Kraus. J. Handbuch der Verbände und Truppen des deutschen Heeres 1914-1918

Part VI: Infantry, Volume 3 - Replacement Troops and Field Recruit Depots In order to continuously provide replacement troops for the infantry, the strongest branch of the army, during the war, a very large number of replacement battalions was required. At the beginning of the war, each active reserve and Landwehr infantry regiment received its own replacement battalion. In order to be able to train the large number of recruits, a second replacement battalion was raised for each infantry regiment at the beginning of 1915. This meant that there were over 650 replacement battalions for the infantry alone. When the replacement situation deteriorated in 1917, the second replacement battalions had to be disbanded again. More than 50 replacement battalions went into the field and were later called up to form new infantry regiments. The replacement troops also included about 120 brigade replacement battalions (including reserve and Landwehr brigade replacement battalions), which were raised at the start of the war and joined mobile replacement brigades. Some were united into special replacement infantry regiments in the autumn of 1914, while the rest were later incorporated into infantry or Landwehr infantry regiments. In order to be able to train the replacements more intensively under wartime conditions, special field recruit depots were established at the end of 1914 at the army corps, which were located directly behind the front. In the autumn of 1916, these were transferred to the divisions, while on the Eastern Front corresponding recruit depots existed only with the armies.
All infantry replacement formations are dealt with in detail in this volume. In addition, all essential data on their organisation, especially on formation, disbandment and the frequently changing locations, are clearly laid out. For the mobile replacement battalions, there are also precise details on the changing subordinations and reorganisations, so that the path of each unit can be followed in detail.