Guards Corps (German Empire)

The Guards Corps (German: Gardekorps) was a Royal Prussian Army formation. At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the Guards Corps consisted of the 1st and 2nd Guards Infantry Divisions and the Guards Cavalry Division, and was commanded by General der Infanterie Freiherr von Plettenberg.

At the beginning of the war, the following independent units were attached to the Guards Corps:

• 1st Battalion, 1st Guards Foot Artillery Regiment (I./1. Garde-Fußartillerie-Regiment)
• No. 1 Aerial Reconnaissance Section (Flieger-Abteilung 1)
• Guards Corps Engineers (Garde-Korps-Brücken-Train)
• Guards Corps Communications Section (Garde-Fernsprech-Abteilung)
• 1st Machine Gun Company (1. Maschinengewehr Kompagnie)

Soon into the war, at the 1st Battle of the Marne, the Prussian Guards were bitterly defeated in an attempt to take French Positions

In 1917, the corps was stationed on the Aisne River as part of First Army, and played in important role in the German defense against the French offensive in that sector.