__NOTOC__ The V SS Mountain Corps was a ''

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

'' formation that existed in the later periods of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The corps fought against the

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

in the Balkans as part of the

2nd Panzer Army The 2nd Panzer Army () was a German armoured formation during World War II, formed from the 2nd Panzer Group on October 5, 1941. Organisation Panzer Group Guderian () was formed on 5 June 1940 and named after its commander, general Heinz Gude ...

from October 1943 to December 1944. At this time it rarely had more than two understrength divisions. In 1945, the corps fought on the

Oder The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and its largest tributary the Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows through wes ...

line as part of the 9th Army, in the

Frankfurt (Oder) Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (, ; Central Marchian: ''Frankfort an de Oder,'' ) is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after Potsdam, Cottbus and Brandenburg an der Havel. With around 58,000 inh ...

area, and in the Battle of Berlin that followed. The corps'

war diary A war diary is a regularly updated official record kept by Military organization, military units of their activities during wartime. The purpose of these diaries is to both record information which can later be used by the military to improve its ...

was destroyed (with only fragments of copies surviving), likely near the war's end, causing the loss of valuable information on the Yugoslav campaign.

Commanders

* ''SS-

Obergruppenführer (, ) was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissioned SS rank after ...

und General der Waffen-SS'' Artur Phleps (1 July 1943 – 21 September 1944) * ''SS-

Brigadeführer ''Brigadeführer'' (, ) was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) that was used between 1932 and 1945. It was mainly known for its use as an SS rank. As an SA rank, it was used after briefly being known as '' Untergruppenführer'' in ...

und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS'' Karl von Oberkamp (21 September – 1 October 1944) * ''SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS'' Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger (1 October 1944 – 1 March 1945) * ''SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS'' Friedrich Jeckeln (1 March – 8 May 1945) Walter Harzer served as chief of staff.

Subordinate units

* 32nd SS Volunteer Grenadier Division "30 Januar" * 35divss

35th SS-Police Grenadier Division * Dirlewanger Crossed Grenades symbol

36th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS * 502nd heavy tank battalion insignia

502nd Heavy Panzer BattalionRipley, p. 320

References

Bibliography

* Beevor, Antony. ''Berlin: The Downfall 1945'', Penguin Books, 2002, . * Ripley, Tim. ''The Waffen SS at War'', Zenith Imprint, 2004, . {{DEFAULTSORT:05 Waffen-SS corps V Military units and formations of Germany in Yugoslavia in World War II Military units and formations disestablished in 1945