8th Landwehr Division (German Empire)

8th Landwehr Division (8. Landwehr-Division)
Active 1915-1919
Country Baden/Germany
Branch Army
Type Infantry
Size Approx. 12,500
Engagements World War I

The 8th Landwehr Division (8. Landwehr-Division) was a unit of the Prussian/German Army.[1] The division was formed on January 31, 1915 out of the formerly independent 56th Landwehr Infantry Brigade, which had been dissolved on January 25, 1915. The division spent the period from its formation to early 1917 mainly involved in positional warfare in Upper Alsace, after which it occupied the trenchlines near Verdun. It remained in positional warfare in this general region until the end of the war. It participated in no major battles, but was primarily suited to quieter sectors of the line. Allied intelligence rated the division as a fourth class division, though it noted that "in the attack it did fairly well, without heavy loss." [2][3] The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.

The 8th Landwehr Division, like the 56th Landwehr Infantry Brigade before it, was raised in the Grand Duchy of Baden. As a Landwehr division, it was primarily composed of older soldiers who had already fulfilled their regular and reserve service obligations.

Commanding officers

The commanding officers of the 8th Landwehr Division were:[4]

Order of battle on March 12, 1915

The order of battle of the division on March 12, 1915, shortly after its formation, was as follows:[5]

Order of battle on January 4, 1918

Divisions underwent many changes during the war, with regiments moving from division to division, and some being destroyed and rebuilt. The 8th Landwehr Division, originally not much bigger than a reinforced brigade, received a third infantry regiment and was reorganized as a standard German infantry division. An artillery command and a divisional signals command were created. The 8th Landwehr Division's order of battle on January 4, 1918 was as follows:[6]

References

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 and only the Bavarian Army remained fully autonomous.
  2. ↑ 08.Landwehr-Division (Chronik 1915/1919)
  3. ↑ 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. 160-161.
  4. ↑ Günter Wegner, Stellenbesetzung der deutschen Heere 1815-1939. (Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück, 1993), Bd. 1, p.189.
  5. ↑ Hermann Cron et al., Ruhmeshalle unserer alten Armee (Berlin, 1935).
  6. ↑ Cron et al., Ruhmeshalle.
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