Order of Battle of the German 4th Army
22 April 1915
The front line held by the German 4th Army in Flanders on 22nd April 1915 covered the area from the Flanders coast near Nieupoort in the north to the Ypres-Comines canal on its southern left wing.
To the north and south of Ypres there was a point in the German line where it turned almost at 90 degrees to the east, forming a salient called the Ypres Salient by the Allies; at the neck of the salient the northern point of the German front line was about 8 kilometres away from Ypres and the southern point was about 4 kilometres from Ypres.
Order of Battle for 22nd April 1915
Army Commander: General-Oberst Herzog Albrecht von Württemberg (General Duke Albrecht of Württemberg) (1865-1939) (4th Army Commander from 2.8.14)
Chief of Staff: Major-General Ilse
Army Headquarters: Tielt
On the morning of 22nd April the units (from north to south of the German line) in the front line at the Ypres Salient were:
XXIII. Reserve Corps
Corps Commander: General von Kathen (1)
45. Reserve Division
Commander: Generalleutnant Schöpflin
- 89. Reserve Brigade: 209. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment and 212. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment
- 90. Reserve Brigade: 210. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment and 211. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment
- 17. Reserve Jäger Battalion
46. Reserve Division
Commander: Generalleutnant von Hahn
- 91. Reserve Brigade: 213. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment and 214. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment
- 92. Reserve Brigade: 215. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment and 216. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment
- 18. Reserve Jäger Battalion
XXVI. Reserve Corps
Corps Commander: General von Hügel
52. Reserve Division
Commander: Generalleutnant Waldorf
- 103. Reserve Brigade: 237. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment and 238. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment
- 104. Reserve Brigade: 239. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment and 240. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment
- 24. Reserve Jäger Battalion
51. Reserve Division
Commander: Generalmajor von Kleist
- 101. Reserve Brigade: 233. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment and 234. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment
- 102. Reserve Brigade: 235. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment and 236. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment
- 23. Reserve Jäger Battalion
- 2. Reserve Ersatz Brigade: 3. Reserve-Ersatz-Regiment and 4. Reserve-Ersatz-Regiment
Corps Reserve
- 102. Reserve Brigade: 235. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment and 236. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment
- 37. Landwehr Brigade: 73. Landwehr Regiment and 74. Landwehr Regiment
For the attack on the French front line the XXVI. Reserve Corps consisted of the following total number of units, these being its regular and some additional reinforcement units:
- 38 infantry and Jäger battalions
- 6 cavalry squadrons
- 21 field artillery batteries
- 16 heavy artillery batteries
- 8 pioneer companies
- 1 air reconnaissance unit
- 1 balloon detachment
- 1 armoured train.
XXVII. Reserve Corps
Corps Commander: General von Carlowitz
38. Landwehr Brigade
- 77. Landwehr Regiment and 78. Landwehr Regiment
53. Reserve Division (Saxon)
- 105. Reserve Brigade: 241. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment and 242. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment
- 106. Reserve Brigade: 243. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment and 244. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment
- 25. Reserve Jäger Battalion
54. Reserve Division (Württemberg)
- 107. Reserve Brigade: 245. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment and 246. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment
- 108. Reserve Brigade: 247. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment and 248. Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment
- 26. Reserve Jäger Battalion (2)
XV. Corps
Corps Commander: General von Deimling
39. Infanterie Division
- 61. Brigade: 126. Infanterie-Regiment and 132. Infanterie-Regiment
- 82. Brigade: 171. Infanterie-Regiment and 172. Infanterie-Regiment
30. Infanterie Division
- 60. Brigade: 99. Infanterie-Regiment and 143. Infanterie-Regiment
- 85. Brigade: 105. Infanterie-Regiment and 136. Infanterie-Regiment
Heavy Artillery
XXIII. Reserve Corps, XXVI. Reserve Corps and XXVII. Reserve Corps:
Heavy howitzers
- one 42cm (17 inch) “Dicke Bertha” (“Big Bertha”)
- twenty 8 inch
- seventy-two 5.9 inch
Field guns
- four 5.2 inch
- sixteen 4 inch
- thirty-four old or captured weapons
XV. Corps
Heavy howitzers:
- four 8 inch
- twelve 5.9 inch
Field guns:
- four 5.2 inch
- two 4 inch
- fourteen old or captured guns
Next>> Order of Battle of the French Army Détachement d'Armée de Belgique (D.A.B)
Acknowledgements
(1) The General's name listed in the German Order of Battle in British Military Operations gives the name as Rathen. However, the first letter of his name is actually a K in the German Gothic script typeface in Die Schlachten und Gefechte des Grossen Krieges, thus his name is spelled Kathen.
(2) British Military Operations lists this unit as 28. Reserve Jäger Battalion. However, in the Histories of Two Hundred and Fifty-One Divisions and on Map 2 of Der Weltkrieg 1914 bis 1918: Sommer und Herbst 1915, 8. Band the unit is given as the 26. Reserve Jäger Battalion.
British Military Operations: France and Belgium 1915
Histories of Two Hundred and Fifty-One Divisions