(9th Corps District—Hanseati

Upon mobilization, the 17th Division with the 18th Division formed the 9th Army Corps (Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklemburg). It gave its 81st Brigade to the 17th Reserve Division (9th Reserve Corps) (new organization).

Belgium.

1. August, 1914, the 17th Division formed a part of the 1st German Army (Von Kluck). On the 3d of August it sent one of its brigades, the 34th (Mecklenburg), to Liege, where it was rejoined by its reservists and by the other brigade, the 33d (Hanseatic), (Aug. 9–13). On August 20 the division was with the 9th Corps of Louvain. It went into action against the British troops on the 24th. It went around Maubeuge on the 25th and passed through Nesle, Roye, Vezaponin (north bank of the Aisne) September 1.

Marne.

2. The division took part in the battle of the Marne at Chatillon sur Morin (Sept. 6), Esternay-Courgivaux (Sept. 7 and 8). It withdrew by way of Betz, CrÉpy en Valois Pierrefonds, crossed the Aisne at Rethondes (Sept. 11), and stopped in the area Carlepont, Nampcel, Audignicourt (Sept. 13). It went into action on the front Tracy le Mont east of Moulin sous Touvent (Sept. 16–21).

Oise.

3. In October it took up the position near Bailly (from the Oise to east of St. Mard) and remained there until the middle of November, 1915. Some of its elements occupied the right bank of the Oise near Connectancourt (Oct. 5 to Dec. 25).

4. November 17 it attacked Tracy le Val.

1915.

From January to October, 1915, it held the sector on the left bank of the Oise, east edge of the St. Mard wood. At the end of March the 76th Infantry Regiment was withdrawn and transferred to the 111th Division.

1. June 14 to 16 certain elements of the division counterattacked at Quennevieres.

Champagne.

2. Withdrawn from the sector of the Oise (about Oct. 15), the division was transferred to Champagne. It occupied the front between the road Souain, Somme Py, and St. Hilaire, St. Souplet. It launched an attack on December 7.

1916.

1. The division was retained on the Champagne front northwest of Souain until June, 1916.

2. Relieved in the middle of June, it was sent to rest in the area southwest of Charleville (second half of June).

Somme.

It entrained for the Somme between July 2 and 4. Certain elements of the 17th Division appeared in the sector of Biaches la Maisonnette, on July 9 and 10. The entire division was in line between Barleux and Belloy (July 10 to 25) and suffered heavy losses.

3. The division was withdrawn from the front and reorganized (end of July to Aug. 15).

4. From August 16 to August 20 to the middle of September it again occupied the sector of Barleux-Belloy.

5. At the beginning of October the division was sent to Artois. It held the line opposite Arras, between Roclincourt and Bailly, until December 24.

1917.

Somme.

1. About January 9, 1917, the 17th Division occupied the sector of Py, south of the Ancre. Local combats in the neighborhood of Grandcourt and Miraumont (in January and February) caused it serious losses.

2. The division was withdrawn from the Somme front about March 20, at the time of the German retirement. It rested southwest of Douai (end of March and beginning of April).

Artois.

3. On April 10 it was sent as a reenforcement to Arras to oppose the British offensive. It held the sector of Oppy-Gavrelle and suffered a great deal in the course of counterattacks. It was relieved on April 25. From March 27 to April 24 the 7th Company of 90th Fusiliers lost 115 men. (British Summary of Information.)

4. After a rest in the Tournai area until May 9 the 17th Division went into line in the sector of Boursies, Demicourt (west of Cambrai).

5. Relieved from this calm sector on May 28, it was sent to rest in the Cambrai area until June 9.

Flanders.

6. On this date it was transferred to Roulers by way of Valenciennes-Mons and put on the Ypres front north of Hooge. It was withdrawn three days before the British attack, on July 27, but suffered heavy losses from the bombardment.

7. For five weeks, until September 23, the division occupied the calm sector of Havrincourt (south of the road Bapaume-Cambrai).

8. On September 23 it again entrained for Flanders. Sent by way of Cambrai to Ledeghem, it went into action in the Polygon wood sector (northeast of Ypres). On September 26 it counterattacked without success and with great losses. It only remained in line for two days. In these engagements the 75th Infantry Regiment lost 30 officers and 1,000 men (British Summary of Information.)

9. Relieved on September 28 from the Flanders front, the 17th Division was sent south of Lens on October 17. It was still there on February, 1918.

RECRUITING.

The 17th Division is recruited from the Hanseatic towns and the Duchies of Mecklenburg. The sectional character was accentuated in June 1917, when the 89th Grenadiers took from the regiments of the 18th Division all the inhabitants of Mecklenburg who were in them. (Summary of Information, June 28.)

However, one must take into account a certain proportion of Poles from the 6th Corps District, received in the replacements of 1917.

VALUE—1917 ESTIMATE.

On July 11, 1916, the following appreciation was written of the 9th Army Corps:

“The 9th Army Corps gives the impression of a very good corps which would be a formidable adversary. The intellectual level of officers and men is appreciably higher than that ordinarily encountered in the German Army. This fact is due to the recruiting which, in most cases, is done in Hamburg, Bremen, and Luebeck.”

After the last combats of Flanders (July and September, 1917), the 17th Division was considered as having its combative force perceptibly diminished on account of its losses.

In a general manner, the division has given a good account of itself in the course of its battles.

The Danes, who are numerous in its ranks, fight well and do not appear to occasion any weakness. (October, 1917.)

Battle of Picardy.

1. The division was relieved on the Acheville sector on February 17–18 by the 12th Reserve Division and went to rest near Douai until mid-March. On March 21 it was engaged near Lagnicourt and Moreuil (southeast of Arras), north of Vaulx-Vraucourt (22d), at Beliagnies and Lapigines (24th). The division was relieved on the 25th, after losing 50 per cent of its effectives. It rested until April 1, when it was reengaged near Bucquoy until the 10th.

2. The division was relieved by the 5th Bavarian Division, retired to the Favreuil-Sapignies-Beugnatre area on the 10th, and the next day went into billets near Cambrai. Later it moved to the Valenciennes area. On May 24 it left Bouchain and traveled via Marquion to Bapaume, where it came into line on that evening. While resting the division had undergone no special training. It is known to have received 1,300 men as a draft during this period.

3. It was reengaged in the Bucquoy sector from May 24 to June 23, when it returned to rest near Bouchain until July 17. The division was moved to Laon on July 24–25 and from there marched to the Vesle front by stage.

Vesle.

4. About August 1 the division went into line between Bazoches and Mont Notre Dame. It fell back on the Aisne toward Bourg et Comin from September 3–4, where it was relieved on September 15–16. The German communique of August 28 mentioned the 89th Grenadier Regiment for its conduct against the Americans at Bazoches.

Aisne-Ailette.

5. The division was again in line on September 18 at Jouy-Aizy sector (north of Vailly). It retired to the Ailette on the 30th and shifted by rail to Semide.

Champagne.

6. On October 4 it was engaged southeast of Machault (Somme Py road). The French attack forced it back to east of Attigny, where it was relieved on the 19th.

7. The division rested five days near Mouzon. It entrained on October 26 and moved to Rozoy, reaching there on the 27–28th.

Ardennes.

8. It was put into line northwest of Chateau Porcien on the St. Fergeux-Recouvrance Road on October 28–29th. For its fighting east of Banonge on the 29th, the 90th Regiment was complimented by the German communique of the 30th. (558 prisoners were lost by the division on the 29th.) In November the division was driven back through Seraincourt, Remaucourt, Chaumont Porcien, Rocquigny, St. Jean aux Bois.

VALUE—1918 ESTIMATE.

The division was rated as first class. It was one of the best German divisions. Its conduct in the March offensive won the Kaiser’s praise. Until August it was relatively fresh, but after that was engaged almost constantly in efforts to check the Allied offensive in Champagne. At the end the division was so reduced in numbers that it could muster but one or two battalions.

Its morale was excellent until late in the fall, when it was lowered noticeably. A mutiny and other acts of indiscipline were reported.