During World War I, the division served on the Western Front. It fought in the Battle of the Frontiers against French forces in the early stages, and then participated in the Race to the Sea, fighting along the Somme and in Flanders, including the First Battle of Ypres. It remained in the trenchlines in Flanders and the Artois, and fought in the Second Battle of Artois and the Battle of Loos. In 1916, the division fought in the Battle of the Somme. In 1917, the division fought in the Battle of Arras and the Battle of Messines, after which it went to the trenchlines in Verdun and Lorraine to rest. After several months in the line north of the Ailette River, the division participated in the German spring offensive, fighting in the First Battle of the Somme (1918), also known as the Second Battle of the Somme (to distinguish it from the 1916 battle). In the subsequent Allied counteroffensives known as the Hundred Days Offensive, the division fought in the Battle of Amiens and the Second Battle of the Somme (1918), also known as the Third Battle of the Somme. Thereafter, it remained in the line and resisted various Allied attacks until the end of the war. Allied intelligence rated the division as one of the best German divisions.