XXXIX. Panzer Corps (Wehrmacht)

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The XXXIX. Army Corps (mot.) Was a large unit of the German Wehrmacht , it was deployed against France in 1940, and from 1941 fought mainly on the Eastern Front. In 1942 the name was changed to XXXIX. Panzer Corps , until 1944 it carried out operations with Army Group Center and North . In 1945 the corps was deployed in Alsace, Pomerania, Silesia and the end of the war on the Elbe.

First formation

The General Command XXXIX. Army corps (mot.) Was set up on January 27, 1940 in Wehrkreis IX in Gotha . On July 9, 1942, the General Command in XXXIX. Renamed Panzer Corps. First Commanding General of the XXXIX. Army Corps became General of the Rudolf Schmidt Armored Force on February 1, 1940 .

Western campaign

After the start of the western campaign on May 10, 1940, the corps staff was initially held in reserve and only two days later was the staff of the 18th Army under General of the Artillery Georg von Küchler , which advanced through Holland. On May 12th, the XXXIX. Army Corps (motorized) transferred command of the 9th Panzer Division , the 254th Infantry Division and the Leibstandarte SS "Adolf Hitler" . Rotterdam was assigned to the corps as a target and was also assigned to the 7th Flieger Division , whose soldiers had established themselves in the bridgehead there. The surrender of Rotterdam had already been signed on May 14th, when a short time later Kampfgeschwader 54 bombed the old town due to a communication error, killing 900 people. The corps was then moved to the Arras area, where British armored forces launched a counter-offensive on May 21, 1940. The XXXIX. Army Corps took over the leadership of the German forces on site, but largely left the leadership of the defense against the English attack to Major General Erwin Rommel , the commander of the subordinate 7th Panzer Division . Now the fronts came to a standstill and the fighting was concentrated in the Dunkirk pocket . The corps was reorganized for the second phase of the attack and placed under the Guderian Panzer Group (General Command XIX. AK.). In the red case , the corps crossed the Aisne on both sides of Rethel on June 9th . On June 12, reached the allocated first and 2nd Panzer Division and the 29th Motorized. Division with the breakthrough in Belfort , the Swiss border . Here they met divisions of the German 7th Army of Colonel General Friedrich Dollmann , which pushed against them via Mühlhausen. Allied Army Group 3 (French 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 8th Army) was thus included. The corps advanced further south as far as Pontarlier until France surrendered at Compiègne on June 22nd . In the Wehrmacht leadership, the plan for the conquest of Gibraltar was drawn up for the second half of 1940 , and the XXXIX was among the two general commands that were intended for this enterprise. Army Corps. However, since General Francisco Franco refused to allow German troops to march through Spain at the last minute, the Felix operation could no longer be carried out.

German-Soviet War

The XXXIX. Army corps (mot.) Was relocated to Allenstein in East Prussia in the spring of 1941 . In June 1941, the Corps was Operation Barbarossa of the Central Army Group assumed. On June 22, 1941, the XXXIX. Army corps (motorized) in the association of Panzer Group 3 (Colonel General Hermann Hoth ) with the 7th and 20th Panzer Divisions , as well as in the second meeting with the 20th Infantry Division (motorized) from the border point from Suwałki via Olita to Vilna in front. Already on the second day there was a tank battle with the Russian 5th Panzer Division (from the 3rd mechanized corps of General AW Kurkin ) near Alytus , which caused heavy losses. But the advance continued and the 7th Panzer Division occupied the city of Vilnius on June 25th. From here the XXXIX spun. Corps, according to orders, headed south-east again in the direction of Minsk , the 7th Panzer Division protecting the road to Moscow east of Minsk. At the beginning of July 1941, the XXXIX stepped up. Corps the west bank of the Berezina between Ziembin and Nyemenczyn. The 20th Motorized Infantry Division reached Dolkinov on July 2nd and Surask on July 12th. On July 3, the 7th Panzer Division crossed the Berezina River near Lepel and reached Senno a few days later after heavy fighting. By July 10, the corps crossed the Daugava and conquered Vitebsk , the 7th Panzer Division secured south of the city. Between July 18 and August 7, there was very heavy fighting on the Smolensk - Moscow road when the advance on Yarzewo, the troops of XXXIX. Army corps (motorized) with the 7th Panzer Division on the Yarzewo - Ustje - Kresty line closed the northern ring around several Soviet armies in the Smolensk area . Regardless of the heavy losses and the condition of the troops, the corps was detached from the front on August 16, 1941 and transferred to Lake Ladoga with the assigned 12th Panzer Division to reinforce Army Group North .

Here the corps in the formation of Panzer Group 4 was supposed to participate in the capture of Leningrad . On September 8, 1941, Shlisselburg on Lake Ladoga was captured by the 20th Motorized Infantry Division and the city was robbed of its connections to the rear. At this point Hitler had already decided to starve Leningrad out. The bulk of the armored units of Army Group North were therefore transferred back to Army Group Center to take part in the attack on Moscow. The XXXIX. Army corps (motorized) remained in the north. On October 16, 1941, the corps and the I. Army Corps formed the core of an attack group - formed from the 12th Panzer Division, the 20th and 18th Infantry Division (motorized) and the 21st, 61st and 126th Infantry Division - which made an advance towards Tikhvin . Tichwin was taken in icy temperatures on November 8th by Infantry Regiment 51 (Lieutenant Colonel Hans-Georg Leyser ) of the 18th Motorized Division (General Herrlein). On November 11, 1941, Schmidt left the corps and became commander-in-chief of the 2nd Panzer Army ; the new commanding officer became general of the armored troop Hans-Jürgen von Arnim . On November 15, 1941, however, the 4th and 54th Soviet Armies began strong counter-attacks, which on December 22, 1941 forced the retreat of the German group behind the Volkhovs . The XXXIX. Corps then took over the cover of the Volkhov line at Tschudowo with the 61st and 215th Infantry Divisions and the 20th Motorized Infantry Division .

Deployments in 1942 and 1943

Between March and June 1942, the corps in the section of the 16th Army with the 8th Panzer Division and the subordinate 121st and 123rd Infantry Divisions carried out relief attacks from the Lowat for the general's 281st Security Division encircled in the Cholm area Theodor Scherer . The XXXIX was renamed on July 9, 1942. Army Corps (mot.) In XXXIX. Panzer Corps. In the same month the corps of the 9th Army was transferred to the front arc of Rzhev and the 1st and 5th Panzer Divisions , the 78th and 102nd Infantry Divisions between Sychevka and Gschatsk were placed under their command. The corps was the focus of defensive battles during the Soviet operation Mars . On December 1, 1942, General of the Artillery Robert Martinek took over the command of the corps, which now led the 78th, 102nd and 337th Infantry Divisions , as well as the 5th Panzer Division. Army Group Center evacuated the Rshewer front arch in March 1943, and in April the XXXIX fought. Corps in the Newel area . Between August and October 1943, the XXXIX. Panzer Corps took part in the defense of Smolensk against the Russian Operation Suvorov . On September 23, 1943, Smolensk had to be evacuated.

Deployments in 1944

At the beginning of 1944, the corps of the 4th Army (Gotthard Heinrici) was subordinate to the 95th, 129th and 337th Infantry Divisions in the Orsha area . In May 1944 the corps withdrew to the area east of Mogilew , in June 1944 the 12th , 31st , 110th and 337th Infantry Divisions and the Feldherrnhalle Panzer Grenadier Division were subordinate to the Corps ; it secured the important taxiway through Mogilev.

Busting

At the beginning of the Soviet Operation Bagration on June 22, 1944, the 12th Infantry Division in Mogilev was broken up. The commanders of the 110th, 12th and 31st Infantry Divisions and the Pz.Gren.Div. “Feldherrnhalle”, Generals Kurowski, Bamler, Ochsner and von Steinkeller were captured by the Soviets. The commanding general of the XXXIX Corps, General Robert Martinek, was killed in the retreat to Beresina on June 28th and his successor Otto Schünemann the following day by Soviet air raids. The corps disintegrated completely on the Beresina, the river had to be crossed under enemy air raids, almost all units of the corps were broken up or captured by the 2nd Belarusian Front (General Sakharov) east of Minsk.

Second formation

On June 28th General Dietrich von Saucken took over the general command of the "Kampfgruppe Saucken". The battle group, which at that time essentially consisted of the 5th Panzer Division, the Heavy Panzer Division 505 and the 170th Infantry Division , had to fight back from Borissow to Molodechno before the attacks of the Soviet 3rd Belarusian Front (General Tschernjachowski ). Von Saucken tried to delay the Soviet advance through skillful leadership and to keep the retreat routes open for escaping units of the 4th Army - he could not prevent the loss of Minsk on July 3 due to the catastrophic overall military situation of Army Group Center.

At the beginning of August 1944 - during the Warsaw Uprising - the XXXIX. Corps of the 9th Army (General Vormann) subordinated to the 4th and 12th Panzer Divisions and the Panzer Grenadier Division “Hermann Göring”. The corps secured the eastern apron of Warsaw and led counter-attacks from Praga at Radzymin, Wolomin and Okuniew.

On August 5th, the company was replaced by the IV. SS Corps and the corps was transported to Courland . General von Saucken received the order to carry out the Doppelkopf operation , which meant that the lost connection to the German 16th Army in the Riga area should be reopened. The XXXIX. Panzer Corps opened the attack on August 16. The attack of the 4th and 5th Panzer Divisions from the Moscheiken area to the northeast reached Autz, but ran into the 6th Guards Army before Doblen . The attack by the combat group on the left under Hyazinth Graf Strachwitz von Gross-Zauche and Camminetz was covered from the sea by the fire of the cruiser Prinz Eugen and reached via Tukkum the connection with the Kleffel group of the 16th Army. By August 27, the corridor between 3rd Panzer Army and 16th Army had widened to about 20 kilometers wide, although the pressure of new Soviet forces was felt. The 18th Army moved to its headquarters in Aizpute (Hasenpoth) in October 1944 in order to defend the right wing of the Kurland Front from there. In addition to the I. and X. Army Corps , you were also subordinate to the XXXIX. Panzer Corps with the 4th and 12th Panzer Divisions , as well as the 225th and 61st Infantry Divisions, which defended the Skuodas - Vainode - Autz line. Decker's corps was used in heavy defensive battles in the Courland Basin , and between Vainode and Moscheiken it supported the defensive battle of the II Army Corps .

On October 15, 1944, General von Saucken gave command to the General of the Panzer Troop Karl Decker , the corps was pulled out of Courland and transferred to East Prussia as a reserve of the 3rd Panzer Army ( Erhard Raus ). On October 22nd a Soviet breakthrough occurred south of Gumbinnen , which could be cleared by the counter-attacks of the 5th Panzer Division and 50th Infantry Division from November 2nd on the Angerapp. In November, the corps, which was subordinated to the 4th Army, were subordinate to the 28th Jäger Division and the 21st Infantry Division , which defended the Rominte section east of Goldap .

Operations in 1945

At the end of 1944 the XXXIX. Panzer Corps relocated to General Hans von Obstfelder's 1st Army on the fragile western front . In the company Nordwind from December 31, 1944, an advance in the area in northern Alsace by the XIII. SS Army Corps , which was supposed to prevent a US counter-attack into the left flank of the already failed Ardennes offensive and to win back Strasbourg . On January 8, 1945 the company Sonnenwende followed through the XXXIX. Panzer Corps, but this attack remained south of Weissenburg , Strasbourg could be held by the Allies. Further defensive battles of the subordinate 21st Panzer Division in the Seltz - Bischwiller area brought no relief. After this brief injunction with the 1st Army , the corps was transferred back to the Eastern Front in February 1945. It was used against the Soviet offensive in Pomerania as part of the newly established 11th Panzer Army. The XXXIX. Panzer Corps led together with the III. SS Panzer Corps launched an attack from the Stettin area on February 16, 1945 with the Holstein Panzer Division , the 10th SS Panzer Division "Frundsberg" , the 4th SS Police Panzer Grenadier Division and the 28th SS volunteers -Panzer Grenadier Division "Wallonia" . The corps advanced via Stargard in a south-east direction to Dölitz; Soviet counter-attacks from February 17th near Arnswalde forced a retreat from Western Pomerania into the Altdammer bridgehead. At the beginning of March 1945, the 17th Army Corps was transferred to Silesia . The German leadership began a counterattack north of the Giant Mountains near Lauban on the night of March 1st . The left attack group formed the XXXIX. Corps consisting of the Führer Grenadier Division , 17th Panzer Division, 6th Volksgrenadier Division. On the afternoon of March 2, Ober-Bielau was taken, and the corps then turned north towards Logau. On March 4, the Führer Grenadier Division pushed east across the Queis, where it shook hands with the opposing 8th Panzer Division on the Lindenberg (east of Logau) . In hard fighting until March 15, Striegau was also liberated. On March 27, 1945 it was XXXIX. Corps of the 9th Army , it received the Müncheberg Panzer Division , the 20th Panzer Grenadier Division and the 25th Panzer Grenadier Division as well as the Fuehrer Grenadier Division. The goal was to liberate the enclosed German garrison in Küstrin . General Theodor Busse , the Commander-in-Chief of the 9th Army, subordinated the XXXIX. Panzer Corps also the fortress Frankfurt an der Oder and the 169th and 600th (Russian) infantry divisions . This should meet the requirements for a further attack by the XI. SS Panzer Corps with a focus on Lebus . On April 15, 1945, the Blumentritt Army Group received the order from OB Northwest (General Busch ), with the subordinate General Command XXXIX. Panzer Corps to attack immediately from the Uelzen - Gifhorn area in the direction of Braunschweig and thus push into the rear of the American 9th Army which had advanced on Magdeburg. After an initial success, this attack, which was mainly led by the "Clausewitz" tank division , remained in the American defensive fire near Bornum am Elm. On April 21, the General of the Panzer Troops, Karl Decker, committed suicide shortly before being captured by the Americans. Lieutenant General Karl Arndt took over General Command XXXIX without troops. on April 25th, which was subordinated to the 12th Army ( Walther Wenck ). At the beginning of May the corps secured the Wulkau – Molkenberg line with thrown together units, the subordinate divisions of Generals Heun and Konitzky secured the Havellinie between Rathenow and Brandenburg as a makeshift . The retreat to the west in front of the Soviet 47th Army was fighting. Until May 8th, they were taken into American captivity via the Elbe bridgeheads at Fischbeck and Tangermünde .

guide

Commanding general

First General Staff Officer:

literature

  • Alistair Horne: The French Campaign 1940 , Wilhelm Heyne Verlag Munich 1969.
  • Janusz Piekałkiewicz : The Second World War , Econ Verlag Düsseldorf and Vienna 1985, ISBN 3-430-17479-1 .
  • N. Kislizyn: Leningrad does not surrender , Progress Verlag Moscow 1984, p. 62 f.
  • Werner Haupt : Army Group North , Podzun Verlag, Bad Nauheim 1966.
  • Werner Haupt: Heeresgruppe Mitte , Podzun Verlag, Dorheim 1968.
  • Rolf Hinze: The Army Group collapsed in mid-1944 , Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart 1992.
  • Rolf Hinze: Das Ostfront Drama 1944 , Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart 1987.
  • Tony Le Tissier: Breakthrough on the Oder 1945 , Bechtermünz Verlag Augsburg 1997, p. 145.
  • Georg Gunter: Last laurel , Bläschke Verlag, Darmstadt 1974.
  • Günther Gellermann: The 12th Army Wenck , Bernard and Graefe Verlag, Koblenz 1984.