HISTORY.
1917.
1. The 3d Naval Division was organized in April, 1917. Its Regiments (1st, 2d, and 3d Naval Infantry) were detached from the Naval Corps, before the constitution of the division, to take part in the attacks upon Steenstraat on April 22, 1915, and on the Somme from September, 1916, to April, 1917. Since its formation the 3d Naval Division has scarcely left the coast.
Flanders.
2. In August, 1917, the 3d Naval Division occupied the sector of Lombartzyde.
3. In October it was in action on the Ypres front at Poelcappelle.
4. In December it again took over the sector of Lombartzyde.
RECRUITING.
The 3d Naval Division is recruited from the entire German Empire, the naval troops being imperial troops.
VALUE—1917 ESTIMATE.
Before the war the troops of the 3d Naval Division were landing and occupying troops for the German colonies. They are good units whose recruiting has been kept up to a high standard.
1918.
Albert.
1. The division was relieved north of St. Georges about the 1st of March and moved to Valenciennes, where it arrived about the 13th. From March 18 to 23 it moved up to the front by stages via Haussy-Cattenieres-Lesdain. On the 23d it followed up the advance, passing through Fins and Manancourt on the 24th–25th and coming into action at Contalmaison on the 25th. It captured Albert on the 26th. The division held a sector west of Albert until mid-April, and on April 24 returned to its former sector west of Anthuille. It was relieved about the end of May by the 24th Division.
2. On June 20 the division returned to relieve the 24th Division in the Aveluy sector. In mid-July the company strength was low. No drafts had been received recently and sickness was prevalent. This, together with the August spell in line, had considerably reduced the morale of the division. It was relieved on August 19 by the 83d Division.
Scarpe-Somme.
3. The division rested at Flers for five days, when it came into line west of Grevillers on the night of August 23–24 to reinforce the line. It was withdrawn in a few days (Aug. 26) and rested at Cambrai. Five hundred prisoners were taken from the division in this period.
4. The division rested at Thourout during the first half of September. On the 27th it was engaged west of Marcoing and fought in that area until the end of the month. The total prisoners captured from the division was 700.
5. After two weeks’ rest in the Cambrai area, the division returned to line at Molain on October 17. It fought in the Molain-Catillon area until October 23, when it was relieved by the 19th Reserve Division. On November 1 it was again in line, northwest of the Hattencourt Farm. The last identification was at Any, on November 7.
VALUE—1918 ESTIMATE.
The division was rated as third class. Its use in the Somme March offensive and as an intervention division in the Scarpe-Somme battle suggest that the division was a second class division.