The 5th Royal Bavarian Division was a unit of the Royal Bavarian Army which served alongside the Prussian Army as part of the Imperial German Army

German Army (German Empire)

The German Army was the name given the combined land forces of the German Empire, also known as the National Army , Imperial Army or Imperial German Army. The term "Deutsches Heer" is also used for the modern German Army, the land component of the German Bundeswehr...

. The division was formed on October 1, 1890 in Landau

Landau

Landau or Landau in der Pfalz is an autonomous city surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town , a long-standing cultural centre, and a market and shopping town, surrounded by vineyards and wine-growing villages of the...

 as the 5th Division and swapped division numbers with the Nuremberg-based 3rd Royal Bavarian Division

3rd Royal Bavarian Division

The 3rd Royal Bavarian Division was a unit of the Royal Bavarian Army which served alongside the Prussian Army as part of the Imperial German Army. The division was formed on November 27, 1815 as an Infantry Division of the Würzburg General Command...

 in 1901. In Bavarian sources, it was not generally referred to as a "Royal Bavarian" division, as this was considered self-evident, but outside Bavaria, this designation was used for it, and other Bavarian units, to distinguish them from similarly numbered Prussian units. The division was part of the III Royal Bavarian Army Corps.

Combat chronicle

During World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the division served on the Western Front

Western Front (World War I)

Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...

. It fought initially in the Battle of the Frontiers

Battle of the Frontiers

The Battle of the Frontiers was a series of battles fought along the eastern frontier of France and in southern Belgium shortly after the outbreak of World War I. The battles represented a collision between the military strategies of the French Plan XVII and the German Schlieffen Plan...

. It then served in the area between the Meuse and Moselle Rivers until October 1915, seeing action on the Meuse heights by St. Mihiel and in the Bois-brulé, and then fought in the Second Battle of Champagne

Second Battle of Champagne

The Second Battle of Champagne was a French offensive against the invading German army beginning on 25 September 1915, part of World War I.-September 25 - October 6:...

. After a brief period in reserve, the division went in the trenchlines in the Meuse-Moselle region until September 1916, and then fought briefly in the Battle of the Somme, where it suffered heavy losses. From October 1916 into 1918, the division occupied the trenchlines in Flanders and the Artois, and fought in the Battle of Arras

Battle of Arras (1917)

The Battle of Arras was a British offensive during the First World War. From 9 April to 16 May 1917, British, Canadian, New Zealand, Newfoundland, and Australian troops attacked German trenches near the French city of Arras on the Western Front....

 and the Battle of Passchendaele. After a month in reserve, it went into the 1918 German Spring Offensive

Spring Offensive

The 1918 Spring Offensive or Kaiserschlacht , also known as the Ludendorff Offensive, was a series of German attacks along the Western Front during World War I, beginning on 21 March 1918, which marked the deepest advances by either side since 1914...

, fighting in the First Battle of the Somme (1918), also known as the Second Battle of the Somme (to distinguish it from the 1916 battle). It then remained on the defensive in the region until the end of the war, including fighting in the Second Battle of the Somme (1918)

Second Battle of the Somme (1918)

During the First World War, the Second Battle of the Somme of 1918 was fought on the Western Front from the end of the summer, in the basin of the Somme River...

, also known as the Third Battle of the Somme. Allied intelligence rated the division as first class, although not one of the best Bavarian divisions.

Pre–World War I peacetime organization

In 1914, the peacetime organization of the 5th Royal Bavarian Division was as follows:

• 9. bayerische Infanterie-Brigade
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 14. Infanterie-Regiment Hartmann
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 21. Infanterie-Regiment Großherzog Friedrich Franz IV. von Mecklenburg-Schwerin
• 10. bayerische Infanterie-Brigade
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 7. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Leopold
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 19. Infanterie-Regiment König Viktor Emanuel III. von Italien
• 5. bayerische Kavallerie-Brigade
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 1. Chevaulegers-Regiment Kaiser Nikolaus von Rußland
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 6. Chevaulegers-Regiment Prinz Albrecht von Preußen
• 5. bayerische Feldartillerie-Brigade
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 6. Feldartillerie-Regiment Prinz Ferdinand von Bourbon, Herzog von Calabrien
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 10. Feldartillerie-Regiment
• Landwehr-Inspektion Nürnberg

Order of battle on mobilization

On mobilization in August 1914 at the beginning of World War I, most divisional cavalry, including brigade headquarters, was withdrawn to form cavalry divisions or split up among divisions as reconnaissance units. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from their higher headquarters. The 5th Bavarian Division was renamed the 5th Bavarian Infantry Division. The division's initial wartime organization (major units) was as follows:

• 9. bayerische Infanterie-Brigade
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 14. Infanterie-Regiment Hartmann
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 21. Infanterie-Regiment Großherzog Friedrich Franz IV. von Mecklenburg-Schwerin
  • Kgl. Bayerisches Reserve-Jäger-Bataillon Nr. 2
• 10. bayerische Infanterie-Brigade
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 7. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Leopold
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 19. Infanterie-Regiment König Viktor Emanuel III. von Italien
• Kgl. Bayerisches 7. Chevaulegers-Regiment Prinz Alfons
• 5. bayerische Feldartillerie-Brigade
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 6. Feldartillerie-Regiment Prinz Ferdinand von Bourbon, Herzog von Calabrien
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 10. Feldartillerie-Regiment
• 1.Kompanie/Kgl. Bayerisches 3. Pionier-Bataillon
• 3.Kompanie/Kgl. Bayerisches 3. Pionier-Bataillon

Late World War I organization

Divisions underwent many changes during the war, with regiments moving from division to division, and some being destroyed and rebuilt. During the war, most divisions became triangular

Triangular division

A triangular division is a designation given to the way divisions are organized. In a triangular organization, the division's main body is composed of three regimental maneuver elements. These regiments may be controlled by a brigade headquarters or directly subordinated to the division commander...

 - one infantry brigade with three infantry regiments rather than two infantry brigades of two regiments (a "square division

Square division

A square division is a designation given to the way military divisions are organized. In a square organization, the division's main body is composed of four regimental elements. Since a regiment could be split into separate battalions for tactical purposes, the natural division within a division...

"). The 5th Bavarian Infantry Division was triangularized in January 1917, sending the 9th Bavarian Infantry Brigade headquarters and the 14th Bavarian Infantry Regiment to the newly-formed 16th Bavarian Infantry Division. An artillery commander replaced the artillery brigade headquarters, the cavalry was further reduced, and the engineer contingent was increased. Divisional signals commanders were established to better control communications, a major problem in coordinating infantry and artillery operations during World War I. The division's order of battle on March 20, 1918 was as follows:

• 10. bayerische Infanterie-Brigade
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 7. Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Leopold
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 19. Infanterie-Regiment König Viktor Emanuel III. von Italien
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 21. Infanterie-Regiment Großherzog Friedrich Franz IV. von Mecklenburg-Schwerin
  • Kgl. Bayerische Maschinengewehr-Scharfschützen-Abteilung Nr. 1
• 4.Eskadron/Kgl. Bayerisches 2. Chevaulegers-Regiment Taxis
• Kgl. Bayerischer Artillerie-Kommandeur 5
  • Kgl. Bayerisches 10. Feldartillerie-Regiment
  • III.Bataillon/Kgl. Bayerisches 1. Fußartillerie-Regiment vakant Bothmer
• Kgl. Bayerisches 3. Pionier-Bataillon
  • Kgl. Bayerische Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 10
  • Kgl. Bayerische Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 13
  • Kgl. Bayerische Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 13
• Kgl. Bayerischer Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 5