42nd Division (German Empire)

42nd Division (42. Division); from August 2, 1914, 42nd Infantry Division (42. Infanterie-Division)
Active1912–19
CountryPrussia, German Empire
BranchArmy
TypeInfantry (in peacetime included cavalry)
SizeApprox. 15,000
Part ofXXI. Army Corps (XXI. Armeekorps)
Garrison/HQSaarburg
EngagementsWorld War I

The 42nd Division (42. Division) was a unit of the Prussian/German Army.[1] It was formed on October 1, 1912, and was the last regular division created in the Imperial German Army. It was headquartered in Saarburg in Lothringen (now Sarrebourg, France).[2] The division was subordinated in peacetime to the XXI Army Corps (XXI. Armeekorps).[3] The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was primarily recruited in the Rhine Province and the Province of Westphalia, as the German population in Alsace-Lorraine was insufficient to fill the division.

  1. ^ From the late 1800s, the Prussian Army was effectively the German Army, as during the period of German unification (1866-1871) the states of the German Empire entered into conventions with Prussia regarding their armies and only the Bavarian Army remained fully autonomous.
  2. ^ Günter Wegner, Stellenbesetzung der deutschen Heere 1815-1939. (Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück, 1993), Bd. 1, p.135.
  3. ^ Wegner, p. 86