7th Landwehr Division (German Empire)

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name=7th Landwehr Division ("7. Landwehr-Division")
dates=1915-1919
country=
branch=Army
type=Infantry
size=Approx. 12,500
battles=World War I

The 7th Landwehr Division ("7. Landwehr-Division") was a unit of the Prussian/German Army. [From the late 1800s, the Prussian Army was effectively the German Army, as during the period of German unification (1866-1871) the states of the German Empire entered into conventions with Prussia regarding their armies and only the Bavarian Army remained fully autonomous.] The division was formed on January 27, 1915 out of the formerly independent 55th Mixed Landwehr Brigade and the 57th Landwehr Infantry Brigade. The division spent the period from its formation to early 1917 on the Western Front, mainly involved in positional warfare in Upper Alsace, after which it went to the Lorraine front. It was transferred to the Eastern Front in the Spring of 1917, where it remained after the 1917 armistice on that front. In 1918, it served in internal security missions in Ukraine, where it was located when World War I ended. Allied intelligence rated the division as a fourth class division. [ [http://www.1914-18.info/erster-weltkrieg.php?u=441 08.Landwehr-Division (Chronik 1915/1919)] ] ["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. 153-155.] The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I.

The 7th Landwehr Division, like the 55th and 57th Brigades before it, was raised in the Kingdom of Württemberg. As a Landwehr division, it was primarily composed of older soldiers who had already fulfilled their regular and reserve service obligations.

Order of battle on April 1, 1915

The order of battle of the division on April 1, 1915, shortly after its formation, was as follows: [Hermann Cron et al., "Ruhmeshalle unserer alten Armee" (Berlin, 1935).]

*51. Landwehr-Infanterie-Brigade:
**Kgl. Württembergisches Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 119
**Kgl. Württembergisches Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 123
*Radfahrer-Kompanie Nr. 1
*52. Landwehr-Infanterie-Brigade:
**Kgl. Württembergisches Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 121
**Kgl. Württembergisches Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 126
*Kgl. Württembergische Gebirgs-Kompanie
*1. Landwehr-Eskadron/XIII. (kgl. württ.) Armeekorps
*2. Landwehr-Eskadron/XIII. (kgl. württ.) Armeekorps
*Kgl. Württembergisches Landwehr-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 1
*2. Landwehr-Pionier-Kompanie/XIII. (kgl. württ.) Armeekorps
*3. Landwehr-Pionier-Kompanie/XIII. (kgl. württ.) Armeekorps

Order of battle on May 8, 1918

Divisions underwent many changes during the war, with regiments moving from division to division, and some being destroyed and rebuilt. The 7th Landwehr Division was triangularized in January 1917, losing the 51st Landwehr Infantry Brigade headquarters and the division's fourth infantry regiment. Other units were swapped out or transferred to other divisions. An artillery command and a divisional signals command were created. The 7th Landwehr Division's order of battle on May 8, 1918 was as follows: [Cron et al., "Ruhmeshalle".]

*52. Landwehr-Infanterie-Brigade
**Kgl. Württembergisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 122
**Kgl. Württembergisches Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 121
**Kgl. Württembergisches Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 126
**Kgl. Württembergische Gebirgs-Kompanie
*1. Eskadron/Ulanen-Regiment König Wilhelm I (2. Württembergisches) Nr. 20
*Artillerie-Kommandeur 149 (from February 16, 1917)
**Kgl. Württembergisches Landwehr-Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 1
*Stab Pionier-Bataillon Nr. 407
**2. Landwehr-Pionier-Kompanie/XIII. (kgl. württ.) Armeekorps
**Minenwerfer-Kompanie Nr. 307
*Divisions-Nachrichten-Kommandeur 507 (from September 12,1917)

References

* [http://www.1914-18.info/erster-weltkrieg.php?u=441 7.Landwehr-Division (Chronik 1915/1919) - Der erste Weltkrieg]
* 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