5th Bavarian Reserve Division

The 5th Bavarian Reserve Division (5. Bayerische Reserve-Division) was a unit of the Royal Bavarian Army, part of the German Army, in World War I.[1] The division was formed on mobilization of the German Army in August 1914[2] as part of I Royal Bavarian Reserve Corps. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was raised and recruited in Bavaria, mainly in Upper Bavaria and Upper and Middle Franconia. As a reserve division, it included many recalled reservists.

5th Bavarian Reserve Division (5. Bayerische Reserve-Division)
Active1914-1919
CountryBavaria/Germany
BranchArmy
TypeInfantry
SizeApprox. 15,000
EngagementsWorld War I: Battle of the Frontiers, Race to the Sea, Arras (1914), Somme (1916), Arras (1917), 2nd Aisne, Passchendaele, Meuse-Argonne Offensive

Combat chronicle

The 5th Bavarian Reserve Division fought in the opening phases of the war in the Battle of the Frontiers. It then participated in the Race to the Sea, including the Battle of Arras in October 1914. It remained in the trenchlines in Flanders until 1916, when it entered the Battle of the Somme in August 1916. It remained in the Somme and Aisne area until January 1917, when it went into 1st Army reserve to rest and refit. After returning to the line, it saw action in the Second Battle of the Aisne, also called the Third Battle of Champagne (and by the Germans, the Double Battle on the Aisne and in the Champagne). Later in 1917, it participated in the Battle of Passchendaele. In 1918, the division fought in the German Spring Offensive. The division ended the war fighting against the American Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Allied intelligence rated the division as a good second class division.[3][4]

Order of battle on mobilization

The order of battle of the 5th Bavarian Reserve Division on mobilization was as follows:[5]

  • 9. bayerische Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade
    • Kgl. Bayerisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 6
    • Kgl. Bayerisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 7
  • 11. bayerische Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade
    • Kgl. Bayerisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 10
    • Kgl. Bayerisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 13
    • Kgl. Bayerisches Reserve-Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 1
  • Reserve-Kavallerie-Regiment Nr. 5
  • Kgl. Bayerisches Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 5
  • 4. Kompanie/Kgl. Bayerisches 2. Pionier-Bataillon
  • 1. Reserve-Kompanie/Kgl. Bayerisches 2. Pionier-Bataillon

Order of battle on April 4, 1918

Divisions underwent many changes during the war, with regiments moving from division to division, and some being destroyed and rebuilt. The 5th Bavarian Reserve Division was triangularized in April 1915, losing the 9th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Brigade headquarters and the 6th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment. Over the course of the war, other units were exchanged with other divisions, cavalry was reduced, engineers increased, and an artillery command and a divisional signals command were created. The 5th Bavarian Reserve Division's order of battle on April 4, 1918, was as follows:[6]

  • 11. bayerische Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade
    • Kgl. Bayerisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 7
    • Kgl. Bayerisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 10
    • Kgl. Bayerisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 12
  • 2.Eskadron/Kgl. Bayerisches 3. Chevaulegers-Regiment Herzog Karl Theodor
  • Kgl. Bayerischer Artillerie-Kommandeur 17
    • Kgl. Bayerisches Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 5
    • II.Bataillon/Kgl. Sächs. Reserve-Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 19 (to July 25, 1918)
    • Kgl. Bayerisches Fußartillerie-Bataillon Nr. 17 (from August 19, 1918)
  • Stab Kgl. Bayerisches Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 18
    • Kgl. Bayerische Reserver-Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 2
    • Kgl. Bayerische Reserve-Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 19
    • Kgl. Bayerische Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 205
  • Kgl. Bayerischer Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 405

References
  • 5.Bayerische-Reserve-Division (Chronik 1914/1919) - 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
  1. From the late 1800s, the Prussian Army was effectively the German Army, as during the period of German unification (1866-1871) the states of the German Empire entered into conventions with Prussia regarding their armies. Only the Bavarian Army remained fully autonomous and came under Prussian control only during wartime.
  2. 5. Bayerische-Reserve-Division (Chronik 1915/1919)
  3. 5. Bayerische-Reserve-Division (Chronik 1914/1919)
  4. 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), pp. 123-125.
  5. Hermann Cron et al., Ruhmeshalle unserer alten Armee (Berlin, 1935).
  6. Cron et al., Ruhmeshalle.
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