(18th Corps District—Grand Duchy of Hesse and Hesse Nassau.)

1915.

The 56th Division was formed in March, 1915, of surplus regiments—the 35th Fusileer Regiment from the 6th Division (3d Corps District, Brandenburg), the 88th and 118th Infantry Regiments from the 21st and 25th Divisions (18th Corps District, Hesse Nassau and the Grand Duchy of Hesse). In May, 1917, the 35th Fusileer Regiment was replaced by the 186th Infantry Regiment (from the 25th Landwehr Division) recruited from Hesse.

Champagne.

1. Concentrated in March, 1915, near Vouziers, the 56th Division went to the Champagne front, south of Ripont, in April.

Galicia.

2. At the beginning of May it was transferred to the Eastern Front. It took part in the Galician offensive (battles of Jaroslau, on May 18, and of Rudka, on June 18), where it lost heavily.

France.

3. In June the division was brought back to the Western Front. Entraining at Jaroslau on June 28, it detrained in the vicinity of Valenciennes, where it remained at rest for a month.

Lorraine.

4. On July 28 the division went to Lorraine and remained as a reserve troop in the vicinity of Pfalzburg-Zabern-Schirmeck.

Champagne.

5. On September 25 it was sent to Champagne to oppose the French offensive. It was engaged in the sector of Maison de Champagne, but was soon retired on account of its losses. The infantry had casualties of 107 officers and 5,968 men. (Official List of Casualties.)

6. After reorganization, it went into line north of Massiges and took part in the attack of Mont TÊtu at the beginning of November. It was relieved in the middle of November.

7. In December it returned to the Champagne front.

1916.

Champagne.

1. The 56th Division occupied the same calm sector south of Rouvroy during the entire winter of 1915–16.

2. Relieved on April 25, 1916, it was sent to rest in the vicinity of Sedan.

Verdun (Mort-Homme).

3. On May 26–27 it was sent into line on the left bank of the Meuse, at the Mort Homme. It received a vigorous attack there on May 31, had heavy losses, and continued to hold this sector until the middle of July.

Artois.

4. After a short rest in the vicinity of Sedan, it went to the Vimy Ridge, in Artois (end of July-end of August).

Somme.

5. On August 24–25 it was engaged in the battle of the Somme, in Belleville wood. On August 31 it launched a counterattack northeast of the wood. It left the Somme on September 9.

Champagne.

6. It then took over a quiet sector east of Rheims at Cernay-La Pompelle. In the middle of November it returned to the Somme front (Pys) until January 7, 1917.

1. In January, 1917, the 56th Division was sent to rest in the vicinity of St. Quentin.

Somme-Hindenburg Line.

2. About February 11 it went back into line south of the Somme in the vicinity of Biaches, retired at the end of March to the north of St. Quentin, and from there went to Courrieres in the vicinity of the Lens mines.

Lens.

3. On April 10 it took over the sector of Lens, where it suffered important losses from raids and local conflicts. It absorbed 1,000 men from the 624th Infantry Regiment, dissolved, and some from the 625th (Hessian).

Meuse (Right Bank).

4. Withdrawn from the Lens front at the end of June, it remained at rest in the vicinity of Buzancy and GrandprÉ in July, near Carignan, at the beginning of August; spent the second half of August in the Woevre, reenforcing the Verdun front east of Vaux. In September it occupied the sector north of the Chaume wood-Baumont, where it was relieved at the end of October.

Meuse (Left Bank).

5. About November 10 the 56th Division occupied the sector of Cheppy wood, on the left bank of the Meuse, where it remained until March 20, 1918.

RECRUITING.

Since the substitution of the 186th Infantry Regiment for the 35th Fusileers, the division has become entirely Hessian. By analogy with the 9th Landwehr Division, we sometimes find it designated as “Rhine troops”; the Rhine Provinces in general cooperate with Hesse and Hesse-Nassau in sending its replacements.

In the first months of 1918 the reenforcements received comprised men from the 3d and 4th Corps Districts (Berlin and Silesia) belonging to the industrial classes.

VALUE—1917 ESTIMATE.

Having suffered heavily in the Galician campaign in 1915, and in Champagne and at Verdun, the 56th Division had serious losses at Lens between April and June, 1917. The 186th Infantry Regiment had heavy losses during the battle of the Aisne (April, 1917) before joining the 56th Division. The division had few losses on the left bank of the Meuse from January to March, 1918.

Of 84 prisoners coming from three regiments of the 56th Division, captured on March 16 and 17, 1918, more than half belong either to the active or to the reserve.

1918.

1. The division was relieved west of the Meuse about March 19 by an extension of the front of the 13th Reserve Division and underwent a course of training for open warfare. At this time the companies had about 180 to 200 effectives. It had no men of the 1919 class and few Alsatians or Poles. The quality of men in the division was high. On April 18 the division entrained at Cesse (northwest of Stenay) and traveled via Sedan-Dinant-Charleroi-Braine le Comte-Tournai-Roubaix, from where it marched to Croix. On the 21st the 118th Regiment proceeded via Mouveaux-Bondues-Roucq to Halluin, where it rested until the 23d. On the following day the regiment marched via Wervicq-Comines to Messines.

Kemmel.

2. The division came into line on the 25th and captured the village of Kemmel. It was engaged in this vicinity until May 2, when it was relieved by the 29th Division, and went to rest in the area north of Menin. It returned to line on the night of May 11–12, relieving the 13th Reserve Division on the Voormezeele sector. The division remained in line South of Ypres until the night of June 3–4.

3. After its relief the division rested in the Bruges area until its return to line northeast of Bailleul on July 2. From then until October 19 the division remained in line on this front. It had fallen back east of Roubaix when it was withdrawn.

4. After several days in reserve the division was again in line near St. Genois. The German communiquÉ of October 26 praised the fighting of the 118th Regiment. The last identification of the division was on November 8, when it was east of Avelghem.

VALUE—1918 ESTIMATE.

The division was rated as second class. It was very actively engaged during almost the entire last year of the war on the British front.