16th Army (Wehrmacht)
16th Army |
|
---|---|
active | October 22, 1939 to May 8, 1945 |
Country | German Empire |
Armed forces | Wehrmacht |
Armed forces | army |
Type | army |
commander | |
Last commander | Friedrich Jobst Volckamer von Kirchensittenbach |
The 16th Army / Army High Command 16 (16th Army) was a major unit of the Army of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War . She was the high command of changing army corps and numerous special troops.
history
The 16th Army was formed on October 22, 1939. The staff was provided by the Infantry Replacement Battalion 1 in Königsberg .
She took part in the campaign in the west and in the war against the Soviet Union , where her II Army Corps was trapped near Demyansk in January 1942 and another combat group near Cholm and only liberated in spring 1942. The promontory of Demyansk, declared a fortress , was held on the basis of a Führer order and only cleared after the defeat of Stalingrad in February 1943.
When the 2nd Baltic Front attacked both sides of Cholm on February 19, 1944 , the 16th Army suffered heavy losses and was gradually pushed back to Courland by autumn 1944 , where it surrendered together with the 18th Army on May 8, 1945 .
Commander in chief
from | to | Rank | Surname |
---|---|---|---|
January 1940 | October 12, 1943 | Field Marshal General | Ernst Busch |
October 12, 1943 | June 1, 1944 | General of the artillery | Christian Hansen |
June 1, 1944 | September 3, 1944 | General of the Infantry | Paul Laux |
September 3, 1944 | March 10, 1945 | Colonel General | Carl Hilpert |
March 10, 1945 | March 16, 1945 | General of the Infantry | Ernst-Anton von Krosigk |
March 16, 1945 | May 8, 1945 | General of the mountain troops | Friedrich Jobst Volckamer von Kirchensittenbach |
Insinuation
from | to | Army Group | Operational area |
---|---|---|---|
December 1939 | April 1941 | Army Group A | |
May 1941 | May 1941 | Army Group A | East Prussia |
June 1941 | January 1945 | Army Group North | Section Leningrad to Newel |
January 1945 | May 1945 | Army Group Courland | Courland |
See also
- Schematic war organization of the Wehrmacht on May 10, 1940
- Schematic war organization of the Wehrmacht on June 22, 1941
literature
- Bönninghausen, C., Freiherr von: Kampf und Ende Rhenish-Westphalian Infantry Divisions 1941–45, Coesfeld undated (self-published).
- Haupt, Werner: Demjansk - A bulwark in the east, Bad Nauheim 1963.
- Haupt, Werner: Army Group North, Bad Nauheim 1967.
- Haupt, Werner: Kurland 1944/45 - the forgotten Army Group, Friedberg 1979.
- Haupt, Werner: Leningrad, Volkhov, Courland, 1976.
- Kurowski, Franz: Demjansk - The Kettle in the Ice, Wölfersheim-Berstadt 2001.
- Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945. Volume 4. The Land Forces 15–30 . 2nd Edition. Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1976, ISBN 3-7648-1083-1 .
Web links
- German 16th Army. December 1939 - April 1945 (PDF; 174 kB) Accessed September 15, 2011 (English).