HISTORY.
(16th Corps District—Lorraine.)
1914.
Lorraine.
1. Formed at Metz with the 8th Bavarian Brigade and the 66th Reserve Brigade, the 33d Reserve Division was a part of the 5th Army (German Crown Prince) at the outbreak of the war. In August, 1914, it took part in the battles of Nomeny and went to Verdun by way of Gondrecourt, Rouvres, Étain. On August 24 and 25 it was in action at Étain and suffered heavily. On August 26 the 10th Company of the 8th Bavarian Regiment had only 75 men left (notebook).
At the beginning of September, it occupied both banks of the Moselle south of Pont à Mousson, and about September 15 the vicinity of Thiaucourt.
Woevre-Les Éparges.
2. At the end of September and the beginning of October it went back into the sector South of Étain (Riaville, Bracquis). On October 8 the 8th Bavarian Brigade attacked Champlon and Fresnes; the 67th Reserve Regiment attacked the Ville en Woëvre on October 9. After these battles, the 33d Reserve Division took up its position on the Côtes de Meuse (Combres, Les Éparges).
3. In November the 66th Reserve Brigade was in Flanders—on the Yser Canal from November 16 to 24, and left for Lorraine on November 25.
1915.
Côtes de Meuse.
1. The 33d Reserve Division remained in line on the Côtes de Meuse until the end of July, 1916.
2. About January 17, 1915, elements of the 66th Reserve Brigade were sent to the Bois le Pretre and suffered heavy losses. They rejoined the division on the Côtes at the end of January.
Les Eparges.
3. From February to the end of April, 1915, the 33d Reserve Division took part in the battles of Combres and of Les Éparges; it lost very heavily there, especially in the actions of February 17 to 20. From April 15 to May 1 no less than 140 men were sent as replacements to the 12th Company of the 67th Reserve Regiment.
4. After reorganization the 33d Reserve Division went to the calmer sector of Vaux les Palameix, Lamorville.
Calonne.
5. The division once more suffered heavy losses in the Calonne trench in May, 1915.
6. On July 17, 1915, the 130th Reserve Infantry Regiment was sent in support of an attack on Les Éparges. After this period the 33d Reserve Division occupied the sector south of Vaux les Palameix (Chevaliers wood, Bouchot wood) without taking part in any important engagement.
1916.
1. On July 25, 1916, the division was relieved from the Côtes de Meuse and sent to rest until August 25 in the area north of Briey. At this time the 8th Bavarian Brigade was detached from the 33d Reserve Division to serve in forming the 14th Bavarian Division and the 33d Reserve Division was reorganized with three regiments, with the 66th Reserve Brigade and the 364th Infantry Regiment (coming from the 8th Ersatz Division).
Verdun.
2. On August 26 the division went into line on the front north of Verdun, southwest of the fort of Vaux. It took part in the battles from September 2 to 9 in the Vaux Chapitre wood and suffered very heavy losses. The 12th Company of the 67th Reserve Infantry Regiment received at least 142 men as replacements from September 13 to 21.
3. After being reorganized the division underwent the French attack of October 24, which again caused it considerable losses. Upon its relief the 2d Battalion of the 130th Reserve Infantry Regiment was reduced to 45 combatants. (Notebook of an aspirant officer.)
4. Withdrawn from the front on November 1, the 33d Reserve Division was sent to rest and to be reorganized. It had suffered so heavily that among the reenforcements at the beginning of 1917 we find untrained men of the Landsturm II Ban.
Lorraine.
5. The division was then sent to Lorraine to the Blamont sector.
1917.
1. The division held the Lorraine front until March 10, 1917.
Chemin des Dames.
2. After a month’s rest in the vicinity of Sarreburg, the 33d Reserve Division was transferred to Marle (Apr. 16–19). On April 21 and 22 elements of the division were distributed upon different points of the Aisne front to replace the units exhausted by the French attack of April 16, and soon afterwards were regrouped north of Laffaux Mill. The 33d Reserve Division suffered very heavy losses withstanding the French attack of May 5 and counterattacking on the days following (May 5–7) (1,000 prisoners); almost the entire 2d Battalion of the 67th Reserve Infantry Regiment was captured.
3. Withdrawn in part from the Aisne front on May 12, the 33d Division again had some of its units in action between the Aisne Canal and Laffaux Mill until May 23 (German attack of May 16, where the 130th Reserve Infantry Regiment suffered heavy losses).
4. At the end of May the 33d Reserve Division returned to the vicinity of Sarreburg to rest and be reorganized. It received recruits not only from the recruit depot of Beverloo, but also from the depot at Warsaw.
Lorraine.
5. About June 10 it again took over its former sector in Lorraine (Blamont-Leintry).
Verdun.
6. On August 23 the division went into action on the Verdun front (sector of Baumont-Chaume wood). It underwent the French attack of the 26th where it suffered heavily. It again had recourse to the Warsaw recruit depot which sent it, among other reenforcements, untrained men of the Landsturm second Ban.
7. Relieved about September 10, the 33d Reserve Division was transferred to Galicia by way of Metz, Frankfort, Erfurt, Dresden, Breslau, Cracow.
Galicia.
8. It was identified in Galicia at the beginning of October.
RECRUITING.
After the 8th Bavarian Brigade was withdrawn the 33d Reserve Division was exclusively Prussian. Its regiments were recruited almost entirely from the Rhine Province and Westphalia. In May, 1917, however, following the losses suffered on the Chemin des Dames, a great number of young men came from Western Prussia (1918 class), coming from the large depots of Beverloo and Warsaw. At the end of August the Warsaw depot sent untrained men from the Landsturm II Ban from the 9th and 10th Corps Districts.
VALUE—1917 ESTIMATE.
The 33d Reserve Division is a good division.
At Verdun elements of the division fought vigorously and made the French advance very difficult on October 24, 1916.
Between May 5 and May 7, 1917, the division launched very violent counterattacks against Laffaux Mill. Elements of the 364th Infantry Regiment succeeded in capturing the Chateau de la Motte. In the sector of Beaumont at Verdun the 1st Battalion of the 364th Infantry Regiment put up a very stubborn resistance to the French on August 26, 1917.
The 33d Reserve Division was very much exhausted by the attacks on the Aisne. The reenforcement which it received on May 4, 1917, were mostly men belonging to the 1918 class. On August 26, 1917, more than one-fourth of the prisoners belonged to this class.
In January, 1918, it already counted among its ranks young men of the 1919 class, who had arrived on January 14.
Taking into account its recent long rest and its intensive training in offensive warfare and the declarations of prisoners captured in March, 1918, who all declare that their division is an assault division destined to take part in a great breaking through offensive, we must conclude that the 33d Reserve Division has again become an organization of high quality (Mar. 30, 1918).
1918.
Battle of the Aisne.
1. The division continued to hold its sector northwest of Rheims until the Aisne offensive in May. It advanced with the rest of the line, having as its objective the Marne River. It progressed through Cauroy (27th), St. Thierry (28th), and Vrigny (31st). Here the line was stabilized. The division was withdrawn June 20.
Champagne.
2. On June 25 the division relieved the 88th Division in the Mont Têtu sector (Eastern Champagne). It was on the extreme left of the German attack east of Rheims on July 15, and suffered so heavily that it was withdrawn on July 20.
3. In mid-August the division was broken up. The 364th and 67th Reserve Regiments were drafted to the 16th and 34th Divisions.
VALUE—1918 ESTIMATE.
The 33d Reserve Division was rated as fourth class. As a result of its failure in the Aisne and Champagne offensives, it was disbanded in August, 1918.