The 19th Reserve Division began the war under command of Generalleutnant Max von Bahrfeldt on the Western Front, participating in the opening German offensive which led to the Allied Great Retreat and ended with the First Battle of the Marne. Thereafter, the division remained in the line on the Aisne and in the Champagne. From May 1915 to March 1916, the division fought in Upper Alsace. It then fought in the Battle of Verdun until July, when it went into the Argonne Forest. In October 1916, it saw action in the later phases of the Battle of the Somme. In April 1917, the division fought in the Second Battle of the Aisne, also known as the Third Battle of Champagne. In May, it was sent to the Eastern Front, and fought around Riga until September. It then returned to the Western Front, where it saw action in the Battle of Passchendaele. It was back in the trenchlines at Verdun from October 1917 to April 1918. In August–September 1918, the division faced the French and American Oise-Aisne Offensive. It remained in the line until war's end. Allied intelligence rated the division as first class.[2][3]
Order of battle on mobilization
The order of battle of the 19th Reserve Division on mobilization was as follows:[4]
37. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade
Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 73
Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 78
39. Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade
Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 74
Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 92
III. (Großherzoglich Oldenburgisches) Bataillon/Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 79
Großherzoglich Oldenburgisches Reserve-Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 6
The 19th Reserve Division was triangularized in September 1916, sending the 37th Reserve Infantry Brigade headquarters and the 74th Reserve Infantry Regiment to the newly formed 213th Infantry Division. Over the course of the war, other changes took place, including the formation of artillery and signals commands and a pioneer battalion. The order of battle on March 8, 1918, was as follows:[5]
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
^This is an average strength over the division's history. Square divisions had a strength of approximately 17,500; triangular divisions had a strength of approximately 12,500
^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. 299-302.
^Hermann Cron et al., Ruhmeshalle unserer alten Armee (Berlin, 1935).