The CI Army Corps (), alternatively also referred to as Roman 101st Corps (),The word Roman (German: ''römisch'') here indicates

Roman numerals Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...

(i.e. the spelling of the number 101 as ''CI''), and is not related to the city of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. Because of the (to the average soldier) confusing nature of Roman numerals, the name of the army corps was often mistakenly read as ''C eins''' ('C one') rather than 101. It became a practice to avoid the Roman numeral and to instead write ''röm sch 101'', 'Roman 101'. was a

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...

-level unit of the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It existed only for a few months during the year 1945.

History

The CI Army Corps was formed in early February 1945 in

Wehrkreis III The military districts, also known in some English-language publications by their German name as Wehrkreise (singular: ''Wehrkreis''), were administrative territorial units in Nazi Germany before and during World War II. The task of military dist ...

(

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

) as ''Korpsstab Berlin''. On 9 February 1945, it was redesignated ''Generalkommando CI. Armeekorps'', the highest numbered German army corps formed during the war. It was deployed in the

Oder The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and its largest tributary the Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows through wes ...

- Küstrin area as a subordinate of the 9th Army (

Busse Busse is a surname. People with this surname include: *Andreas Busse (born 1959), East German (now German) former middle-distance runner *Carl Busse (architect) (1834-1896), German architect and master builder *Carl Hermann Busse (1872–1918), Ger ...

), which was in turn under the command of

Army Group Vistula Army Group Vistula () was an Army Group of the ''Wehrmacht'', formed on 24 January 1945. It lasted for 105 days, having been put together from elements of Army Group A (shattered in the Soviet Vistula-Oder Offensive), Army Group Centre (similar ...

(

Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...

). It was one of the last newly formed army corps of the Wehrmacht, along with XXXII Army Corps. All new corps that followed after it were mobilizations, not completely new creations. Wilhelm Berlin, who the initial organization ''Korpsstab Berlin'' was named after, was the initial commander of CI Army Corps. At the end of the war, the corps would be commanded by

Friedrich Sixt __NOTOC__ Friedrich Sixt (28 October 1895 – 4 August 1976) was a German general during World War II who commanded several divisions. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves of Nazi Germany. He commanded the ...

. The literature conflicts on when command was passed from one to the other.MacLean puts the transfer of command from Berlin to Sixt on 18 April 1945. '' ee MacLean 2014 p. 121' Zaloga lists Sixt as the corps commander on the German order of battle on 12 April 1945. '' ee Zaloga 2016, p. 24' Zaloga also names him as the corps commander in an image caption of a photograph dated 3 March 1945. '' ee Zaloga 2016, p. 14' However, at least that last date seems to be definitely incorrect, as Sixt received the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. While it was lower in precedence than the Grand C ...

on 11 March 1945 while still the commander of the 5th Jäger Division. '' ee Fellgiebel 2000, p. 82' The discrepancy is further complicated by the possibility that Zaloga gave the wrong date for the printed photograph, as the visit that the photograph depicts might also have happened on 22 March 1945. '' ee Mcateer 2009, p. 378' Zaloga 2016 is the only source that conflicts with the others. The units under its initial command, listed in the documents of its superior unit, the 9th Army, were Division z. b. V. 606 (also known as 606th Infantry Division), 303rd "Döberitz" Infantry Division and 309th "(Groß-)Berlin" Infantry Division, making it an army corps of nominally three divisions. This first listing is dated 19 February 1945, and does not change on 1 March 1945. However, on 12 April 1945, within a month to surrender, the division ''303 "Döberitz"'' was transferred to

XI SS Panzer Corps The XI SS Corps (German: ''XI. SS-Armeekorps'' later ''XI. SS-Panzerkorps'') was a ''Waffen-SS'' corps created on July 24, 1944 in southern Poland on the basis of the remains of the headquarters of the defeated V Army Corps (Wehrmacht), V Army Corp ...

( Kleinheisterkamp), whereas the CI Army Corps was strengthened with the 5th Jäger Division, which meant that the CI Army Corps at the time of surrender on 8 May 1945 consisted of the 5th Jäger Division, 309th Infantry Division and 606th Infantry Division. On 22 March 1945, the units of the CI Army Corps were visited personally by

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

in one of Hitler's last public appearances and his very last visit to frontline troops before his suicide on 30 April 1945. The visit came about partially because of the desire of

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...

for a "photo opportunity" involving the dictator and German soldiers. Hitler, visibly weakened, rushed through the visit and hurriedly left the frontline with his staff car.Zaloga puts the date of Hitler's last visit to CI Army Corps on 3 March 1945 instead. '' ee Zaloga 2016, p. 14' By 12 April, Busse's 9th Army consisted of CI Army Corps, as well as

LVI Panzer Corps LVI Panzer Corps was a panzer corps in the German Army during World War II. This corps was activated in February 1941 as the LVI Army Corps (mot.), for the German invasion of the Soviet Union, which commenced on 22 June 1941. Erich von Manstein ...

( Weidling), XI SS Panzer Corps (Kleinheisterkamp) and V SS Mountain Corps (

Friedrich Jeckeln Friedrich August Jeckeln (2 February 1895 – 3 February 1946) was a German Nazi Party member, police official and SS-'' Obergruppenführer'' during the Nazi era. He served as a Higher SS and Police Leader in Germany and in the occupied Sov ...

). By now, Himmler had been replaced as commander of Army Group Vistula by

Gotthard Heinrici Gotthard Fedor August Heinrici (; 25 December 1886 – 10 December 1971) was a German general during World War II. Heinrici is considered to have been the premier defensive expert of the ''Wehrmacht''. His final command was Army Group Vistula, fo ...

. During the

Battle of Seelow heights The Battle of the Seelow Heights () was part of the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation (16 April – 2 May 1945). A pitched battle, it was one of the last assaults on large entrenched defensive positions of the Second World War. It was fough ...

(16 April – 19 April 1945), the CI Army Corps defended the northern sector of the 9th Army. It was under attack by the Red Army's

47th Army The 47th Army () was a field army of the Red Army during World War II, active from 1941 to 1946. History The 47th Army was formed in late July 1941 in the Transcaucasian Military District as part of the Soviet Union's border defenses with Iran. O ...

( Perkhorovich) and

3rd Shock Army The 3rd Shock Army () was a field army of the Red Army formed during the Second World War. The "Shock" armies were created with the specific structure to engage and destroy significant enemy forces, and were reinforced with more armoured and ar ...

(

Kuznetsov Kuznetsov, Kuznyetsov, Kuznetsoff, or Kouznetsov (masculine, ) or Kuznetsova (feminine, ) is the third most common Russian surname, an equivalent of the English "Smith" (derived from a Russian word ''kuznets'' that means ''blacksmith''). Men * Al ...

), whereas the XI SS Panzer Corps to the CI Army Corps's right was attacked by the Soviet

8th Guards Army The 8th Guards Order of Lenin Combined Arms Army (abbreviated 8th GCAA) was an army of the Soviet Army, as a successor to the 62nd Army of the Soviet Union's Red Army, which was formed during World War II and was disbanded in 1998 after being do ...

( Chuikov). On the right flank of CI Army Corps, the 309th and 606th Infantry Divisions had to give way to the thrusting forces of 47th Army and the 3rd Shock Army. In the last days of the war, CI Army Corps fought alongside the

III SS Panzer Corps The III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps (''III. (germanisches) SS-Panzerkorps'') was a ''Waffen-SS'' armoured corps which saw action on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front during World War II. The ''(Germanische)'' (lit. Germanic) part of i ...

under 21st Army ( von Tippelskirch), which was formed on 27 April 1945 in a desperate attempt to win the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula–Od ...

Noteworthy individuals

Wilhelm Berlin __NOTOC__ Wilhelm Berlin (28 April 1889 – 15 September 1987) was a German general during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Awards and decorations * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross o ...

, first corps commander at 27 February 1945. End of tenure unclear. *

, second and final corps commander. Beginning of tenure unclear.

Notes

References

{{German Army Corps of the Wehrmacht Corps of Germany in World War II Military units and formations established in 1945 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945