III Army Corps 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 formation of the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

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 ...

III Army Corps

The III Corps was formed in October 1934 as III. Armeekorps. The corps took part in Fall Weiss, the 1939 invasion of Poland as a part of

Army Group North Army Group North () was the name of three separate army groups of the Wehrmacht during World War II. Its rear area operations were organized by the Army Group North Rear Area. The first Army Group North was deployed during the invasion of Pol ...

. It then took part in Fall Gelb as a part of

Army Group A Army Group A () was the name of three distinct army groups of the ''German Army (1935–1945), Heer'', the ground forces of the ''Wehrmacht'', during World War II. The first Army Group A, previously known as "Army Group South", was active from Oct ...

, participating in the assault through the

Ardennes The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France. Geological ...

. In March 1941, the corps was upgraded to a motorised corps status and redesignated III Armeekorps (mot). The Corps was attached to

Army Group South Army Group South () was the name of one of three German Army Groups during World War II. It was first used in the 1939 September Campaign, along with Army Group North to invade Poland. In the invasion of Poland, Army Group South was led by Ge ...

for

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

, the invasion of the Soviet Union. The corps advanced through Ukraine and took part in the Battle of Brody, Battle of Kiev, Battle of Rostov,

Battle of Kharkov The Battle of Kharkov was any one of four World War II battles in and near the Soviet city of Kharkov in modern Ukraine. In usage the term is sometimes indistinct, perhaps meaning the collection of all fighting at Kharkov including and in between t ...

and

Battle of Uman The Battle of Uman (15 July – 8 August 1941) was the World War II German offensive in Uman, Uman, Ukraine against the 6th Army (Soviet Union), 6th and 12th Army (Soviet Union), 12th Soviet Armies. In a three-week period, the Wehrmacht encircle ...

III Panzer Corps

III Panzer Corps was formed in June 1942 from III Army Corps and attached to

, the formation tasked with capturing the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

as a part of

Fall Blau Case Blue (German: ''Fall Blau'') was the ''Wehrmacht'' plan for the 1942 strategic summer offensive in southern Russia between 28 June and 24 November 1942, during World War II. The objective was to capture the oil fields of Baku (Azerbai ...

. In mid-1943, following the loss of the 6th Army at the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad ; see . rus, links=on, Сталинградская битва, r=Stalingradskaya bitva, p=stəlʲɪnˈɡratskəjə ˈbʲitvə. (17 July 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, ...

, III Panzer Corps took part in the battles around Kharkov as part of

Army Group Don Army Group Don () was a short-lived army group of the German Army during World War II. It existed between November 1942 and February 1943 and was primarily concerned with the Battle of Stalingrad, which was concurrently fought. History After a ...

. During

Operation Citadel Operation Citadel () was the German offensive operation in July 1943 against Soviet forces in the Kursk salient, proposed by Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein during the Second World War on the Eastern Front that initiated the Battle of ...

, the Corps was the striking force of

Army Detachment Kempf Army Detachment Kempf was an army-sized formation of the ''Wehrmacht'' on the Eastern Front during World War II. As part of Army Group South, Detachment Kempf saw action during Operation Citadel, the German attempt to cut off the Kursk salient ...

as they attempted to protect the right flank of the

4th Panzer Army The 4th Panzer Army (), operating as Panzer Group 4 () from its formation on 15 February 1941 to 1 January 1942, was a German panzer formation during World War II. As a key armoured component of the Wehrmacht, the army took part in the crucial ...

. It also took part in

Operation Roland Operation Roland was a local German offensive inside the Soviet Union during the Second World War on the Eastern Front, and was conducted as a local operation within the overarching German summer offensive, Operation Citadel, on the southern side ...

, and was involved in the retreat from

Belgorod Belgorod (, ) is a city that serves as the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River, approximately north of the border with Ukraine. It has a population of It was founded in 1596 as a defensiv ...

to the

Dniepr The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

. At the beginning of 1944, the Corps participated in the relief of the forces trapped in the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket. In March the Corps was encircled in the

Kamenets-Podolsky pocket Kamianets-Podilskyi (, ; ) is a city on the Smotrych River in western Ukraine, western Ukraine, to the north-east of Chernivtsi. Formerly the administrative center of Khmelnytskyi Oblast, the city is now the administrative center of Kamianets ...

, along with the rest of the

1st Panzer Army The 1st Panzer Army () was a German tank army that was a large armoured formation of the Wehrmacht during World War II. When originally formed on 1 March 1940, the predecessor of the 1st Panzer Army was named Panzer Group Kleist (''Panzergruppe ...

. III Corps drove the breakout and escape. Due to heavy losses, from November 1944 to January 1945, the corps was redesignated as Gruppe Breith, after its commander Hermann Breith. In late 1944, III Panzerkorps participated in

Operation Konrad Operation Konrad was the German- Hungarian effort to relieve the encircled garrison of Budapest during the Battle of Budapest in January 1945. The operation was divided into three parts: * Operation Konrad I - 1 January 1945 - Led by IV SS Pa ...

, the failed attempts to relieve the German and Hungarian garrison at

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. The corps then took part in

Operation Spring Awakening Operation Spring Awakening () was the last major German offensive of World War II. The operation was referred to in Germany as the Plattensee Offensive and in the Soviet Union as the Balaton Defensive Operation. It took place in Western Hungary ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. After its failure, the corps retreated through Austria, surrendering to the U.S. Army on 8 May 1945.

Noteworthy individuals

Commanders

Curt Haase Curt Haase (15 December 1881 – 9 February 1943) was a German general (''Generaloberst'') in during World War II. He commanded the III Corps during the Invasion of Poland and France. He later commanded the 15th Army in German-occupied France ...

(1 Sep 1939 - 13 Nov 1940) * Kurt von Greiff (13 Nov 1940 - 15 Jan 1941) *

Eberhard von Mackensen Friedrich August Eberhard von Mackensen (24 September 1889 – 19 May 1969) was a German general and war criminal during World War II who served as commander of the 1st Panzer Army and the 14th Army. Following the war, Mackensen stood trial fo ...

(15 Jan 1941 - 31 Mar 1942) *

Leo Freiherr Geyr von Schweppenburg Leo Dietrich Franz Reichsfreiherr Geyr von Schweppenburg (2 March 1886 – 27 January 1974) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II, noted for his pioneering stance and expertise in the field of armoured warfare. He commanded th ...

(31 Mar 1942 - 20 July 1942) *

(20 July 1942 - 2 Jan 1943) * Hermann Breith (2 Jan 1943 - 20 Oct 1943) * Heinz Ziegler (20 Oct 1943 - 25 Nov 1943) *

Friedrich Schulz Karl Friedrich "Fritz" Wilhelm Schulz (15 October 1897 – 30 November 1976) was a German general during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords of Nazi Germany. Awards and decorations ...

(25 Nov 1943 - 9 Jan 1944) * Hermann Breith (9 Jan 1944 - 31 May 1944) *

Dietrich von Saucken Friedrich Wilhelm Eduard Kasimir Dietrich von Saucken (16 May 1892 – 27 September 1980) was a German general during World War II who commanded the 2nd Army and the Army East Prussia. Turning down an offer to escape by air, he surrendered t ...

(31 May 1944 - 29 June 1944) * Hermann Breith (29 June 1944 - 8 May 1945)

Others

Friedrich Foertsch Friedrich Albert Foertsch (19 May 1900 – 14 December 1976) was a German general serving during World War II and from 1961 to 1963 the second Inspector General of the Bundeswehr. Foertsch was born in 1900 and joined the military service in ...

, member of the general staff of III Army Corps 1938–39; later

Inspector General of the Bundeswehr The Inspector General of the (), is the highest-ranking military position held by a commissioned officer on active duty in the , the present-day armed forces of Germany. All Inspectors General have been of the rank of a ( four-star) general o ...

1961–63.

Orders Of Battle

III.Armeekorps, May 1940 - Fall Gelb *Stab der Korps **Arko 3 **Korps-Nachrichten-Abteilung 43 **Korps-Nachschubtruppen 403 **Feldgendarmerie-Trupp 403 * 3. Infanterie Division * 23. Infanterie Division * 52. Infanterie Division III.Armeekorps (mot), September 1941 - Operation Barbarossa *Stab der Korps **Arko 3 **Korps-Nachrichten-Abteilung 43 **Korps-Nachschubtruppen 403 **Feldgendarmerie-Trupp 403 * 14.Panzer Division * 60.Infanterie Division (mot) * 13.Panzer Division * SS-Division ''Wiking'' * 198.Infanterie Division III.Panzerkorps, July 1943 - Operation Citadel * Corps Troops (Stab der Korps) ** Artillery Commander 3 (Arko 3) ** 43rd Panzer Signal Battalion ** Korps-Nachrichten-Abteilung 43 ** Korps-Nachschubtruppen 403 ** Feldgendarmerie-Trupp 403 * Corps attached units ** Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 228 ** Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 905 ** Sturmgeschütz-Batterie 393 ** schwere-Panzer-Abteilung 503 * 6.Panzer-Division under Major General

Walther von Hünersdorff __NOTOC__ Walther von Hünersdorff (28 November 1898 – 17 July 1943) was a German general during World War II who commanded the 6th Panzer Division. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and was killed dur ...

** 11.Panzer-Regiment (with 86 tanks) ** 4.Panzergrenadier-Regiment ** 114.Panzergrenadier-Regiment ** 76.Panzerartillerie-Regiment * 7.Panzer-Division under Lieutenant General

Hans Freiherr von Funck Hans von Funck (23 December 1891 – 14 February 1979) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II, who commanded the 7th Panzer Division and the XXXXVII Panzer Corps. Career Hans von Funck joined the German army in August 1914 an ...

** 25.Panzer-Regiment (with 87 tanks) ** 6.Panzergrenadier-Regiment ** 7.Panzergrenadier-Regiment ** 78.Panzerartillerie-Regiment * 19.Panzer-Division under Lieutenant General Gustav Schmidt ** 27.Panzer-Regiment (with 70 tanks) ** 73.Panzergrenadier-Regiment ** 74.Panzergrenadier-Regiment ** 19.Panzerartillerie-Regiment * 168.Infanterie-Division under Major General Walter Chales de Beaulieu ** 417.Infanterie-Regiment ** 429.Infanterie-Regiment ** 442.Infanterie-Regiment ** 248.Artillerie-Regiment III Panzerkorps, March 1944 - Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket *Stab der Korps **Arko 3 **Korps-Nachrichten-Abteilung 43 **Korps-Nachschubtruppen 403 **Feldgendarmerie-Trupp 403 * 1.Panzer Division * 16.Panzer Division * 17.Panzer Division * 1.SS Panzer Division ''Leibstandate SS Adolf Hitler'' * schwere Panzer Abteilung 503 III Panzerkorps, March 1945 - Operation Spring Awakening *Stab der Korps **Arko 3 **Korps-Nachrichten-Abteilung 43 **Korps-Nachschubtruppen 403 **Feldgendarmerie-Trupp 403 ** schwere-Panzer-Abteilung 509 * 3.Panzer Division * 1.Panzer Division * 23.Panzer Division

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iii Army Corps (Wehrmacht) Army,03 Panzer corps of Germany in World War II Military units and formations established in 1934 1934 establishments in Germany Military units and formations disestablished in 1945