XXXV Army Corps (Wehrmacht) explained

Unit Name:Höheres Kommando z.b.V. XXXV
XXXV. Armeekorps
Dates:15 October 1939 – 5 July 1944
Branch:Army
Size:Corps
Battles:World War II
Notable Commanders:Rudolf Kämpfe
Lothar Rendulic

German XXXV. Corps (XXXV. Armeekorps) was a corps in the German Army during World War II.

History

The Corps was first known as Höheres Kommando z.b.V. XXXV (H.Kdo.) and was established on 15 October 1939 in Breslau.After the Invasion of Poland, the H.Kdo was stationed there between December 1939 and June 1941.

After the start of Operation Barbarossa (June 1941), the H.Kdo saw its first action at the beginning of July 1941 in the Battle of Kiev (1941). As part of the 2nd Army, the H.Kdo formed part of the northern pincer. After successfully completing this battle, the H.Kdo advanced with the 2nd Panzer Army towards Moscow.

The H.Kdo. advanced towards Yefremov, but was overstretched and had hardly any contact with its neighbors. Now it was time for the Soviets to launch their Yelets Offensive on 6 December 1941. Soon the H.Kdo. was in full retreat under heavy attacks from the Soviet 3rd Army. The front line stabilised on December 17, 1941, but had moved almost 100 km back to the west. The H.Kdo. had suffered heavy losses. The weakness in defense of a Höheres Kommando also became extremely clear. On 20 January 1942, the H.Kdo. was transformed into a fully-fledged Army corps.

In 1942, the Corps was stationed in the relative quiet Front sector around Oryol. In 1943, the Corps had to withdraw during Operation Kutuzov and the Battle of Smolensk and ended up in the area around Zhlobin in Belarus. Here, the Front stabilised again between November 1943 and June 1944.

When the Soviets launched Operation Bagration on 23 June 1944, The Corps was surrounded during the Bobruysk Offensive and completely destroyed.

Commanders

Höheres Kommando XXXV

XXXV Corps

Area of operations

See also

Sources