80th Reserve Division (German Empire)

80th Reserve Division (80. Reserve-Division)
Active1914-1919
CountryGermany
BranchArmy
TypeInfantry
SizeApprox. 12,500
EngagementsWorld War I: Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes, Battle of Arras (1917), Passchendaele, German spring offensive, First Battle of the Somme (1918), Oise-Aisne Offensive, Meuse-Argonne Offensive

The 80th Reserve Division (80. Reserve-Division) was a unit of the Imperial German Army in World War I. The division was formed at the end of December 1914 and organized over the next month, arriving in the line in early February 1915.[1] It was part of the second large wave of new divisions formed at the outset of World War I, which were numbered the 75th through 82nd Reserve Divisions.[2] The division was initially part of XXXX Reserve Corps.[3] The division was disbanded in 1919 during the demobilization of the German Army after World War I. The division was mixed in recruitment. The 264th Reserve Infantry Regiment was from Thuringia, and was described as a Saxe-Altenburg regiment. The 265th Reserve Infantry Regiment was from the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The 266th was also formed in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, but reportedly included recruits from Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Pomerania and other areas. The 34th Reserve Infantry Regiment, which replaced the 265th in 1915, was from West Prussia.

  1. ^ 80. Reserve-Division (Chronik 1914-1918)
  2. ^ This wave also included the 8th Bavarian Reserve Division. Between the first wave (42nd through 54th Reserve Divisions and 6th Bavarian Reserve Division), several other divisions were formed on ad hoc basis, mostly taking the name of their commander or place of formation, but these were not part of a planned formal wave of new divisions.
  3. ^ In German military nomenclature, "40" was rendered as "XXXX" in Roman numerals rather than the more conventional "XL".