Division with composite elements; a regiment from Baden (the 114th, active), a regiment from Pomerania (the 357th, growing out of brigade Ersatz Battalions), and a Rhenish regiment (the 237th).
VALUE—1917 ESTIMATE.
The 114th was considered the best in the division. The 237th Reserve did not seem to have a very good combat value. It did not hold its ground when opposed by the British at Cherisy (April, 1917). It is said that a company of this regiment refused to come out of the trenches in the month of July, 1917.
1918.
Battle of Picardy.
1. The division left Flanders at the end of February and trained in the Le Quesnoy area until the middle of March; left on the 17th for the battle front. It marched to Escaromain, and on the 18th to Quievy. On the day before the offensive the division marched via Caudry to Villers Outreaux. It was not identified in the fight until the 25th at Hardecourt. The next day it was at Maricourt wood, after which it appears to have been withdrawn. On April 4 it relieved the 243d Division south of Thennes.
2. After its relief the division marched by stages via Beaucourt en Santerre-Vauvillers-Peronne to Templeux, la Fosse, where it rested for a fortnight. The heavy losses incurred by the division during its last time in line south of the Somme were made good chiefly by drafts of the 1919 class from the depots at Warsaw and Bruges. The division contained a large proportion of this class and its fighting quality suffered in consequence. On the 26th of April the division moved to Maurepas and proceeded to Maricourt on the 28th; from there it marched into line in the Morlancourt sector.
3. The division held the Morlancourt sector from about May 1 to 16. It was relieved by the 107th Division and rested in the Valenciennes area in June.
Champagne.
4. It was engaged at Le Teton on July 15 and held a sector in that area until the end of the month.