The Corps was headquartered in Berlin, with its units garrisoned in the city and nearby towns (Potsdam, Jüterbog, Döberitz). Unlike all other Corps of the Imperial German Army, the Guards Corps did not recruit from a specific area, but from throughout Prussia and the "Imperial Lands" of Alsace-Lorraine.
The 25 peacetime Corps of the German Army (Guards, I–XXI, I–III Bavarian) had a reasonably standardised organisation. Each consisted of two divisions with usually two infantry brigades, one field artillery brigade and a cavalry brigade each.[4] Each brigade normally consisted of two regiments of the appropriate type, so each Corps normally commanded eight infantry, four field artillery and four cavalry regiments. There were exceptions to this rule:
V, VI, VII, IX and XIV Corps each had a fifth infantry brigade (so 10 infantry regiments)
The Guards Corps was considerably above this norm, with 11 infantry regiments (in five brigades) and 8 cavalry regiments (in four brigades). In addition to the normal two infantry divisions (1st Guards Infantry and 2nd Guards Infantry Divisions), the Guards Corps also commanded the Guards Cavalry Division, the only peacetime cavalry division in the German Army. It also incorporated an exceptional number of "Corps Troops" units, in particular school and demonstration (Lehr) units.
On mobilization on 2 August 1914 the Corps was extensively restructured. The Guards Cavalry Division (less the 4th Guards Cavalry Brigade) was assigned to the I Cavalry Corps (Höhere Kavallerie-Kommando 1);[7] the 4th Guards Cavalry Brigade was broken up and its regiments assigned to the divisions as reconnaissance units. The Lehr Infantry Battalion was expanded to form the Lehr Infantry Regiment.[8] It formed 6th Guards Infantry Brigade (with the Guards Füsilier Regiment) and together with the 5th Guards Infantry Brigade formed the 3rd Guards Division of the Guards Reserve Corps. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from the Corps headquarters.
In summary, the Guards Corps mobilised with 26 infantry battalions, 10 machine gun companies (60 machine guns), eight cavalry squadrons, 24 field artillery batteries (144 guns), four heavy artillery batteries (16 guns), three pioneer companies and an aviation detachment.
I Battalion, 1st Guards Foot Artillery Regiment[11]
1st Aviation Detachment
Guards Corps Pontoon Train
Guards Telephone Detachment
Guards Pioneer Searchlight Section
Munition Trains and Columns corresponding to II Corps
Combat chronicle
On mobilisation, the Guards Corps was assigned to the 2nd Army as part of the right wing of the forces that invaded France and Belgium as part of the Schlieffen Plan offensive in August 1914.
2nd Ox and Bucks defeating the Prussian Guard at Nonne Bosschen. Painting by William Barnes Wollen (1857–1936)
Soon into the war, at the First Battle of the Marne, the Prussian Guards were bitterly defeated in an attempt to take French positions.
In early July 1915 it participated in the "Battle of the Guards" near Krasnostav, acting against parts of the Russian Guard corps.[12][13][14] It participated in the Battle of Lublin-Kholm in July 1915[15]
In 1917, the corps was stationed on the Aisne River as part of 1st Army, and played an important role in the German defense against the French offensive in that sector.
It was still in existence at the end of the war[2] in the 4th Army, Heeresgruppe Kronprinz Rupprecht, on the Western Front.[3]
Commanders
The Guards Corps had the following commanders during its existence:[16][17]
Busche, Hartwig (1998). Formationsgeschichte der Deutschen Infanterie im Ersten Weltkrieg (1914 bis 1918) (in German). Institut für Preußische Historiographie.
Cron, Hermann (2002) [1937]. Imperial German Army 1914–18: Organisation, Structure, Orders-of-Battle. Helion & Co. ISBN1-874622-70-1.
Ellis, John; Cox, Michael (1993). The World War I Databook. Aurum Press Ltd. ISBN1-85410-766-6.
Haythornthwaite, Philip J. (1996). The World War One Source Book. Arms and Armour. ISBN1-85409-351-7.
The German Forces in the Field; 7th Revision, 11th November 1918; Compiled by the General Staff, War Office. Imperial War Museum, London and The Battery Press, Inc (1995). 1918. ISBN1-870423-95-X.
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. The London Stamp Exchange Ltd (1989). 1920. ISBN0-948130-87-3.
Wegner, Günter (1993). Stellenbesetzung der deutschen Heere 1815–1939, Bd. 1. Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück.
The IV Army Corps / IV AK was a corps level command of the Prussian and then the Imperial German Armies from the 19th Century to World War I.
The III Army Corps / III AK was a corps level command of the Prussian and then the Imperial German Armies from the 19th century to World War I.
The II Army Corps / II AK was a corps level command of the Prussian and then the Imperial German Armies from the 19th Century to World War I.
The XVIII Army Corps / XVIII AK was a corps level command of the German Army before and during World War I.
The XII Army Corps / XII AK was a Saxon corps level command of the Saxon and German Armies before and during World War I.
The XIII Army Corps / XIII AK was a corps of the Imperial German Army. It was, effectively, also the army of the Kingdom of Württemberg, which had been integrated in 1871 into the Prussian Army command structure, as had the armies of most German states. The corps was originally established as the Württemberg Corps Command (Korpskommando) in 1817. It became the XIII Army Corps when it was integrated into the Prussian numbering system on December 18, 1871, shortly after the Franco-Prussian War.
The XIV Army Corps / XIV AK was a corps level command of the German Army before and during World War I. It was, effectively, also the army of the Grand Duchy of Baden, which, in 1871, had been integrated into the Prussian Army command structure, as had the armies of most German states. Both divisions and the bulk of the corps' support units were from the grand duchy. The corps was established in 1870, after the Siege of Strasbourg.
The I Army Corps / I AK was a corps level command of the Prussian and then the Imperial German Armies from the 19th Century to World War I.
The XVI Army Corps / XVI AK was a corps level command of the German Army before and during World War I.
The Guards Reserve Corps was a corps level command of the German Army in World War I.
The III Royal Bavarian Army Corps / III Bavarian AK was a corps level command of the Royal Bavarian Army, part of the Imperial German Army, before and during World War I.
The II Royal Bavarian Army Corps / II Bavarian AK was a corps level command of the Royal Bavarian Army, part of the Imperial German Army, before and during World War I.
The XXI Army Corps / XXI AK was a corps level command of the German Army, before and during World War I.
The XV Army Corps / XV AK was a corps level command of the German Army before and during World War I.
The XI Army Corps / XI AK was a corps level command of the Prussian and German Armies before and during World War I.
The IX Army Corps / IX AK was a corps level command of the Prussian and German Armies before and during World War I.
The VIII Army Corps / VIII AK was a corps level command of the Prussian and then the Imperial German Armies from the 19th Century to World War I.
The VII Army Corps / VII AK was a corps level command of the Prussian and then the Imperial German Armies from the 19th Century to World War I.
The VI Army Corps / VI AK was a corps level command of the Prussian and then the Imperial German Armies from the 19th Century to World War I.
The V Army Corps / V AK was a corps level command of the Prussian and then the Imperial German Armies from the 19th century to World War I.
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