The XXVII Corps (, or ''XXVII.AK'') was an infantry

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 ...

in the German army. It fought in several notable actions 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 ...

. The corps was originally raised in August 1939 in Wehrkreis VII.

Wartime service

1939

Organisation (September 1939): 16th, 69th, 211th and 216th Infantry Divisions During September 1939 the XXVII Corps was used to screen the Dutch-German border.

1940

Organisation (June 1940): 211th, 213th, 218th and 239th Infantry Divisions The Corps participated in Nazi Germany's Invasion of France as part of

Army Group C Army Group C () was an army group of the German Wehrmacht during World War II. In its first deployment between 1939 and 1941, its main assignment was the defense of the Franco-German border during the Phony War and the Western Campaign, after whi ...

. In May, it crossed the southern

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

towards

Roubaix Roubaix ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, depar ...

, where it helped in surrounding the French 1st Army. Later in the campaign, it attacked from the east bank of the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

towards

Colmar Colmar (; ; or ) is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Alsace region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is the seat of the prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department ...

. It then remained on occupation duties in eastern France until the following year.

1941

Organisation (November 1941): 86th, 129th and 162nd Infantry Divisions; '' Gruppe'' Landgraf (parts of 6th and 7th Panzer Divisions) The XXVII Corps did not take part in the initial stages of

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 ...

, but was transferred to the Ninth Army,

Army Group Centre Army Group Centre () was the name of two distinct strategic German Army Groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created during the planning of Operation Barbarossa, Germany's invasion of the So ...

, for

Operation Typhoon The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II, between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated H ...

, the attack on

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. On the Army's north flank, it advanced towards Kalinin, but by December had been forced to retreat into the Rzhev salient.

1942

Organisation (early November 1942): 6th, 72nd, 87th, 95th, 129th, 251st and 256th Infantry Divisions; heavy artillery and

assault gun An assault gun (from , , meaning "assault gun") is a type of armored infantry support vehicle and self-propelled artillery, mounting an infantry support gun on a protected self-propelled chassis, intended for providing infantry with heavy di ...

detachments The Corps suffered heavy losses during 1942 in the series of defensive battles around Rzhev. Its organisation changed several times during this period, but included up to eight infantry divisions at various points. Along with the remainder of Army Group Centre, it was ordered to evacuate the Rzhev salient the following year in Operation Büffel.

1943

Organisation (July 1943): 52nd, 197th, 246th and 256th Infantry Divisions In the autumn of 1943 the Corps, now assigned to Fourth Army, took part in the defence against the Soviet offensive Operation Suvorov around

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

. By the next year, it had been pushed back to positions east of

Orsha Orsha (; , ; ) is a city in Vitebsk Region, Belarus. It is situated on the fork of the Dnieper, Dnieper River and Arshytsa River, and it serves as the administrative center of Orsha District. As of 2025, it has a population of 101,662. History ...

1944

Organisation (June 1944): 25th Panzergrenadier Division, 78th Sturm Division, 260th Infantry Division During 1944, the Corps was positioned in the sector of the strategically important

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

road near Orsha, having been specially reinforced for the purpose. In late June the Soviets commenced their summer offensive,

Operation Bagration Operation Bagration () was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (), a military campaign fought between 22 June and 19 August 1944 in Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Byelorussia in the Eastern ...

; the XXVII Corps was attacked by forces of the 3rd Belorussian Front and took heavy casualties. Bypassed by a breakthrough of Soviet forces to the north, the Corps found itself encircled in the forests east of

, and despite a breakout attempt on 5 July spearheaded by the 25th Panzergrenadier Division, was almost entirely destroyed. The corps commander, General Paul Völckers, was captured, as were the commanders of the 78th and 260th Divisions, Hans Traut and Günther Klammt. The Corps, and its staff, was hurriedly reconstructed in July / August from replacement units and deployed on the East Prussian border.

1945

The rebuilt XXVII Corps was transferred to Second Army, facing the Soviet East Prussian Offensive. During the course of the offensive it was encircled on the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

coast at Danzig, and again destroyed / disbanded. The staff was evacuated and transferred to the reconstructed Third Panzer Army; the remnants of the Corps eventually surrendered to troops of the US Army on 4 May, north of Ludwigslust.

Commanders

*August 1939 General Karl Ritter von Prager *November 1939 General Alfred Wäger *23 December 1941 Lieutenant-General Eccard Freiherr von Gablenz *13 January 1942 General Joachim Witthöft *1 July 1942 Colonel-General Walter Weiß *10 February 1943 Lieutenant-General Karl Burdach *8 June 1943 General Paul Völckers *27 July 1944 General Helmuth Prieß *October 1944 General Maximilian Felzmann *April 1945 General Walter Hörnlein

References

*

. German language article at www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de. Retrieved February 11, 2008. {{German Army Corps of the Wehrmacht Corps of Germany in World War II, Army,27 Military units and formations established in 1939 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945