German Army
The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. It was formed on 1 October 1934 under the command of General Friedrich Dollman in
Kassel
Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...
with the camouflage name of Kassel and redesignated IX Corps after the creation of the Wehrkreis IX recruitment and training area.
After the general mobilisation in August 1939 IX Corps were stationed near
Worms Worms may refer to:
*Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs
Places
*Worms, Germany, a city
**Worms (electoral district)
*Worms, Nebraska, U.S.
*Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy
Arts and entertainme ...
as 1st Army reserves. In May 1940 they took part in
Fall Gelb
The Manstein Plan or Case Yellow (german: Fall Gelb) also known as Operation Sichelschnitt (german: Sichelschnittplan, from the English language, English term sickle cut), was the Military operation plan, war plan of the German Army (Wehrmacht), ...
, the Manstein plan to invade the Low Countries and France via the
Ardennes
The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...
, pushing on to
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Eastern Front in 1941 to take part in
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
, the invasion of the Soviet Union, the corps, at that time consisting of 137th, 263rd and the 292nd Infantry Division, were transferred to the 4th Army under the overall command of Field Marshal
Günther von Kluge
Günther Adolf Ferdinand von Kluge (30 October 1882 – 19 August 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II who held commands on both the Eastern and Western Fronts. He commanded the 4th Army of the Wehrmacht during the invasion o ...
. They reached the Dnieper river where they encountered strong Soviet resistance and by the end of 1942 had to fall back. In the spring of 1943 further retreat was necessary.
On 22 June 1944, during
Operation Bagration
Operation Bagration (; russian: Операция Багратио́н, Operatsiya Bagration) was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (russian: Белорусская наступательная оп ...
, the left corps section in the Sirotino area was attacked by seven Soviet divisions of the Soviet 4th Infantry under General Malychev. Further retreats followed up to the end of the year.
By 1945 the corps had fallen back to the
Deyma River
The Deyma (russian: link=no, Дейма; german: link=no, Deime; lt, link=no, Deimena) is a river in Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast. It separates from the Pregolya at Gvardeysk, flows through Polessk, and ends at the Curonian Lagoon. The Polessk Cana ...
near
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...
, where they established a defensive position. The German Army surrendered on 8 May 1945.
Commanders
* Artillery General (''
General der Artillerie
General der Artillerie ( en: General of the artillery) may mean:
1. A rank of three-star general, comparable to modern armed forces OF-8 grade, in the Imperial German Army and its contingency armies of Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony and Württembe ...
'')
Friedrich Dollmann
Friedrich Karl Albert Dollmann (2 February 188228 June 1944Reynolds, M: ''Steel Inferno'', p. 163. Dell Publishing, 1997.D'Este, C: ''Decision in Normandy'', pp. 241–242. Penguin Books, 2004.) was a German general during World War II who comma ...
, 1 October 1934 – 25 August 1939.
* Infantry General (''
General der Infanterie General of the Infantry is a military rank of a General officer in the infantry and refers to:
* General of the Infantry (Austria)
* General of the Infantry (Bulgaria)
* General of the Infantry (Germany) ('), a rank of a general in the German Imper ...
'')
Hermann Geyer
__NOTOC__
Hermann Geyer (7 July 1882 – 10 April 1946) was a German general during World War II who commanded the IX Army Corps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Geyer retired in 1943 and committed suic ...
, 25 August 1939 – 31 December 1941.
* Infantry General (''
General der Infanterie General of the Infantry is a military rank of a General officer in the infantry and refers to:
* General of the Infantry (Austria)
* General of the Infantry (Bulgaria)
* General of the Infantry (Germany) ('), a rank of a general in the German Imper ...
'') Hans Schmidt, 31 December 1941 – 15 October 1943.
* Infantry General (''
General der Infanterie General of the Infantry is a military rank of a General officer in the infantry and refers to:
* General of the Infantry (Austria)
* General of the Infantry (Bulgaria)
* General of the Infantry (Germany) ('), a rank of a general in the German Imper ...
'') Erich Clößner, 15 October 1943 – 5 December 1943.
* Artillery General (''
General der Artillerie
General der Artillerie ( en: General of the artillery) may mean:
1. A rank of three-star general, comparable to modern armed forces OF-8 grade, in the Imperial German Army and its contingency armies of Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony and Württembe ...
'')
Rolf Wuthmann __NOTOC__
Rolf Wuthmann (26 August 1893 – 20 October 1977) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded the IX Army Corps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.
Wuthmann surrendered to the Red ...
, 5 December 1943 – 20 April 1945.
* Lieutenant-General (''
Generalleutnant
is the Germanic variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries.
Austria
Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO rank of O ...
'') Dr.
Hermann Hohn __NOTOC__
Hermann Hohn (11 October 1897 – 13 November 1968) was a German general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II, who commanded several divisions. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and ...
, 20 April 1945 – 8 May 1945.
Area of operations
*
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
- September 1939 - May 1940.
*
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
- May 1940 - June 1941.
* Eastern Front, central sector - June 1941 - December 1944.
*
East Prussia
East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
& northern Germany - January 1945 - May 1945.
See also
*
List of German corps in World War II
List of German corps in World War II
This is a list of German Army corps that existed during World War II.
Army (Heer)
Infantry corps
I–IX
* I Army Corps
* II Army Corps
* III Army Corps
* IV Army Corps
* V Army Corps
* VI Army Corps
* ...