Discrepancies in the composition of the German and Austro-Hungarian army during Gorlice Tarnow breakthrough

[Brusilov]

For anyone who has read "Breakthrough: The Gorlice Tarnow Campaign 1915", I wish to ask you about the size of a squadron in the Germany army in 1914-1915.

Armies of belligerents	Number of troops*	Guns		Machine guns	Mortars
		Light	Heavy
RUSSIAN: 3rd army 7 army corps (18½ infantry divisioss 5¾ cavalry divisions	219,000	675	4	600
GERMAN AND AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN 4th army 3 army corps (8 infantry divisions 1 cavalry divisions	90,900	350	103	150
11th army 5 army corps (10 infantry divisions)	126,000	457	159	260	96
3rd army 5 army corps (13½  infantry divisions 2 cavalry divisions	140,500	465	72	250
All German and Austro-Hungarian 31½ infantry divisions, 3 cavalry divisions	357,400	1272	334	660	96

This table is taken from Russian source: It has been quoted by Dowling in "The Brusilov Offensive", page 28, Dowling then refers to "The Eastern Front" by Norman Stone, and this is taken from page 130, 131, 1975 edition. Stone got some figures wrong and cite the Russian source with the wrong page number.

Dr. Dinardo then provides his own estimation based on the battle order found in Schlachten des Weltkrieges, band 30, Gorlice. I have collected both his estimation and information on the average size of a batallion of the German and Austrian armies.

Corps	Divisions	Battalions	Squadrons	Average size of battalions*	Estimated size	Artillery	Machine guns
Prussian Guard Corps	1st Guard Division	24	6	23 officers and 859 men	25,000	108	60
	2nd Guard Division
XXXXI Reserve Corps	81st Reserve Divisions	18	4	21 officers and 953 men	20,000	108	43
	82st Reserve Divisions
Corps Kneussl	Bavarian 11th infantry division	18	6	23 officers and 998 men	20,000	56	40
	Bavarian 119th infantry division
Corps X	19th infantry division	18	6		20,000	108	53
	20th infantry division
Austro-Hungarian VI Corps	12th Infantry Division	28	4	34 officers and 1086 men	33,000	106	64
	Hungarian 39th Honved Division
	11th Kavalerie Division
Total	11 divisions	106	26		118,000	486	260

It is on page 43-46 of Dinardo's work.

The figure differs not too much (118,000 vs 126,000) (still significant), while the figure on machine guns is exactly the same. The figure for artillery is the most troublesome to reconcile because the Russians listed both heavy and light artillery, together 616 pieces, whereas German's source is only 486 pieces.

Do you guys know how many troops did a squadron contain in this period of the war?

According to Hermann Cron's Imperial German Army 1914-1918, an infantry division comprised of:

• 12 infantry batallions
• 4 machine guns companies
• 3-4 squadrons
• 12 field artillery batteries
• 1-2 pioneer companies
• 2 medical companies

(page 96)

 

Edited 25 September , 2021 by Brusilov

[charlie2]

The establishment of a Cavalry Regt of 4 Squadrons was 36 Officers plus 688 NCOs and Men. Source - Hermann Cron, Geschichte des Deutschen Heeres im Weltkrieg 1914-18.

 

 

[Brusilov]

On 24/09/2021 at 23:31, charlie2 said:

The establishment of a Cavalry Regt of 4 Squadrons was 36 Officers plus 688 NCOs and Men. Source - Hermann Cron, Geschichte des Deutschen Heeres im Weltkrieg 1914-18.

Which page is it? I only have the English version. If you can give me the name of chapter and subsection plus the page of your German edition, I would be very grateful.

[charlie2]

5 hours ago, Brusilov said:

Which page is it? I only have the English version. If you can give me the name of chapter and subsection plus the page of your German edition, I would be very grateful.

Part IV, Section C - The Cavalry, Subsection 2 - The Cavalry Regiment, Page 136.

[waldopepper]

Volume II of Österreich-Ungarns letzter  Krieg, Beilage 14 has a detailed OOB for the Austro-Hungarian Army on all fronts with strengths for the Russian front as of 1 May 1915, the beginning of the Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive.

I'm attaching the Russian front part of that Beilage to this email.

I hope this helps even though its three years after your initial query.

AH Army May 1915 Beil 14.pdf