16th Army (Wehrmacht)

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16th Army

active October 22, 1939 to May 8, 1945
Country German Reich NSGerman Reich (Nazi era) 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

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