[3] At the start of war, the 42nd division was commanded by Stjepan Sarkotić, an ethnic Croat officer from the Military Border born near Otočac.

[2] The division was known for its terrible crimes, including rape, torture and murder against the Serbian populations of Western Serbia.

On November 11, 1914 Sarkotić was replaced by Johann von Salis-Seewis who led the division during the second Serbian offensive.

After the failure of the campaign, it was redeployed at the beginning of 1915 in Galicia on the Eastern front along with the rest of the XIII.

On 22 June 1915 Salis-Seewis was replaced, while he was on leave, by Anton Lipošćak before the Russian Empire launched the Brusilov offensive.