VII Army Corps (Wehrmacht)

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The VII Army Corps was a large unit of the army of the German Wehrmacht , which existed from 1934 to 1944.

history

Lineup

The corps was set up in military district VII (Munich) when the Reichswehr was expanded on October 1, 1934 . The staff was formed from the staff of the 7th Division of the Reichswehr. In the spring of 1935 the staff was renamed General Command VII Army Corps, the first commanding general was Wilhelm Adam . On February 4, 1938, General of the Infantry Eugen von Schobert took over the command of the corps. It was involved in the invasion of Austria in March 1938 .

1939

On August 26, 1939, the command of Military District VII was mobilized and subordinated to Army Group South (Colonel General Gerd von Rundstedt ) as the VII Army Corps . It comprised the 68th and 27th Infantry Divisions and served the Army Group as a reserve in the first days of the attack on Poland . It was subordinated to the 14th Army (Colonel General Wilhelm List ) and marched under the leadership of General of the Infantry Schobert via Tarnowitz and Kielce to the Vistula . The corps crossed the Vistula at Baranów and Tarnobrzeg and took part in the battle at Tomaszów from September 16 to 20 . On September 21 and 26, 1939, the corps fended off strong Polish counter-attacks near Zamosc and then withdrew fighting back to the Vistula as far as Annopol . General Command VII was moved to the German western border shortly after the fighting in Poland had ended.

1940

In the western campaign from May 10, 1940, the VII. Corps belonged to Army Group A as part of the 16th Army . In order to tie up the French forces along the opposite Maginot Line , the VII Army Corps was tasked with an attack against Panzerwerk 505 near Verdun , which it carried out successfully from May 16-19, 1940. In the second phase of the western campaign, the " Fall Rot ", the VII Army Corps forced the passage over the Aisne as part of the 16th Army from June 9, 1940 . Shortly afterwards, the 16th Army was subordinated to Army Group C (Colonel General Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb ). The VII Corps also had a share in the inclusion of the 200,000 strong Allied Army Group 3 (French 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 8th Army), which had to capitulate by June 22, 1940. On June 25, 1940, the Compiègne armistice came into effect, temporarily ending the war in the West. In the course of the planned Operation Sea Lion , the invasion of Great Britain, the VII Army Corps was planned as part of the landing forces, but the operation did not come to fruition.

1941

At the beginning of Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941, the VII Corps was under the command of General of the Artillery Wilhelm Fahrmbacher in the Association of the 4th Army of General Field Marshal Günther von Kluge . In the area south Ostrołęka standing imputed to the corps took seventh , 23 and 268th Infantry Division at the battle of encirclement of Bialystok against the Soviet 10th Army in part and occupied the city on 27 June. In mid-July, the corps with the 7th and 23rd Divisions was deployed against Mogilev , and at the beginning of August 1941 the troops of the VII Corps covered the southern wing of Panzer Group 2 fighting near Roslavl . The Army Group Guderian provided the VII Army Corps with the 7th, 23rd, 78th and 197th Infantry Divisions for the attack on Roslavl. The XXIV Motorized Corps with the 7th Infantry and 10th Motorized Divisions took over the protection of the deep right flank against the Soviet 21st Army, which was concentrated in the Klimovichi - Miloslawitsohi area . During the Roslavl-Novybkov operation at the end of August, the corps with the 23rd, 197th and 267th Infantry Divisions successfully defended the area east of Roslavl against attacks by the Soviet 43rd Army . In October 1941, during the Typhoon Operation , VII Corps led the advance across Yelnya in the direction of Vyazma . After the fighting at Borodino, it advanced on both sides of the Moskva on Moshaisk in the direction of Moscow. At the beginning of January 1942 during the Soviet counter-offensive off Moscow , the corps was under the newly appointed commanding general of the artillery Hell in the association of the 4th Panzer Army .

1942

After the first battles at Rzhev , heavy defensive battles followed east of Sychovka for months . The general command for the central section was then released and subordinated to the 2nd Army in the Voronezh area . During the summer offensive of Army Group South , the VII Corps was assigned the 385th and the Hungarian 6th Divisions. The XIII acted as the left neighbor. Corps, the III. Hungarian 2nd Army Corps. At the end of the year, the Blümm group (75th and 57th ID) and the 323rd , 383rd and 387th Infantry Divisions were subordinate to the General Command.

1943

In January 1943 Voronezh and Kastornoje were lost and retreat fights followed in the area south of Kursk . The assumed the Corps 75th , 57th and 68th Infantry Division fought over Oboyan and Schudsha on Sumy back. During the Battle of Kursk in early July 1943, the corps was deployed on the line from Rylsk and on both sides of the Psjol in the Sumy area against the Soviet 38th and 40th Armies. At the end of July, the withdrawal from the Lebedin area via Priluki on Kiev was necessary. Subordinated to the 4th Panzer Army in October 1943, the corps held the Dnieper section near Kiev and tried in mid-October together with the XIII. Army Corps to contain the bridgehead of the Soviet 60th Army at Lyutesch . During these battles, the 68th, 75th and 88th Infantry and the 213rd Security Division were assigned to the Corps. The city of Kiev was lost on November 6th and was taken by the Soviet 38th Army and the 5th Guards Tank Corps (General Kravchenko ). The VII Corps was pushed south to Belaya Tserkov and at the end of 1943 covered the counter-attacks of the 4th Panzer Army at Berditschew and Zhitomir .

1944/45

In the spring of 1944, further retreat fights followed via Vinnitsa in the direction of the Romanian border with the Prut . In August 1944, the VII Army Corps deployed in the 6th Army was subordinate to the 106th and 370th Infantry Divisions , as well as the Romanian 14th Infantry Division. The command was finally crushed in the Kesselschlacht near Jassy and then officially dissolved on September 27, 1944.

In December 1944, a successor unit was activated: using the staff of the 49th Infantry Division, the VII Panzer Corps (General von Kessel ) was set up, which surrendered to the Red Army in West Prussia at the end of 1945 .

guide

Commanding generals

  • General of the Infantry Wilhelm Adam October 1, 1934 to October 1, 1935
  • General of the Artillery Walter von Reichenau October 1, 1935 to February 4, 1938
  • General of the Infantry Eugen Ritter von Schobert February 4, 1938 to January 31, 1940
  • Lieutenant General Gotthard Heinrici February 1 to early April 1940
  • Colonel General Eugen Ritter von Schobert April 9 to October 25, 1940
  • General of the Artillery Wilhelm Fahrmbacher October 25, 1940 to January 8, 1942
  • General of the Artillery Ernst-Eberhard Hell January 8, 1942 to October 5, 1943
  • General of the Infantry Anton Dostler October 5 to November 30, 1943
  • General of the Artillery Ernst-Eberhard Hell November 30, 1943 to August 27, 1944

Chiefs of the General Staff

  • Colonel Ludwig Kübler October 1, 1934 to June 1, 1935
  • Colonel Kurt Brennecke June 1, 1935 to autumn 1938
  • Colonel Hermann von Witzleben from autumn 1938 to December 15, 1939
  • Colonel i. G. Hans Krebs December 15, 1939 to January 13, 1942
  • Lieutenant Colonel i. G. Karl-Richard Koßmann January 14th to April 1942
  • Colonel i. G. Rudolf Hielscher April to October 15, 1942
  • Colonel i. G. Joachim Schwatlo-Gesterding October 15, 1942 to May 1944
  • Colonel i. G. Hans Dieckmann May to July 1944
  • Colonel i. G. Edwin Steinitz July to August 1944
  • Colonel i. G. Hans-Joachim Schipp von Branitz August 1944

literature

  • Percy E. 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
  • Werner Haupt : Army Group Mid 1941–1945 , Podzun Verlag, Dorheim 1968.
  • Carl Wagener : Army Group South , Podzun Verlag, Bad Nauheim 1970.