54th Corps (German Empire) explained

Unit Name:54th Corps
(Generalkommando zbV 54)
Dates:September 1916-1919
Branch:Army
Battles:World War I

Battle of Amiens (1918)

Disbanded:1919
Identification Symbol:Genkdo zbV 54
Identification Symbol Label:Abbreviation

The 54th Corps (German: '''Generalkommando zbV 54''') was a corps formation of the German Army in World War I. It was formed in September 1916 and was still in existence at the end of the war.

Chronicle

The 54th[1] Corps (z.b.V.)[2] was formed in September 1916. With the onset of trench warfare, the German Army recognised that it was no longer possible to maintain the traditional Corps unit, that is, one made up of two divisions. Whereas at some times (and in some places) a Corps of two divisions was sufficient, at other times 5 or 6 divisions were necessary. Therefore, under the Hindenburg regime (from summer 1916), new Corps headquarters were created without organic divisions. These new Corps were designatedGeneral Commands for Special Use (German: Generalkommandos zur besonderen Verwendung).

By the end of the war, the Corps was serving on the Western Front as part of 2nd Army, Heeresgruppe Kronprinz Rupprecht with the following composition:

Commanders

The 54th Corps had the following commanders during its existence:[3] [4]

Commander From To
Generalleutnant Viktor Kühne[5] 4 September 19162 February 1917
Generalleutnant Richard von Kraewel2 February 191725 February 1917
General der Infanterie Eduard von Liebert25 February 191717 June 1917
Generalleutnant Max von Müller17 June 191721 January 1918
Generalleutnant Alfred von Larisch21 January 191811 November 1918

Glossary

See also

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Note that Corps (z.b.V.) were designated with Arabic, not Roman, numerals.
  2. General Commands for Special Use Generalkommandos zur besonderen Verwendung (Genkdo z.b.V.)
  3. Web site: The Prussian Machine, GenKdo . 29 October 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120411130818/http://home.comcast.net/~jcviser/army/genkdo.htm . 11 April 2012 .
  4. Web site: German War History. 29 October 2012.
  5. Concurrently commander of Armee-Gruppe Kühne from 28 October 1916 Web site: Biography on The Prussian Machine. 29 October 2012.