I. Army Corps (Wehrmacht)

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The 1st Army Corps of the German Wehrmacht , in the full title General Command of the 1st Army Corps , was the name for the corresponding command authority but also for the large association of several divisions and its own corps troops , which was led by this general command and was under the supreme command of an army or army group .

history

Lineup

The I. Army Corps was set up in October 1934 in Military District I from the 1st Division of the Reichswehr in Königsberg . The commanding general had been Lieutenant General and later Artillery General Walter Petzel since August 1, 1939 .

1939

During the attack on Poland in September 1939, the 1st Corps of the 3rd Army under General der Artillerie Georg von Küchler , which belonged to Army Group North under Colonel General Fedor von Bock . The I. Army Corps advancing from Neidenburg ( Nidzica ) came across a field position in which the 20th Polish Infantry Division was successful just five kilometers after crossing the border north of Mielau ( Mława ) with the 11th Infantry Division and the Kempf Panzer Division Resisted. To the north-east of it, parts of the 8th Polish Infantry Division were also recognized. On September 4, Mława was taken and the Polish army "Modlin" had to retreat to the Narew , while the 1st Army Corps pursued Ciechanów and Pułtusk in two days . On September 6th, the bulk of the 1st Army Corps reached the Narew near Pułtusk , where the battle for the river crossing began in the evening hours. The following day, the corps with the 11th Infantry Division and the 61st Infantry Division brought up from the Army Reserve were able to form a narrow bridgehead on the other side of the Narew. On the 8th, both divisions advanced to the north-west of Wyszków , where they encountered Polish resistance. Despite the ongoing fighting, a small bridgehead was built over the bow on the 9th . In the remainder of the campaign, the I. Corps fought at Kaluszyn and Praga.

1940

On May 10, 1940, the advance through Holland to northern France took place during the western campaign, the 1st Corps was with the 1st and 11th Infantry Division in the 6th Army (Reichenau) and advanced into the Douai area. In the second phase of the campaign in June 1940, the corps of the 4th Army (Colonel General Günther von Kluge ) was subordinated. Breakthrough battles followed on the Somme and the persecution of the French across the Seine to the Loire. After performing security services with the 7th Army on the Atlantic coast, the corps was transported back home to East Prussia in September 1940 .

1941

On June 22, 1941, the I. Corps, under the leadership of General Infantry Kuno von Both, participated as part of the 18th Army in the attack on the Soviet Union. The 1st, 11th and 21st Infantry Divisions , subordinate to the corps, passed over the Memel at Tilsit. The advance took place via Tauroggen and Kelme on Schaulen and on via Bausk to the Düna near Friedrichstadt. On July 13th, the Velikaya crossed near Shabanova. On July 28th, the 1st Corps of the 16th Army (GFM Busch) was subordinated. The further advance took place via Porchow and the Mshaga to Solzy to the Ilmensee , on July 30th the corps on the Schelon formed a northern bridgehead at Schimsk . On August 14th Novgorod was reached by the 11th and 21st Infantry Divisions and a bridgehead was formed over the Volkhov . The railway line between Chudovo and Volkhov was interrupted by August 20 . In November the advance across the Volkhov to Gruzino takes place. After Tichwin's abandonment by the XXXIX. Panzer Corps had to withdraw behind the Volkhov at the turn of the year.

1942/43

From January 1942, further defensive battles followed on the Volkhov with the 11th, 21st, 254th and 291st Infantry Divisions between Ilmensee and Grusino. Against the strong attempts to break through the Volkhov Front of General Merezkow secured the XXVIII as a left neighbor . Army Corps to the north in the Kirischi bridgehead to Lake Ladoga , and on the right the XXXVIII. Army corps that took over the southern Volkhov section between Spasskaya and Novgorod. After the breakthrough of the Soviet 2nd Shock Army under General Vlasov , the "Volkhov Basin" formed west of Chudovo . Between June 22nd and 28th, 1942, the new commanding officer of the 1st Corps, General of the Cavalry Philipp Kleffel, took on the task of building this boiler together with the XXXVIII operating from the south. Army Corps (General of the Infantry Haenicke) to narrow down and to smash the forces there. After this success the Volkhov Front stabilized and lasted until the beginning of 1944. In October 1943 the General Command of the 1st Corps was withdrawn from the Volkhov and made available as a reserve for the 16th Army. In December 1943 the corps fought in the front ledge in the Newel area .

1944/45

In January 1944, General of the Infantry Carl Hilpert took over the I. Corps, which in February 1944 had to return to the Polotsk area before Soviet pressure . At the beginning of July 1944, the collapse of the 3rd Panzer Army in the Vitebsk area led to necessary retreat fighting by the 1st Army Corps. Before the pressure of the 43rd Soviet Army, the corps retreated to the west on the northern Dünaüfer and, in conjunction with the Kleffel Corps Group with the 205th, 125th and 132nd Infantry Divisions, secured the southeastern apron of Dünaburg .

Between 14 and 18 September 1944 was followed by the beginning of the Baltic surgery defensive battles in space Riga against troops of the 2nd Baltic Front (General Eremenko ) in southern Daugava -Brückenkopf in Ķekava . During the offensive to Memel , the Soviet breakthrough to the Baltic Sea at Polangen took place on October 10th , after which the corps in Courland was cut off and came under the command of the 18th Army (General of the Infantry Ehrenfried Boege ). In October 1944 the corps secured the right section in the Kurland basin south of Libau and near Preekuln with the 11th, 87th and 126th Infantry Divisions . There were five major defensive battles here and on May 8, 1945 the I Corps under Lieutenant General Christian Usinger with the 87th and 225th Infantry Divisions surrendered to the Soviets in the area southwest of Durben .

Allegations

guide

Commanding generals

Chiefs of the General Staff

Temporary subordinate units, units and units (not complete)

Corps units directly subordinate to them

Directly subordinate tactically independent associations

literature

  • Percy Ernst Schramm (Ed.): War Diary of the High Command of the Wehrmacht , Volume I: 1940/41 edited by Hans-Adolf Jacobsen , Bernard & Graefe Verlag für Wehrwesen, Frankfurt am Main 1965
  • Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945. Volume 2. The Land Forces 1–5 . 2nd Edition. Biblio-Verlag, Bissendorf 1973, ISBN 3-7648-0871-3 .