Lorraine.
7. Relieved immediately after this attack, it was sent to rest in Lorraine and reorganized. Between August and November the division received more than 3,000 replacements. (British Summary of Information.)
RECRUITING.
Mixed upon its formation (Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg, Prussian Saxony,) the 54th Division remained so with a tendency, nevertheless, to make the 90th Reserve Infantry Regiment a pure Mecklenburg regiment and to reserve the drafts from the rest of the 9th Corps District for the 84th Infantry Regiment.
In January 1918, the 1919 class did not seem to be represented; the 90th Reserve Infantry Regiment had just received replacements made up of men put back in the 1917 and 1918 classes who entered the service in September, 1917.
VALUE—1917 ESTIMATE.
The 54th Division held the most active sectors on the Western front; it has everywhere given proof of great energy in its resistance, especially at Cambrai in November, 1917. However, before the affair of Cambrai rather frequent desertions proved that the losses incurred at Ypres had weakened the morale of the troops; besides, the replacements received in Lorraine were mostly composed of returned wounded of all ages.
However, the 54th Division tried, during its stay in Lorraine, to amalgamate all these elements and to renew their combat value by intensive training and careful instruction (March, 1918).