XXXXVIII. Army Corps (Wehrmacht)

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The XXXXVIII. (48th) Army Corps (mot.) Was a corps that was set up on December 14, 1940 as a major unit of the German Wehrmacht under the cover name "Fortress Construction Staff 48" (until May 1941). On June 21, 1942 it was only named XXXXVIII. Armored Corps designated and fought on the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union until the end of the war in 1945 .

history

Lineup

The General Command XXXXVIII. Army corps was to be set up on June 20, 1940 in the course of the western campaign . The installation was canceled again on July 1, 1940. The General Command (mot.) XXXXVIII was set up again on December 14, 1940. The staff was from the Deputy General Command XII. Army Corps. The first commanding general was Lieutenant General Werner Kempf . On January 31, 1941, the staff was temporarily subordinated to the 11th Army in Wehrkreis IV (Dresden) .

1941

From April 20 to 23, 1941, the general command was transferred to Kielce via Breslau and Czestochowa . On April 26, 1941, the corps command arriving in the Zamosz area was subordinated to the 6th Army , on June 21 the XXXXVIII. motorized corps for Panzer Group 1 (Colonel General Ewald von Kleist ). On the night of June 22, 1941, the deployment of Panzer Group 1 was over and the attack against the Soviet Union was initiated around 6:00 a.m. On the right attacked the XXXXVIII motorized AK with 11th Panzer Division , 16th Infantry Division (motorized) , and 57th Infantry Division , in the middle the XXIX. Army Corps (General Obstfelder ) and on the left the III. Army Corps (mot.) ( Eberhard von Mackensen ) from the Sokal sheet. The XIV Army Corps (mot.) (General Wietersheim ) remained behind in reserve for the time being. The 11th Panzer Division (Major General Ludwig Crüwell ) came forward at the head of the corps with the reconnaissance division - through Sokal , the Styr crossing from Szczurowje was taken. Advancing with the 11th Panzer Division via Stojanow to Beresteczko , the corps was already almost 20 kilometers deep in enemy territory in the evening. Between June 23 and 28, 1941, the corps fought with the 16th Infantry Division (motorized), the 16th Panzer Division and the 11th Panzer Division in the tank battle between Brody and Dubno . Soviet counterattacks from the south missed the 11th Panzer Division advancing to the east, and instead hit the following 57th Infantry Division on the right flank. The Red Army drove back these ten kilometers, but then came on the defensive through the intervention of the 16th Panzer Division at Dubno . The Soviet counterattack of the 9th Mechanized Corps ( Rokossowski ) at Rovno , which was simultaneously set up from the north , could no longer prevent the 11th Panzer Division from breaking through either, but it met the 13th Panzer Division and was soon pushed back on the defensive Soviet tanks were operating too far west and were already fighting without support or supplies. The XXXXVIII. Army Corps paved the way to Kiev for the following infantry corps of the 6th Army, advancing via Schepetovka . The XXXXVIII. After the occupation of Berdichev on July 11th, the Army Corps turned right to the southeast with the 11th Panzer Division and joined forces with the XIV. Army Corps and the 17th Army on August 2nd to close the ring to other Soviet units at Novo-Arkhangelsk Uman cauldron . The further advance of the corps took place with the 16th Panzer and 16th Motorized ID. From August 6th south to Voznesensk , on August 11th Nikolayev fell , then succeeded in cooperation with the 11th Army, the occupation of Kherson .

For the following operations in the Battle of Kiev , the corps was relocated north to the Dnepr (without 11th Panzer Division - this was in the reserve of Army Group South). The corps, together with the XIV Army Corps (mot.), Formed the southern thrust wedge of a new pincer movement in the Kremenchug bridgehead . From September 12, 1941, the corps led the 9th Panzer Division , 25th Infantry Division (motorized) and the 16th Panzer Division along the Sula northwards via Lubny to Romny , where they joined Panzer Group 2 . Until September 24th, further Soviet forces were surrounded between Pirjatin and Lochwiza , then the corps was transferred to the Taifun company in the Gluchow area . In October, the Corps concluded with the 9th Panzer Division ( Hubicki ) and the 25th Motorized Infantry Division. Division the southern front of the boiler of Bryansk makeshift and was doing the 2nd Army ( Weichs ) assumes the following at the line Rylsk , lgov and Dmitrijew-Lgowski took action against Kursk .

1942

In the spring of 1942 the corps secured defensively in the Kursk area. The XXXXVIII. During the following summer offensive ( Fall Blau ) from June 28, 1942 , Panzer Corps was under the 4th Panzer Army under Colonel General Hermann Hoth . The tanks of the 24th Panzer Division advanced through Stary Oskol in the direction of Voronezh to the Don, gained an eastern bridgehead on July 4th and, in cooperation with the Greater Germany Division , were able to partially take the city by July 8th. After the 4th Panzer Army to 21 July at Zimljanskaja had struck a southern Donbrückenkopf that XXXXVIIIth was. Panzer Corps regrouped between July 30th and August 3rd to reinforce the 6th Army in the direction of Kotelnikowo . During the attack on the southern suburbs of Stalingrad were under the XXXXVIII. Panzer Corps the 14th and 24th Panzer Divisions . On September 7, 1942, the associations of the XXXXVIII. Panzer Corps (14th Panzer Division, 24th Panzer Division and 29th Infantry Division (motorized) ) were regrouped in the Woroponowo and Pestschanka area, the 14th Panzer Division was still able to move into positions on September 12th penetrate the Red Army at Elschanka and Kuporosnoye. The IV Army Corps (General Schwedler) attacking at the same time also got stuck south of Beketowka . The general command was then released and transferred to the Tschir as a reserve . On November 19, 1942, the Soviet troops broke through the lines of the Romanian 3rd Army to the south in the counter-offensive ( Operation Uranus ) near Serafimowitsch. The XXXXVIII set against this break-in. Panzer Corps now only consisted of the 22nd Panzer Division and the Romanian 1st Panzer Division, primarily equipped with captured 38 (t) Panzerkampfwagen . The Panzer Corps was in barns in readiness, only about 30 tanks were ready, which could not stop the breakthrough of the Red Army. As the commander of the Panzer Corps, General Ferdinand Heim served as a scapegoat and was expelled from the Wehrmacht. The corps was quickly reformed and received the 11th Panzer Division and the 336th Infantry Division as well as the 7th Air Force Field Division, with which it was originally supposed to participate in the Wintergewitter operation and to advance on Kalatsch am Don . By the end of 1942, the corps under General of the Panzer Troops Otto von Knobelsdorff secured the new defensive positions on the Aksai , at Nizhne Tschirskaja , Tormosin and Morozovskaya.

1943

In the spring of 1943 it was XXXXVIII. Panzer Corps had already been pushed back across the Donets near Voroshilovgrad . In February 1943 Voroshilovgrad was lost, the corps withdrew with the 6th Panzer Division and 106th Infantry Division westwards via Losowaja and led together with the LVII. Panzer Corps counter-attacks against broken armored units near Pavlograd . In March 1943 the corps advanced with the 106th Infantry Division from Taranowka to Smijew to the Donets, while at the same time the 6th and 11th Panzer Divisions penetrated northwards via the Msha section and Merefa and together with the SS Panzer Corps ( Paul Hausser ) recaptured Kharkov ( Battle of Kharkov (1943) ). In June 1943 the XXXXVIII. Panzer Corps via Graiworon to Borisovka . At the beginning of July 1943 it took part in Operation Zitadelle with the Greater Germany Division , the 3rd and 11th Panzer Division , but was no longer able to break through to Obojan from the south . On August 12, the corps together with the III. Panzer Corps brought a front break in by the Red Army at Akhtyrka to a standstill, before it had to retreat through the Psel and Mirgorod to Perejaslav to the Dnieper until October 1943 . At the beginning of December 1943, the corps under General of the Panzer Force Hermann Balck tried in vain to recapture the lost Kiev by counterattacks at Radomyshl and Zhitomir and had to go back to Zhitomir. Until December 26th, Generalfeldmarschall von Manstein still believed in counter-attacks by XXXXVIII. Panzer Corps to be able to stop the Soviet breakthrough in the direction of Berditschew and Kasatin .

1944

In mid-January 1944 the Panzer Corps was thrown back into the Kasatin– Berditschew area by the offensive of the 1st Ukrainian Front . At the beginning of February it was concentrated in the Ljubar area to Starokonstantinov, subordinated to the 2nd SS Panzer Division, the 371st Infantry and the 8th and 19th Panzer Divisions . The 7th Panzer Division acted as a reserve in the Dubno area and was burned during unsuccessful battles for Shepetovka. An attack by the Soviet 60th Army with 11 rifle divisions and the 4th Guards Panzer Corps threw the XXXXVIII. Panzer Corps back behind the Wosuszka sector. At the briefing of the XXXXVIII. Panzer Corps on March 24, 1944, the combat group Friebe of the 8th Panzer Division received the order to push through the cut-off Tarnopol from the Jezierna area and to relieve the crew of the 359th Infantry Division trapped there, if possible to channel a supply convoy and up to to return behind one's main battle line in the evening. In April 1944, the federation entered the direction of Tarnopol without the promised Tiger Division 507, but in vain, and the city was then lost. In mid-July, there were further terror attacks for the XIII trapped at Brody . Army Corps . On July 27, 1944, the corps had to evacuate the Galician metropolis of Lemberg before the pressure of the Soviet 60th Army and to return to the Vistula via Jaroslau by August . On September 20, 1944, General of the Panzer Troop Maximilian von Edelsheim took over the leadership of the corps, which was part of the 4th Panzer Army ( Fritz-Hubert Gräser ) and the 16th Panzer Division, the 20th Panzer Grenadier Division and the 304. Infantry Division held the Vistula at Baranow .

1945

During the offensive of Marshal Ivan Konev on January 12, 1945 from the Baranov bridgehead, the troops of the corps with the 68th and 304th Infantry Divisions were completely overrun, Czestochowa and Kielce were lost as a result. In February 1945 the escaped General Command was in retreat to Silesia , it was subordinated to the 17th Army (General Schulz ) south of Ratibor and defended with the 208th and 269th Infantry Divisions on the line Bogucice - Sławków - Michałowice - Rogau.

On March 30, 1945, the General Command of the XXXXVIII. Panzer Corps detached from the new front near Görlitz and placed under the command of the 12th Army ( Walther Wenck ) newly formed from units of the Reich Labor Service . On April 10, it took over the leadership of the Volksgrenadier Division "Scharnhorst" and led defensive battles on the Saale against the 1st US Army ( Hodges ) advancing against Leipzig and Halle . It initially secured the line Bernburg - Halle - Querfurt - Eilenburg - Riesa to the west. The right neighbor became the XX. Army Corps ( Volksgrenadier Division "Ulrich von Hutten" ), the left neighbor was the Deputy General Command IV. AK (Dresden). Between April 13 and 17, the corps fought on the Halle - Saale line south of Merseburg , an attack against the US bridgeheads at Schönebeck and Barby on April 14 and 15 failed. On April 17th the connection to Leipzig was lost and the withdrawal to the Elbe near Magdeburg and the Mulde section between Wurzen and Grimma on Dessau became necessary. The Soviet breakthrough on Berlin had been felt since April 18, and the Bautzen - Wittenberg line was acutely threatened. The corps had to build a new eastern front along the Black Elster . The fighting troops of Lieutenant General Scherer and Major General Hermann took over the defense of the new Eastern Front. The left neighbor here was the LXXXX. Army corps of General Petersen in the area southeast of Freiberg . The XXXXVIII. Panzer Corps crossed the Elbe near Wittenberg and Coswig to the north in order to again protect the southern flank of the 12th Army behind it. Leipzig had to be abandoned on April 19, the Mulde bridgehead around Eilenburg on April 20, and the withdrawal of the corps from Grimma and Riesa was initiated. The corps had to break away from the enemy on its western front, cross the Elbe and walk about 130 to 150 km to reach the new battle line on April 24th and 25th. The last small Elbe bridgehead at Coswig was abandoned on April 26th, the Russians reached the connection with the Americans at Torgau . On April 27th the withdrawal took place on the line Pretzin (16 kilometers south of Magdeburg ) - Lindau - Grochewitz - Cobbelsdorf - Groß Marzehns, on the right the combat group Magdeburg under Lieutenant General Raegener joined, the left neighbor remained the XX. Corps (General of the Cavalry Karl-Erik Köhler ). On May 1, Magdeburg was evacuated and on May 3, the new line Zorien (20 km southwest of Genthin ) - northern edge Fiener Bruch - Großwusterwitz (15 kilometers southwest of Brandenburg an der Havel ) was moved. The XX. Army Corps was meanwhile heavily harassed on the Eastern Front between Beelitz and Treuenbrietzen by the Soviet 13th Army (Puchow), the breakthrough of the 4th Guards Armored Army ( Leljuschenko ) on Brandenburg an der Havel threatened general retreat. At this point in time General von Edelsheim had already been released from the corps command (the XXXXVIIIth Corps led Lieutenant General Wolfgang Hagemann from May 3 ) to conduct negotiations with the 9th US Army . General Edelsheim's only concern was to cover the retreat of the broken-out parts of the 9th Army to the Elbe and to save as many units of the 12th Army as possible from Soviet captivity. Until the official surrender on May 8, 1945 in Stendal , the huddled units of the corps tried to escape to the west via the Elbe bridges between Ferchland and Tangermünde .

guide

Commanding General:

Chief of the General Staff:

First General Staff Officer:

  • Major i. G. Hermann Berlin March 1941 to February 1942
  • Major i. G. Otto Marcks February to March 9, 1942
  • Major i. G. Friedrich Freiherr von Ohlen and Adlerscron March 9, 1942 until renaming

Allegations

year month Higher-level command Place of use
1941 February / April 11th Army , Army Group "C" homeland
May z. Vfg. Army Group "A" General Government
June 6th Army , Army Group SOUTH Bug
July September 1st Panzer Group , Army Group SOUTH Uman , Kremenchug , Kiev
October 2nd Panzer Group , Army Group MITTE Bryansk
November December 2nd Army , Army Group CENTER Kursk , Kastornoje
1942 January 2nd Army, Army Group CENTER Kursk
February / May 2nd Army, Army Group SOUTH Kursk
June July 4th Panzer Army , Army Group SOUTH Kursk, Don
August / November 4th Panzer Army, Army Group "B" Stalingrad
December Hollidt Army Division , DON Army Group Don
1943 January February Hollidt Army Division, DON Army Group Don, Donets
March 4th Panzer Army, Army Group SOUTH Kharkov
April Army division Kempf , Army Group SOUTH Kharkov
May June OKH / Kharkov refresh staff Kharkov
July September 4th Panzer Army, Army Group SOUTH Belgorod
October 8th Army , Army Group SOUTH Dnejpr (Kremenchug)
November December 4th Panzer Army, Army Group SOUTH Zhitomir
1944 January / March 4th Panzer Army, Army Group SOUTH Vinnitsa
April May 4th Panzer Army, Army Group NORTH UKRAINE Tarnopoly
June July 4th Panzer Army, Army Group NORTH UKRAINE Brody
August September 1st Panzer Army , Army Group NORTH UKRAINE Vistula ( Baranow )
October / December 4th Panzer Army, Army Group "A" Vistula (Baranow)
1945 January 4th Panzer Army, Army Group "A" Vistula (Baranow)
February March 17th Army , Army Group "A" Central Silesia
April z. Vfg. ​​OKH to the 12th Army ( Elbe )

Table: according to Ticino

Subordinate associations

Corps troops:

  • Artillery Commander 144 (Arko 144)
  • Corps Intelligence Department 448
  • Corps supply troops 448
  • Eastern Battalion 448

Division of War HGr Northern Ukraine (as of July 8, 1944)

Division of War HGr Northern Ukraine (as of August 15, 1944)

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS in World War II 1939–1945. Volume 5: Land Forces 31-70. Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück, 2nd verb. Edition 1979, p. 148.
  2. ↑ Percy E. Schramm (Ed.) War Diary of the High Command of the Wehrmacht 1940-1941 Part 2 explained by Prof. Dr. HA Jacobsen, pp. 497-617.
  3. ↑ W. Haupt: Kiev - The largest boiler battle, Bad Nauheim 1964 - pp. 139–150.
  4. ^ C. Wagener: Heeresgruppe Süd , Podzun Verlag p. 158.
  5. ^ Karl-Heinz Frieser: The battle in the Kursk arch . In: The German Reich and the Second World War - Volume 8: The Eastern Front 1943/44 - The War in the East and on the Side Fronts . Deutsche Verlagsanstalt Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-421-06235-2 , pp. 112–119.
  6. ^ Karl-Heinz Frieser: The retreat operations of Army Group South . In: The German Reich and the Second World War - Volume 8: The Eastern Front 1943/44 - The War in the East and on the Side Fronts . Deutsche Verlagsanstalt Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-421-06235-2 , situation map p. 352.
  7. ^ Karl-Heinz Frieser: The retreat operations of Army Group South. Part IV: The return of the pendulum . In: The German Reich and the Second World War - Volume 8: The Eastern Front 1943/44 - The War in the East and on the Side Fronts . Deutsche Verlagsanstalt Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-421-06235-2 , p. 428.
  8. ↑ Klaus Schönherr: Collapse in the East: the fighting for retreat since summer 1944. Part V: The fighting for Galicia and Beskydy . In: The German Reich and the Second World War - Volume 8: The Eastern Front 1943/44 - The War in the East and on the Side Fronts . Deutsche Verlagsanstalt Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-421-06235-2 , situation map p. 790.
  9. ^ Georg Tessin: Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS in World War II 1939–1945. Volume 5: Land Forces 31-70. Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück, 2nd verb. Edition 1979, p. 148.
  10. ↑ Klaus Schönherr: Collapse in the East: the fighting for retreat since the summer of 1944 . Part V: The fighting for Galicia and Beskydy . In: The German Reich and the Second World War - Volume 8: The Eastern Front 1943/44 - The War in the East and on the Side Fronts . Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-421-06235-2 , p. 686 table.
  11. ↑ Klaus Schönherr: Collapse in the East: the fighting for withdrawal since the summer of 1944 . Part V: The fighting for Galicia and Beskydy . In: The German Reich and the Second World War - Volume 8: The Eastern Front 1943/44 - The War in the East and on the Side Fronts . Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-421-06235-2 , p. 717 table.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Abbreviation available (reserve)
  2. ↑ The 8th Army was reactivated by converting the Army Department.
  3. ↑ From April to June 1943 the 4th Panzer Army was known as the Kharkov refresh staff.
  4. ↑ A combat group contains the remnants of a severely weakened division, usually only in regimental strength or less.