Guards Cavalry Division (German Empire)


The Guards Cavalry Division was a guards cavalry division unit of the Prussian Army that was stationed in Berlin. The division was a part of the Guards Corps.

Pre-war Order of Battle

Before the outbreak of World War I, the component units of the division were:

Combat chronicle

The division was initially assigned to I Cavalry Corps, which preceded the 3rd Army on the Western Front. It served on the Western Front until December 1914, then undertook frontier guard duties against Holland until 30 June 1915, when it relocated to Russia. From 16 March 1918 to 9 April 1918, it was dismounted, re-formed and trained on the Zossen troop training ground. Thereafter, it served as the Guard Cavalry Schützen Division on the Western Front. It was in Artois until May 1918, then Champagne / Aisne. By the end of the war, it was serving under VI Reserve Corps, 1st Army, Heeresgruppe Deutscher Kronprinz on the Western Front.

Order of Battle on mobilisation

Upon the outbreak of war, the 4th Guards Cavalry Brigade was dissolved and its component regiments were assigned as divisional cavalry to the 1st Guards Infantry Division and 2nd Guards Infantry Division. With the addition of support units, the Division's structure was:
  • 1st Guards Cavalry Brigade
  • *Gardes du Corps
  • *Guards Cuirassiers
  • 2nd Guards Cavalry Brigade
  • *1st Guards Uhlans
  • *3rd Guards Uhlans
  • 3rd Guards Cavalry Brigade
  • *1st Guards Dragoons "Queen of Great Britain and Ireland"
  • *2nd Guards Dragoons "Empress Alexandra of Russia"
  • Horse Artillery Abteilung of the 1st Guards Field Artillery Regiment
  • 1st Guard Machine Gun Detachment
  • Pioneer Detachment
  • Signals Detachment
  • *Heavy Wireless Station 2
  • *Light Wireless Station 1
  • *Light Wireless Station 2
  • Cavalry Motorised Vehicle Column 10
See: Table of Organisation and Equipment

Guard Cavalry ''Schützen'' Division

The Guard Cavalry Division was extensively reorganised in the course of the war, culminating in the conversion to a Cavalry Schützen Division, that is to say, dismounted cavalry. Here, the cavalry brigades were renamed Cavalry Schützen Commands and performed a similar role to that of an infantry regiment command. Likewise, the cavalry regiments became Cavalry Schützen Regiments and allocated the role of an infantry battalion. However, these units were much weaker than normal infantry formations.
  • 1st Guards Cavalry Brigade became independent on 9 April 1917
  • 2nd Guards Cavalry Brigade became independent on 6 June 1916
  • 3rd Guards Cavalry Brigade became independent on 18 October 1916
  • 19th Cavalry Brigade joined from 9th Cavalry Division on 8 April 1917 and became independent on 12 February 1918
  • 11th Cavalry Brigade joined from 5th Cavalry Division on 23 March 1918 and renamed 11th Cavalry Schützen Command on 8 May 1918
  • 14th Cavalry Brigade joined from 9th Cavalry Division on 23 February 1918 and renamed 14th Cavalry Schützen Command on 8 May 1918
  • 38th Cavalry Brigade joined from 8th Cavalry Division on 20 April 1918 and renamed 38th Cavalry Schützen Command on 8 May 1918

Late World War I organization

Allied Intelligence rated this division as 2nd Class. Its late war organisation was: