The 9th Landwehr Division (''9. Landwehr-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 in January 1915 as the Mühlenfels Division (''Division Mühlenfels''), named after its commander, and became the 9th Landwehr Division on February 14, 1915.09.Landwehr-Division (Chronik 1915/1918)
/ref> The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.

Combat chronicle

The 9th Landwehr Division served on the Western Front, holding a sector in the Argonne Forest. From September to November 1915, it saw action 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 ...

. From July to September 1916, it was involved 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 ...

. It was peripherally involved 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 (World War I), Western Front during the World War I, First World War. The attack failed wh ...

in July 1918. Late in 1918, it faced the Allied Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Allied intelligence rated the division as fourth class; it was considered primarily a sector holding division and not an offensive formation but "on the defensive it showed some fighting ability.

Order of battle on formation

The 9th Landwehr Division was formed 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, ...

from previously independent

Landwehr ''Landwehr'', or ''Landeswehr'', is a German language term used in referring to certain national army, armies, or militias found in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. In different context it refers to large-scale, low-strength fortif ...

brigades. The order of battle of the division on February 15, 1915, was as follows: *49. Landwehr-Infanterie-Brigade **Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 56 **Großherzoglich Hessisches Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 118 **Maschinengewehr-Zug Nr. 77 **Maschinengewehr-Zug Nr. 97 *43. Landwehr-Infanterie-Brigade (from March 4, 1915, 76.Landwehr-Infanterie-Brigade) **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 79 **Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 83 **Maschinengewehr-Zug Nr. 62 **Maschinengewehr-Zug Nr. 81 *Landwehr-Kavallerie-Regiment Nr. 9 *4. Lothringisches Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 70 (until June 3, 1916) *II. Abteilung/Feldartillerie-Regiment von Puecker (1. Schlesisches) Nr. 6 (until June 3, 1916) *8. Batterie/Fußartillerie-Regiment von Dieskau (Niederschlesisches) Nr. 6 (until June 3, 1916) *Landwehr-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 9 (from June 3, 1916) *1. Kompanie/Schlesisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 6

Late-war order of battle

The division underwent a number of organizational changes over the course of the war. It was triangularized in February 1917. Cavalry was reduced, artillery and signals commands were formed, and combat engineer support was expanded to a full battalion. The order of battle on August 10, 1918, was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle''. *76. Landwehr-Infanterie-Brigade **Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 83 **Großherzoglich Hessisches Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 116 **Großherzoglich Hessisches Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 118 *1. Eskadron/Dragoner-Regiment von Bredow (1. Schlesisches) Nr. 4 *Artillerie-Kommandeur 150 **Landwehr-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 9 *Stab Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 409 **1. Landwehr-Pionier-Kompanie/XVIII. Armeekorps **2. Landwehr-Pionier-Kompanie/X. Armeekorps **Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 309 *Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 509

References

09.Landwehr-Division (Chronik 1915/1918) - 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 Landwehr Division (German Empire) Infantry divisions of Germany in World War I Military units and formations established in 1915 Military units and formations disestablished in 1919 1915 establishments in Germany