The 21st Reserve Division (''21. Reserve-Division'') was a unit of the Imperial German

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 mobilization of the German Army in August 191421. Reserve-Division (Chronik 1914-1918)
/ref> as part of XVIII Reserve Corps. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was raised primarily in the Prussian

Province of Hesse-Nassau The Province of Hesse-Nassau () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1868 to 1918, then a province of the Free State of Prussia until 1944. Hesse-Nassau was created as a consequence of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 by combining the p ...

, but one battalion of the 88th Reserve Infantry Regiment came from the

Grand Duchy of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (german: link=no, Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein) was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Grand Duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 ...

and some other troops of the division came from Westphalia and the

Rhine Province The Rhine Province (german: Rheinprovinz), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. It ...

Combat chronicle

The 21st Reserve Division fought on the Western Front, participating in the opening German offensive which led to the Allied

Great Retreat The Great Retreat (), also known as the retreat from Mons, was the long withdrawal to the River Marne in August and September 1914 by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French Fifth Army. The Franco-British forces on the Western Fr ...

and ended with the

First Battle of the Marne The First Battle of the Marne was a battle of the First World War fought from 5 to 12 September 1914. It was fought in a collection of skirmishes around the Marne River Valley. It resulted in an Entente victory against the German armies in the ...

. Thereafter, the division remained in the line in the Champagne region until June 1916. In July 1916, the division entered 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 returned to the Champagne in September and then went back to Verdun in December 1916-January 1917. In the Spring of 1917, the division 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 known as the Third Battle of Champagne. In November 1917, the division saw action in the tank battle at

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department and in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, regio ...

. The division participated in the 1918 German spring offensive. It faced the Allied

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 fought 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 called the Third Battle of the Somme). Allied intelligence rated the division as second class.

Order of battle on mobilization

The order of battle of the 21st Reserve Division on mobilization was as follows: *41. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 80 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 87 *42. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 81 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 88 *Reserve-Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 7 *Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 21 *4.Kompanie/Kurhessisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 11

Order of battle on March 8, 1918

The 21st Reserve Division was triangularized in October 1916. Over the course of the war, other changes took place, including the formation of artillery and signals commands and a pioneer battalion. The order of battle on March 8, 1918, was as follows:Cron et al., ''Ruhmeshalle''. *41. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 80 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 87 **Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 88 *3.Eskadron/Reserve-Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 4 *Artillerie-Kommandeur 126 **Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 21 **Kgl. Bayerisches Fußartillerie-Bataillon Nr. 22 *Stab Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 321 **4.Kompanie/Kurhessisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 11 **5.Kompanie/Kurhessisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 11 **Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 221 *Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 421

References

21. 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)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:21 Infantry divisions of Germany in World War I Military units and formations established in 1914 Military units and formations disestablished in 1919 1914 establishments in Germany