HISTORY.
(8th Corps District—Rhine Province.)
1914.
Flanders.
1. The 52d Reserve Division (belonging to the 26th Reserve Corps with the 51st Reserve Division), formed between August and October, 1914, was trained at the Senne Camp and entrained for Belgium on October 12.
The division was engaged in the first battle of the Ypres about October 22.
It fought in October and November in the vicinity of Langemarck-Passachendaele and suffered heavy losses. Between October 18 and 28, the 240th Reserve Infantry Regiment listed casualties of 28 officers and 1,360 men. (Official List of Casualties.)
1915.
Ypres.
1. The division remained on the front north of Ypres (Pilckem, St. Julien, Zonnebeke) during the year 1915 and until the month of September, 1916. Certain of its regiments lost very heavily in April and May—25 officers and 1,268 men casualties in the 240th Reserve Infantry Regiment. (Official List of Casualties.)
1916.
Somme.
1. About September 14, 1916, it was transferred to the Somme minus the 237th Reserve Infantry Regiment, sent to Galicia for the formation of the 199th Division.
It was engaged in the Lesboeufs sector (Sept. 16–29) and lost very heavily in the British attack of the 26th.
Champagne.
2. Sent to Champagne, it went into line at the Butte de Souain on October 6, then on November 6 entered St. Marie à Py and the vicinity of Tahure.
1917.
Champagne.
1. The 52d Reserve Division occupied the Tahure front south of Rouvroy until April 20, 1917. It suffered losses at Maisons de Champagne, at the end of March, which caused hasty replacements of the 1918 class with only four months’ training to be sent.
Sapigneul.
2. Relieved between April 15 and 20, it went to the vicinity of Rethel and passed in review at Asfeld on May 3; went into line on the 5th southeast of Berry au Bac and underwent the French attack of the 7th south of Sapigneul. (The 239th Reserve Division had 107 prisoners taken.) On May 31 it again lost heavily while attacking Hill 108.
Ypres.
3. The division was withdrawn from the Aisne front at the beginning of July and transferred to Belgium. It went into action on the Ypres-Menin road on the 31st, the day of the British offensive, and lost heavily. The attacks of August 10 again caused serious losses—the remnants of the 1st Battalion of the 238th Reserve Infantry Regiment formed only two companies at the time of their relief. (British Summary of Information, Aug. 11.)
Champagne.
4. About August 11 the 52d Reserve Division left the Belgian front for Champagne, where it again took over its own sector east of the Butte de Souain about August 26. It remained there until the end of December.
RECRUITING.
At the time of its formation the 52d Reserve Division was made up of one Rhenish Regiment and three from Baden; to-day it is entirely Rhenish.
VALUE—1917 ESTIMATE.
In May and June, 1917, the 52d Reserve Division held a very difficult sector south of Berry au Bac where it apparently lost very heavily. However, it acted like a good division.
During its rest in the vicinity of Vouziers, at the end of January, 1918, it was given very intensive training. It was considered as an attack division. (Interrogation of prisoners, February, 1918.)
1918.
Champagne.
1. The 52d Reserve Division was relieved by the 52d Division in the Tahure sector on January 10 and went to the vicinity of Vouziers, where it was intensively trained in open warfare.
2. Early in March it returned to line and relieved the 52d Division. It was relieved on the 23d of April by the 1st Bavarian Division.
Ypres.
3. It proceeded to march to Vouziers, where it entrained on the 28th and, traveling via Mezières-Signy-Hirson-Mons-Tournai, detrained at Mouscron on the 30th. On May 4 it marched to Wervicq, and on the following day moved into line via Warneton and Messines, relieving the 3d Guard Division in the Voormezeele sector (south of Ypres). In the fighting before Dickebusch on the 8th heavy losses were suffered. It was withdrawn about the 25th, and went to rest near Menin.
4. During the night of the 13th–14th of June it relieved the 58th Division near Locre (south of Ypres). It was relieved on the 1st of July, the flanking divisions extending their fronts, and went to rest in the region southwest of Courtrai.
5. On the 6th of August it came back into line, relieving the 58th Division in the Kemmel sector (south of Ypres). It was withdrawn about the 26th.
Cambrai.
6. About the 2d of September it reenforced the front in the Bertincourt sector (east of Bapaume). After having suffered severe losses in killed and wounded, besides losing over 1,000 prisoners, it was relieved by the 6th Division near Havrincourt on the 16th.
Courtrai.
7. About the 27th it entered line near Moorslede (southwest of Roulers). It suffered severe losses here, and was withdrawn early in October.
8. On October 14 it relieved the Guard Ersatz Division in the Iseghem sector (north of Courtrai). It was heavily engaged here, and was finally withdrawn on the 25th. It did not reenter line.
VALUE—1918 ESTIMATE.
The 52d was rated as a second-class division, but it was probably not so good as other divisions similarly rated, for although it was intensively trained for use as a shock unit for almost two months in Champagne early in the year it was not used in any of the German offensives. It is to be noted, however, that the German communique of October 24 said, “Southwest of Deynze the veteran 52d Reserve Division, which has been in battle daily since October 14, repulsed the renewed attacks of the enemy along the Deynze-Waregem railway.”