II SS Panzer Corps
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The II SS Panzer Corps was a German Waffen-SS armoured corps which saw action on both the Eastern and Western Fronts 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 commanded by Paul Hausser during the
Third Battle of Kharkov The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of battles on the Eastern Front of World War II, undertaken by Army Group South of Nazi Germany against the Soviet Red Army, around the city of Kharkov between 19 February and 15 March 1943. Known to ...
and the
Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk was a major World War II Eastern Front engagement between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in the southwestern USSR during late summer 1943; it ultimately became the largest tank battle in history. ...
in 1943 and by Wilhelm Bittrich on the Western Front in 1944.


World War II


1942–1943

The II SS Panzer Corps was formed to take command of SS Division Leibstandarte,
SS Division Das Reich The 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich (german: 2. SS-Panzerdivision "Das Reich") or SS Division Das Reich was an elite division of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, formed from the regiments of the '' SS-Verfügungstruppe'' (SS-V ...
and
SS Division Totenkopf The 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" (german: 3. SS-Panzerdivision "Totenkopf") was an elite division of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, formed from the Standarten of the SS-TV. Its name, ''Totenkopf'', is German for "de ...
in July 1942 as the SS Panzer Corps. In August, it was sent to northern France before taking part in the
Case Anton Case Anton (german: link=no, Fall Anton) was the military occupation of France carried out by Germany and Italy in November 1942. It marked the end of the Vichy regime as a nominally-independent state and the disbanding of its army (the severel ...
, the occupation of
Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...
in November, during which it captured
Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...
. In early February 1943, the corps, under the command of SS-Gruppenführer Paul Hausser, was attached to Army Group South in Ukraine and participated in the
Third Battle of Kharkov The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of battles on the Eastern Front of World War II, undertaken by Army Group South of Nazi Germany against the Soviet Red Army, around the city of Kharkov between 19 February and 15 March 1943. Known to ...
. The corps was renamed II SS Panzer Corps in June 1943, after the
I SS Panzer Corps The I SS Panzer Corps (german: I.SS-Panzerkorps) was a German armoured corps of the Waffen-SS. It saw action on both the Western and Eastern Fronts during World War II. Formation and training The corps was raised on 26 July 1943 in Berlin-L ...
was created during that same month. In July 1943, the corps took part in the failed Operation Citadel, spearheading
4th Panzer Army The 4th Panzer Army (german: 4. Panzerarmee) (operating as Panzer Group 4 (german: 4. Panzergruppe) from its formation on 15 February 1941 to 1 January 1942, when it was redesignated as a full army) was a German panzer formation during World War ...
's attack in the southern sector. The corps' three SS divisions were involved in the Battle of Prokhorovka at the edge of the German penetration into the salient. After the operation was canceled in light of its failure, the corps was ordered to the Italian front in August. Only one division, the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler ended up being transferred, along with the corps personnel. The remaining combat divisions remained on the Eastern Front to deal with the developing threats from the Soviet Belgorod-Kharkov Offensive Operation. Leibstandarte took part in operations to disarm Italian troops. Between 20 September and 20 of November 1943 the corps conducted operations against
Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...
in order to establish a connection with Army Group F in the
Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
and to secure communications east and northwards from
Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...
and
Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...
. In these operations, according to the Corps Headquarters' Medical Department, the corps suffered total losses of 936 men. According to Croat authors, in the first phase against partisans on Istrian peninsula (Unternehmen Istrien), some 2000 partisans and 2000 civilians were killed by German forces, and additional 1200 were arrested, with some 400 transported to concentration camps. In November, 1943, Leibstandarte returned to the Soviet Union, with the corps remaining in
Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
,
Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian, Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the larges ...
and northern Italy.


1944–1945

In January 1944, the corps was ordered to the
Alençon Alençon (, , ; nrf, Alençoun) is a commune in Normandy, France, capital of the Orne department. It is situated west of Paris. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alençon (with 52,000 people). History The name of Alençon is firs ...
area of France to refit. In March 1944, during the Soviet Dnieper-Carpathian Offensive in the Ukraine, the entire
1st Panzer Army The 1st Panzer Army (german: 1. Panzerarmee) was a German tank army that was a large armoured formation of the Wehrmacht during World War II. When originally formed on 1 March 1940, the predecessor of the 1st Panzer Army was named Panzer Group ...
, numbering over 200,000 personnel, was encircled by the Red Army in the
Kamenets-Podolsky Pocket Kamianets-Podilskyi ( uk, Ка́м'яне́ць-Поді́льський, russian: Каменец-Подольский, Kamenets-Podolskiy, pl, Kamieniec Podolski, ro, Camenița, yi, קאַמענעץ־פּאָדאָלסק / קאַמעניץ, ...
. This encirclement was the largest catastrophe facing the Wehrmacht since
Stalingrad Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...
, which would precipitate the collapse of the entire southern sector of the German Eastern Front. Faced with a prospect of a new Stalingrad before the Allied invasion of France would even begin, Hitler was forced to yield to Manstein's demands for powerful reinforcements that would de-blockade the 1st Panzer Army. As reinforcements, he provided the entire II SS Panzer Corps (with the
9th 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...
and
10th 10 (ten) is the even natural number following 9 and preceding 11. Ten is the base of the decimal numeral system, by far the most common system of denoting numbers in both spoken and written language. It is the first double-digit number. The rea ...
SS Panzer Divisions) from France in April 1944, as well as divisions from the Balkan Theatre of Operations. Designated as the "Hauser Attack Group", they were commanded by SS Obergruppenführer Paul Hauser. This was the first major transfer of forces from France to the East since the creation of the Führer Directive 51, which no longer allowed any transfers from the West to the East. It played the main role in de-blockading the encircled
1st Panzer Army The 1st Panzer Army (german: 1. Panzerarmee) was a German tank army that was a large armoured formation of the Wehrmacht during World War II. When originally formed on 1 March 1940, the predecessor of the 1st Panzer Army was named Panzer Group ...
in the
Kamenets-Podolsky Pocket Kamianets-Podilskyi ( uk, Ка́м'яне́ць-Поді́льський, russian: Каменец-Подольский, Kamenets-Podolskiy, pl, Kamieniec Podolski, ro, Camenița, yi, קאַמענעץ־פּאָדאָלסק / קאַמעניץ, ...
. After rescuing the better part of the 1st Panzer Army, the corps then participated in the attempts to de-blockade the trapped German garrison of the
4th Panzer Army The 4th Panzer Army (german: 4. Panzerarmee) (operating as Panzer Group 4 (german: 4. Panzergruppe) from its formation on 15 February 1941 to 1 January 1942, when it was redesignated as a full army) was a German panzer formation during World War ...
in the town of
Tarnopol Ternópil ( uk, Тернопіль, Ternopil' ; pl, Tarnopol; yi, טאַרנאָפּל, Tarnopl, or ; he, טארנופול (טַרְנוֹפּוֹל), Tarnopol; german: Tarnopol) is a city in the west of Ukraine. Administratively, Ternopi ...
, which was declared to be fortress (Festung) by Hitler. However, 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 ...
had prepared defenses there and the relief operation ultimately failed. After this, the corps was moved into the reserve of the newly created Army Group North Ukraine. In mid-June 1944, the corps was ordered back west to take part in the Battle of Normandy, arriving to the invasion front in late June 1944. The corps was involved in heavy fighting against the British
21st Army Group The 21st Army Group was a British headquarters formation formed during the Second World War. It controlled two field armies and other supporting units, consisting primarily of the British Second Army and the First Canadian Army. Established in ...
in the Battle of Caen. During this period, SS-Obergruppenführer Wilhelm Bittrich was placed in command of the corps. In August 1944, the corps participated in the battles in and around the Falaise Pocket. The corps then retreated across France. On 17 September 1944, the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
launched
Operation Market Garden Operation Market Garden was an Allies of World War II, Allied military operation during the World War II, Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a Salient (military), salient into G ...
, an
airborne Airborne or Airborn may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis * ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film * ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...
offensive aimed at capturing the Rhine bridge at Arnhem. The corps was involved in fighting against the
British 1st Airborne Division The 1st Airborne Division was an airborne infantry division of the British Army during the Second World War. The division was formed in late 1941 during the Second World War, after the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, demanded an airb ...
in the Battle of Arnhem and also against the
U.S. 82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an airborne infantry division of the United States Army specializing in parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops Magazine'', 25 November 2012. Archived from thori ...
and British XXX Corps in
Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...
. The Korps suffered heavy losses in the ensuing counter offensive in early October against the allied salient on the Island. In preparation for the
Ardennes Offensive The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...
, the corps was placed in reserve of 6th SS Panzer Army and committed on 21 December 1944 near
St. Vith St. Vith (german: Sankt Vith ; french: Saint-Vith ; lb, Sankt Väit ; wa, Sint-Vit) is a city and municipality of East Belgium located in the Walloon province of Liège. It was named after Saint Vitus. On January 1, 2006, St. Vith had a total ...
. After the northern assault stalled, the corps was transferred south to take part in the attack on
Bastogne Bastogne (; nl, Bastenaken, ; german: Bastnach/Bastenach; lb, Baaschtnech) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Bastogne, ...
. The corps' divisions suffered heavy losses in the battles against the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. After the operation's failure, the corps returned to the defensive, seeing action against American forces in the
Eifel The Eifel (; lb, Äifel, ) is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Community of ...
region. In February 1945, the corps was ordered to
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
to take part in an offensive to recapture
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
and the Hungarian oilfields. The corps took part in Operation Spring Awakening, launched near Lake Balaton on 6 March 1945. After the failure of the offensive, the corps retreated, alongside the I SS and
IV SS Panzer Corps The IV SS Panzer Corps was a panzer corps of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany which saw action on the Eastern Front and in the Balkans during World War II. History The Panzerkorps was formed in August 1943 in Poitiers, France. The formation was o ...
, towards
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
. After the Soviet forces captured the city, individual units attempted to break out to the west. The elements of the corps surrendered to the U.S. Army on 8 May 1945.


Commanders

* SS-''Obergruppenführer'' Paul Hausser (1 June 1942 – 28 June 1944) * SS-''Obergruppenführer'' Wilhelm Bittrich (10 July 1944 – 9 May 1945)


Order of battle

July 1943 – Operation Citadel * SS Division Leibstandarte *
SS Division Das Reich The 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich (german: 2. SS-Panzerdivision "Das Reich") or SS Division Das Reich was an elite division of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, formed from the regiments of the '' SS-Verfügungstruppe'' (SS-V ...
*
SS Division Totenkopf The 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" (german: 3. SS-Panzerdivision "Totenkopf") was an elite division of the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II, formed from the Standarten of the SS-TV. Its name, ''Totenkopf'', is German for "de ...
* Elements of 167 Infanterie-Division September 1943 * SS Division Leibstandarte *
24th Panzer Division The 24th Panzer Division was formed in late 1941 from the 1st Cavalry Division based at Königsberg. The division fought on the Eastern Front from June 1942 to January 1943, when it was destroyed in the battle of Stalingrad. Reformed, it once ...
* 44th Infantry Division Hoch und Deutschmeister * 71st Infantry Division *
162nd Turkoman Division The 162nd Turkistan Division was a military division that was formed by the German Army during the Second World War. It drew its men from prisoners of war who came from the Caucasus and from Turkic lands further east. History The 162nd Turkistan ...
October 1943 * 44th Infantry Division Hoch und Deutschmeister * 71st Infantry Division *
162nd Turkoman Division The 162nd Turkistan Division was a military division that was formed by the German Army during the Second World War. It drew its men from prisoners of war who came from the Caucasus and from Turkic lands further east. History The 162nd Turkistan ...
September 1944 – Operation Market Garden * 9.SS-Panzer-Division ''Hohenstaufen'' * 10.SS-Panzer-Division ''Frundsberg'' March 1945 – Operation Frühlingserwachen * Schwere SS-Panzer-Abteilung 502 * 9.SS-Panzer-Division ''Hohenstaufen'' * 2.SS-Panzer-Division ''Das Reich'' * (44.) Reichsgrenadier-Division ''Hoch- und Deutschmeister'' * 23.Panzer-Division


References


Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:02 German units in Normandy Waffen-SS corps Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945