german corps commanders

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A thesis presented to the Faculty of the U.S. ArmyComnand and General Staf f College i n pa rt ia lf u l f i l l m n t of the requirements for thedegreeMASTER OF HILITARY ART AND SCIENCE

byFRENCH L. i.IAcLEAN, MAJ, USAB.S. ,United Sta te s M il itary Academy, 1974

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas1988

Approved for public release; di.stribution i s unlimited


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MAST ZX OF MILITARY ART AND SCIENCETHESIS APPROVAL PAGE

Nane of candidate - French L. MacLeanTitle of Thesis - The UnknaJn Generals -- German CorpsComnanders i n World War I1

Approved by :sis Ccmni.ttee

, Member, GraduateGraduate

sis Ccmni.ttee

, Member, GraduateGraduate

Chairman

Faculty

Faculty

Accepted chis 3rd day of June 1988 by:, Di.rector, Graduate ikgree Programs

Phil iplJ . arwkes, Ph.D.

The opi.nions and conclusions expressed .herein are those of thestudent author and do not necessarily represent che vi.ews of theU.S. Army Comnand and General Staff College or any othergo ve rm nt al agency. (References to t h i s study should include theforegoiqq staternent. )

i i


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;1BsmaTtE UtKNOl4N GENEIWLS - GERMAN CORPS CCkLIMANDERs I N W0X.D WAR 11: ALeadership Ana1ysi.s of German Army Corps Comnanders by Major FrenchL. MacLean, USA, 169 pages.This study i s an his toric a l ana1ysi.s of the background anddemnstrated 1eadershi.p attributes of 332 World War I1 German corpscomnanders on the Eastern, Italian, and Western Fronts. Overallcharacter is t ics are determined based on each o f f i c e r ' s experienceand performance based on avai.lable histor i.c al recozds. These recordsfocus on age, nobi li. ty , background, education, branch, previouscornnand and st af f posit ions , rrenhrship i n the General Staff,damnst ra ted mil it ar y achievement, promotion, and subsequent higherC o m n a n d .Among the many conclusions which could be dram from thisinvestigati.on are: mst successful corps COIIpnanders possessed anexce lle nt educational background, perfomed well in previoussi.gnifi cant cornnand and s taf f pos it ions , and demonstrated theca pa bi lit y for independent action; and,' po lit ica l fac tor s played aminor role i n the select ion of off icers for corps c m n d .The study concludes that the Eastern, Western, and Italian Frontsa l l had competent German corps comnanders conducting operations; noFront had a preponderence of successful comnander's to the detrimentof the other two

i.i i.


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TABLE OF CONTEXTS

Chapter

Chapter 1 - Defining the ProblemChapter 2 - Review of LiteratureChapter 3 - The German Corps SystemChapter 4 - Background, Education, and

Experience

Chapter 5 - Performance, Promotion, andTotential

Chapter 6 - Overall Characteri.sticsAppendi.x A - AbbreviationsAppendix B - List of ComnandersBib1 iography

Page

1

10

26

38

73

103

118

123

164

iv


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LIST OF TABLES

Table Ti.tle Page

Table 1 Army StrengthTable 2 Corps Headquarters StrengthTable 3Table 4Table 5Table 6TableTable 8Table 9Table 10Table 11Table 1 2Table 13

Parent Army HeadquartersCorps Assigned to Army HeadquartersDivisions Assigned to CorpsGeneral Officer GradesAge of ComnandersNewly Prcnoted XajorsNewly Pronoted Lieutenant-ColonelsXewly Promoted ColonelsCa mride rs of Noble DescentCamrider ' s BackgroundCorps Ccmanders w i t hPolice i3ackgounds

Table 14 Panzer Corps (hmancIerswith Police Backgrounds

Table 15 Austrian Army and ArmyGroup Cuimanders

Table 16 Newly Promoted GeneralmajorTable 1 7 Newly Pronoted GeneralleutnantTable 18 Newly Promoted General der

Infanterie, etc.Table 19 Branch Affi1i.ation

32629303238404344444647

49

51

525354

5456

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Table 20Table 21Table 22

Table 23Table 24

Table 25

Table 26

Table 27

Table 28Table 29

Table 30Table 31Table 32Table- 33Table 34

Table 35Table 36Table 37Table 35

Table 39

Corrrnanders from the General StaffPri.or Xvision b.mand ExperienceCorps Gnmmnders coiningOut of Reti.rement

Corps Cor;manders from the Poli.cePanzer Corps Ccmnanders

from Panzer DivisionsArny Reci.pients of the

-

Knight's CrossHighest Decorati.ons Receivedby the Corps Comnanders

Knight's Cross with Oakleavesand Swords for Corps Cornnand

General Officers i n ServiceCorps Ccmnanders Promoted

to GeneralfeldmarschallGerman Dead 1939-1944General 0ffi .cer Fa ta li t i e s by GradeGeneral Officer Fatalities by CauseCor?s Corranander Fa ta l i t iesNational Comnittee for aFree Germany

GeneraloberstGeneralleutnantArmy Group ComnandersCorps Comander BaselineCharacter i st i c s

Corps Comnanders by Front Canparison

586i.

6768

70

77

78

7983

8489899090

9399

100100

106108

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CHAFTEX1DEFINIiqG THE P R O B L M

INTR ODUC TION

The purpose of th is study i.s t o examine the background andproficiency of German corps colrnnanders i.n World War 11. I t i.sevident that these E n , the links between operational and tac t ica llevels, were key components i n the r es ul ti ng successes and failuresof the Wehrmacht. Present United Stat es AirLand Batt le doctrinedraws extensively on the Ger man experience i n t hi s confli.ct.

Current examination of Ger man genera1shi.p in World War I1suffers from two deficiencies: identi.ficati.on and generalization.idthou& nost high le vel comnanders ( a n y and above) have beeniden ti.fi ed and their proficiency analyzed, such i.s not the case withthe colrananders of the ninety-three German corps.

Xesearch a t both the Ger man Army Xil ita ry Archives a tFreiburg, West Germany, and a t Fort Leavenworth, revea ls that nosingle complete l i s t ing of corps comnanders exis ts . However, bycombi-ning sources found a t both places , a comprehensive l i s t can bedocumented identifying these corps c m n d e r s .

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The second major deficiency concerns generalization ofleaders. Current li te ra tu re too of ten categorizes German generaloff icers as s t i f f Prussian ar is tocrats with almost superhumanmili tary expertise. Naturally, they varied in background,proficiency, and potential. With the ide nti fica tion of thecomnanders completed,. one can conduct an examination of individualcareers. This i.s especially cri.tica1 for furthe r inves tigatio n ofthe G e m mili tary tenets on which so m h of U.S. doctrine isbased.

This study w l l focus on th e background, previous comnandand staff experience, demonstrated mili tary achievement, andsubsequent pra mti on to hi.gher comnand t o identi .fy prominentcha rac teri stic s of these individuals. k analysis w i l l conclude bycanparing corps commders on the Eastern Front with those on theWestern Front.

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HISTURICAL EACKCuKUN J

'Tne German A m y in World War I1 was an extremly large,multifaceted organization which conducted operations on twocontinents. Personnel strength numbered in the millions. The A m ywas divided into two major sub-organizations, the Field Army and theReplacemnt Amy. Personnel figures through the war for both areS h elow. 1

JUne1940

Field Army 3.7

ReplacementArmy .9

MTAL 4.8

Table 1A m y Strength(in millions)

JUne1941

3.8

1 .2

5.0

JUne

1942

4.1

1.9

6.0

JUne

1943

4.5

1.8

6 .3

JUne1944

4.0

2.3

6 .3

December1944

3.8

2.6

6 .4

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To control th is large force, the Germans developed severalechelons of c&. The highest f ie ld c b as the army group.Eighteen army groups were created during the war with the mission tocontrol two to four armies i.n a sing le theate r of operations fo r asingle campaign. A field marshal mst frequently comnanded an armygroup. 2

1rmedi.ately subordinate to the army groups were the armies.An army was a mre permanent couxnand and was not formed for just aspeci.fic campaign. Twenty-seven armies were established betwsen 1939and 1945. Each army theoretical ly directed two to six corps. An armywas comnanded by a fi .e ld marshal, a colonel gene ra l, or a general of3infantry, panzer, art i l lery, e tc .

Tne ninety-three corps and their ccrrmanders are the majorsubject of this thesis. They will be discussed in det ai l in chaptersthree, f our, and five. Each corps directed the ac ti vi ti es of fromtwo to s i x di.vi.si.ons and was comaanded by a general of infantr y,'panzer, et c. , a lieute nan t general, or a major general.

The lowest general offi.cer c b s were the div isio ns.Wi.thi.n the Army, the number of di.visi.ons peaked i.n June 1944 a t 283.In additi.on, both the Waffen SS and Luftwaffe provided grounddivisions for combat.

4

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Pare than 2400 personnel served as general officers i.n theGerman Amy. David Darni.ng, author of -he kvil's K r m s o s , stacesthat "The German generals were the fi ne st thi.nki.ng and f ig ht in gsoldiers of modern history." The le vel of competence of corps anddivision comnanders was high. However, there was a wide variance i nprospects for advancement. Some officers had potential for promotiont o higher comnands, some lost favor personally or poli.tically, andsome were not vi.ewed as professionally competent for future majoroperational responsibi.li.ty. I t i.s the purpose of thi s study t oexamine these factors of capabi1i.ty.

5

6

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Tne major research questions this study will focus onare:( l) What were the prominent background, experience, andachievement cha rac ter i-s ti cs exhi bite d by German corps cocmanders inWorld War II? and ( 2 ) Gi.ven these characteristics as a whole, werethe Gelman corps comnanders faced by the Br it ish and Anericans onthe K este rn/It alia n Fronts less or more proficienr: chan thosefighti.ng the Soviets on the Eastern Front?

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SIGNI?'ICAiiCE OF THE STUDY

The compi.lation of a de fi ni tiv e l i s t of corps cclimnandersshould add to the body of infonuatlion concerning G e m leadershipi n World War 11. Conclusi.ons concerning background, education,camand and staff exper ience, and demonstrated mil it ar y achievementmay assist our cxyn ef for t s a t senior leader development.

The methodology used for this study is three-fold. F i r s t ,prominent characteristics for German general officers - . d l beid enti fi ed f r m post-war published sources. Second, each comnanderwill be analyzed according to background, education, previouscomnand and staff experience, demonstrated nilitary achievemnt, andsubsequent promotions. With these base lines es tab lishe d, the c o q scOmnanders on the Eastern Front will then be compared and contrastedwith those on the Italian and Xestern r'ronts.

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ClAFl'ER 1 is a de fi ni ti on of the problem cent ral to theas wellhesis. The historical background of the s t u d y is presenced

as the methodology to be followed.

CHAPTER 2 presents a detailed review of literature. Sourcesessent ia l to the study to be discussed include manuscripts of theU.S. Foreign Mili ta ry Studie s of the Historical Division, UnitedStates Army Europe (USAREUR); captured German records microfilmed a tAlexandria, Virginia; G e m records a t the Bundesarchiv-blilitaerarchiv, Freiburg, West Germany; and postwar German, a r i t i s h ,and American literature.

CHAPTER 3 provides a background study of the German corpssystem. This chapter will assi.st in putting later personnel issuesi n perspective.

CHAPTER 4 is an in-depth presentation of prominent factorsof background, education, and previous c d nd staff experience.

QiAlTE3 5 presen ts fac to rs of demonstrated mi li ta ryachievanent, prmtion, and subsequent higher level c d .

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ClWFCER 6 establishes baseline characteristics.determined bycriteria presented in chapters 4 and 5 . Overall traits for al l corpsc d e r s are presented, and a final comparison and contrast ofc d r s on the Easte rn Front with those on :he I t a l i an andWestern F r o n t s is made. Conclusions are based on the evaluatedinformation.

A M A explains abbreviations used throughout the study andpresents a concise l i s t of German terms and defin itions to assi.s tfuture researchers w i t h the many untranslated sources.

ANNM B is a comprehensive listing of a l l German Army corpscomnanders.

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E N D N a E S1 W. Victor Y i d e j , German Army Order of Battle 1939-1945,(Allentown, Pennsylvania: Garrae Marketiw-wai$ =ol 1, p.4.L Ibid., p.37.345

Ibid., p.3a.Ibid., p. 15.David Darning, The Devil's Virtuosos: German Generals --t War. . 1940-45, (New Yak: S r V k r t i n ' s Press), 19//,-.1.::.

, Telford Taylor, The March of Conquest: The German Victories -nWestern Europe,-940, (NewYork:- mn and ScGter) ,958, p.20... ... '

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c x m T R 2

REVI EWOF L I " U E

The purpose for presenting a det ail ed review of li te ra tu refor this thesi.s i.s two-fold. First, i t w i l l familiarize the readerwith the wide variety of both English and German material available.Second, i t provides succeeding researchers with a synopsis of thei.nformation relating to the German corps and corps comnanders i nXorId War 11.

The review of lit er at ur e for this thes is cons ist s of books,manuscripts of the U.S. Forei.gn Yi.li.tary Studies of the HistoricalDivision USAREUR., and captured German records ni.crofilmed a tAlexandria, V irg inia. The research process e ntai ls exami.nation,analyzati.on, contr ast , and comparison of the information from thesesources.

a t e r i a l ori.ginated from many locations. The German ArmyArchives a t the hdesarchi.v-?lilitaerarchiv, Freiburg, FRG was theprimary source for documenti.% the l i s t of corps and corpscomnanders. The Combined Research Library (CARL) a t the United

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States Army Camand and General Staff College (CGSC), FortLeavenworth, Kansas, provided the foundation for documenting theremainder of the thesis.

The research material used i n t h i s thesis was unclassified.The sources range from those written during World Jar I1 t o thepresent. Re-1945 material con sis ts of primary sources with l i . t t l eauthor inter pre tat ion . Sources wri tten imnediately af te r 1945include i.nterviews with senior German c m d e r s . Recent li te ra tu re includes wmirs and recently opened archive fi.les.

The review of 1i.te ratu re applicable t o this thesis i sdivided into two sections. Part I concentrates on i.nformation aboutthe and corps c&ers. Pa rt I1 focuses on those prominentleadership ch ar ac te ri st ic s emphasized by the &rmans, t h e p r mt i o nand awards systems, and the General S t a f f . For nontranslated Germanworks I have provided an English translation of the t i t l e i nparentheses. Other l i t era ture i.s included in the bibliography. Thefollowing sources were the mst useful.

corps

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PART I

John Angolia's work On the Field of Honor, --_-Historv of theKnight's -ross Bearers (Volume -2) is an ex ce ll en t source ofinformation on Geman military personal iti .es i n World War 11. Thesetwo works provide short bi.ographies of the winners of Germany'shighest mili tary awards, i.ncluding many corps comnanders. The twobooks are the f i r s t of a planned seven volume series. General careerinformation i s exce llen t, although not a l l date s of assignrent areaccmate.

-

3. James Bender and Warren W. Odegard are the authors ofUniforms, Organization-nd History --f the Panzertruppe. This workprovides a wealth of information re la te d t o German panzer units,equipment, and ; m i fo m . The section concerning personalitiesprovides li.sts of co~lpnandersof panzer armies, corps, and di.visionswith only a few discrepancies.

kmt Bradley and Richard Schulze-Kossens are the editorsof the Taetigkei.tsbericht---es Chefs des Heerespersonalamtes General-er In fa nte ri e Rudolf Schmundt: 1.10.42-29.10.44. ( D a i l y Reports ofthe Chief of the Army Personnel 0ffi.ce General of Infantry RudolfScl-mIundt: October 1, 1942 to October 29, 1944) Thi.s massive workcontains all of the dai.ly ccmimunications from the Army Personnel


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Office. Promotions and demoti.ons are covered along with valuableinformation on re li ef s of connmders, deta i l s of ki.l?ed in actionreports , and the involvement of of fi ce rs i n the 20 J u l y 1944 plotagainst H i t ler

Hitler 's Generals by Ri.chard Brett-Smith i s an excellentwork on many of Germany's mili.tary lead er s. The author pr esen tseighty-two short biographies of general of fi ce rs , more than anyother contemporary works. He cate gor izes these indi.viduals bybranch, loyalty to Hitl er, and other i n f o m t i v e chapters.

David Downing's work-he Devil's Virtuosos: German Generals- -ar 1940-5 is an exaninati.on of severa l European campaignst fromthe viewpoints of the German generals i n comnand. I t srrmnarizes theimpact of a few of the more notable German comnanders but omits thecampai.gns i n Poland, Scandinavia, North Afr ica , I ta ly and theBalkans. The book i s good fo r a qui.ck overview but not fo r ser iousdeTth.

3ie Traeger des- tter aeuzes des E i sernen Kreuzes ?9?9-1?b5(The Wearers of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross) by Walter-PeerFellgiebel is an comprehensi.ve l i s ti n g of a l l winners of this award.The book organizes this task alphab etically and presents the name,uni t , and dat e of each awardee. Ro analysis is given as t o t o t a lnumbers by rank, branch, etc.

- - -

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Hemam Geyer author of - -as I X Armeekorps -m Ostfe ldzq-941 ('The I'X Corps i n the Eastf ront Campaign 1941) has presented anex ce ll en t account of a German corps in acti.on. Geyer served ascomander of this uni.t from 1939 t o 1942. 'Xe committed suicide i n1946 and th i s book w a s saved and published by a fonrrer staffofficer. Most post-war literature concerning units has been writtenon a division level; thi.s is a good in si gh t in to a di.ffi.cultcampaign for a veteran unit .

One of the primary quick reference works a t theBundesarchiv-Xilitaerarchiv is Wolf Keilig' s three volume -asDeutsche-eer 1939-1945 (The German Army 1933-1945). First publishedi.n 1956, it presents a wealth of factual data on army organizations,campaigns, and persona1iti;es. Most informati.on is presented in chartand table format. Long out of p r i n t , it has not been tran slate d t oEnglish and is di.ffi .cult to locate i n the United States. In 1983 theauthor published-ie General-es Heeres (Tne Generals of the A r m y ) .This work, essenti.ally a reprint of the third volume of the above,contains very short bi.ographies of the 2600 German generals i.n theArr y. These are good overviews with oniy a few omissions concerningawards s t d n g from incomplete German records i n 1956. Thi.s workprovides the foundation for the biographi.ca1 information of thethe sis . Kei lig 's thi rd work Rangliste -es kutschen Heeres 1944145(The German Army 1944/45 Rank L i . s t ) presents the date of rank fora l l majors and above as of May 1, 1944. In add ition , i.t l i s t s the

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last peactime unit of assignment fo r each indivi.dua1. A l l threeworks should be purchased by C A E to fa c i l i ta te further detai ledresearch.

Erwin Lenfeld and Franz Thomas have compi.led an excell entguide to the winners of Germany's highest mi lita ry decorati.ons i ntheir -ie Ei.chenlaubtraeger 1940-1945 (The Oakleaves Bearers 1940-1945). This work devotes an enti.re page to the mi lit ar y career ofeach of Germany's 882 winners of the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves.Dates of assignment t o un it s ar e accu rate and very complete. I t hasnot been translated yet to English.

An excellent guide t o G e m m t a i n uni ts i.s Alpine E l i te- German Mountain Troops of World War I1 by J m s Lucas. The bookcenters on severa l descr iptive nar ra t ives of m t a i n uni tengagements but also provides background on organizati.ons andpersonali.ties. Tnis work provided mst of the informati.on onm t a i . n corps used i n t he thesis.

- ----

F. W von Yeilenchin presems an inside view or' fourteenprominent ccmanders in German Generals -f World ar--1: -s - aw-hem. The author, a General Sta ff o ff ic er , served as a chief ofstaff a t corps, army, and army group le vel . Von Mellenthincampaigned with many of these comnanders i n Af rica , Russi.a, andFrance. The biographies he presents are cle ar, fac tua l, and providean exc ell ent in sigh t i nt o the car eer s of seve ral corrmanders.

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K l a u s Chri.stian Richter is the author of Die Geschichte derdeutschen Kavallerie, 1919-1945, (The ili.story of the German Cavalry1919-1945). This work is a comprehensive study of the organization,training, personalit ies, and operations of caval ry uni ts i.n boththe Weimar Rei.chswehr and the Third Rei.ch Wehrmacht. For this studyi.t provided mst of the information on the cavalry and Cossack corpsof the Army. I t has not been translated, but remains an excellentwork on German cavalry during the war.

- -

Sylvester Stad ler presen ts an excelle nt account of the I1Waffen SS Panzer Corps a t Kursk i n his-ie Offensive -ursk-943 (The Offensive against Kursk 1943). Most beneficial to thisthesis was the i.nformation on corps combat support attachments, asubject ofte n overlooiced i n other orders of b at tl e. Other exc elle ntfea ture s of t h i s work include deta iled hourly div ision reports andsumnaries of German and Soviet combat losses. Machine producedsituation maps are exce llen t; however, photograph reproductions oforigi.na1 G e m uni t maps are not.

tleeresei nteilung -939 (Army Classification 1939) byFriedri.ch Stahl is the G e m order of ba tt le effe ctiv e January 3,1939. Units down to batt alion level are li st ed with haw stat ionsand corrrmanders. l3i.s guide i s useful in locating personnel prior tothe s t a r t of World War 11.

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Georg Tessin , in his th ir te en volume w r k , Verbaende-ndTruppen der deutschen Kehrmacht -nd Waffen-SS -m Zweiten Jeltlaieg1939-1945 (Formations and Units of the German i\rmed Forces andWaffen-SS i n the Second Xorld Jar 1939-1945), descri.bes i.n greatde ta i l the organ iza tion and campaigns of a l l German ground troopsduring the war. This work is another mai.nstay of th e German A r qArchives with no de ta i l spared concerning employment. By monthsubordinate unit l i s t ing s ar e provided fo r each army and corp s,while units organic t o d ivi sio n ar e al so extensi.vely covered. Unitsare grouped acc 0rdi. x to numerical desig nation i.nto categori es ofarmy, corps, mili tary d is tr ic t, infantry, mobile troops, ar ti ll er y,engineers, signal, supply, security, naval ground, air force ground,Waffen-SS, and al l ied . These volumes ar e invaluable i n the study ofthe organizati.on of the German Army i n World Xar 11. Althoughcu rr en tl y an expensive acquisi.ti.on, the se volumes should bepurchased by CARL to assist future research.

-

Heer- und Flo ttenfuehrer --er Welt (Amy and Navy Leaders ofthe World) by Georg Zikovic presents a comprehensive li.st ofEuropean, Japanese, and American ariny and M W comnanuers from theearly 1800s to the 1970s. Wi.thin the scope of t h i s Zikovicl i s t s mst permanent corps conmanders but none of the acting ortemporary c m n d e r s .

--

thesis,

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"Generals of th e Third Reich" by re t i red General Bernhardvon Claer i s one of an extensive se ri es of the U.S. Army XistoricalDivision post-war stuc lies . These works were c d s s i o n e d by the Armyas after acti.on repo rt s wri.tten by fonrer German high rankingoffi.cers. This article gi.ves statistical data on the generalofficers, providing extremely useful information on general offi.cerca su al ti es . Von Claer served w i t h many rear area comnands during thewar.

"Bi.ographica1 Sketch of High ;(anking German and Russi.anOfficers of the Second World War", Inte ll ig ence Research Pr oj ec t2346 prxoduced i n 1946 a t Fort Leavenworth, provides exce lI ent page-long biographi.es of 52 German and 21 R u s s i a n off icers . G e mbiographies present exc ell ent det a il of the pre-1939 ca ree rs ofthese individuals.

Order of Battle --f the German Army October-942, April 1943,February 1944, and Narch-945 are four Gar Departrent Mi li ta ryInt ell ige nce Divisi.on documents de sc ri bi .q the perceivedorganiza tion of th e G e m Army. Only incomplete listings ofcomnanders and s t a f f s are li s t e d , but the works provide exce llentinfomti.on on wartime organization.

--

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BUNDESXCHIV-XILITrZERARCHIV LOCNWS

Several Ger man Army Archi ve documents provi ded i mportanti nf ormat i on on dates of rank and assi gnments and are l i sted bel owal ong:

vom 12. Oktober91937 (Servi ce Of f i cer Date of Rank Li . st as of October 12, 1937)(Nat i onal Archi ves M crocopy No. 78, Rol l No. 512). This work, aswel l as those shambel ow l i sts seni or i ty by date of rank.

D enstal tersl i ste _ -zur Stel l enbesetzung --

des Heeres 938,(Servi ce Of f i cer Date of Rank Li st as of 1938) (Nat i onal Archi vesM crocopy No. 78, Rol l No. 512).

D enstal tersl i ste - -zur Stel l enbesetzung-

des Heeres 1. May9 940 (Servi ce Of f i cer Date of Rank Li st as of Nay 1, 1940)(Nat i onal Archi ves Ki crocopy No. 78, Rol l No. 513).

D . ensta1tersl i ste - -zur Stel l enbesetzung-

des Heeres 1. Xay-91941 (Servi ce Of f i cer Date of Rank Li st as of Yay 1, 1941)(Nat i onal Archi ves M crocopy No. 78, Rol l No. 514).

D . enstal tersl i ste _ _zur Stel l enbesetzung-

des Heeres -.D enstal tersl i ste - -zur Stel l enbesetzung--91942 (Servi ce 0f f i . cer Date of Rank Li st as of May 1, 1942)(Nat i onal Archi ves M crocopy No. 78, Rol l No. 514).

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des Heeres 1. Nay-943, (Service Officer Date of a n k L i s t as of flay I , 1943)(National Archives Mi.crocopy No. 78, Roll No. 515).

Di.enstaltersli.ste - -ZUI Stellenbesetzung- --

Stellenbesetzung -es Heeres-938, (Officer Positions in theArmy 1938) (National Archives Microcopy No. 78, Roll No. 512). Thiswork li.sts a l l of fi cer corrmand posi tion s t o i.nclude companycomnanders.

Stellenbesetzung -on Staeben, HPA, Agr . P3 (Staff 0ffi.cerPositions i n the Army) (National Archives Plicrocopy No. 78, Roll No.55). This ca rd f i l e l i s t s division and hi.gher staff posi.ti.onsconcentra ting on 1944-1945.

PART I1

BOOKS

jo'm 2 . Argolia, in 5 s book -or 'uehrer -nd Tacheriand;Military Awards ----f the Third Reich, descri.bes the German awards anddecorati.ons system 1933-1945. For thi.s study, the sec tion concerningthe various grades of the award of the Knight's Cross i s mostbeneficial. The author is widely considered t o be one of the leadingauthori.ti.es in this field.

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The Eastern Front, 1941-45, German Troops and the3arbari.sation -f IJarfare by Wr Bartov, presents an analysis ofsocial and po li ti ca l fac tor s i n three divi.sions on the EasternFront. The author provides valuable ba cw ou nd mate rial concerringthe extent of nobility in the German Army.

- - -

Matthew Cooper's -he German Army 1933-1945 i s one of thestandard works on the overall picture of German Army operations.Cooper presents many novel conclusions concerning the "Blitzkrieg",the ro le of Hitler. and the s t ra tegic developnt of the Army. I t isan excellent general history.

One of the mre unusual but i.nformati.ve works is FightingPower, German Mil it ary Performance, 1914-1945 by Martin van Creveld.The author presents i n det ai l the contrasti.ng organiza tiona l andleadership aspects of German and American forces during this per i od.For t h i s th es is he provides extensive info rnat ion on doct rine,promotions, decorations, cas ua lt ie s, and other leader re la te dsubjects. Hi.s premise is that the German system produced units withgreater fighting pder than like h-erican ones.

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T.N. hpuy i.s the author of two works on the General Staff:A Genius for gar: The German -nd General S taff , 1307-1945 andThe- erman General Staff, 1nstituti.on-f Demonstrated Excellence -orNational Camand, Planni.ng, Coordi.nation, -nd Combat Performance,hp uy discusses the or ig ins and mission of the General S t a f f , i t shistorical development and i t s stormy relat ionship with Hi tler .

- ---

.-er deutsche Genera1stabsoffi.zier (Tne German General Staff

0ffi.cer) by Hansgeorg Model addresses the se lec tio n and tra in ing ofthe General Staff in the Reichswehr, LJetumacht and Ekmdeswehr.Especially valuable ar e several appendices l is ti ng a l l General Staffofficers in 1939 and 1944.

Telford Yaylor, in his .book --he Phrch of Comjuest: .TheGerman Victori.es -a GJestern Europe, 1940, describes the 1940C q i g n i n France. He addresses organi.zati.on, re ti re d of fi ce rsrecalled to active duty, and the canpetence of the generals. Tnis isone of the be tt er works concerning the ea rly war years of the Army.

Bod0 Scheuri.g tackles the de lic ate subjec t of Gemanpri.soner of war o ff icer col laboration with Soviet force s i.n h is-reeGermany, The National Cornnittee and the L e a w of German Off icers .Post war li te ra tu re on thi.s subject is extremely limited. The authorprovides an excell ent discussi.on of the subjec t t o i-nclude a l i s t i n gof the senior off i.ce rs involved and their scope of partici.pati.on.Several were previ.ous corps comnanders.

- -- -

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Guenther Blumentritt, the former Chief of Sta ff fo r k m yGroup D and Comnander of the 25th Army, compiled The Gernan .Armiesof 1914 and 1939" fo r the U.S. Army His to ri ca l Divi.sion. He comparesand contrasts the t wo German Armies i n this work. Most helpful arehis views on ret ire d offi cers recalled t o active duty and offi cerslaterally transferred from the German po lic e to t he army i n the mid1930s.

Another Histori.ca1 Division study i s "Cannnents on P-041a -PMlhh" by Heinz Guderian and Kurt Zeitzler. Guderian served asComnander 2nd Panzer Amy, Inspector General Panzer Troops, andChief'of Staff of the Army, while Zei tzler als o served as Chief ofS t a f f of the Army after a tour as Chief of, Sta ff Army Group D. Inthis work they c m n t on the Army promotion system.

-he Guides -o German Records Microfilmed -t Alexandria,Virginia. ofcaptured German war docunents mi.crofilmed a t the Xati.onal Archives.These particular guides cover German corps uni t s . I t has swmariesof the ma ter ial photographed, a quick li s t i n g of campaigns, and somecarmanders. The r o l l s of microfilm include ope ratio ns re po rt s,1og isti. cs sumnaries, personnel l i s ts , and enemy order of ba t t lei.nformation. The guides are i n Engli.sh, the microfilms i n German.

os -6, -5, -8, -9, 0, -1, and 62 provi.de sumnaries

Not a l l unit records were captured, but those th at were are the

23


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single most important primary sources avail able i n thi.s country.CARL oms a smil percentage of the xkrofilm, but the NationalArchives i s rel uc tan t to lend copies of their m microfilm oninter - i .brary loan.

German officer efficiency reports are discussed by RudolfHofmann in "German Ef fi de nc y Report System" another Hi stor icalDivision study. The author presents the his tor y of the reportingsystem, i t s importance t o prmti.ons, di f i ca t i .o n s to the systemduring the war, and the impact of awards and decorations onpromoti.ons. Hofmann was the Chief of Staff t o the 9th Army, 15thArmy and Army Group H .

"The h m y Personnel Office" by Helmut Kleikamp provided theHisto rica l Division with an in-depth look a t of fi ce r performance,the selecti.on system, c d ra in in g courses , and Nazi Partyinfluence. The author served in the Amy Personnel 0ffi.ce for twoyears before assming comMnd of the 36th Infantry Division in theclos ing months of the war.

Hasso von Manteuffel presented another det ai le d manuscriptto the U.S. Army with "Fast, Mobile and Xrmored Troops". Hedescr ibes the opposing branch vi.ews toward the crea tion of thepanzer branch, spec ia l att ri bute s of armored comnanders, and thei.nfluence Guderi.an had on a l l matters concerning a m r e d troops. VonManteuffel cmanded the 5th Panzer Army and the 3rd Panzer Army .

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The l i t e ramre reviewed in this chapter was essential to theresearch of thi.s thesis. Yore l i te ra ture was used t o corroboratecorps c d ssi-nts and is referenced i n the bibliography.With the survey complete i.t i.s beneficial t o review the German corpssystem of World War 11.

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The German corps system served as a fl exib le cornnand andcontrol headquarters fo r combat div isions i n a l l theaters of thew a r . The corps headquarters i t se l f was a tactical and operationalheadquarters only, unlike the headquarters a t di vi sion and armywhich included logistic and administration functions. 1

Personnel sta ffi ng was limited but effec tive . The followingpersonnel st re ng th was typical of mst full strength corpsheadquarters: 2

Table 2Corps Headquarters Strength

Officers C i v i l Servants Enlisted Total

Corps Staff 27 11 157 195-Flapping Department 0 0 16 16Military Police 2 0 31 33Artillery Staff 6 0 16 22Headquarters Troops 31 3 704 738

Total 66

26

14 924 1004


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During the course of the war the G e m Amy fielded eightdifferent types of corps: infantry, panzer, mountain, reserveinfantry, reserve panzer, a rti .ll ery, corps headquarters fo r specialemployment, and cavalry/cossack corps. Whi.le a l l but three weredesignated by Roman m r a l s , each had a somwhat differentorganization and function.

Infantry corps (Anwekorps) formed the backbone of the army.Each corps normally had two or three infantry d ivisions but thecannand st ru ct ur e was fl ex ib le with resp ect to di.visions assignedand to parent army assignment based on operational requi.rements.

3

Panzer corps (Panzerkorps) normally were in cornrand of agroup of di vi si on s i n whi.ch panzer or panzer-grenadier di.visi.onsplayed a primary role. During the course of the war th ere wereeighteen panzer corps. 4

Eight mountain corps (Gebirgskorps) were raised from 1940-1945. Special ized to fi gh t i n mountainous and rough te rr ai n, twofought i n Norway, three i.n t5e 8 a l k n s , one ro ta te d jet'dee? both,one campaigned in I tal y, and one fought in southern Russia. hhenforced t o f ig ht i n non-mountain te rr ai n, a mountain corps wouldof ten assume contro l of one or two additional infantry divisions dueto the organi.zationa1 shortage of in fant ry in the two regimentmountain divisions normally assigned.

5

6

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I ni t i al l y rai sed i n September 1942, r eserve i . nf antry(Reservekorps) and reserve panzer corps ( Keserve- Panzerkorps) servedas cont rol l i mg headquar t ers f or the reserve di vi si ons of theXepl acemnt Army. I n addi t i . on to r epl acement and : rai ni ng f unct i ons,they provi ded secur i t y duty i n Pol and, the Ukrai ne, and France. kl anywere redesi gnat ed as actual i nf ant ry and panzer cor ps as the warcont i nued. 7

I n the fal l of 1944 several art i l l ery uni t s r i med Peopl e' sArt i l l ery Corps (Vol ks- Art i l l er i e Korps) were f orned. However , thesewere actual l y onl y rei nf orced br i gades w t h f i ve or si x bat t al i onsof art i l l ery of varyi ng cal i ber. For this st udy, the cmnander s ofthese units, l i eut enant colonels and col onel s, w i l l not be anal yzed. 8

Corps headquart ers f or speci al empl oyrent ( General komnando2.b.V) were created f or operat i ons i n secure or qui et f ront s and forspci al purpose mssi ons such as V- weapon si tes. These uni t s of t endi d not have the at tached heavy ar t i l l ery or ant i - ai xr af t uni t sof t en f ound i n f r ont l i ne organi zat i ons. As w t h reserve corps, manywere upgraded io f ront l i ne stacus as operat i ons requi red.

9

10

Late i n the war the German Hi gh cornnand created one caval r ycorps ( Kaval l eri ekorps) and one Cossack caval r y corps ( Kosaken-Kaval l er i e- Korps) . The caval ry cor ps cont rol l ed a mxture ofi nf ant ry, panzer , and Waf f en SS di vi si . ons, whi l e the Cossack cor pscontai ned both Cossack caval ry di vi si ons of Russi an vol unteers. 11

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The f i rst of the named army cor ps was the German Af ri caCorps (Deutsches Xf ri . kakorps), f o md February 19, 1941 f romGermanexpedi t i onary f orces under R ml . Al though the overal l comnand wasupgraded f rom corps to panzer group i n August 1941, the - HerAf r i ca Corps remai ned i n the order of bat t l e unt i l the surrender ofGer man f orces i n Af ri . ca, May 1943. 12

I n the Fal l of 1944 the f i nal two named corps wereest abl i shed, Panzer Corps Grossdeutschl and (Panzerkorps Gross-deutschl and) and Panzer Corps Fel dherrnhal l e (PanzerkorpsFel dherrnhal l e) . Both f ought on the Eastern Front.

13

Corps =re f requent l y sw tched from cont rol of one axmy toanother. Subordi nati on to army headquarters f or. severa1 sampl e typesof corps are s h m bel ow 14

Tabl e 3Parent Army Headquarters

(Assi gned at Date)

k rps Type

I I nf antry111 PanzerVI I nf antryXVI I I nf antry

J une 40 J une 41 May 42

4th 18th 18th12th 6th 1st PZ2nd 9th 9t h

12th 6th 6th

J ul y 43

18thAA Kempf3rd PZ

6th

June 44

16th1st PZ

4th8th

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corps

xxxvXXXIXXXXXIXW X

Legend:

Parent Army Headquarters (continued)(ilssi.gned a t Date)

Trpe June 40 June 41 May 42 July 43 June &4-

Special - 4th 2nd PZ 2nd PZ 9thP-r 12th 3rd PZ 16th 4th 4thMountain - 17th 1st PZ 17th -Reserve - - - 2nd PZ 2nd PZ

4th: 4th Army 1st PZ: 1st Panzer A m yAA: A m y k t a c h n t: Corps not f o m d

The distributi.on of corps per army headquarters i.s shown i n thefollowi.ng table of the existing army headquarters and the t o t a lnumber of corps assigned to each by date: 15

Table 4W e r of Corps Assigned t o A m y Headquarters

(by date shown)

Army 9.9.39 9.6.40 5.6.41 11.5.42 7.7.43 12.6.44 26.12.44

il1st 21st PZ -2nd -2nd Pz -3rd 2

1 22 42 23 3- -32

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Number of Corps Assigned t o Amy Headquarters(by date shown)

Amy 9.9.393rd P Z -4th 34thPZ -5 t h 25th PZ -6th -6thPZ -7 t h 129th10th 5-th .

11th -12th -14th 315th1 6 ~ 517th -18th -19th -20th KIN -21st -25th -

--

Total 20Legend:

5.6.41 11.5.42 7.7.43 1 2 . 6 . 4 4 26.12.442 3 3 3 47 3 5 3 52 0 2 - 3 3

- 0 0 26 4 3 4 31- - - - --- - - -

4232--1540213--

~6123--12412342-

51 43 52 53 60- : Army n o t f o m d0 : Arny f o m d but no corps assignedThese t o t a l s are further modified when adding corps i n

transit from one army area t o another and corps d i rec t lysubordi.nated t o army group level. The total corps assigned t o armyheadquarters i n June 1944 was thus fur the r increased t o seventy-three with these additional categori.es. Total corps strength peakedi n January 1945 a t seventy-seven. 16

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Just as the number of corps varied per army, so did thenmkr of ai.visi.ons a s s i p d ro each corps. The following cablepresents a sample of thi.s using the corps shown previ.ously: 1 7

Table 5W e r of Assigned Divisions per Corps

(Inf ant ry Divisions 1 Panzer o r other type Divisi.ons)

Corps Type of June 40 June 41 May 42 Ju ly 43 June 44I corps

II11V I '.xvIIxxxvXXXVIXXXIXXXXXIXLSIX

InfantryPanzerInfantryInfantrySpecialMountahPanzerW t a i nXeserve

310 5 / 0310 010410 2 /0210 510- 110210 2 0112 213- 6/0

611SS013310210310210111210

111L1133103104102103103/1RL O

2/01141112105102/0410-1;1c

Legend:110: One i.nfantry, no panzer divi.si.ons assigned

611SS: Six infantry, one Waffen SS divi.si.ons assigned11lL: One infantry, one Luftwaffe fi.eld divi.sions assigned3/1R: Three i.nfantry , one Rumanian div is io ns assigned1IlC: One infantry, one Cossack division assigned

- : Corps not f o m d32


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In addition t o assigning divisi.ons, the High Comnsnd couldweight combat w r O inai.vidua1 corps by attac'ment of s-cializedunits. One of the best examples of this technique occurred duringthe Kursk offens ive witkin the 4 th Panzer Army and Ar;rry Detac'mntKempf. The breakdown of specialized units for two corps was asf o l l m :

- 18

I11 Panzer Corps

Rocke t Projector Regiuent 54Heavy Tank Battalion 503Engineer Regitrent 674Engi-neer Regiment 601Engineer Battalion 70Engi.neer Battalion 127Engineer Bridge Battalion 531

Flak Regiment 99Flak Regiment 153Assault G u n Batta lio n 2282nd Bn., Ar t i l le ry Regiment 71Heavy Artillery Battali.on 8572nd Bn., Arti .l le ry Regiment 62

XXXXII Corps

deavy rlnti.-Tank 3atcallon 560 F ak Kegiment 77Heavy Anti.-Tank Battalion C Light Observation Battalion 13Mountain Engineer Regiment 620 Construction Regiment 262nd Bty., Heavy Artillery Bn 800 Construct ion Battali.on 219Construction Battalion 112 Constructi.on Battalion 153

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In s m r y the German corps system was an efficient,fl ex ib le ta ct ic al comnand headquarters whi.ch ef fe ct iv el y linked thefigh ting divisi.ons t o the fi el d armies. The corps refle cted thecombined arms doctr ine by both the assignment of div is ions and byattachment of combat support as se ts . The vari et y of corps typesfaci l i tated the wide range of mi.ssions the German Army was requiredt o perform in differing terrai .n and climatic condi.ti.ons. Finally,the system was extremely fl ex ib le to ra pid ly permit both lower andhigher reorganization.

With t h i s understanding of the scope of the corps sys tem,thi.s study can now begin t o analyze the ch ar ac te rh ti cs of thec m n d e r s of these significant units.


41/176

ENDNOTESMartin van Creveld, Fi.ghtiw Power, German Xilitarv Performance,1914-1945. (Potomac, Maryland: C&L Defense Consultants), 1980, p.56.Ibid., p.58.Telford Taylor, The --arch of Conquest: The Ger man Vi.ctories -nWestern Europe, 1940.7ew York: Simon and ScEt-958, p.18.R. James Bender and Warren W. Odegard, Uniforms,-nd History of the Panzertruppe. (San Jose: R. James Bep.60.

511.

67

- James h a s ,(London: Jane'h8-186.A 1 ine Eli te - Ger man Mountain Troops of World WarIbid., p.89.

Wehrmacht undm x' Wolf Keilig, Das Deutsche Heer 1939-1945. (Bad Nauhein, mG :Pcdzun Verlag), 1936; v ~ ~ Z TIbid., Vol 1, p.90/5.

lo Taylor, The March. p.18.Tessin, Verbaende. Vol 2 , p.14 and Vol 1, p.5.K l a u s Christian Richter, Die Geschichte der deutschen Kavallerie1919-1945, (Stuttgart, FRG: Notorbuch V e r l a x 1982, pp. 267-275and 374-375.The XV Cossack Corps was formed from the many disgruntledcossack prisoners of war and volunteers seeking to gain Cossacki.ndependence from the Sovie ts. 1ndivi.dual regiments were groupingsof te rr it or ia l clans such as from the Don Basin, the Terek Steppe,etc. Prior to 1945 these units had operated independently in supportof established Ger man units. The XV Cossack Corps was organizedFebruary 1, 1945 as follows:

1st Cossack Cavalry DivisionDon Cossack Regiment 1Siberian Cossack Regiment 2Kuban Cossack Regiment 4Cossack Arti.llery Regiment 1

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2nd Cossack Caval ry Di vi si onKuban Cossack Regi ment 3Don Cossack Xe gk nt 5Terek Cossack Regi ment 6Cossack Art i l l ery Regi ment 2Pl ast un ( I nf ant ry) Regi ment 7Pl ast un ( I nf ant ry) Regi ment 8Reconnai ssance Det achmnt

Pl ast un ( I nTant ry) Br i gade

l 2 R. J ames Bender and Fti chard D Law, Uni f orms, Organi zat i on andof the Af r i kakorps. ( S a n J ose: R. James Bender), 1 9 rThe Af r i ca Corps was mr e l i ght l y organi zed t han most otherGer man corps of the war. h i n g t he campai . gn i t had the 5t h Li ghtD vi si . on ( l ater the 21st Panzer Di vi si on) and the 15t h PanzerDi vi si on assi gned. I n addi t i on t he f ol l ow ng i ndi . vi . dua1 combat uni t swere assi gned to t he corps:

s 3 . - -

Anti . -TankBat t al i on 6051st Bn. Fl ak Re g hn t 181st Bn Fl ak Xegh nt 33Fl ak Bat tal i on 606Reconnai ssance Company 580l 3 Tessi n, Verbaende. Vol 1, p. 18.

Panzer Corps Grossdeut schl and had the proposed organi zati on of :P a n z e r Grenadi er Di vi si on Grossdeutschl andPanzer Grenadi er Di vi si on BrandenburgCorps Fusi l i . er Regi mentHeavy Tank Bat t al i onOne Ar t i l l ery Regi mentArmored Engi neer Batt al i on

Panzer Corps r ' el dher rhai l e had the proposed organi zat i on of:Panzer Di vi si on Fel dher rnhal l ePanzer Grenadi er Di vi si on Fel dherrnhal l e 2Corps Fusi l i er Regi mentHeavy Tank Bat t al i onOne Ar t i l l ery Regi mentArmored Engi neer Battal i . on

Both corps were i nt ended to be a mr e permanent organi zat i . onthan other corps w t h di vi . si ons assi gned on a mr e permanent basi s.

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l 4 Tessin, Verbaende. Vol 2, pp. 14, 95, 160; Vol 3, pp. 5- 6; Vol 4,p. 55; V O ~ , pp. 43, 53, 78, 155, 225, 246.Tessin, Verbaende. Vol 2, pp. 1- 3, 5- 7, 54- 86, 89- 92, 153, 154-156, 220- 222, 226- 227, 281- 283; Vol 3, pp. 1- 9, 50- 52, 87- 90, 124-126, 160- 162, 191- 194, 227- 229, 287- 289; V O ~ , pp. 1- 3, 24- 27, 50-52, 80- 83, 111- 112, 129- 131, 221.Tessin, Verbaende. Vol 1, pp. 17- 19.

l 7 Tessin, Verbaende. Vol 2, pp. 1- 3, 5- 7, 54- 86, 89- 92, 153, 154-156, 220- 222, 226- 227, 281- 283; V O ~ , pp. 1- 9, 50- 52, 87- 90, 124-126, 160- 162, 191- 194, 227- 229, 287- 289; V O ~ , pp. 1- 3, 24- 27, 50-52, 80- 83, 111-112, 123-131, 221.l 8 Silvester Stadler , Di.e Offensive Kursk 1943, (Osnabrueck,FRG: &.n Verlag), 1980, p. 38. --

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CHAPTER4B;1cKGRouND, EDUCATION, AND EXF'WIENCE

This chapter w i l l be t o examine the background, education,and experience factors of German corps comnanders i n World War 11. 4total of 332 men served as permanent or ac ting comnanders fo r theninety-three German Army corps from 1939 t o 1945. Central t o athorough understanding of these factors is a review of the system ofgeneral of fic er grades and their equivalent American counterparts.The basic grade system is s h m below:

Table 6General Officer Grades

German Grade

Gener a1 e dmar schal l

Generaloberst

Abbreviation E n g l i.shTrans 1ati.on

GFM Field Marschal

Go Colonel GeneralGeneral der 1nfanteri.e GdI General of Infantry

AmericanEqui.valent

General ofthe Army

GeneralLieutenant

General

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G e m Rank Abbreviation English Amer icanTranslation Equivalent

General der Arti l lerie

General der PanzerGeneral der PionierGeneral der Gebirgs-

trim=General der KavallerieGeneralleutnant

Generalmajor

GdA General of Arti.llery

GdPz General of PanzersGdPi General of EngineersGdGebTr General of Hountain

TroopsGdKav General of CavalryGL Lieutenant General

GM Major General

LieutenantGeneral

I ,

MajorGeneralBrigadierGeneral

In comparing German grades with American ones it should benoted that a G e m generalmajor w a s routinely a corrmander of adivi.si.on. h i l e hi s . k r i c a n counterpart seldom was. Movfnp a? ageneralleutnant could camnand ei.ther a di.visi.on or corps, h i i e hismajor general Ameri.can counterpart mst often stayed a t divisionlevel. To av0i.d thi.s mental conversi.on of grades I will use Germangrade for a l l comnanders.

1

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BACKGRONDAGE

Tne f i rs t charac ter is t ic to be examined is age. YajorGeneral J.F.C. Fuller in his work Generalship -ts Diseases -nd-heir --ure: A study--f the Personal Factor -.n Gnunand states thatphysical vigor and energy are important assets of genera1shi.p and2are usually found i n younger men. t espi.te thi.s theory, the Germancorps comnanders were a mature group of individuals and were notyoung by the standards of the t ime . The following i.nfonnation showsthe age groups as defined by age on assuming corps comnand.

40 to 4445 to 5051 to 5556 to 6061 to 65

Table 7Age of Comnanders

Mmkr of Officers* Percentage of Total

61041624411

1.831.849.513.43.3

* Note: Ages were determi.ned fo r 327 of 332 c m n d e r s

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The oldest individual was GL tIans Schmidt who was 64 yearsold &en he assmed c m d f the I X Corps i n 1940. 'I ne ;iomgestwas GM K u r t von Liebenstein who assmed c d f the Afr ica Corps,January 1943, a t age 43.

OFFICER SELECTION

Pr ior to World W a r I an i.ndividua1 could become an of ficerby attending one of ten cadet schools or by applying di re ct ly t o aregimental comnander. Applicants were evaluated for responsi-bili.ty ,willpower, and characte r. Educational fac to rs were consi.deredsecondary. The mst si gn if ic an t element of education was the"Abitur", a diploma recognizing nine years of primary and secondaryeducation, and granting the reci pien t the rig ht to enter auniversity. The s t a t e of Bavaria demanded the of fi ce r candida tepossess this ce r t if ic at e while by 1910 some 637. of a l l Prussiancadets had earned one. Long te rn implications fo r the Abitur wereeven mre sig nif ica nt as acceptance fo r General Staff trai ningdepended on i t . 3

k i n g World War I , huge demands for off ice rs caused adi.lution i n the characte r and educational standards of offi.cercandi.dates. Casualt ies i.ncreased whi.le replacements were drawn fromolder re se rv is ts and inexperienced young off ic er s. In 1916 theSupreme Headquarters began to tra nsf er members of the "old officercorps" from the fron t 1i.nes to General Staff serv ice i n an attempt4to prevent the to ta l destructi.on of the tradi.tiona1 of fic er corps.

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After the co nf li ct selecti.on again became d if fi .c ul t. Underche ?rovi.sions of :he Treaty of Versailles, tne post-war ilei.cnswehrwas reduced to 4,000 officers, of whom 3,000 were wartime officersand 1,000 were promoted noncomni.ssi.oned off ic ers . Outside candidateswere expected to have an extensive pre-un iversity education lev el.The Abitur was desi.red but not required. In i t s place, the candidatecould take sp ec ia l equivalency examinations, a system which as si st edenlisted candidates lacking i n formal educati.on. 5

The environment through which the future corps ccnanandersentered servic e foste red candidates with a l l around excelle ntcharacter r athe r than m r e educated, technic ally orientedind ividual s. Additiona lly, character was of te n judged by the st at usof family influence and wealth. One standard was that of nobili tyand w i l l be examined next.

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NOBILITY

Gr%ile most officers were members of the upper and middlecla sse s, o ffi cer s of noble descent had always f i y e d prominently i nGerman mil it ary t ra di ti on . k i r g the Reichswehr e ra of 1924-1932,nobili ty again fared well in the cm ps i.t io n of the offic er corps.The f o l l ow i ng three ta bl es re fl ec t nobi li ty composition of newlypromoted majors (major), lieutenant colonels (oberstleutnant) andcolonels (oberst). Nany of the later corps comnanders passed throughthese grades during this time. 6

Table 8Newly P r m t e d Ynjors

Year Promoted Nobles Percent Noble

192419251926192719281929193019311932

736874819365669073

1 21619i 7271 61017

5

Total 683 13943

16.423.525.620. 929.024.615.118.8

1 . 3

20.3


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Year

192419251926192719281929193019311932

Total

Year

1924192519261927

Table 9Newiy Trmoted Lieutenant Colonels

Promoted

43304361677 1708365

533

Nobles Percent Hoble

14 32.56 20.0

13 30.217 27.826 38.817 23.914 20.022 26.512 , 18.4

141 26.4

* Table 10Newly Promoted Colonels

Promoted Nobles Percent Noble

32 10 31.227 12 44.429 13 44.834 7 20.5

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Newly Promoted Colonels (continued)

Year Pronoted Nobles Percent Noble

1928 45 13 28.81929 40 15 37.51930 46 11 23.91931 55 22 40 01932 45 1 0 22.2

Total 353 113 32.0

However, the high percentage of nobility during the 1932-1945 p r i o d diminished. I n 1932, 23.8% of a l l officers were nobleswith 52% of general officers in this category. This percentage haddwindled by 1939. A t the beginning of the war, although the .4rmy hada large number of landed gentry and ar is tocracy, the percentage ofnoble general officers had dropped to 33. This percentage decli.nedeven further by 1944 when only 19% of a l l generals were nobles.

7

89

The scope of this thesis nust 1imi.t the thoroughinvesti.gation of the various s t r a ta of no bi li ty . David Nelson

1uSpi.res' doc toral di ssert ati.o n points out that:

... s far as the Reichswehr is concerned, "old" officerfamilies or those that tra dit ion all y had supplied off-icers t o the army, could be mre significant than "new"noble families.45


52/176

CXoer Bartov i n hi s study of the German hrny on the EasternFront defines rmbe rship i n the nobili.ty as a l l officers with a"von" and other pre fix s of aris t0c rati .c o rig in attached to thefamily name. Using this definici.on, the following p att er n ofnobil i ty emerges when examining the corps COIIpnanders.

11

-

Table 11comnanders of Noble Descent

Year

193719381939194019411942194319441945

Comnanders of NobleDescent i n Corps Ccomand

89

13212231312927

Seventy-five (22.69.) of th e corps comnanders were members ofthe nobility. From the resu lts of th is analysis it appears as thoughthis represen ta tio n remained con stant throughout the war.Addi.tionally, thi.s figure corresponds closely with the percentage oftotal general officers.

46


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EXPANSION OF THE i(EICHS'dm

k i n g the 1930s, the German Army dramatically increased insi.ze. This expansion directly affected the Officer Corps. In 1938for example, the Army expanded by 7,600 of fi ce rs : 2,000 re cr ui ts ,2,500 la te ra l transfers from the police, 1,500 noncorrmissionedoff ice r prmotio ns, 1,800 reac tivat ions from inac tive service, and1,600 Austrian of fic er s incorporated i.nto the Wehnuacht. Thevariety of sources fo r general of fi ce rs who la te r assumed corpscamand are as shown:

1 2

Category

Table 1 2Comnander's Background

Career (Served in WWIand r a i n e d i n Xeichsweh)

Recalled from iietirement( In Rei.chswehr, retired)

Transferred from Police(Served in NJI, l e f t Army,returned with Police rank)

Number Comnanders Percentage

268 80.7

22

27

6 . 6

8.1

47


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Category

Comnander's Background (continued)

Per centageumber Conananders

4 1.2oined during 1930s Expansion(Served in WWI, l e f t Armyrejoined Army i n mid 1930s)

Incorporated from Austrian Army 11 3.3

Several of these sources of of fi ce rs should be explained.More than 80 general offi.cers were recalled from active duty in 1939from the inacti.ve l i .s t , and w.th the continued expansion during thewar m y more were brought back. 13

Twenty-two gen era ls rec al le d to ac ti ve duty l a te r comnancieda t the corps level. & call t o se rv ice could be accomplished by twomthods. Sme re ti re d of fi ce rs were ternporarily rest ored to theregular l i s t , while others were designaced z.V ( m r V e r f u e m ) o r"at di.sposa1". As expected, most recalled officers were among theoldest of the cannariders. Seventeen retu rned to ret irement duringthe war, one died i.n comnand, and four remained on ac tive se rv ic e.Only one corps comnander d-10 had been re ca ll ed from ret ire ment wasselected for higher camand.

14

15

48


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During the mid 1930s many offi.cers rejoined the Xeichswehrtheir f o m rrom the police. As an inducement, these men retained

poli.ce rank ranging from hauptmann (c ap ta in ) to generalmajor.

Professional competence of officers h o did not remain inthe Army after World War I was not held in high regard. GuentherBlumentritt, a former army group chief of staff and cunnander of the1st Airborne Army i.n 1945, stated that the performances of officerswho reti .red in 1919 and rejoined during the mid-1930s was lower asthese officers s t i l l believed in obsolete Fi.rst World Warexperiences. 16

Despite Blumentr itt 's as sert ion, twenty-seven generals whoreturned to the Army i n the mid 1930s fiom the police achieved corpscannard. Nost were absorbed into the infantry. Five later conrnandeda t the army or army group level, representing 19% of a l l corpsc d e r s with police backgrounds, and are shown below:

17

Table 13Corps Gmnanders with Police Backgrounds

Grade N a m e Corps Highest Grade Higher CamandsCorrmand

GdPz Eberbach m v 1 1 Pz GdPzXxxXvIII Pzxxxx Pz

49

5th Panzer Army7th my


56/176

Corps Comnanders w th Pol i ce Backgrounds ( cont i nued)

Grade N a m e

GdI

GL

Grasser

Wl l e r ,F

GdI Wese

GdI

thatthat

von Zangen

Corps Hi ghest Grade Hi gher CarmandsGmmland

XXVI GdILVI PzV GdIXXXI V 2.b.VLI XLXVI I IVI I IxxxvLXXXI VLXXXVII

GdI

GdI

11t h Army184t h Army

19th Army

15th Amy

I n examni ng Bl urent?i . t t ' s asser t i on more deepi y, xi f i ndseven f ormer pol i . ce of f i cers comnanded panzer corps, posi t i onswoul d seem to requi re the great est underst andi ng of modern

mobi l e war f are. Thi s would seem to undermne che ant i - pol i ceschool of thought unt i l we l ook at durati . on of c mn d . Thef ol l ow ng tabl e shows that onl y two (29% comnanded l onger t han onemnt h. Al t hough Kael l ner and Schuenemnn were ki l l ed i n acti on i tappears as t hough pol i ce comnanders were t hought of mr e astemporary panzer corps com mder s than permanent .

50


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Table 14Panzer Corps Comnanders with Poli.ce Bac'kgrounds

Grade N a m e Corps Durati.on of Cornnand

GL Beyer,FGdPz Eberbach

GdPz Fr iesGL GrasserGdPz Henrici,SGL KaellnerGL schuenerrmann

LVII PzXxxxVII PzXxxXvIII Pzxxxx PzXxxxVI PzLVI Pzxxxx PzXXIV Pzm1x Pz

8 days7 days

27 days9 days4 months

24 days18 months29 days1 day

After the annexation of Austria i n i938 (t he Anschluss),three Austrian corps composed of six divis ions were incorporatedin to the German A m y , with a corresponding number of senioroff ic ers . Austri.an off ic er s conpared favorably to th ei r G e m ncounte rpar ts i n conpetency and leadership. The following tenAustri.an officers achieved corps ccnirnand and were promoted t o higherccrrmand positi.ons as s h m :

i 9

20

51


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Grade Name

Table 15Austri.an Army and Army Group Comanaers

Corps Highest Grade Bigker C m n d scornnand

GdI Fiendulic XXXV

GdPz b u s XxxXvII Pz

GI, Eibl XXIV PzGdI Yiterna XXGdI k y e r , E XVIIIGdA Marti-nek XXXIX PzGL Feurstein UII

LxxL I Mtn

GL Eglseer XVIII Mtn

GL R i n g e l LXIX MtnGL von Nagy W IGdPz Hubicki. W I X z

Go 2nd Panzer Army20th 4lountain ArmyArmy Group KurlandArmy Group NorthArmy Group South

Go 1st Panzer Amy3rd Panzer Army4t h Panzer Army

L lGdI (Post.) None (KIA)GdI NoneGdI None (Died)GdA None ( K I A )GdGebTr None

GdGebTr None (Kil led i nplane crash)

GdGebTr NoneGdI NoneW Z N O W

52


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5RAiV.X AFFILIATION

Branch r i v a l r i e s p lay ed a l a r g e ro l e i n comnandre la t ions h ips i n the A m y during both the ex p an s io n e r a and ac t u a lw a r t i m e . D av i d N e l s o n Sp i r e s ag a i n p re s en t s b as e l i n e d a t a fo r b ran chcomposi t ion for promotion i n the Reichswehr e r a as shown f o rg en e ra l ma j o r , g en e ra l l eu t n an t , an d general. 22

Year

192419251926192719281929193019311932

T o t a l

Promoted

1 38

101516i 7191 719

134

Table 16Newly Promoted Generalmajor

I n f a n t r y11

4 30.71 12.55 50.07 46.6

11 68.7i0 58.1;12 63.110 58.811 57.8

71 52.9

Cavalry11 7.

2 15.42 25.01 10.01 6.60 0.02 i1.70 0.01 11.72 10.5

11 8.2

53

A r t i l l e r yI

7 53.84 50.03 30.05 33.35 31.25 29.47 36.84 23.56 31.5

46 34.3

Technical11

0 0.01 1.2.51 10.02 13.30 0.00 0.00 0.02 11.70 0.0

6 4.4


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Year

192419251926192719281929193019311932

Total

Table 17Xewly Romoted Generalleutnanr:

Promoted Infantry11

4 3 75.04 2 50.05 5 100.07 4 57.16 1 16.66 3 50.07 4 57.15 3 60.06 4 66.6

50 29 58.0

CavalryII

0 0.01 25.00 0 01 14.23 50.01 16.61 14.21 20.00 0.0

8 16.0

Arti l lery/I 70

1 25.01 25.00 0.02 28.52 33.32 33.32 28.51 20.02 33.3

13 26.0

Technical

0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.0

0 0.0

Tabie i8Newly P r m t e d General der Infanterie, etc.

Year Pronoted Infantry Cavalry Arti ll ery TechnicalI /I I II

1924 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.01925 2 1 50.0 1 50.0 0 0.0 0 0.0

54


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Newly Promoted General der Infanter ie, etc. (continued)

Year

1926192719281929193019311932

Total

Promoted InfantryI 7.

0 0 0.02 1 50.02 1 50.01 1 100.01 0 0.01 1 100.01 1 100.0

Cavalryt 7.0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.0

Arti l leryt '7.0 0.01 50.01 50.00 0.01 100.00 0.00 0.0

a 5 62.5 0 0.0 3 37.5

TechnicalI0 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.0

0 0.0

Older generals viewed in fa nt ry as the dominant branch andattempted to control the Army Personnel Branch to the detriment ofother branch offi.cers. This was especially so w i t n respect to theformation of the new panzer forces. Hasso von W t e u f f e l s ta ted tha tthe new 7anzer brancn required speciai leaders anu carmnanaers, butthe older arms displayed opposing views. To maintain s t a b i l i t ywithin the armored force, GO Heinz Guderi.an r e p r t e d di re ctl y toHitler as Inspector-General of b r e d Troops and had full i n p u tconcerning appointments to the comnand of armored formations.

23

24

55


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The distribution of corps comnanders by branch was asfollars:

Table 19Branch Aff i.lia t ion

Branch

InfXCTYArtil leryPanzerCavalrybuntain TroopsEngineerLuftwaffe

Number of Comnanders

1 7 163541815

92

Percentage

51.518.916 .2

5.44.52.70.6

Another aspect of branch affi.liation concerns the comnandersof panzer corps and mountain corps. Si xt yo ne per cent of a l l panzercorps comanders were of the panzer branch, h i l e forty-one perc.entof the conmanders of the m t a i n corps were mountain troopofficers. Artil lery and cavalry officers comnanded i n both infantryand panzer corps. Infantry generals served across the entirespectnnn of uni ts.

56


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GENERAL STAFF SERVICE

The German General S t a f f Corps was a group of sp eci all yselected, trained, and educated officers. I ts mission was to serveas a con tro l mechanism to ass is t the ccarmander i n di re ct in g largemili tary units. This included planning, coordinating, supervising,and assuring operational readiness. 25

Candi.dates for the General Staff were selected based on26"character, di.spsition, physi.ca1, and intellectual abilities".Nemkrship was always select. Fewer than one percent of a l l of fic ersi n the Army were selec ted as General Staff Corps of fi ce rs i n thePNSsian Army. Membership rose t o twenty percent dur ing the WeimarRepublic. 27 28By 1939 this amounted to 417 officers.

Austri.an General Staf f off ic er s had l i t t l e diff icul ty afterthe Anschluss i n obtaining positions on the German General Staff. Aformer Austrian of fi ce r, General de Sartha, st ated that in manyrespects th Austrian General Staff was the equal of i t s Germancounter?art. 29

Although the size of the General Staff increased to 1167offi.cers by 1944, their relative importance in the Amy hierarchybegan t o decrease beginning i n 1941. After the fa ilur e to takeMoscow i n December 1941, Hitler unfairly blamed not only severalhigh ranki.ng c m n d e r s , but also the General Staff for the lack ofadequate winter preparations.

30

3157


64/176

In September 1942 Hitler accused the General Staff of"cowardice" and berated GO Haiaer, Cuef of Army General Staff. Thisled to Halder's dismissal and marked the end of the period when theGeneral Staff t r u l y conducted operati.ons. 32

Many corps ccmmanders were menbers of the General Staff.Their prominence during the war was s ignificant and will bediscussed a t length i n a la te r chapter. Distributi on of corps33c d e r s with General S t a f f experience is as shown:

Table 20Comnanders from the General Staff

Year

1939194019411942194319441945

hnber of Comnandersfrom General Staff

Percentage, of Tota l

31506175838250

6670l

57494036

58


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Thi.s trend minors H it le r' s increasing intervention with theofficer corps. 8y January 1943 he ordered the reintegration of theGeneral Staff into the regular officer corps and establishedperformance as the primary cr i t e r i a for promoti.on, not General S t a f f

34membership.

PREVIOUS COMMAND AND STAFF EXPERIENCE

As i n a l l military organizations, mst corps cmmnders hades tabl ished a pa tt er n of successful performance a t previous cornnandand staff assi.gments. In the staff arena, two General Staffpositions were considered extremely important: operations of fi ce r( Ia ) of a div isio n and chief of st af f a t a corps or higher level.

Division operations officers normally held the rank ofmajor. In addi tion to h is du tie s in operations, he al so served asthe chief of staff as the divis ion str uct ure di.d not alloc ate aseparate position for one. The division supply officer (Ib) and the35di.vi.sion in te ll ig en ce o ff ic er ( I c ) were subordinated to him.

Chiefs of st af f had m h m r e prestige and authority thanother oEficers of equal rank. Colonels and lieute nan t colonels36

59


66/176

served as corps ch ief s of s t a f f , while army ch ief s of sta ff wereu s u a l l y colonels or major generals. Responsibilities for the coryschief of staff were initially laid out in the h s i a n Army in 1814and formalized in 1865 i.n a royal order which stated: 37

When I have given no special i.nstructi.ons onf i l l i n g the post of a general comnanding duringhis temporary absence, the chi.ef of the GeneralStaff will transact the current duti es of thegeneral.. .In reviewing pr ior st af f ser vic e, th i rt y corps comnanders

had been divis ion operations of fi ce rs , si xty -s ix served previ.ouslyas corps chiefs of staff, and thirty-eight were army chiefs ofsta ff. m t i p l e staf f assignments of service as both corps and armychief of staff were held by thirty-four l at er c d r s . Whilethese staff assignments were not mandatory prerequ isi tes fo r fut urecomnand, they certai.nly were indic ato rs of exce ll en t performance andpotential.

In addition to previous staff experi.ence, prior divisionThis trend isomnand was essenti.al for elevatio n to corps c m n d .

imrplified by the following division comnand s m r y : 38

60


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Table 21Prior i)ivisi.on camand Experience

Corps Comnanders Mmkrwho were colnnanders of:

Infantry Divisions 246

Panzer Divisi.ons 40

Reserve Divisions 0

Infantry and Panzer Divisi.0- 11

No div isio n comnand 35

Percentage-

74.1

12.0

0.0

3.3

10.5

An a n a l y s i s of pri.or div is io n cornnand experience revealsseve ral important trends. F i r s t , 89.59. of a l l corps cm mn de rs hadsr io r di.visi.on c m n d experience. Yost of the 5irf :r-f ive - h o didnot were very senior generals h o comnanded corps a t the s t a r t ofthe war. Tnus, their opportunities for division cnrmand were limitedby the smaller si ze of the army i n the mid-1930s. Those le ss sen iorwho did not comnand a t the divisi.on l ev el frequently were GeneralStaff off ic ers who held si gn if ic an t st af f comnands a t corps, army,and army group level.

6 1


68/176

None of the corps comnanders had previous reserve divisioncoIimand as his sole division comnanci experi.ence. I t i s safe t oconclude that reserve division colTpnand signalled l i . t t le possibilityfor further conmand progression.

Fifty-one corps c m d e r s (15.4%) previ.ously comnandedpanzer divisions. In examining the panzer corps, thirty-sixcomnanders (40.9 ) had previously comnanded panzer divisi .ons. Ofevery three panzer division comnanders who l a te r comnanded a t thecorps level, two commded a panzer corps while one comnanded acorps of a different type. No single panzer di vi sion served as anoverwhelming source of future panzer corps c m n d e r s . The 4th and11th Panzer Divisions each produced four. When an individual proved

' he could successful ly covmand divi si on mobile fo rces , he was quiteli-kely to be retained by Guderian and the panzer branch for fu rthe rpanzer corps comnands, ra ther than be ' transferred to otherformations.

LNFLUENCE OF THE X A Z I PARTY

According to Helmt Kleikamp, author of "The Army PersonnelOffice", with very few excepti.ons th e Nazi party exercised noinfluence on A m y appointmentments. Army off ic er promotions andassignrents were based on performance and qualifications, notpolitical considerations. 39

62


69/176

One facet of p a r t y af fi li at io n was the Nazi Party's highestdecoration fo r se rv ic e, "The Decoration of 9 Xovember 1923" al sohorn as "The Blood Order". Hitler created this decoration in b r c h1934 to comnemorate the failed Putsch (attempted overt'mow ofBavarian government) of November 9 , 1923 in M i c h . Eligi.bi.lity wasi.niti.ally limited to persons who had part icipa ted i n the events ofNovember 9th and who were Party members by January 1, 1932. Theseindividuals were affectionally known as "Old k a d e s " . In 1938,e l ig ib i l i ty was expanded to persons who had rendered outs tandingservices courtdeath sentence and served a t le as t one year i n j a i l for po li ti ca lcrimes, or been severely wounded or killed in Party service.

to the Party in the 1920s and had received a Weeimar40

. Awards fo r this f i r s t criter ion of eligi bili . ty totaled 1500.Of these 810 went to Party members, 500 to Freikorps troo pers , and140 to Reichswehr and Poli.ce members. Seven Reichswehr re ci pien tswent on to become general officers: Johannes Block, Curt-Ulrich vonGersdorff, Wolfdietrkh von Xylander , Edurd lorn, Robert a c h e r ,Paul Hermann, and Theodor i(retschwr. Only one went on to become acorps cnrmander. 41

Although Party o ff ic ia ls may have had no influence onappointments and promotions, in di re ct pressures ex is ted i n thepresence of severa l senior Army off ic ia ls who sympathized with theNazi.s and could affect personnel is sues . GeneralfeldmarschallW i l h e l m Keitel, General der In fan te rie Rudolf Schmundt, and Generalder Infanterie W i l h e l m Burgdorf were three of these men.

42

6 3


70/176

W i . l h e l m Keitel served as Chief of Staff of the CombinedServices (OKW) from 1938 to the end of the war. Xichard Brett-Smith,author of Hitler 's Generals, states that Keitel did mre than anyoneto "bring about the domination of the Xeichswehr by the Nazis."Married to Generalfeldmarschall von Blomberg's daughter, he was inaddition the brother of the Chief of the Army Personnel OfficeBodewin Keitel and undoubtedly had some influence in appointxents.H i s duty assigrrment can be sumnari.zed as funneling Hitler 's ordersdam to the Army and passing up, with a dose of interpretation,their complaints and questions to the Fuehrer. 43

Rudolf Schmndt was Chief of the Army Personnel Office f r mBodewin Keitel's departure in 1942 to his am death as a result ofinj uri es suffered i.n the July 20 bombing a t Hitler 's .headquarters.Again Brett-Smith categorizes S c M t as an avowed Nazi who wash a m throughout the Officer Corps as "John the Disciple". Schmundrinfluenced a wide range of appointmnts to include even groupcomnand and probably speeded the rise of several like-mindedofficers.

.

army44

Wilhelm Burgdorf served fai thfully as chief Wehrmachtadjutant to Hitler pri.or to assuming the pos tion of Personnel Chieffrom Rudolf Sctrrrmndt in 1944. He was "hated fo r hi.s br ut al it y by 99per cent of the officer corps" stated Manfred R m l , son ofGeneralfeldmarschall R m l . Frcm colonel t o general he did not

64


71/176

c d roops but did show loyalty and discretion toward Hi.tler andwas entrusted wi.th v i s i t i n g R-1 .*ith the choice of suicide orar re st for involvement i n the July 20 Plot. 45

The influence of these mn on the Army Personnel Office wasprobably i.n the li ne of what they did not do mre than what t he ydid. I t would have been very diff icul t t o explain that a particularofficer was selected for a position because he was a NationalSo cia lis t. But for off ice rs seeking t o ret urn t o activ e duty fromretirement or volunteering for fron tlin e service from theReplacement Army bureaucratic delays and refusals were surely inorder for chronic complainers against the Nazis. 46

The background i.nformation i n th i s chapter shows the corpscomnanders generally to be mature indi.viduals of approximately 50-57years of age. About 23 7. were members of the nobili.ty, generally thesame as for general o ff i.cers as a whole. Most corrmanders were careersoldiers with minte r rup ted service from "'Or?d ':Jar I , sore encerecthe Army from the police, the Austrian Army after the Anschluss, andsome were recalled from reti.rement. Concerning branch affiliation,52 7. were infantry officers, 19 artillery, and 16 7. panzer. A l m o s t50 of the corps comnanders were General Staff officers with manyhaving st af f experience as div isi on operations of fi ce rs and corpschiefs of staff. More than 89 7. had been d iv k io n ccmnanders.Fina lly, Nazi Par ty influence was minimal i n their ri.se.

65


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Ri.chard Brett-Smith, Hit le r' s Generals, ( S a n Rafael,Cali.fornia: Presidi.0 Pres s) , 1937, p.12.J .F .C. Fuller, Generalship I ts Diseases and Their Cure: A Studv- -f the Personal Factor in Comnand,-(Harrisburg, PennsyTvania:Military Servi.ce Umngx.),, p.70.

2 --- -Martin van Creveld, Fi.ghti.ng Power, G e m MilitarPerformance, 1914-1945, (Potanac, Maryland: C&L Associates)*pp. 150-152.Martin van Creveld, Fightiw, Power, p. 152.Martin van Creveld, F i . & t i r g Power, p. 152.The se le ct io n process fo r Eduard Zorn, a la ter generalmajor,w a s a typical one and worthy of review. Late i n 1920 Zorn applied i n

writing t o the comnander of Infantry Regiment 19 Colonel Ri tt er vonHaack for admission for offi ce r train ing . In his application Zornincluded informati.on on: date of bi.rth, st at e af fi li at io n , reli gion,level of educati-on, profession of father, and personal history. Inaddition he furnished two r ec m n d a ti o n le tt er s from prominentcitizens of his comrmnity.During the ensuing background inve st igat ion, Zorn underwent aphysical aptitude and mdical test. With these complete, hepar ticip ated in a one t o three day personal interview with Colonelvon Haack and selected members of hi.s staff.The results of this process reflect Zorn's aptitude forservice. He was a candidate for the Abitur which fulfillededucati.ona1 requirements. H i s charac ter was exemplary as he was theson of an offi ce r kil le d i n ac tion during World War I. Additionally,hi.s brother Hans was already a juni.or offi cer i.n the regiment andhad an exce llent service record himself. In sum, Eduara Zorn wasi.n tel lis en t, physically f i t , motivated, and ap li .t ic a1 . Davi.d NelsonSpi.res, The Career of the Reichswehr Offi.cer", ( k c t o r ofPhilosophy ilissertation: Universi.tjr of iqasningtcn), iY79, pp.3-iZ.

45

David Nelson Spire s, "The Career of the Rei.cnswetu Off icer ",6p.508.I h e r Bartov, The Eastern Front, 1941-45, German Troo s andBarbarisation -f W a z r m Y o r k : S t . Martin's P r e s s d 6 z . 4 3 .

Richard Brett-Smi.th, Hitler 's Generals, p.5.h e r Bartov, The Eastern E .43.a9 -

David Nelson Spires, "The Career of the Reichswehr Officer",0p.27.66


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11Ckner Bartov, -he Eastern Front, p.172.1 2Michael Geyer, "The Transformation of the German Officer Corps"Ann Arbor, Echigan: Uni.versi.ty of Michigan), p.44.13 The March- f Conauest: -he German Victories inWestern Europe, 1940,Tew York: Simon and Schus- 1958, p p . zTelford Taylor,

and. -14 Telford Taylor, The March, p. 409.Table 22Corps Comnanders Coming Gut of Retirement

Grade Name Corps Date 0ri.gi.nal ly Date Fi.nallyComnanded Retired R e t i redGdI

GLGLGdIGLGdIGdIGLGdAGdKGdIG d AGdIGdIGdKGdIGdIGdIGdIGdAGMGdI15

Boehm-Tettelbach XXXIIXXXVIIBrandt ,GFeigeGeyervon Gienanthvon Grei.ffHaenickeHeinemannKaupi sc hvon KleistKoch,FLuchtMet2.H

11XXXImIXXXXVII11xiMx7Im 1 1LXvXXXIXXI IXXXXIVXI11von Nagy LXXIvon Pomell XXXI Ivon G g e r XXVXXVI I~~ ~von Schenckendorff xIc vSchmidt,H IXSctiwandner LIXUlex X~~~~von UngerWiktorin XXXIIIXXVIII

31.3.33

31.1.3130.9.3530.4.3930.9.3331.12.2930.9.3230.9.3730.9.3228.2.3830.9.3131.3.32

1.4.3131.12.351.2.3128.2.38

28.2.3031.1.31193431.3.3931.7.321935

28.2.43

31.8.4230.6.4231.12.4330.6.4331.8.42Did not28.2.4530.6.42Did not31.5.42Did not

31.1.4331.1.4331.5.4230.5.42Died 6.7.4331.10.4331.12.4130. a .42Did not30.11.44

Erwin k n f e l d and Franz Thomas, Die Eichenlaubtraeger, p.91.G d K Ewald von Kleist comnanded the XXII Corps from 1939-1940.He continued his ri.se wt th the comnands of Panzer Group Kleist, 1stPanzer Army , Army Group A , and Army Group South Ukraine. He wasdismissed from the se rv ic e March 30, 1944 and died i n 1954 in aSoviet Pri.soner of War Camp.

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Guenther Blurrentri.tt, The German Armies of 1914 and 1939,U.S. .Amy 9istori.c al Division Study 6 8-296, (Washington, 9.C.:Office of the Chief of a l i . t a r y Hi sto ry) , 1947, p.46.16

Wolf Kei.lig, Die Generale des Heeres, pp.76,113,232,370,379.The following corps comnanders tr ansf er red frcm the Police to

17 - -the Army:

Table 23Corps Comnanders from the PoliceGrade Name

GdI AbrahamGL Seyer ,

GL chillGdPz EberbachGdPz FriesGdI GrasserGdGbT vonHenglG d P ZGLGLGLGLGdIGZ

GL

GdIGdAGLGdPi.GLGL

Henrici,SHohnJahr.KaellnerLaschvon LeyserWeller ,F

von OvenPfe .f ferRoett .gS a c kSchuenenmannSponheimer

Corps Date Transferredfrom PoliceW I IXVIIxxxxIXLxxxLVIIXXVILVXxxXvI I PzXxxxVIII Pzxxxx PzrnPzXXVI.LVIXIXLIXxxxx PzIXXXIVXXIVLXIVxvXXIXXVIVXXXIVLIXLXVIIIXXXXXXIIIIXXXIXXXXXIIIVILXVILXIVXXXIX PzXXVIIIXLIVLXVI I

15.10.351.4.35

1.10.361.7.35

193619356.10.361.10.351.9.3522.11.3519351.7.3515.3.35

16.3.36

15.10.35

15.3.351.10.351.10.351.10.3516.3.3616.3.36

Grade retai.nedfrom PoliceNaj orOberstleutnant

i4ajorMajor

MajorEr,jorMajorOberstXauptmannOber t leutnantHauptmannMajorOberstleutnant

:.laj or

Oberstleutnant

OberstleutnantOberstleutnantOberstOberstMajorOberst

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Corps Corrmanders from the Police (continued)Grade ame Corps Date Transferred Grade re ta in ed

GdI Strec'ker X I 14.6.35 GeneralnajorGL Usinger I 1.10.35 MajorGdI Wiese V I I I 1.8.35 MajorGdI Witthoeft XXVII 1.4.36 OberstGM Wolpert IXXXVIII 15.10.35 OberstleutnantGdI von Zangen IXXXIV 1.8.35 Oberstleutnant

from Po lice from Poli.ce

XVII

xxxvLXXXVII18 Erwin Lenfeld and Franz Thomas, Die Ekhenlaubtraeger1940-1945. (Wiener Neustadt, Cesterrei.ch: Weirburg Verlag), 1952,p.105. GdI Friedrich W i . l h e l m Nueller mde the mst rapid rise of the"Police" cOmnanders. La te ra ll y transferr i.ng f rm the Hamburg Policei n March 1936, he was a bat ta l ion ccmnander from 1938-1940, aregimental comnander 1940-1942, and a d ivision comuander from 1942-1944. I n 1944 he served as both temporary and permanent corpscamnander before assuming cornnand of the 4th Army January 29, 1945.After the w a r he was condenmed for war cr ine s and hanged i n Athens,Yay 1947.

19 Friedrich Sta hl, Heereseinteilung -91939 (Friedberg, FRG:Podzun-Pallas-Verlag), 1953, p.145.20 Wolf Keilig, Die Generale des Heeres. (Friedberg, FRG: Podzun-Pallas-Verlag) , 1 9 8 3 , p ~ 8 0 , 8 9 , 1 5 2 , 2 1 8 , 2 3 7 , 2 7 3 , 2 7 8 .LJ. Dernot Bradley and Richard Schulze-Kossens, Taet ig ke it sber ic ht---es Chefs des Heerespersonalamtes General & nfanterie 3udol fS c h d t : 11042-ck FRG.: Biblio Verlag), 19W,~ . 4 2 . GL Eibl became the onlv corm comnander t o be k i l l ed by h i sbwn troops when he was seriously wbundea by a handgenade t h r k bya soldier in a passing It al i an truck column as he was s i t t i n g on thefender of h i s s taff car . He undemenr: emrgency surgery, h3chour:anathesi.a, whi.cn resulted i n the amputation of a leg, but died.

David Nelson Spi.res, The Career of the Reichswehr Officer",Hei.nz Guderian and K u r t Zeitzler, "Comnents on P-041a-P-O4lhh",(Washington, D.C.:

Hasso von Manteuffel, "Fast Mobile and Armored Troops", U.S.Army Hi.storica1 Division Study MSll 8-036, (Washington, D.C.: Officeof the Chief of Mil it ary His to ry), 1945, pp.3,10,19.

22pp.508-509.23U.S. Army Histori.ca1 Di.vision Study MSI/ P-04111,Office of the Chief of Mili.tary Hi.story), 1953, p.2.24

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zation), 1984, p.6.26 Franz Halder, "Control of the German Army General Staff", U.S.Army ilistorical Divi.si.on Study MSd P-O41d, (Washington, D.C. : Officeof the Chief of Yi li ta ry Histo ry) , 1952, p.3.27 Trevor N. ~e p u y ,General ~ t a f f , p. 6 and B-1.

W. Victor Madej, German Army -rder of Battle 1939-1945,(Allentown, Pennsylvania: Garre Y t r k e t i n g c O m p a n ~ 9 8 1 , Vol 1,p.37.29 de Bartha, "Austro-Hungarian General Staff", U.S. ArmyHistorical Division Study bS C-063, (Washington, D.C. : Office ofthe Chief of .Military Hi story) , 1946, p.5.30 Walter Goerli-tz, Histo of the G e m General staff 1657-1945.

( N e w York: Praeger), 1 , p.4n.-31 Walter Goerlitz, History, p.405.

Hansgeorg i . lodel, deutsche Generals tabsoffizie r, (Frankfurt,2ERG: Bernard & Graefe Ver lag) ,8 , p.127.33 ~ c h a e l y e r , " ~ b _ e Transformation of the ~erman f f i ce r .corps"34 Helmt Kleikamp, "German Army High Cannand: The Central Branchof the Army General Staff", U.S. Army Hi.stori.ca1 Division Study z/s#P-O41x, (Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Mil itar y His tory ),

1952, p.7. .

p.47.

Power, German Xilitar==f5 phrtin van Creveld,Perfornance, 1914-1945, (Potomac, Mary and: c L Defense Cosu tants1980, p . 3 .36 %chard Brett-Smith, Hitler 's Generals, p.13.37 Bronsart von Sche llendorf , Tne h t i e s of the General Staff(Volume-). (London: C. Kegan Paul&Co?@$, n772 160-38 Tne fol lowing individual s comnanded both panzer divi si on s andpanzer corps.

Table 24Panzer Corps Cannarulers frm Panzer Divi.si.onsGrade Name Corps Gmnanded Divi sion ComnandedGdF'z von Amim,H XXXI X Pz 17 th Pz

70


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Panzer Corps Comnander s f r o m Panzer DGrade Name Corps GnnnandedGdPz Bal ck PzXxxXvI I I PzXI V PzGdPz Brei th, H I 11 PzGdPz Cruewel l Af r i caGdPz Decker XXXI X PzGdPz EberbachGdPz von Edel shei mGdPz von Esebeck, HGdPz Fehn, GGdPz von FunckGdPz Gey vonGL HarpeOberst Hei dkaemperGL Hei mGdPz HerrGdPz HubeGL , Kael l nerGdPz von KesselGdPz Ki rchnerGdPz von hobel sdor f f

Schweppenburg

GdPz Krueger , WGdPz vonLangemannund Erl enci nnpGdA Lemel senGL von Luet tw tz, SGL von Luettw tz. HGdPZGdPZGdPZGdPZ

G d P ZGdPZW ZGdPZ

Ne' mi ngb u sK1von SauckenSchaalvon Schweri n,Gvon Senger undvon ThmEtterl ei n

m 1 zXxxxvI I I PzXXXX Pzm 1 1 zLVI I Pzm Pzxxxx PzAf ri cam 1 z111 Pzxxxx

german corps commanders

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