The 76th Reserve Division (76. Reserve-Division) was a unit of the Imperial German

German Empire

The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The 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...

 in 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 was formed at the end of December 1914 and organized over the next month, arriving in the line in early February 1915. It was part of the second large wave of new divisions formed at the outset of World War I, which were numbered the 75th through 82nd Reserve Divisions. The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was primarily raised in the XVIII and XI Corps areas and was relatively mixed. The 254th Reserve Infantry Regiment was from the Grand Duchy of Hesse

Grand Duchy of Hesse

The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine , or, between 1806 and 1816, Grand Duchy of Hesse —as it was also known after 1816—was a member state of the German Confederation from 1806, when the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt was elevated to a Grand Duchy, until 1918, when all the German...

. The 253rd Reserve Infantry Regiment included troops from the Grand Duchy of Hesse and Hesse-Nassau. The 252nd Infantry Regiment was raised in the Thuringian states.

Combat chronicle

The 76th Reserve Division initially fought on the Eastern Front

Eastern Front (World War I)

The Eastern Front was a theatre of war during World War I in Central and, primarily, Eastern Europe. The term is in contrast to the Western Front. Despite the geographical separation, the events in the two theatres strongly influenced each other...

. Its baptism of fire was in the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes

Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes

The Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes, also known as the Winter Battle of the Masurian Lakes, was the northern part of the Central Powers' offensive on the Eastern Front in the winter of 1915...

. It participated in several battles in the course of the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive

Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive

The Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive during World War I started as a minor German offensive to relieve Russian pressure on the Austro-Hungarians to their south on the Eastern Front, but resulted in the total collapse of the Russian lines and their retreat far into Russia...

, including the siege of Kovno, the battle on the Neman River

Neman River

Neman or Niemen or Nemunas, is a major Eastern European river rising in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. It is the northern border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast in its lower reaches...

, and the battle of Vilnius

Vilnius

Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...

. From November 1915 to September 1916, the division remained in positional warfare by Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

. It was then transferred to Romania, where it fought until the armistice on the Romanian front. In March 1918, the division was transferred to 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...

 and went into the line in Lorraine. It saw action in the Second Battle of the Marne

Second Battle of the Marne

The Second Battle of the Marne , or Battle of Reims was the last major German Spring Offensive on the Western Front during the First World War. The German attack failed when an Allied counterattack led by France overwhelmed the Germans, inflicting severe casualties...

 and resisted the Allies' Aisne-Marne, Oise-Aisne and Meuse-Argonne Offensives. Allied intelligence rated the division as third class.

Order of battle on formation

The 76th Reserve Division, like the other divisions of its wave and unlike earlier German divisions, was organized from the outset as a triangular division

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...

. The order of battle of the 76th Reserve Division on December 29, 1914 was as follows:

• 76.Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade
  • Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 252
  • Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 253
  • Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 254
  • Reserve-Radfahrer-Kompanie Nr. 76
• Reserve-Kavallerie-Abteilung Nr. 76
• 76.Reserve-Feldartillerie-Brigade
  • Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 56
  • Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 58
• Reserve-Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 76
• Reserve-Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 77

Order of battle on January 1, 1918

The most significant wartime structural change in the divisions of this wave was the reduction from two field artillery regiments to one. Over the course of the war, other changes took place, including the formation of artillery and signals commands and the enlargement of combat engineer support to a full pioneer battalion. The order of battle on January 1, 1918 was as follows:

• 76.Reserve-Infanterie-Brigade
  • Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 252
  • Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 253
  • Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 254
  • Maschinengewehr-Scharfschützen-Abteilung Nr. 59
  • Reserve-Radfahrer-Abteilung Nr. 76
• 3.Eskadron/Reserve-Ulanen-Regiment Nr. 1
• Artillerie-Kommandeur 76
  • Reserve-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 76
  • II.Bataillon/Fußartillerie-Regiment Nr. 24 (from April 15, 1918)
• Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 376:
  • Reserve-Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 76
  • Reserve-Pionier-Kompanie Nr. 77
  • Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 276
• Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 476