XIX. Mountain Corps (Wehrmacht)

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The Mountain Corps Norway (from November 1942 XIX Mountain Army Corps ) was a general command of the German Wehrmacht , which was continuously deployed on the northernmost eastern front , in Lapland , during World War II . On November 25, 1944, the General Command was renamed the Narvik Army Department .

history

Positioning and organization

The Mountain Corps Norway was founded on June 15, 1940 with its first headquarters in Trondheim , formed from parts of Landungsgruppe XXI and the 2nd and 3rd Mountain Divisions and deployed as an occupation force in Northern Norway . On June 4, 1941, it was subordinated to the Finland command post of the Army High Command Norway , which was renamed AOK Lapland on January 14, 1942 and the 20th Mountain Army on June 22, 1942 . On November 10th, the name was changed to XIX. Mountain Army Corps and on November 25, 1944 in Narvik Army Department .

1940

After Narvik was secured , the newly founded Mountain Corps Norway, whose leadership was taken over by General Dietl, was subordinate to the 2nd and 3rd Mountain Divisions . Until Operation Barbarossa, the corps remained subordinate to AOK Norway and served as a crew in the Narvik - Tromsö - Lyngenfjord area .

1941

In February 1941, with regard to the planning for the Silberfuchs company, an agreement was reached to relocate German soldiers from the Norwegian Army Command via the North Cape to the Varangerfjord and the Kirkenes area in order to secure the economically important nickel mines of Petsamo . Pioneers built a war bridge over the Patsjokki between Svanik and Salmijärvi and built another bridge over the Petsamojokki near Luostari. The troop transfers took place at the beginning of June, and on June 22nd the Finnish-Norwegian border was crossed in the Linahamari - Parkkina area. After reaching Luostari on June 24th and securing Petsamo, the Platinfuchs enterprise was to begin on June 29th in a further phase . The mountain corps, together with some Finnish border units, was supposed to advance directly on Murmansk and take the port, where military weapons for the Soviet Union were constantly arriving. The 2nd and 3rd Mountain Divisions were to advance from the area on both sides of Lake Kuosmejärvi to Polyarnoje and Murmansk and destroy the enemy who had landed in Motowski Bay west of the Kola Peninsula . The 3rd Mountain Division had to advance across the wasteland between Lajoaivi and the road to Sapadnaya to Titovka against the flank of the enemy forces lying in front of the front. After advances 30 kilometers deep, counter-attacks by the Soviet 14th Army (General Frolow) were halted on July 5th. Between July 10 and 19, an eastern bridgehead was built on the Liza. On September 8, the German attack on the Liza was renewed. On September 22nd, after several unsuccessful attempts to cross the river Liza or to widen the bridgehead over the river, the corps had to start a positional war at the beginning of October . The front line remained relatively stable throughout the rest of the war. The total German losses during Operation Platinfuchs amounted to about 10,300 dead and wounded. In October 1941, the 3rd Mountain Division (excluding Mountain Infantry Regiment 139) was replaced on the Liza Front by the 6th Mountain Division newly brought in from the Balkans .

1942/43

On April 27, 1942, the Soviets landed the 12th Marine Brigade in Motovsky Bay to encircle the 6th Mountain Division on the Liza Font, while 37 battalions began strong attacks on the western Murmansk front for two weeks. Only on May 12th could the danger of encirclement be removed. There were no more decisive Soviet attacks here until October 1944. On November 6, 1942, the General Command in XIX. Mountain Army Corps renamed. It also took over the coastal protection in the Kolsjok-Kirkenes-Vandö area. The year 1943 was filled with trench warfare and defensive fighting at Luostari and the Petsamo River. In March 1943 the XIX. Mountain Corps was organized in that the newly established Petsamo Division Group, the 210th Infantry Division and the Commander of Kirkenes Sea Defense covered the rear sea front and the 2nd and 6th Mountain Divisions continued to cover the previous land front on the Liza.

1944/45

On September 19, 1944, the military situation changed suddenly with the armistice between Finland and the Soviet Union. As part of the Birke company , the XXXVI. and XVIII. Mountain Corps from the Kiestinski and Werman Fronts to be withdrawn immediately to Norway. The XIX. Corps under General Ferdinand Jodl with the 2nd Mountain Division (General Degen ) and the 6th Mountain Division (General Pemsel ) were only able to cover the retreat from central Finland on the northern flank with extreme effort. During the amphibious landing of Liinahamari on the night of October 10, Soviet marines were deposited on the banks of the Malaya Volkovaya. The following morning they attacked the German troops from the flank and, together with the marine infantry advancing ashore, broke through the German defensive positions on the Sredny peninsula. On the evening of October 12, additional troops were deployed in Liinahamari port. Together with the marine infantry, they captured Liinahamari on October 13th. On the night of the 15th, Petsamo fell into Soviet hands. The Norwegian border was crossed on October 22nd and the Norwegian town of Kirkenes was taken on October 25th after fierce fighting by Soviet troops with the support of the marine infantry. On October 29th, the Soviet troops were able to maintain their positions north of Neiden and southwest of Nautsi, thus completing the operation. In November 1944, the XIX also withdrew. Mountain Corps along the Arctic Road to Lyngenfjord (Troms) . On November 25, 1944, the zurückgegange the border triangle was General Command in Army Division Narvik renamed, remained the 20th Mountain Army assumed and then the second and had 6th Mountain Division and the 210th Division assumed.

At the beginning of 1945, the Army Department had the 169th , 230th, 270th, the division group z. b. V. 140 as well as the 6th and 7th Mountain Divisions . In January 1945 the withdrawal movement began from the Narvik area and then to southern Norway, where the General Command in the Lillehammer area surrendered to the British.

guide

Commanding generals

Chiefs of the General Staff

  • Colonel Karl von Le Suire , July 1, 1940 to July 16, 1942
  • Colonel Hans Degen , July 16, 1942 to October 25, 1943
  • Colonel Hermann Hölter, November 1, 1943 to February 5, 1944
  • Colonel Konrad Purucker, February 5 to November 25, 1944

literature

  • Roland Kaltenegger: Die deutsche Gebirgstruppe 1935-1945, Bechtermünz Verlag, Augsburg 1999, pp. 55, 261, 373-405.
  • Paul Klatt: The 3rd Mountain Division, Podzun Verlag, Bad Nauheim 1958, pp. 69-80.
  • Percy Ernst Schramm (Ed.): War diary of the High Command of the Wehrmacht , Bernard & Graefe Verlag für Wehrwesen, Frankfurt am Main 1965.
    • Volume I: 1940/41 edited by Hans-Adolf Jacobsen .
    • Volume II: 1942 edited by Andreas Hillgruber , Bernard & Graefe Verlag für Wehrwesen, Frankfurt am Main 1965.
    • Volume III: 1943 edited by Walther Hubatsch , Bernard & Graefe Verlag für Wehrwesen, Frankfurt am Main 1965.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Paul Klatt: 3rd Mountain Division, Podzun Verlag, Bad Nauheim 1958, pp. 71-90.