VI. SS Volunteer Army Corps (Latvian)

VI. SS Volunteer Army Corps (Latvian) VI. Waffen-Army Corps of the SS (Lat.)
active	October 8, 1943 to May 22, 1945
Country	German Empire
Armed forces	Armed SS
Type	Army Corps
Subordinate troops	see structure
Installation site	Grafenwoehr Training Area
Second World War	Eastern Front Pskov-Ostrov operation Baltic operation Courland battles
guide
Commanding general	See list

The VI. SS Volunteer Army Corps (Latvian) , from March 1945 VI. Waffen-Army Corps of the SS (Lat.) , Was a large unit of the Waffen-SS in World War II .

history

The General Command VI. SS Volunteer Army Corps (Latvian) was set up on October 8, 1943 at the Grafenwoehr military training area to lead the two Latvian volunteer divisions of the Waffen SS ( 15th and 19th Latvian SS Volunteer Divisions ). Parts of the IV. SS Panzer Corps were used for the deployment, the deployment of which began in August but was then canceled. In January 1944, the Corps was the 16th Army of Army Group North supplied and by mid-year in space Pskov used. At times it was also subordinate to the 18th Army .

The Pskov-Ostrov operation of the Red Army in July 1944 pushed the corps back to Livonia . The 15th SS Division was hit so badly that it had to be reorganized in West Prussia. It was then no longer used in the corps unit. As a result of the Baltic operation carried out from September to November , the corps and the rest of the Army Group were enclosed in the Courland pocket . This was followed by missions in the six "Courland battles" until the end of the war.

structure

Corps troops

• SS Corps News Department 106
• SS throwing department 506 (from February 1945)
• Teaching Battalion VI. SS corps
• heavy SS observation battery 106
• Anti-aircraft battery VI. SS corps
• Pioneer Company VI. SS corps
• SS supply troops 106

Subordinate divisions

• January 1, 1944: 15th Latvian SS Volunteer Division
• May 1, 1944: 93rd Infantry Division , 19th Latvian SS Volunteer Division , 15th Latvian SS Volunteer Division
• December 31, 1944: 93rd Infantry Division, 19th Latvian SS Volunteer Division, 227th Infantry Division , 12th Panzer Division , 4th Panzer Division , 12th Field Division (L)
• April 12, 1945: 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (Lat. No. 2), 24th Infantry Division , 12th Panzer Division

Commanding generals

• October 8, 1943 to June 11, 1944: SS-Obergruppenführer and General of the Waffen-SS Karl Pfeffer-Wildenbruch
• June 11 to July 21, 1944: SS-Obergruppenführer and General of the Waffen-SS Friedrich Jeckeln
• July 21 to July 25, 1944: SS-Gruppenführer and Lieutenant General of the Waffen-SS Karl von Fischer-Treuenfeld
• July 25, 1944 to May 22, 1945: SS-Obergruppenführer and General of the Waffen-SS Walter Krüger

literature

• Hans Stöber: The Latvian divisions in the VI. SS Army Corps. The war history of the 15th and 19th divisions of the Waffen SS. Munin-Verlag , Osnabrück 1981, ISBN 3-921242-44-4 .
• Franz Kurowski : Kettle of Death Kurland: Fight and Downfall of Army Group North 1944/1945 , Dörfler Verlag GmbH, 2007, ISBN 978-3895554100 .
• Igors Varpa: Latviesu Karavirs zem Kaskrusta Karoga (Latvian soldiers under the swastika), Nordik, Rīga 2003, ISBN 9984-751-41-4 .