HISTORY.
(8th Corps District—Rhine Province.)
1914.
1. At the outbreak of the war the 16th Reserve Division with the 15th Reserve Division was a part of the 8th Reserve Corps and belonged to the 4th Army (Duke of Wurttemberg).
Champagne.
2. On August 14, 1914, it entered Luxemburg; on the 21st, Belgium. It went into action at St. Hubert on the 22d; at Matton on the 24th; crossed the Meuse at Sedan with heavy losses August 26–28. Entering Champagne by way of Vouziers, it took part in the battle of the Marne, along the canal from the Marne to the Rhine (Heiltz le Maurupt-Bignicourt-Le Buisson).
3. On September 9 it began its retreat, and retired by way of Suippes (Sept. 14) to Cernay en Dormois. About September 20 it stopped in the area of Minaucourt-Massiges and took up its position there.
4. The 16th Reserve Division occupied this sector of Champagne (north of Massiges) until the month of October, 1915. (On the 30th of January, 1915, the 29th Reserve Infantry Regiment had had a total of 79 officers and 3,090 men casualties.)
1915.
1. At the time of the French offensive in Champagne the 16th Reserve Division went into battle east of the road from Tahure to Perthes les Hurlus (Sept. 25). It was then a part of a new group under the orders of Gen. Ditfurth.
2. Having suffered heavily from these attacks, the 16th Reserve Division was relieved about October 15 and sent to the rest in the Chesne area. Between October 8 and 14 no less than 223 men came to the 5th Company of the 68th Reserve Infantry Regiment as replacements (in this number, recruits of the 1915 class who had had four months’ instruction).
Aisne.
3. At the end of October the 16th Reserve Division was sent north of the Aisne, where it took over the sector between Soissons and Vailly.
1916.
1. The 16th Reserve Division remained in line east of Soissons until February 16, 1916.
Aisne.
2. In the middle of February it went to the west of Soissons, in the sector of Moulin sous Touvent-Autreches, which it occupied until the month of October.
3. In February the 16th Reserve Division lost two of its regiments, the 65th and 29th Reserve Infantry Regiments, which were replaced by a single regiment, the 35th Reserve Infantry Regiment. It was then composed of the 25th, 28th, and 68th Reserve Infantry Regiments.
4. At the beginning of the battle of the Somme, July 2, the 25th Reserve Infantry Regiment (2 battalions) was sent by itself as a reinforcement in the Barelaux area. The 28th Reserve Infantry Regiment left the 16th Reserve Division at the end of July to be attached to the 185th Division, likewise on the Somme.
5. The 16th Reserve Division, composed of the 68th Reserve Infantry Regiment and of two other regiments, the 190th Infantry Regiment and the Provisional Hippe Regiment, continued to occupy the sector of Moulin sous Touvent (August).
6. The 68th Reserve Infantry Regiment in its turn was sent to the Somme. It went into action near Deniécourt (September-October). One may calculate its losses by the fact that the 5th Company received at least 55 men as replacements between October 2 and 6.
7. The 16th Reserve Division then comprised the 29th Reserve Infantry Regiment, once more attached to the division, the 190th Infantry Regiment, and the 390th Infantry Regiment, which replaced the Hippe Regiment above mentioned. Thus constituted, it was retained in the area Moulin sous Touvent-Autreches until the month of October.
Somme.
8. Relieved on October 15, it entrained at Tergnier and was transferred to the Somme. It took part in the St. Pierre-Vaast wood in local operations, in the course of which it suffered heavily (Nov. 4 to 28).
9. About December 12 the 16th Reserve Division was sent north of the Aisne. It went into line in the Cerny en Laonnois area.
At this time the division was once more reorganized. It again received the 68th Reserve Infantry Regiment, which came back from the Somme. The 190th Infantry Regiment was transferred to the 47th Division, and the 390th Infantry Regiment, which was assigned to the 211th Division, was replaced by the 30th Reserve Infantry Regiment.
1917.
1. With this composition (29th, 68th, and 30th Reserve Infantry Regiments) the 16th Reserve Division occupied the sector of Cerny en Laonnois from January to April, 1917.
Chemin des Dames.
2. It underwent the French offensive of April 16 between Chivy and the Cerny sugar refinery, where it suffered very heavily (1,100 prisoners).
3. Relieved on the Aisne front about April 20, the division was sent to the Sissonne Camp, where it was reorganized (beginning of May).
Lorraine.
4. About May 10 it went into line between the Sanon and Gondrexon, in Lorraine.
Alsace.
5. The division was sent to Alsace about June 20 and remained in the Ferette area, where its training was vigorously carried out.
Galicia.
6. On July 7, 1917, the 16th Reserve Division entrained for the Eastern Front.
7. Detraining on the 12th in the area of Rohatyn-Bourchtyn (Galicia), it went into action on the 15th near Halucz, along the Dneister, and reached Khotin, where the Russian retreat halted.
8. At the end of August it occupied a new sector north of Bojan, east of Czernowitz (taking of Bojan, Aug. 27).
France.
9. The 16th Reserve Division was withdrawn from the front about November 15 and entrained for France near Czernowitz (Nov. 20). Itinerary: Kolomea-Stanislau-Lemberg-Przeymsl-Cracow-Oppeln-Breslau-Dresden-Chemnitz-Nuremberg-Karlsruhe-Haguenau-Saareguemines-Thionville-Sedan-Bucy les Pierrepont, where it detrained on November 29.
Cambrai.
10. Going into action southwest of Cambrai (Marcoing) on December 6, it was still in this sector at the beginning of March, 1918.
RECRUITING.
The 16th Reserve Division is recruited from the Rhine Province and all the Rhine districts. Thus, in October, 1916, it received men from the mining district of Westphalia, and also in March, 1917.
VALUE—1917 ESTIMATE.
The 16th Reserve Division was a good division. It was very much exhausted on April 16 and 17, 1917, in the Cerny sector. During this action the 30th Reserve Infantry Regiment was remarkable for its desperate resistance and had only 50 prisoners taken.
During its stay in Lorraine (May and June, 1917) the 16th Reserve Division maintained a purely defensive attitude. The losses suffered on the Aisne and the nature of the replacements received appear to have sensibly diminished the combat value of the 30th Reserve Infantry Regiment.
In October, 1917, on the Galician front, the 16th Reserve Division was considered incapable of participating in active operations because of the large proportion of older men and the weakness of its effectives (according to prisoners’ statements).
1918.
Picardy.
1. The division attacked on March 21 south of Marcoing. It was taken out on the 3d day of the offensive and sent to rest in the Ancre area. About April 10 the division relieved the 107th Division on the Ancre and held a sector until the 107th Division returned and relieved on April 27.
Battle of the Scarpe-Somme.
2. The division rested near Puisieux until May 15, when it entered the line northwest of Beaumont Hamel and remained until about June 15. It rested in the neighborhood of Haplincourt until about July 4, when it returned to the Beaumont-Hamel sector. The British attack in August forced the division to retire through Muraumont (23d), Grandcourt (24th), Le Barque (25th), and Flers (27th). It was withdrawn on August 28, after suffering heavy losses.
3. The division again came into line on September 5 north of Equancourt. In five days’ fighting it lost 600 prisoners. On September 10 it went to rest in the Bruges area, where it was until October 1.
Belgium.
4. On October 1 the division relieved the 16th Bavarian Division on the Ypres battle front, southeast of Staden. Throughout October it was engaged at Hooglede, Staden, and near Wynghene. It was withdrawn on October 28 and remained out of line in the Ghent area until the armistice.
VALUE—1918 ESTIMATE.
The division was rated as second class. It was engaged as a sector-holding unit in active fronts during 1918.