While the still powerful II SS Panzer Corps ( 6th Panzer - 2nd and 3rd SS Divisions ) took over the defense of Vienna to the north, the 1st SS Panzer Corps attempted the section between Semmering and the Soviet 4th and 9th Guard Army To keep St. On April 3, Bad Vöslau, Baden near Vienna and Traiskirchen fell into Soviet hands. At Steinfeld between Neunkirchen via Bad Fischau to Wimpassing, the remnants of the 1st and 12th SS divisions on the right wing and the Keitel combat group of the 37th SS Cavalry Division assigned to the left wing of the corps section were overrun by the Soviet advance. Guard mechanical corps to be evacuated without a fight. The important industrial city Wiener Neustadt had to be closed on April 2nd because of the western encirclement by the Soviet IX. After the failure of the offensive, the corps had to withdraw from the Soviet 6th Guards Panzer Army (General Kravtschenko ) via Ödenburg and Mattersburg to Lower Austria.
On December 17th, at least 82 US soldiers were captured and murdered at a street crossing in Baugnez near Malmedy ( Malmedy massacre ).Īfter a further refresher in January 1945, the corps was relocated to Hungary and took part in the Lake Balaton offensive in the Stuhlweissenburg area (March 6-14, 1945). The Peiper combat group of about 2,000 men of the 1st SS Panzer Division was supposed to force the rapid breakthrough of the American positions and reach the Maas at Huy.
The capture of bridges over the Meuse was a necessary prerequisite for the success of the Ardennes offensive. After a refresher in Westphalia, the corps was deployed in December as part of the 6th Panzer Army in the Ardennes offensive. After the Allies landed in Normandy (→ Operation Overlord ), the corps was deployed under Panzer Group West in the Battle of Caen, then in securing the withdrawal of the 7th Army from the Falaise pocket and fighting back to the German border. In December 1943, the lineup was completed and the corps was moved to France, where it at the disposal of Army Group D was made. As early as August 1943, the corps that was still in formation was relocated to Northern Italy. The corps troops were set up at the Beverloo military training area in Belgium, and those of the heavy SS Panzer Division 101 at the Mailly-le-Camp military training area in France.
For Commanding General SS Colonel-group leader was Josef Dietrich appointed. Associated with this was the renaming of the previous SS Panzer Corps as II.
2 ss panzer corps series#
The appendixes of the books include decent and maps and provide diagrams showing the origination of British American, Russian, Volksgrendiar and Waffen SS Panzer divisions, these books are a nice edition to anyone's library and now I eagerly await buying my final book of the series which is Steel Inferno.The General Command of the 1st SS Panzer Corps was set up on Jin Berlin-Lichterfelde. This book also covers the auxiliary SS support units as it does in the books on the 1st SS Panzer Corp. Like Das Reich in Normandy and Frundsberg during Falaise and then when Frundsberg is replaced by Das Reich in the 2nd SS panzer Corp from October 1944 onward. The book(s) will only cover organic elements like the units aforementioned The book on the 2nd SS panzer Corp will cover all 3 divisions of which include the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich, 9th SS Panzer Hohenstaufen and 10th SS Panzer Frundsberg, even when in 19 one of the divisions is not part of the 2nd SS Panzer Corp. If anyone is looking for any books on either the 1st or 2nd SS Panzer Corp, I highly recommend Michael Reynold's book series on them which include Steel Inferno:1st SS Panzer Corp in Normandy, Men of Steel: 1st SS Panzer Corp in the Ardenne, and Eastern Front 1944-1945 and finally Sons of the Reich: 2nd SS panzer Corp in Normandy, Arnhem, the Ardenne and the East 1944-1945 I must point out that the books on the 1st SS Panzer Corp cover the 1st SS Panzer Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler and 12th SS Hitlerjugend and support units like the 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion and etc.