Battle of St Miehel Sept. 1918 units

[Guest DWH]

I have been trying to identify the German units that were involved in the battle of St. Miehel, September of 1918. I have not had any luck in finding a source for the individual units of Detachment C or reinforcement units. I am interested particularly in the 225th Infantry Division. I would also be interested in any help or information on units/individuals captured during the battle. Thanks.

[Jack Sheldon]

I was rather hoping that someone else and preferably a specialist in the battle would tackle this question, but it hasn't happened, so here goes. Everything that follows comes with a strict health warning. Everything needs to be checked and confirmed. It is a straightforward question and the answer ought to be simple - but it is not. By that stage in the war, things were becoming extremly difficult for the defence. The record keeping was not all it should have been, so it is hard to be sure about which units were subordinated to the divisions involved. von Kuhl in his 'Der Weltkrieg 1914/18' states that the salient was 84 km long and that the average front defended by each division was 12 km, so that gives us 7 Divisions in the line.

I have identified (I think) 10 divisions as having been under Generalleutnant Fuchs (Commander AbteilungC) in the St Mihiel area at the correct time. These are 5th Landwehr, 13th Landwehr, 28th Reserve, 31st, 77th Reserve, 88th, 107th, 123rd, 192nd and 195th. This chimes more or less with von Kuhl's description, which is:' ... amongst these was one fought-out, but partially reinforced, division. Otherwise there were three Landwehr divisions, an Austro-Hungarian division, a division that had been fought to a standstill and a reserve division that was not completely reliable. This last division contained 800 men from Alsace-Lorraine, many of whom had deserted during recent weeks. Behind the front and in reserve were some divisions under command of the Supreme Army Command.'

I think that the third Landwehr division may have been the 88th. Certainly at times it included Landwehr Infantry Regiments 349 and 350, but at the time of the battle, it may have comprised Infantry Regiments 352, 353 and 354. The first two did not produce a regimental history, but there is one for IRs 353 and 354, which may cast some light on it. Another possibility is 8th Landwehr, which seems to have been in the vicinity. von Kuhl singles out 5th Landwehr and 192nd (Saxon) as having performed well during the battle. They conducted a 30 km withdawal from well forward in the salient, which suggests that each played a reasonably prominent role in the battle. At the time I think that 5th Landwehr comprised Landwehr Infantry Regiments 25, 36 and 65. Of these 25 and 36 produced a history. 192nd Division ( comprising InfantryRegiments 183 and 192 and Reserve Infantry Regt 245 - Histories available for all three) was subordinated in the area to the Saxon XII Reserve Corps under Generalleutnant Leuthold on 1 Sep 18, taking over from the 31st (IRs 60, 70 and 166). It appears ( according to 'Sachsen in grosser Zeit' Vol 3 ) that the 192nd was right in the tip of the salient, with 5th Landwehr on its left. The attack apparently went in left and right of 192nd, with a major break-in in the 5th Landwehr area. N.B. A short history of 5th Landwehr Division exists.

77th Reserve Division, comprising Reserve Infantry Regiments 256 and 257 and Infantry Regiment 419 was deployed in the area of Soulevre Farm and was also attacked heavily.

The Abteilung Reserve comprised 88th, 107th and 123rd Divisions.

Tentative infantry ORBATS for the divisions are:

13th Landwehr - Landwehr Infantry Regiments 15, 60?,71? and 82. None of these seem to have produced a regimental history.

28th Reserve - Reserve Infantry Regiments 109, 110 and 111. N.B. This division seems to have been moved forward by Abteilung C to reinforce the threatened sector after the attack had been identified. One of their histories mentions that it linked up with Landwehr Infantry Regiment 109, which was part of 8th Landwehr Division. All these regiments produced histories.

31st - Infantry Regiments 60, 70 and 166. The first two have histories and IR 166 seems also to have produced a short history, which was privately printed.

77th Reserve - Reserve Infantry Regiments 256 and 257, Infantry Regiment 419. Histories exist for the first two.

88th - Infantry Regiments 352 and 353. Possibly one from Landwehr Infantry Regiments 349 or Infantry Regiment 354. There are histories for 353 and 354.

107th - Reserve Infantry Regiments 52, 227 and 232 There are histories for all three.

123rd - Infantry Regiments 178 and 351. Reserve Infantry Regiment 106. There are histories for all three.

195th - Jaeger Regt 6, Jaeger Regt 8 Reserve Infantry Regiment 233. Of these only RIR 233 produced a history.

I am well aware that this is incomplete, but I am posting it anyway; firstly, to see if anyone else can add to it or correct it and, secondly to see if it sparks further queries that I might be able to answer.