The Guards Cavalry Division (Garde-Kavallerie-Division) was a unit of the German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 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...

 that was stationed in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

. The division was a part of the Guards Corps (Gardekorps).

Pre-war Order of Battle

Before the outbreak of war, the component units of the division were:

• 1st Guards Cavalry Brigade
  • Gardes du Corps
  • Guards Cuirassiers
    Guards Cuirassiers
    The Guards Cuirassiers were a heavy cavalry regiment of the Royal Prussian Army. Formed in 1815 as a Uhlans regiment, it was reorganized as a cuirassiers unit in 1821. The regiment was part of the Guards Cavalry Division and fought in the Second Schleswig War, the Austro-Prussian War, the...
    
    
• 2nd Guards Cavalry Brigade
  • 1st Guards Uhlans
    1st Guards Uhlans
    The 1st Guards Uhlans were a light cavalry regiment of the Royal Prussian Army. Raised in 1819 as Landwehr cavalry the regiment was later reorganized as Uhlans and fought in the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian war. In World War I the regiment was part of the Guards Cavalry Division fighting on...
    
    
  • 3rd Guards Uhlans
• 3rd Guards Cavalry Brigade
  • 1st Guards Dragoons "Queen of Great Britain and Ireland"
  • 2nd Guards Dragoons "Empress Alexandra of Russia"
• 4th Guards Cavalry Brigade
  • Life Guards Hussars
  • 2nd Guards Uhlans

Combat chronicle

Initially assigned to I Cavalry Corps preceding 3rd Army on the Western Front. On the Western Front until December 1914, then frontier guard duties against Holland until 30th June 1915, then to Russia. From 16th March 1918 to 9th April 1918 dismounted, re-formation and training on the Zossen troop training ground. Thereafter Guard Cavalry Schützen

Schützen (military)

Schützen is a German plural noun used to designate a type of military unit of infantrymen, originally armed with a rifled musket and used in a light-infantry or skirmishing role - and hence similar to the Jäger...

 Division on the Western Front. In Artois to May 1918, then Champagne / Aisne.

A more detailed combat chronicle can be found at the German language version of this article.

Order of Battle on mobilisation

Upon the outbreak of war, the 4th Guards Cavalry Brigade was dissolved. It's component regiments were assigned as divisional cavalry to the 1st Guards Infantry Division (Life Guard Hussars) and 2nd Guards Infantry Division (2nd Guard Uhlans). With the addition of support units, it's structure was:

• 1st Guards Cavalry Brigade
  • Gardes du Corps
  • Guards Cuirassiers
    Guards Cuirassiers
    The Guards Cuirassiers were a heavy cavalry regiment of the Royal Prussian Army. Formed in 1815 as a Uhlans regiment, it was reorganized as a cuirassiers unit in 1821. The regiment was part of the Guards Cavalry Division and fought in the Second Schleswig War, the Austro-Prussian War, the...
    
    
• 2nd Guards Cavalry Brigade
  • 1st Guards Uhlans
    1st Guards Uhlans
    The 1st Guards Uhlans were a light cavalry regiment of the Royal Prussian Army. Raised in 1819 as Landwehr cavalry the regiment was later reorganized as Uhlans and fought in the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian war. In World War I the regiment was part of the Guards Cavalry Division fighting on...
    
    
  • 3rd Guards Uhlans
• 3rd Guards Cavalry Brigade
  • 1st Guards Dragoons "Queen of Great Britain and Ireland"
  • 2nd Guards Dragoons "Empress Alexandra of Russia"
• Horse Artillery Abteilung
  Abteilung
  Abteilung is a German language word often used when referring to German or Swiss military formations...
  
  of the 1st Guards Field Artillery Regiment
• 1st Guard Machine Gun Detachment
• Pioneer Detachment
• Signals Detachment
  • Heavy Wireless Station 2
  • Light Wireless Station 1
  • Light Wireless Station 2
• Cavalry Motorised Vehicle Column 10

See: Table of Organisation and Equipment

TOE, German Cavalry Division, August 1914

This is a brief outline of the Table of Organisation and Equipment of the 11 German Cavalry Divisions that were established at the outbreak of the first World War.-Table of Organisation and Equipment:*Division Staff**"weaker than an infantry division"...

Guard Cavalry Schützen Division

The Guard Cavalry Division was extensively reorganised in the course of the war, culminating in conversion to a Cavalry Schützen Division, that is to say, dismounted cavalry. Here, the cavalry brigades were renamed Cavalry Schützen Commands and performed a similar role to that of an infantry regiment command. Likewise, the cavalry regiments became Cavalry Schützen Regiments and alloted the role of an infantry battalion and their squadrons acted as infantry companies. However, these units were much weaker than normal infantry formations (for example, a Schützen squadron had a strength of just 4 officers and 109 NCOs and other ranks, considerably less than that of an infantry company).

• 1st Guards Cavalry Brigade became independent on 9th April 1917
• 2nd Guards Cavalry Brigade became independent on 6th June 1916
• 3rd Guards Cavalry Brigade became independent on 18th October 1916
• 19th Cavalry Brigade joined from 9th Cavalry Division
  9th Cavalry Division (German Empire)
  The 9th Cavalry Division was a unit of the German Army in World War I. The division was formed on mobilization of the German Army in August 1914. The division was dissolved in March 1918.-Combat chronicle:...
  
   on 8th April 1917 and became independent on 12th February 1918
• 11th Cavalry Brigade joined from 5th Cavalry Division
  5th Cavalry Division (German Empire)
  The 5th Cavalry Division was a unit of the German Army in World War I. The division was formed on mobilization of the German Army in August 1914. The division was dissolved in February 1918.-Combat chronicle:...
  
   on 23rd March 1918 and renamed 11th Cavalry Schützen Command on 8th May 1918
• 14th Cavalry Brigade joined from 9th Cavalry Division
  9th Cavalry Division (German Empire)
  The 9th Cavalry Division was a unit of the German Army in World War I. The division was formed on mobilization of the German Army in August 1914. The division was dissolved in March 1918.-Combat chronicle:...
  
   on 23rd February 1918 and renamed 14th Cavalry Schützen Command on 8th May 1918
• 38th Cavalry Brigade joined from 8th Cavalry Division
  8th Cavalry Division (German Empire)
  The 8th Cavalry Division was a unit of the German Army in World War I. The division was formed on mobilization of the German Army in August 1914. The division was dissolved in April 1918...
  
   on 20th April 1918 and renamed 38th Cavalry Schützen Command on 8th May 1918

Late World War I organization

Allied Intelligence rated this division as 2nd Class (of 4 classes). It's late war organisation was:

• 5th Landwehr Brigade
  • 11th Cavalry Schützen Command
    • Guards Cuirassiers
      Guards Cuirassiers
      The Guards Cuirassiers were a heavy cavalry regiment of the Royal Prussian Army. Formed in 1815 as a Uhlans regiment, it was reorganized as a cuirassiers unit in 1821. The regiment was part of the Guards Cavalry Division and fought in the Second Schleswig War, the Austro-Prussian War, the...
      
      
    • 1st (Silesian) Life Cuirassiers "Great Elector"
      1st (Silesian) Life Cuirassiers "Great Elector"
      The 1st Life Cuirassiers were a heavy cavalry regiment of the Royal Prussian Army. The regiment was originally formed as Dragoon Guards in 1674 and reorganized as a cuirassiers unit in 1718. The regiment fought in the Silesian Wars and the War of the Sixth Coalition 1813-15, the Austro-Prussian...
      
      
    • 8th (2nd Silesian) Dragoons "King Frederick III"
  • 14th Cavalry Schützen Command
    • 4th (1st Silesian) Hussars "von Schill"
    • 11th (2nd Westphalian) Hussars
    • 5th (Westphalian) Uhlans
  • 38th Cavalry Schützen Command
    • 4th (Westphalian) Cuirassiers "von Driesen"
      4th (Westphalian) Cuirassiers "von Driesen"
      The 4th Cuirassiers “von Driesen” were a heavy cavalry regiment of the Royal Prussian Army. The regiment was formed in 1717. The regiment fought in the Silesian Wars, the War of the Sixth Coalition, the Austro-Prussian War, the Franco-Prussian War and World War I. The regiment was disbanded in...
      
      
    • 2nd Jäger zu Pferde
      2nd Mounted Rifles
      The 2nd Mounted Rifles were a light cavalry regiment of the Royal Prussian Army. The regiment was formed 1 October, 1905 in Langensalza were it belonged to the XI Army Corps....
      
      
    • 6th Jäger zu Pferde
      6th Mounted Rifles
      The 6th Mounted Rifles were a light cavalry regiment of the Royal Prussian Army. The regiment was formed 1 October, 1910 in Erfurt....
      
      
• 1st Guard MG Detachment
• 1st Squadron, 5th Jäger zu Pferde
  5th Mounted Rifles
  The 5th Mounted Rifles were a light cavalry regiment of the Royal Prussian Army. The regiment was formed 1 October, 1908 in Karlsruhe....
  
   (mounted cavalry)
• 132nd Artillery Command
  • 3rd Guards Field Artillery
  • 722nd Light Ammunition Column
  • 852nd Light Ammunition Column
  • 1135th Light Ammunition Column
• 412th Pioneer Battalion
  • 2nd Ersatz Company, 18th Pioneer Battalion
  • 307th Pioneer Company
• 226th Signal Command
  • 226th Telephone Detachment
  • 183rd Wireless Detachment
• Medical and Veterinary
  • 257th Ambulance Company
  • 642nd Ambulance Company
  • 1st Field Hospital
  • 302nd Field Hospital
  • 262nd Vet. Hospital
• Train
  • 636th Motor Transport Column