XIV Panzer Corps (also: XIV Army Corps or XIV. ''Armeekorps'') 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 ...

which fought on both the Eastern Front and in the Italian Campaign.

History

The XIV Panzer Corps was originally formed as the XIV Motorised Corps in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

on 1 April 1938 to take command of units in the process of motorisation, where it was placed under the leadership of Gustav von Wietersheim. The Corps participated in the

Invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

in 1939 where it fought in the Battle of Kock. The Corps later saw action in the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

in 1940, as part of Panzer Group Kleist, where the 2nd Motorised Division, 13th Motorised Division and the 29th Motorised Division served under it. It was renamed the XIV Panzer Corps on 21 June 1942. In June 1941, it participated in

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 ...

, where as part of

Panzer Group 1 The 1st Panzer Army () was a German Field army, 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 (''P ...

, it served with

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 ...

on the southern sector of the eastern front, advancing via

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

Ternopil Ternopil, known until 1944 mostly as Tarnopol, is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret River. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical regions of Galicia and Podolia. The populatio ...

and

Zhytomyr Zhytomyr ( ; see #Names, below for other names) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the Capital city, administrative center of Zhytomyr Oblast (Oblast, province), as well as the administrative center of the surrounding ...

Kremenchuk Kremenchuk (; , , also spelt Kremenchug, ) is an industrial city in central Ukraine which stands on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. The city serves as the administrative center of Kremenchuk Raion and Kremenchuk urban hromada within ...

and in the

Mius The Mius (; ) is a river in Eastern Europe that flows through Ukraine and Russia. It is long, and has a drainage basin of .Миус

sector. It took part in

Case Blue 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 ( Azerb ...

where it commanded the 60th Motorised Infantry Division, 16th Panzer Division and the 3rd Motorised Infantry Division. Elements of the Corps were the first German units to reach Stalingrad. It was surrounded in the Stalingrad pocket in November 1942. Hitler ordered its commander, ''

General der Panzertruppe ''General der Panzertruppe'' () was a General of the branch rank of the German Army (1935–1945), German Army, introduced in 1935. A ''General der Panzertruppe'' was a lieutenant general, above major general (''Generalleutnant''), commanding a ...

Hans-Valentin Hube Hans-Valentin Hube (29 October 1890 – 21 April 1944) was a German general during World War II who commanded armoured forces in the invasions of Poland, France and the Soviet Union. In the course of the war, Hube led the 16th Infantry Divi ...

, to be flown out of the Stalingrad pocket on 15 January 1943. ''

Generalleutnant () is the German-language variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries. Austria Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO ...

Helmuth Schlömer __NOTOC__ Helmuth Schlömer (20 May 1893 – 18 August 1995) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II and commanded the XIV Panzer Corps in the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943. Schlömer joined the army in March 1913 and was an off ...

, who succeeded Hube, surrendered the Corps to the Soviets. Re-formed and reorganized at

Dnipro Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

and

Zaporizhzhia Zaporizhzhia, formerly known as Aleksandrovsk or Oleksandrivsk until 1921, is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. It is the Capital city, administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zaporizhzhia ...

in 1943, it was transferred to the West and directed all German forces in the

Battle of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as the Battle of Sicily and Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis forces (Kingdom of Italy ...

under Hube where it commanded the 1st Parachute Division,

15th Panzergrenadier Division 15th Panzergrenadier Division was a mobile division of the German Army in World War II. Combat History Sicily In July 1943 a new 15th Panzergrenadier Division, commanded by ''Generalleutnant'' Eberhard Rodt, was formed by redesignating the Sic ...

, 1st Paratroop Panzer Division ''Hermann Göring'' and elements of the 29th Panzergrenadier Division. It was briefly commanded by

Hermann Balck Georg Otto Hermann Balck (7 December 1893 – 29 November 1982) was a highly decorated officer of the German Army who served in both World War I and World War II, rising to the rank of General der Panzertruppe. Early career Balck was born in ...

in September and October 1943, before he was seriously injured in a plane crash. The Corps also participated in the

Battle of Monte Cassino The Battle of Monte Cassino, also known as the Battle for Rome, was a series of four military assaults by the Allies of World War II, Allies against Nazi Germany, German forces in Kingdom of Italy, Italy during the Italian Campaign (World War ...

under the command of General von Senger und Etterlin and included among its formations, the 1st Parachute Division, the 15th Panzergrenadier Division and the 29th Panzergrenadier Division, which had previously fought under it in Sicily. It remained on the Italian front until its surrender at the end of the war.

Commanders

* Gustav Anton von Wietersheim 1 April 1938 – 13 September 1942 *

14 September 1942 – January 1943 *

17 January 1943 – 4 March 1943 * Hans-Valentin Hube 5 March 1943 – 1 September 1943 *

2 September 1943 – 30 September 1943 * Hans-Valentin Hube 1 October – 21 October 1943 *

Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin (4 September 1891 – 9 January 1963) was a general in the army of Nazi Germany during World War II. Biography Fridolin Rudolph von Senger und Etterlin was born on 4 September 1891, in Waldshut near the Swiss bo ...

22 October 1943 – May 1945

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 Panzer corps of Germany in World War II Military units and formations established in 1938 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945