1914.

1. The 24th Division belongs to the 19th Army Corps. It is recruited in the western part of the Kingdom of Saxony (Leipzig).

Marne.

2. At the outbreak of the war it formed a part with the 19th Army Corps, of the 3d German Army (Von Hausen). One of its brigades, the 48th, sent away secretly, detrained on August 4 at Pruem (Eifel), and entered the north of Luxemburg on the 5th. The division concentrated in the Houffalize on August 11, arrived on the banks of the Meuse on the 22d, which it crossed on the 24th and 25th above Dinant. It was at ChÂlons on September 5, and took part in the battle of the Marne on the 7th and 8th between Vitry le FranÇois and Maisons en Champagne. From there it returned to St. Hilaire le Grand.

Flanders.

3. In October, 1914, the 24th Division went over to the 6th Army (Crown Prince of Bavaria), and took up its position, which crosses the Lys (Flanders).

1915.

Flanders.

1. In March, 1915, the 106th and 107th Infantry Regiments were transferred to the 58th Division. The 24th Division, reduced to two regiments, was filled up by taking the 133d Infantry Regiment from the 40th Division. The 19th Army Corps retained the Lys sector until the month of August, 1917. It detached elements from its divisions to reenforce other sectors at various times.

2. In January, 1915, the 24th Division had elements in action at L’Epinette.

3. At the battle of Neuve Chapelle (March, 1915) and at Festubert (May-June, 1915), it reinforced the 7th Army Corps.

4. At the time of the Franco-British offensive in Artois, units of the 24th Division again acted as reenforcements at La Bassee-Souchez (June and October, 1915).

1916.

Somme.

1. Relieved at the beginning of August, 1916, in the sector of the Lys, the 19th Army Corps was sent, about August 8, to the Somme, north of PoziÈres, where it suffered considerable losses.

2. At the end of August it was placed for several weeks in the sector of Neuve Chapelle-La BassÉe, then of Le Sars-Butte de Warlencourt. It took part a second time in the battle of the Somme (October).

The two divisions of the corps suffered very heavily during these two engagements in the Franco-British offensive. The 24th division lost 6,217 men; that is, 69 per cent of its effectives.

3. The 24th Division was withdrawn from the Somme about November 11 and transferred to Flanders, where it occupied the line between the Ypres-Comines Canal and the Douve (December and the first months of 1917).

1917.

Flanders.

1. When the British offensive was being prepared on the Wytschaete-Messines front, the 24th Division was withdrawn from the Ypres-Comines sector and stationed behind Lille (beginning of April, 1917).

On the 7th of June it was sent toward the front; the 179th Infantry Regiment was in action east of Wytschaete on the 8th, and the division occupied the sector of Hollebeke, where it was retained until June 27.

During this period the division suffered heavily.

2. Relieved and sent to rest at the end of June, it went back into line in Belgium (sector southwest of Houthem) during the month of August.

3. It left the line at the beginning of October, and, after a few days of rest, again took over a sector in the area southeast of Ypres northwest of Zandvoorde—west of Gheluvelt. It left there at the end of October to go to the south of the Scarpe, at Monchy le Preux, where it was still in line at the beginning of February, 1918.

RECRUITING.

The 24th Division is purely Saxon.

VALUE—1917 ESTIMATE.

In a general manner, the attitude of the 19th Army Corps has been rather passive since trench warfare succeeded the war of movement.

We may say that the Saxon is a courageous adversary.

The 24th Division is good.

1918.

1. The division held the Monchy le Preux sector until about February 11, when it was relieved by the 185th Division and transferred to the area north of Valenciennes to rest and train. On March 16 it began to march toward the Cambrai front. The route lay through Raismes, Haveluy, Wallers, Aniche, Aubigny au Bac, Marquion. It reached the original German front line on March 22 at 9 a. m.

Battle of the Somme.

2. The division followed the advance in reserve until the night of March 24–25, when it came in line south of Bapaume (Ligny-Tilloy). It advanced in first line by Grevillers (26th), Achiet le Petit, Hebuterne (27th and 29th). From March 30 to April 5 it was in reserve. On the 6th the division was reengaged near Hebuterne and Bucquoy until April 15.

According to the German press, the Kaiser on March 27 telegraphed the King of Saxony felicitating him on the success of the 24th Division.

3. The division was at rest from April 15 to the end of May, first at Bapaume and later at Valenciennes.

Picardy.

4. The division was engaged from May 28 to June 16 in the sector of the Bois d’Aveluy (north of Albert). When relieved from this front it went by railroad to the Cambrai area. The 139th Regiment went into camp at Eswars and St. Martin; the 133d, at Raillencourt; the 179th, at Ramillies and Escaudoewres. The division underwent training and executed divisional maneuvers. Between the 5th and 10th of July the division marched by Cambrai, Flesquieres, Havrincourt, Bertincourt to the region Haplincourt Bus for the purpose of reengaging in the Aveluy sector where the Germans expected an attack by the English. It remained a week in the region and returned to its cantonments in the Cambrai area.

About July 18 an order was issued placing the division at the disposition of the 6th Army for a projected offensive in Flanders. This order was revoked, and about July 20 the division entrained at Ivuy and Sancourt and moved to Chaulnes (via Peronne). It remained in the vicinity several days and then moved to Quesnel by narrow-gauge railroad.

5. From the 1st of August until the 17th the division opposed a lively resistance to the French attack in the Avre. In this fighting the division lost 800 prisoners.

Laon.

6. The division rested a week west of Ham. It was engaged west of Coucy le Chateau (Champs Folembray) from August 30 to September 9. It retreated about the 9th to Baresis. On October 3 the division was relieved north of the St. Gobain-Baresis railroad.

St. Quentin.

7. It was moved by trucks to Fontaine-Uterte (north of St. Quentin) and engaged on October 4 near Sequehart. The division was forced back on Montbrehain and Andigny. Three hundred and forty-five prisoners were lost on the 8th. Two days later the division was relieved. On the 17th the division was again identified in line at Vaux-Audigny, but was withdrawn in a day or two.

8. It arrived in an area northeast of Fourmies on October 23 and was still there on the 26th. No later identification was secured.

VALUE—1918 ESTIMATE.

The division was rated as a third-class division. Its conduct in the March offensive and in the defensive in August and October was above the average and would warrant a higher rating.