General Command 55

The General Command 55 (initially also called "Bernhardi" corps) was a major unit of the army of the German Empire during the First World War . From December 1916 to February 1918, the General Command was also known as the Kovel Section .

structure

The General Command 55 was a General Command z. b. V. (General Command for Special Use). These emerged from 1916 and were purely command posts; the military units were assigned to him as required.

history

During the Brusilov offensive , the section of the Austro- Hungarian 4th Army was overrun in early June 1916. Russian attacks from the western Styr bridgehead at Czartorysk drove General Fath's corps back. The group "Bernhardi" set up on June 6th were assigned to the kuk II Corps, the group "Fath" and the German X. Army Corps under General von Lüttwitz. Until mid-July, the “Bernhardi” group carried out successful counter attacks on the Stochod, which stabilized the front. In addition to the thrown Austro-Hungarian units, General Marwitz's superior attack group was subordinated to the German 41st , 107th , 108th Divisions , General Rusche's division and the Bavarian 11th Division .

At the beginning of October 1916, the previous group "Bernhardi" was designated as the newly formed General Command (z. B. V.) No. 55 under General of the Cavalry Friedrich von Bernhardi . As part of the "von Linsingen" army group in the area north of Kovel, this general command was significantly involved in the defense against Russian attacks; at times it was also in command of the Hauer kk corps group, which led to the Pripyat area . From December 2, 1916, the General Command was also referred to as the Kovel section . After the armistice with the Soviets, the General Command was transported to the Western Front in mid-February 1918 .

During the spring offensive , the corps was involved in the Battle of Armentières in Flanders in April 1918 . In the center of the 6th Army (General von Quast ), the 1st and 8th Bavarian Reserve Divisions were subordinate to the corps during the "Georgette attack" . Behind it in the second meeting were the 8th and 16th divisions . Together with the XIX. Army Corps (Carlowitz Group) achieved a breakthrough in the sector of the 2nd Portuguese Division and on April 10 the capture of Estaires .

In October 1918 the corps comprised the following units:

After the Compiègne armistice , the General Command was demobilized on November 23, 1918.

Commanding general

Rank	Surname	date
General of the cavalry	Friedrich von Bernhardi	October 1, 1916 to November 1918

literature

Reichsarchiv: The World War 1914-1918. Volume X: The operations of 1916, ES Mittler, Berlin 1936, p. 473 f
Reichsarchiv: The World War 1914-1918 , Volume XIV, ES Mittler, Berlin 1944, p. 272 f.