XXI. Army Corps (Wehrmacht)

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

Positioning, assignments and organization

The XXI. Army Corps was set up in Military District I on August 10, 1939 . The commanding general had been Lieutenant General and later Colonel General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst since August 26, 1939 .

During the invasion of Poland , the Association of subordinate 3rd Army under General of Artillery Georg von Küchler which the Army Group North under Colonel-General Fedor von Bock was a member.

When the campaign opened, the XXI. Army Corps with the 228th and 21st Infantry Divisions on the eastern bank of the Vistula from Marienwerder ( Kwidzyn ) against Graudenz ( Grudziądz ) and encountered resistance from the 16th Polish Infantry Division during the day. On September 2nd, the Ossa was crossed. The German infantry encountered considerable resistance north of the city, but were able to fight a narrow break in the first belt of Graudenz the following day . On September 4th, German troops penetrated the inner fort belt.

With the capture of Graudenz the connection with the 4th Army was established and the 3rd Army strengthened its left wing by the XXI. Corps from the front and relocated to the area Johannisburg ( Pisz ) - Lyck ( Ełk ). It left the 228th Infantry Division in its position and transferred command to the 2nd Army Corps of the 4th Army , which enlarged the bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Vistula from Kulm ( Chelmno ) .

Further use

The XXI. On March 1, 1940, Army Corps was subordinated to the Wehrmacht High Command as Army Group XXI for use in Norway , and in January 1941 it was converted to the Norwegian Army High Command .

literature

  • Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945. Volume 4. The Land Forces 15–30 . 2nd Edition. Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1976, ISBN 3-7648-1083-1 .