The German Order of Battle

During the Meuse-Argonne Campaign

The information in the table below was compiled by the (British) General Staff, War Office.  It is part of the reference book, The German Forces in the Field.  7th Revision, 11th November, 1918, which was reprinted jointly by The Imperial War Museum, London, and The Battery Press, Inc, Nashville in 1995.

German terms and abbreviations have been used as much as possible in order to familiarize the reader with these.  A short list of abbreviations can be found below the two tables.   Vocabulary of German Military Terms and Abbreviations (Second Edition), reprinted by the IWM and Battery Press, 1995, is an excellent reference book for learning WW1 German.

 

Heeresgruppe Deutscher Kronprinz (Crown Prince's Group of Armies)

3. Armee (Third Army), Gen. Oberst v. Einem

as of 30 October, 1918

as of 9 November, 1918
 XXV. Reserve Korps  XXV. Reserve Korps
     9. Ldw. Div.      42. I.D.
     199. Inf. Div.      195. I.D.
     3. Gd. Div.      76. I.D.
     1. Gd. Div.      203. I.D.
 XVI. Armee Korps  XVI. Armee Korps
     213. Inf. Div.      240. I.D.
     242. Inf. Div.      31. I.D.
     1. Bay. Inf. Div.      236. I.D.
 I. Reserve Korps  I. Reserve Korps
     202. Inf. Div.      15. Bay. I.D.
     14. Res. Div.      115. I.D.
     203. Inf. Div.      41. I.D.
     195.  Inf. Div.      52. I.D.
     76. Res. Inf. Div. w/ 1/3 of 103. Inf. Div.      28. I.D.
   XIII. Armee Korps
       107. I.D.
       88. I.D.
       10. I.D.
       5. Bay. Res. Div.
 Armee/Korps Reserve Units  Armee/Korps Reserve Units
     XXXVIII. Res. Korps      13. I.D.
     103. Inf. Div. (Less units attached to 76. Res. Inf. Div.)      4. Bay. Inf. Div.
     42. Inf. Div.      2. Ldw. Div.

 

Heeresgruppe Gallwitz (von Gallwitz Group of Armies)

5. Armee (5th Army), Gen. d. Kav. v. d. Marwitz

as of 30 October, 1918

as of 9 November, 1918

 LVIII. Armee Korps

 LVIII. Armee Korps

     240. I.D.

          469. Inf. Regt.  (XIV.)

          470. Inf. Regt.  (XIV.)

          471. Inf. Regt.  (XV.)

     27. I.D.

     15. Bay. I.D.

          30. Bay. Inf. Regt. (I. Bay.)

          31. Bay. Inf. Regt.  (II. Bay.)

          32. Bay. Inf. Regt  (III. Bay.)

     7. Res. Div.

     52. I.D.

          111. Inf. Regt. (3. Badisches)  (XIV.)

          169. Inf. Regt. (8. Badisches)  (XIV.)

          170. Inf. Regt. (9. Badisches)  (XIV.)

     117. I.D.

 XXI. Armee Korps--Maasgruppe West

 (Meuse Group  West)

 XXI. Armee Korps

     13. I.D.

          13. Inf. Regt.  (1. Westfälisches)  (VII.)

          15. Inf. Regt.  (2. Westfälisches)  (VII.)

          55. Inf. Regt.  (6. Westfälisches)  (VII.)

     20. I.D.

     28. I.D.

          40. Fus. Regt.  (XIV.)

          109. Leib. Gren. Regt. (1. Badisches)  (XIV.)

          110. Gren. Regt. (2. Badisches)  (XIV.)

     197. I.D.    

     107. I.D.

           448. Inf. Regt.  (II.)

          52. Res. Inf. Regt. (III.)

          232. Res. Inf. Regt.  (IV.)

     241. I.D.

     5. Bay. Res. Div.

          7. Bay. Res. Inf. Regt.  (III. Bay.)

          10. Bay. Res. Inf. Regt.  (III Bay.)

          12. Bay. Res. Inf. Regt

 

 V. Res. Korps--Maasgruppe Ost

 (Meuse Group East)

 V. Reserve Korps

     123. I.D.  (Sachsen)

          178. Inf. Regt.  (13 Sächsisches)  (XII.)

          351. Inf. Regt.  (XII. and XIX.)

          106. Res. Inf. Regt.  (XIX.)

     228. I.D.

     1. KuK Div. (less elements)

     123. I.D.

     1/4 of 106. KuK Div.

     192. I.D.

     228. I.D.

          35. Fus. Regt. (III.)

          48. Inf. Regt.  (III.)

          207. Res. Inf. Regt.  (III.)

 

     Elements of 1. KuK Div.

 

     192. I.D.  (Sachsen)

          183.  Inf. Regt.  (17. Sächsisches)  (XIX.)

          192. Inf. Regt.  (18. Sächsisches)  (XII.)

          245. Res. Inf. Regt.

 

 IX. Reserve Korps--Gruppe Beaumont

 IX. Reserve Korps

     1. Ldw. Div.

          31. Ldw. Inf. Regt.  (IX.)

          33. Ldw. Inf. Regt.  (I.)

          84. Ldw. Inf. Regt.  (IX.)

     1. Ldw. Div.

     15. I.D.

          69. Inf. Regt.  (7. Rheinisches)  (VIII.)

          137. Inf. Regt.  (2. Unter-Elsäss)  (XXI.)

          160. Inf. Regt  (9. Rheinisches)  (VII.)

     15. I.D.

 XVIII. KuK Army Korps--Gruppe Ornes

 Unit???

     33. I.D.

           98. Inf. Regt.  (XVI.)

           130. Inf. Regt.  (1. Lothringes)  (XVI.)

           135. Inf. Regt.  (3. Lothringes)  (XVI.)

     33. I.D.

     32. I.D. (Sachsen)

           102. Inf. Regt.  (3. Sächsisches)  (XII.)

           103. Inf. Regt.  (4. Sächsisches)  (XII.)

           177. Inf. Regt.  (12. Sächsisches)  (XII.)

     32. I.D.

     1/4 106. KuK Div.

     37. I.D.

     37. I.D.

          147. Inf. Regt.  (2. Masurisches)  (XX.)

          150. Inf. Regt.  (1. Ermländisches)  (XX.)

          151. Inf. Regt.  (2. Ermländisches) (XX.)    

 

 Army/Korps Reserve Units

 Army/Korps Reserve Units

     31. I.D.

          70. Inf. Regt.  (8. Rheinisches)  (XXI.)

          166. Inf. Regt.  (XXI.)

          174. Inf. Regt.  (10. Lothringes)  (XXI.)

 

     115. I.D.

          136. Inf. Regt.  (4. Lothringisches)  (XV.)

          171. Inf. Regt.  (2. Ober-Elsäss)  (XV.)

          173. Inf. Regt.  (9. Lothringisches)  (XVI.)

 

     88. I.D.

          352. Inf. Regt.  (VI.)

          353. Inf. Regt.  (XVIII. and VI.)

          426. Inf. Regt.  (XX.)

 

     41. I.D.

          18. Inf. Regt.  (1. Posen)  (XX.)

          148. Inf. Regt.  (5. Westpreußen)  (XX.)

          152. Inf. Regt.  (XX.)

 

     27. I.D.

          120. Inf. Regt.  (2. Württembergisches)  (XIII.)

          123. Gren. Regt.  (5. Württembergisches)  (XIII.)

          124. Inf. Regt.  (6. Württembergisches)  (XIII.)

 

     117. I.D.

          11. Gren. Regt. (2nd Schlessisches)  (VI.)

          157. Inf. Regt.  (4th Schlessisches)  (VI.)

          450. Inf. Regt.  (XVII.)

 

     1/4 of 106. KuK Div.

 

     236. I.D.

          457. Inf. Regt.  (VII.)

          458. Inf. Regt.  (VII.)

          459. Inf. Regt.  (XVI.)

 

     20. I.D.

          77. Inf. Regt.  (2. Hannoverisches)  (X.)

          79. Inf. Regt.  (3. Hannoverisches)  (X.)

          92. Inf. Regt.  (X.)

 

 

Common German Military Abbreviations
1. 2. 3. 4. etc. Ordinal numbers:  1st, 2nd, etc. Bay. (Bayerisch) Bavarian
Div. Division KuK (Königlich und Kaiserlich) Austro-Hungarian
Inf. Infanterie Sachsen Saxon
Ldw. Landwehr Württ. (Württemberg) Wuerttemberg
Res. Reserve (I.) through (XXI.) Army Corps District Nr.
I.D. Infanterie Division (I. Bay.) through (III. Bay) Same, but for Bavarian troops
Regt. Regiment    
Fus. Fusilier    
Gren. Grenadier    
Leib. Body (as in body guards)    
       
Note:  Technically, the German Army in WWI consisted of armies from the four Kingdoms of Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony and Wuerttemberg.  That distinction can be found looking at the regiments above.
Note:  The Army Corps District number in parantheses helps to identify the geographic region in German from which the regiment was raised.  The Kingdoms of Prussia, Saxony and Wuerttemberg were divided into 21 Army Corps Districts (I through XXI)  and the Kingdom of Bavaria was divided into an additional 3 Army Corps Districts (I Bay. through III Bay.)
Note:  The yellow background denotes that the webmaster has located a regimental history (in German) for this regiment.  See the related Features article that discussed how to obtain regimental histories.

 

A few observations:

  1. The information in the left-hand column is dated 30 October, 1918.  The information in the right-hand column is dated 9 November, 1918.  Both have been included for comparison.
  2. The units are presented in geographical order, running from North to South.  (See related maps.)
  3. Reserve units have been listed as Army/Corps reserve units, because it was not always clear to which unit they belonged.
  4. It is assumed that the (British) General Staff took care to accurately assemble the order of battle.  However, the accuracy of any materials prepared during or just shortly after the war must be questioned.
  5. The reader must remember that units are moved into and out of sectors during battles.  This is clearly shown on the map below.  Thus, the list represents units present only on the specified date.
  6. Also, many German divisions ceased to exist as a result of the heavy fighting during the final weeks and days of the war.
  7. This list has not yet been cross-verified with other German sources, such as German records in the National Archives.
  8. Unfortunately, the German official history of the war, Der Weltrkieg:  1914 bis 1918 ends with Band (Vol.) 12, Die Kriegsführung im Frühjahr 1917.

 

Source:  ABMC, page 190.

 

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