The Guards Cavalry Division (''Garde-Kavallerie-Division'') was a unit of the

Prussian Army The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power. The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...

that was stationed in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. The division was a part of the Guards Corps (''Gardekorps'').

Pre-war Order of Battle

Before the outbreak of

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 component units of the division were: * 1st Guards Cavalry Brigade **

Gardes du Corps A ''Garde du Corps'' (French for lifeguard) is a military unit, formed of guards. A ''Garde du Corps'' was first established in France in 1445. From the 17th century onwards, the term was used in several German states and also, for example, in ...

Guards Cuirassiers The Guards Cuirassiers (german: Garde-Kürassier-Regiment) were a heavy cavalry regiment of the Royal Prussian Army. Formed in 1815 as an Uhlans regiment, it was reorganized as a cuirassiers unit in 1821. The regiment was part of the Guards Cava ...

* 2nd Guards Cavalry Brigade ** 1st Guards Uhlans ** 3rd Guards Uhlans * 3rd Guards Cavalry Brigade ** 1st Guards Dragoons "Queen of Great Britain and Ireland" ** 2nd Guards Dragoons "Empress Alexandra of Russia" * 4th Guards Cavalry Brigade **

Life Guards Hussars Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy tran ...

** 2nd Guards Uhlans

Combat chronicle

The division was initially assigned to I Cavalry Corps, which preceded the 3rd Army on the Western Front. It served on the Western Front until December 1914, then undertook frontier guard duties against Holland until 30 June 1915, when it relocated to Russia. From 16 March 1918 to 9 April 1918, it was dismounted, re-formed and trained on the Zossen troop training ground. Thereafter, it served as the Guard Cavalry ''Schützen'' Division on the Western Front. It was in Artois until May 1918, then Champagne / Aisne. By the end of the war, it was serving under

VI Reserve Corps The VI Reserve Corps (german: VI. Reserve-Korps / VI RK) was a corps level command of the German Army in World War I. Formation VI Reserve Corps was formed on the outbreak of the war in August 1914 as part of the mobilisation of the Army. It ...

, 1st Army, ''Heeresgruppe Deutscher Kronprinz'' on the Western Front. A more detailed combat chronicle can be found at the German-language version of this article.

Order of Battle on mobilisation

Upon the outbreak of war, the 4th Guards Cavalry Brigade was dissolved and its component regiments were assigned as divisional cavalry to the 1st Guards Infantry Division (Life Guard Hussars) and 2nd Guards Infantry Division (2nd Guard Uhlans). With the addition of support units, the Division's structure was: * 1st Guards Cavalry Brigade **

Abteilung ''Abteilung'' (; abbrv. ''Abt.'') is a German word that is often used for German or Swiss military formations and depending on its usage could mean detachment, department or battalion; it can also refer to a military division. In German, it ...

'' of the 1st Guards Field Artillery Regiment *1st Guard Machine Gun Detachment *Pioneer Detachment *Signals Detachment **Heavy Wireless Station 2 **Light Wireless Station 1 **Light Wireless Station 2 *Cavalry Motorised Vehicle Column 10 See: Table of Organisation and Equipment

Guard Cavalry ''Schützen'' Division

Bundesarchiv Bild 136-B0560, Frankreich, Kavalleristen im Schützengraben

The Guard Cavalry Division was extensively reorganised in the course of the war, culminating in the conversion to a Cavalry ''Schützen'' Division, that is to say, dismounted cavalry. Here, the cavalry brigades were renamed Cavalry ''Schützen'' Commands and performed a similar role to that of an infantry regiment command. Likewise, the cavalry regiments became Cavalry ''Schützen'' Regiments and allocated the role of an infantry battalion (and their squadrons acted as infantry companies). However, these units were much weaker than normal infantry formations (for example, a ''Schützen'' squadron had a strength of just 4 officers and 109 NCOs and other ranks, considerably less than that of an infantry company). *1st Guards Cavalry Brigade became independent on 9 April 1917 *2nd Guards Cavalry Brigade became independent on 6 June 1916 *3rd Guards Cavalry Brigade became independent on 18 October 1916 *19th Cavalry Brigade joined from 9th Cavalry Division on 8 April 1917 and became independent on 12 February 1918 *11th Cavalry Brigade joined from 5th Cavalry Division on 23 March 1918 and renamed 11th Cavalry ''Schützen'' Command on 8 May 1918 *14th Cavalry Brigade joined from 9th Cavalry Division on 23 February 1918 and renamed 14th Cavalry ''Schützen'' Command on 8 May 1918 *38th Cavalry Brigade joined from 8th Cavalry Division on 20 April 1918 and renamed 38th Cavalry ''Schützen'' Command on 8 May 1918

Late World War I organization

Allied Intelligence rated this division as 2nd Class (of 4 classes). Its late war organisation was: *5th Landwehr Brigade **11th Cavalry ''Schützen'' Command ***

*** 1st (Silesian) Life Cuirassiers "Great Elector" ***

8th (2nd Silesian) Dragoons "King Frederick III" 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

**14th Cavalry ''Schützen'' Command *** 4th (1st Silesian) Hussars "von Schill" *** 11th (2nd Westphalian) Hussars *** 5th (Westphalian) Uhlans **38th Cavalry ''Schützen'' Command ***

4th (Westphalian) Cuirassiers "von Driesen" The 4th (Westphalian) Cuirassiers “von Driesen” was a heavy cavalry regiment of the Royal Prussian Army. The regiment was formed in 1717. The regiment fought in the Silesian Wars, the War of the Sixth Coalition, the Austro-Prussian War, the F ...

*** 2nd Jäger zu Pferde *** 6th Jäger zu Pferde *1st Guard MG Detachment *1st Squadron, 5th Jäger zu Pferde (mounted cavalry) *132nd Artillery Command ** 3rd Guards Field Artillery **722nd Light Ammunition Column **852nd Light Ammunition Column **1135th Light Ammunition Column *412th Pioneer Battalion **2nd ''Ersatz'' Company, 18th Pioneer Battalion **307th Pioneer Company *226th Signal Command **226th Telephone Detachment **183rd Wireless Detachment *Medical and Veterinary **257th Ambulance Company **642nd Ambulance Company **1st Field Hospital **302nd Field Hospital **262nd Vet. Hospital *Train **636th Motor Transport Column

References

External links

Histories of two hundred and fifty-one divisions of the German army which participated in the war (1914-1918)
pp. 29–32.

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:G Cavalry divisions of Germany in World War I Military units and formations established in 1914 Military units and formations disestablished in 1919