4th Cavalry Division (German Empire)

4th Cavalry Division
(4. Kavallerie-Division)

Flag of the Staff of a Division (1871–1918)
Active 2 August 1914-1919
Country  German Empire
Branch Army
Type Cavalry
Size Approximately 5,000 (on mobilisation)
Engagements World War I
Disbanded 1919

The 4th Cavalry Division (4. Kavallerie-Division) was a unit of the German Army in World War I. The division was formed on the 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.

Combat chronicle

It was initially assigned to II Cavalry Corps, which preceded the 1st and 2nd Armies on the Western Front. In November 1914, it was transferred to Russia. In March 1918, it returned to the Western Front, where it served in Alsace until the end of the war.[1] It was dismounted in October 1916 and restructured to form the 4th Cavalry Schützen Division.[2] By the end of the war, it was serving under 64th Corps (z.b.V.), Armee-Abteilung B, Heeresgruppe Herzog Albrecht von Württemberg on the Western Front.[3]

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:[4]

See: Table of Organisation and Equipment

4th Cavalry Schützen Division

German cavalry of the 11th Reserve Hussar Regiment in a trench in France in 1916

The 4th Cavalry Division was extensively reorganised in the course of the war, culminating in its 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).[5]

Late World War I organization

Allied Intelligence rated this division as 4th Class (of 4 classes).[6] It's late war organisation made it more akin to a Landwehr Division and was:[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ellis & Cox 1993, p. 126
  2. ↑ Cron 2002, p. 106
  3. ↑ Ellis & Cox 1993, pp. 186-187
  4. ↑ Cron 2002, p. 300
  5. ↑ Cron 2002, p. 130
  6. ↑ AEF GHQ 1920, p. 104
  7. ↑ War Office 1995, p. 227
  8. ↑ War Ministry of 11 December 1916, No 847: was changed into a field artillery abteilung; Cron 2002, p. 139
  9. ↑ War Ministry of 11 December 1916, No 847: was changed into a field artillery abteilung; Cron 2002, p. 139
  10. ↑ Landsturm Infantry Battalion 1 Torgau (IV/15) was the 15th Landsturm Infantry Battalion raised in the IV Corps District. It was the first one to be raised in the town of Torgau in Saxony.

Bibliography