Bavarians in the XV Armee Korps?

[Chip]

I was looking at the composition of the Prussian XV army corps and it appears that there were units drawn from all over Germany, much in the same way other border army corps were set up. I have recently seen an indication that Bavarian troops were issued with exclusively Bavarian style clothing items from the Bekleidungsamt of the XV corps. Though I see Silesian, W?rttemberg and other far flung units making up the corps, I do not see anything Bavarian. Does anyone know if there were any Bavarian troops stationed in that corps during the war?

Thanks,

Chip

[Dave Danner]

In December 1914, 8./bay.Res.Fu?art.Rgt.3 was attached to XV.Armeekorps for heavy artillerie support.

In March 1917, XV.Armeekorps was more Bavarian than anything else. It was composed of the the 30.bay.Res.Div., the 39.bay.Res.Div., the 84.Landw.Inf.Brig., and the 61.Landw.Inf.Brig. The original divisions of the XV.Armeekorps, the 30.Inf.Div. and the 39.Inf.Div., were then part of the XII.Armeekorps and the XXVI.Reservekorps respectively.

[Chris Boonzaier]

Some rough text I was working on for the site ...

the Prussian RESERVE Korps XV became the Bavarian R.K.

The G.K. XV. b.R.K. started the war as the ?Korps Eberhardt? under the command of Gen.d.Inf. Magnus von Eberhardt. On the 1st of December 1914 it was renamed XV. Reservekorps and on the 26th of September 1916 it became the XV. bayerische Reservekorps. Less than a month after this transition, on the 16th of October 1916, Gen.d.Art. Maximilian Ritter von H?hn took over the command.

The newly named General Kommando XV. bayerische Reservekorps had no fixed units under its command. As a General Kommando it was given the divisions it needed, for the task it was assigned, unlike the traditional corps system in place at the start of the war in which each corps had it's "own" divisions. For the most part the G.K. served in quieter sectors and is seldom mentioned, even in Bavarian Histories of the war. From 1914 to January 1917 the XV. b.R.K. was in the middle Vosges (Vogesen), its notable actions were:

27.1.15: Battle at Senones-Ban de Sapt (elements)

18-19.2.15: Assault on the heights south of Lusse (elements)

30.5.15: Battle at M?nil (30. R.D.)

22.6-24.7.15: Battle at Ban de Sapt (30. R.D.)

25-26.4.16: Battle on the heights north of Les Collins (30. R.D.)

From mid March 1917 it was involved in positional warfare on the Aisne taking command of the bayerische Ersatz Division (b.E.D.) and the 9. and 5. bayerische Reserve Divisions (b.R.D.) to the east of Craonne. On the 16th of April 1917 it absorbed the full force of the Nivelle offensive. On the 18th of April the Generalkommando 65 replaced the G.K. XV. b.R.K. although the divisions that had been under its command remained in position for a number of days.

For the rest of the war the G.K. XV. b.R.K. took part in the positional warfare in Lorraine and the Vosges

General Leutnant Ritter von H?hn had started the war as commander of the 6.bayr. Infanteriedivision. In February 1915 he was appointed Chief of Staff for the 3. A.O.K. He remained in this position until late September of that year, participating in the defensive fighting in the Champagne. A run in with von Falkenhayn had caused him to be transfered (seen by him and his superiors as a ?soft demotion?) and he took command of the 2. Garde Infanterie Division on the 26th September 1915. The details of this argument are recounted by Generaloberst von Einem in his book "Ein Armeef?hrer erlebt den Weltkrieg" and von Einem was of the opinion that von H?hn was a capable officer who ran afoul of a superior who was not capable of taking advice. Von H?hn commanded the 2. G.I.D. in the Roye-Noyon area until May of 1916. On the 10th of July 1916 he took command of his old division, the 6. Bayer. Infanterie-Division until assuming command of the G.K. XV. b.RK on 16 Oct 1916. On the 8th of August 1918 he was replaced by GenLt. Paul Ritter von Kneussl.

It is interesting to note that after the experiances gained by the Germans in their defensive battles in 1915 and 1916 von H?hn favoured an even more flexible system of defence than had been introduced by L?dendorff. While the standard orders for the defensive battle allowed a divisional commander to act only within his sector, all withdrawls and counter attacks taking part on a local, tactical level, von H?hn had proposed to evacuate large portions of the front during the enemy preperation and to "attack the attackers" in Armee strength when the offensive started. This was not approved as the German high command was worried that the French may gain a foothold and that their own troops may fail in retaking the ground they had abandoned.

[Chip]

Dave and Chris,

Thanks for the information. It sounds to me like it would be legitimate then, for Bavarian uniforms to have B.A.XV markings on them in 1918. I have seen a Bavarian Einheitsm?tze marked B.A.XV and this pattern cap would normally have the traditional Bavarian corps markings, i.e., B.A.I, B.A.II or B.A.III.

Chip

[joerookery]

I have two related questions if I might.

Has anyone ever heard of a reserve Bekleidungsamt? A Landwehr Bekleidungsamt? Or did the administrative corps areas provide Bekleidungsamt services for more than the numbered corps?

Did the Bavarian corp's Bekleidungsamt use the same marking as the Prussian corps Bekleidungsamt? (BAI,BAII)?

Thanks in advance!

[Chip]

Joe,

I don't know the answer to your first question, but as to the second, yes, the Bavarians used the same type of B.A. markings as you suggest. The actual stamps are somewhat different, but the letters are the same. The Bavarians also had some markings that were particular to Bavaria.

Chip

[joerookery]

thanks Chip, I am leaning towards the last option for question one.

Reference the marks, how were they different? I'm making a list of them but I have no idea how to tell Prussian from Bavarian by the marks alone. Here are 2 examples:

Can you tell from looking at these markings? What should I be looking for? Thank you

[Chip]

Joe,

While I am far from being well versed in the markings of spiked helmets, I can tell you that, generally speaking, the Bavarian marks are often larger and the "B.A." letters normally have larger serifs, while the other corps markings tend not to.

Chip