. Artillerie-Kommandeur 9 **Kgl. Bayer. 4. Feldartillerie-Regiment König **Fußartillerie-Bataillon Nr. 50 *Kgl. Bayer. Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 21 **Kgl. Bayer. Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 8 **Kgl. Bayer. Reserve-Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 12 **Kgl. Bayer. Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 209 *Kgl. Bayer. Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 409

References

9. Bayerische Reserve-Division (Chronik 1916/1918) - 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 1825-1939.'' (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:9th Bavarian Reserve Division (German Empire) Infantry divisions of Germany in World War I Military units and formations established in 1916 Military units and formations of Bavaria Military units and formations disestablished in 1918 1916 establishments in Germany