The XXVI Army Corps (german: XXVI. Armeekorps) was a

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

army corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

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 existed from 1939 to 1945. It was also known as Corps Wodrig (german: Korps Wodrig, link=no) during the Invasion of Poland.

History

The XXVI Army Corps was formed under the name ''Führungsstab z. b. V.'' under the supervision of AOK 1 in

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

on 22 August 1939. Its initial commander was

Albert Wodrig __NOTOC__ Albert Wodrig (16 July 1883 – 31 October 1972) was a German general during World War II who commanded the XXVI. Corps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Awards and decorations * Knight's Cr ...

, earning it the nickname ''Korps Wodrig'' before the official designation as an army corps on 1 October. Wodrig remained in command until 1 October 1942. During the

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

, Corps Wodrig oversaw the 1st and

12th 12 (twelve) is the natural number following 11 and preceding 13. Twelve is a superior highly composite number, divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6. It is the number of years required for an orbital period of Jupiter. It is central to many systems ...

Infantry Divisions, as well as the 1st Cavalry Brigade. Corps Wodrig was stationed in southern

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 ...

as part of 3rd Army, commanded by

Georg von Küchler Georg Carl Wilhelm Friedrich von Küchler (30 May 1881 – 25 May 1968) was a German field marshal and war criminal during World War II. He commanded the 18th Army and Army Group North during the Soviet-German war of 1941–1945. After the en ...

. The 3rd Army was in turn under the supervision of

Army Group North Army Group North (german: Heeresgruppe Nord) was a German strategic formation, commanding a grouping of field armies during World War II. The German Army Group was subordinated to the ''Oberkommando des Heeres'' (OKH), the German army high comman ...

, commanded by

Fedor von Bock Moritz Albrecht Franz Friedrich Fedor von Bock (3 December 1880 – 4 May 1945) was a German who served in the German Army during the Second World War. Bock served as the commander of Army Group North during the Invasion of Poland ...

. In the opening days of the invasion, Corps Wodrig struck straight south into the units of the Polish

Modlin Army Modlin Army ( pl, Armia Modlin) was one of the Polish armies that took part in the Polish world war 2 defence of 1939. After heavy casualties in the battle of Mława (September 1–3), the Army was forced to abandon its positions near Warsaw arou ...

in the

Mława Mława (; yi, מלאווע ''Mlave'') is a town in north-east Poland with 30,403 inhabitants in 2020. It is the capital of Mława County. It is situated in the Masovian Voivodeship. During the invasion of Poland in 1939, the battle of Mława was ...

area. The resulting

Battle of Mława The Battle of Mława, otherwise known as the Defence of the Mława position, took place to the north of the town of Mława in northern Poland between 1 and 3 September 1939. It was one of the opening battles of the Invasion of Poland and World Wa ...

ended in German victory. Corps Wodrig advanced further towards

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, assisting the German pincer movement against the Polish capital. On 1 October 1939, Corps Wodrig was officially redesignated ''XXVI. Armeekorps'', formally upgrading it from a ''z. b. V.'' special deployment staff to a full army corps in its own right. In December 1939, XXVI Army Corps was attached to the 6th Army and redeployed to the

Lower Rhine The Lower Rhine (german: Niederrhein; kilometres 660 to 1,033 of the river Rhine) flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hook of Holland, Netherlands (including the Nederrijn or "Nether Rhine" within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta); al ...

area. In early 1940, the army corps was reshuffled and moved through several armies in quick succession, including the 4th Army, 18th Army and 2nd Army. Under 18th Army, XXVI Army Corps participated on the northern flank of the German invasion force during the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

. The corps fought in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

. Its initial makeup on 10 May 1940 were the 207th, 254th and 256th Infantry Divisions, as well as the 4th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment. After a brief stay in the

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

area after the German victory over France, the corps was transferred back to its home region, East Prussia. There, its subordinate units remained consistent from 21 July 1940 to 12 March 1941 and were made up by the 161st, 217th and 291st Infantry Divisions. Map 3rd Ladoga-Battle

For

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 ...

, XXVI Army Corps operated under Army Group North and supervised the 61st, 217th and 291st Infantry Divisions. It advanced through the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...

region into the

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

area. It remained in the vicinity of Leningrad throughout the entire duration of the

Siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of L ...

, which was broken by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

on 27 January 1944. Corps commanders switched frequently after Albert Wodrig left his post on 1 October 1942; subsequent corps commanders included Ernst von Leyser,

Gustav Fehn __NOTOC__ Gustav Fehn (21 February 1892 – 5 June 1945) was a German general during World War II. Fehn served in the Afrika Korps from November 1942 to January 1943, LXXVI Panzer Corps from July–August 1943, the XXI Army Corps from October 194 ...

, Ernst von Leyser,

Carl Hilpert __NOTOC__ Carl Hilpert (12 September 1888 – 1 February 1947) was a German general during World War II. Biography When World War II broke out in September 1939, Hilpert became chief of the staff of ''Armeeabteilung A'' on 9 September 1939 unde ...

Martin Grase __NOTOC__ Martin Grase (3 May 1891 – 3 August 1963) was a German general during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany. Awards and decorations * Iron Cross (1914) 2nd Class (2 ...

Anton Grasser __NOTOC__ Anton Grasser (3 November 1891 – 3 November 1976) was a German general during World War II who commanded several corps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Grasser joined the Bundesgrenzschutz ...

Gerhard Matzky __NOTOC__ Gerhard Matzky (19 March 1894 – 9 June 1983) was a German general during World War II who commanded several corps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Matzky joined the Bundeswehr in 1956 and s ...

Kurt Chill Kurt Chill (1 May 1895 – 5 July 1976) was a German general during World War II who commanded the LV. Armeekorps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Awards and decorations * Knight's Cross of the Iron ...

and Gerhard Matzky. Between July and August 1943, the XXVI Army Corps was the defending unit of the primary urban target of the Soviet

Mga offensive The Mga offensive or Third Battle of Lake Ladoga (german: Dritte Ladoga-Schlacht) or fifth Sinyavino offensive was an unsuccessful offensive operation by Soviet troops between 22 July and 25 September 1943 to break the siege of Leningrad. Pr ...

. Ultimately, the Soviet attack was repelled. On 3 March 1944, the XXVI Army Corps joined the newly formed Armeeabteilung Narwa, the army-level promotion of the former LIV Army Corps that was designed to defend the

Narva Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru County, Ida-Viru county, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which ...

region. On 15 July 1944, XXVI Army Corps joined the 3rd Panzer Army, making it part of Army Group Centre at the time of

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 Soviet offensive that started on 23 June 1944 and that brought about the total collapse of Army Group Centre. The XXVI Army Corps was pushed back by the Red Army along with the rest of the German armed forces. At the time of

German surrender The German Instrument of Surrender (german: Bedingungslose Kapitulation der Wehrmacht, lit=Unconditional Capitulation of the "Wehrmacht"; russian: Акт о капитуляции Германии, Akt o kapitulyatsii Germanii, lit=Act of capit ...

on 8 May 1945, the remnants of XXVI Army Corps which had been fighting in the corps' home in East Prussia were no longer able to mount an organized resistance against the Red Army.

Organizational chart

Commanders

* General der Artillerie

(22 August 1939 - 1 October 1942) * General der Infanterie Ernst von Leyser (1 October 1942 - 1 July 1943) * General der Panzertruppen

(1 July - 19 August 1943) * General der Infanterie Ernst von Leyser (19 August - 31 October 1943) * General der Infanterie

(31 October 1943 - 1 January 1944) * General der Infanterie

(1 January - 15 February 1944) * General der Infanterie

(15 February - 11 May 1944) * General der Artillerie

Wilhelm Berlin __NOTOC__ Wilhelm Berlin (28 April 1889 – 15 September 1987) was a German general during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Awards and decorations * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross ...

(11 May - 15 June 1944) * General der Infanterie Anton Grasser (15 June - 6 July 1944) * General der Infanterie

(6 July 1944 - May 1945)

References

{{German Army Corps of the Wehrmacht Corps of Germany in World War II Military units and formations established in 1939 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945