96th Infantry Division (German Empire)

96th Infantry Division
Active	May 3rd, 1917–January 1919
Country	Kingdom of Saxony  German Empire
Branch	Imperial German Army
Engagements	World War I Eastern Front Kerensky offensive Western Front Hundred Days Offensive

The 96th Infantry Division (96. Infanterie-Division) was a formation of the Imperial German Army in World War I.

History

The 96th was formed on May 3, 1917, on the Eastern Front where it served there until February 1918 and was transferred to the Western Front where it fought in Lorraine and Vosges until the end of the war. Once the war ended, the division was sent back to Germany out of occupied territories where it was demobilized and disbanded in January 1919.

Order of Battle in 1917-18

• 177th Infantry Brigade
  • Replacement Infantry Regiment No. 40
  • Landwehr Infantry Regiment No. 102
  • Reserve Infantry Regiment No. 244
  • 4th Squadron / 1st Royal Saxon Hussar Regiment "King Albert" No. 18
• Artillery Commander No. 140
  • Reserve Field Regiment No. 53
• Engineer Battalion No. 96
• Division News Commander No. 96

Command

The sole commander of the division was major general Friedrich von der Decken.

References

• 96. Infanterie-Division (Chronik 1915/1918) - Der erste Weltkrieg
• Franz Bettag, Die Eroberung von Nowo Georgiewsk. Schlachten des Weltkrieges, Bd. 8 (Oldenburg, 1926)
• Hermann Cron et al., Ruhmeshalle unserer alten Armee (Berlin, 1935)
• Hermann Cron, Geschichte des deutschen Heeres im Weltkriege 1914-1918 (Berlin, 1937)
• Erich von Falkenhayn, Der Feldzug der 9. Armee gegen die Rumänen und Russen, 1916/17 (Berlin, 1921)
• Oberstleutnant a. D. Dr. Curt Treitschke, Der Rückmarsch aus Rumänien. Mit der Mackensen-Armee vom Sereth durch Siebenbürgen nach Sachsen (Dresden 1938)
• Günter Wegner, Stellenbesetzung der deutschen Heere 1825-1939. (Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück, 1993), Bd. 1
• Histories of Two Hundred and Fifty-One Divisions of the German Army which Participated in the War (1914-1918), compiled from records of Intelligence section of the General Staff, American Expeditionary Forces, at General Headquarters, Chaumont, France 1919 (1920)