VI Army Corps (Wehrmacht)


The VI Corps was an infantry corps of the German Army. It fought in several notable actions during World War II.
The corps was originally formed around the 6th Division of the Reichswehr in October 1934 in Münster.

Wartime service

1940

Organisation : 15th and 205th Infantry Divisions
Under the command of Otto-Wilhelm Förster, the Corps took part in the German Invasion of France, when it was part of the Twelfth Army of Army Group A. For the remainder of the year it was stationed on the coast as part of the occupation forces.

1941, 1942

Organisation : 6th, 26th, 110th, 161st and 256th Infantry Divisions; 1st Panzer Division; heavy artillery, Nebelwerfer, anti-tank and pioneer detachments
In Operation Barbarossa, the VI Corps became part of Army Group Centre, to which it remained attached until the very final period of the war. As part of the Ninth Army, it took part in the costly series of battles in the Rzhev salient throughout 1942.

War crimes

During the fighting in the Rzhev salient, the civilian population of the area suffered greatly from starvation, partly due to the requisition of stocks by the Wehrmacht, and disease. Many civilians were also deported as forced labour; between May and July 1942 alone VI Corps itself deported over 4,000 civilians in this manner.
The town of Rzhev lost 93% of its population in just thirteen months.

1943

Organisation
In 1943 the VI Corps, along with the remainder of Army Group Centre, was pushed back from the Rzhev salient. In the winter of 1943–44, now assigned to Third Panzer Army, it took part in the defensive battles around Vitebsk.

1944

Organisation :
On 22 June 1944, after a period of little activity along the front of Army Group Centre, the VI Corps was involved in the defence against the major Soviet summer offensive, Operation Bagration. Despite being one of the strongest corps in its Army Group, with four infantry divisions and the 14th Infantry Division in reserve, it was overwhelmed by the attack of the 5th Guards and 39th Armies, and largely destroyed in the lines around Bahushewsk by 25 June. The few elements that retreated to the Berezina River were mostly trapped and annihilated in the subsequent encirclement east of Minsk, while the corps commander, General Georg Pfeiffer, was killed on 28 June. The commanders of the 256th and 197th Divisions, Wustenhagen and Hahne, were also killed, while Michaelis of the 95th Division was captured. Most of their 40–50,000 troops met a similar fate.
In mid-July the scratch formation Sperrgruppe Weidling, which included remnants of some of the original units of VI Corps, was renamed as VI Corps. The Corps took part in the improvised defence against the Russian strategic operations for the remainder of the summer.

1945

Organisation :
The rebuilt VI Corps was allocated to Fourth Army where it faced the East Prussian Offensive from January 1945. It was encircled in the Heiligenbeil Pocket on the Baltic coast, and destroyed there in March.

Commanders