Otto von Stetten

Then, on 13 September 1901, Stetten was again assigned to the General Staff of the 2nd Royal Bavarian Division based in Augsburg, and on 28 October 1902 he was promoted to the senior rank of major.

[2] After the war had ended, Stetten returned to Bavaria on 17 September 1905 and on 17 October of the same year he was appointed Chief of Staff of the I Royal Bavarian Corps.

Following his promotion to Oberstleutnant on 15 August 1906, he assumed command of the 2nd Royal Bavarian Heavy Cavalry "Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria" on 12 July 1908.

At the outbreak of the First World War, Stetten was appointed the new commander of the Bavarian Cavalry Division, a key tactical formation of the German 6th Army employed on the Western Front.

As a result, the division was able to capture a French flag, eleven units of heavy weaponry, six machine guns and 1400 prisoners.

Perhaps most importantly, Stetten could seize documents from a fallen brigadier general revealing crucial information about the French plan of action for Lorraine.

On 5 November 1914, he was assigned to the temporary command of the II Royal Bavarian Corps to deputize for General Karl Ritter von Martini.

During the Battle of Passchendaele, the Corps was assigned to the southern section of the front of the 4th Army as group "Lille" and was able to hold its positions.

Although destroying the majority of Germany's defence facilities in this sector, the bombardment also warned Stetten of a potential imminent large-scale attack.

Without doubt, the Battle of Messines (1917) was one of the most successful Allied advances of World War I and Stetten's greatest defeat.

The right wing of Stetten's formation succeeded in capturing the forest of Grenier and the village of Fleurbaix, while also establishing access to the Lys river at Bac St. Maur.

At the same time, Ludwig III of Bavaria awarded him the Commander's Cross of the Military Order of Max Joseph to honour his achievements.