Bavarian Cavalry Division (German Empire)
Bavarian Cavalry Division
(Bayerische Kavallerie-Division) |
| Active |
1914-1919 |
| Country |
Bavaria / German Empire |
| Branch |
Army |
| Type |
Cavalry |
| Size |
Approximately 5,000 (on mobilisation) |
| Engagements |
World War I |
| Disbanded |
1919 |
The Bavarian Cavalry Division (Bayerische Kavallerie-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. 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.
Combat chronicle
Initially assigned to III Cavalry Corps preceding 6th Army on the Western Front until November 1914. Occupation duties in Belgium until January 1915. Training in Germany until April 1915 before transfering to Russia until November 1917; in Romania until April 1918; then finally in the Ukraine / Crimea.[2]
A more detailed combat chronicle can be found at the German language version of this article.
Order of Battle on mobilisation
On formation, in August 1914, the component units of the division were:.[3]
- 1st Bavarian Cavalry Brigade (from I Bavarian Corps District)
- 4th Bavarian Cavalry Brigade (from II Bavarian Corps District)
- 5th Bavarian Cavalry Brigade (from III Bavarian Corps District)
- Horse Artillery Abteilung of the 5th Royal Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment
- 1st Bavarian Cavalry Machine Gun Detachment
- Bavarian Cavalry Pioneer Detachment
- Bavarian Cavalry Signals Detachment
- Bavarian Heavy Wireless Station 3
- Bavarian Heavy Wireless Station 4
- Bavarian Light Wireless Station 1
- Bavarian Light Wireless Station 2
- Bavarian Cavalry Motorised Vehicle Column 1
See: Table of Organisation and Equipment
Late World War I organization
From 25th November 1917 to 21st March 1918 was without any cavalry, and from 20th April 1918 only had two Cavalry Brigades.[4]
- 4th Bavarian Cavalry Brigade became independent on 3rd July 1917
Allied Intelligence rated the Division as 4th Class (of 4).[5] The organisation in 1918 was:[6]
- 1st Bavarian Cavalry Brigade
- 5th Bavarian Cavalry Brigade
- Horse Artillery Abteilung of the 5th Royal Bavarian Field Artillery Regiment
- 1st Bavarian Cavalry Machine Gun Detachment
- Bavarian Cavalry Pioneer Detachment
- Bavarian Cavalry Cyclist Detachment
- 30th Bavarian Ambulance Company
- Attached
- Landsturm Infantry Battalion Glatz (VI/9)[7]
See also
References
- ^ 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.
- ^ John Ellis and Michael Cox, The World War I Databook, ISBN 1-85410-766-6, p. 126
- ^ Hermann Cron, Imperial German Army 1914-18: Organisation, Structure, Orders-of-Battle, Helion & Co., 2002 [first published: 1937], ISBN 1-874622-70-1, p. 301
- ^ Cron, p. 105
- ^ 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). Reprinted 1989 by The London Stamp Exchange Ltd, ISBN 0-948130-87-3, p. 12
- ^ The German Forces in the Field; 7th Revision, 11th November 1918; Compiled by the General Staff, War Office. Jointly reprinted in 1995 by the Imperial War Museum, London, ISBN 1-870423-95-X and The Battery Press, Inc, ISBN 0-89839-217-9, p. 230
- ^ Landsturm Infantry Battalion Glatz (VI/9) was the 9th Landsturm Infantry Battalion raised in the VI Corps District in the town of Glatz in the region of Lower Silesia.