III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps

The III (Germanic) SS Panzer Corps (III. (germanisches) SS-Panzerkorps) was a German Waffen-SS armoured corps which saw action on the Eastern Front during World War II. The (germanische) (lit. Germanic) part of its designation was granted as it was composed primarily of foreign volunteer formations.

III SS Panzer Corps
ActiveApril 1943 – 4 May 1945
Country Germany
Branch Waffen-SS
TypePanzer corps
RoleArmoured warfare
SizeCorps
EngagementsWorld War II

History

The corps was formed in April, 1943 as a headquarters for the SS Division Wiking and SS Division Nordland. The corps was placed under the control of former Wiking commander SS-Obergruppenführer Felix Steiner. After training, the corps took part in operations against Yugoslav partisans. The corps was then sent to a quiet sector in Army Group North, now made up of the Nordland Division and the 4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade Netherlands. By this stage, Wiking had been sent south and came under the control of Army Group South's Eighth Army.

Forced back by the 1944 Soviet winter offensive, the corps participated in the Battle for the Narva Bridgehead in the summer of 1944. It then retreated with the rest of the army group across Estonia and into the Courland Peninsula. Transferred to the Oder Front and placed under Steiner's 11th SS Panzer Army, the corps participated in Operation Solstice before being assigned as the reserve corps to 3rd Panzer Army.

Commanders

Order of battle

15 June 1944 — Narva Front

16 September 1944

References
  • Bernd Wegner (1980). "Auf dem Weg zur pangermanischen Armee. Dokumente zur Entstehungsgeschichte des III. ("germanischen") SS-Panzerkorps" [On the Way to a Pan-Germanic army. Documents on the Origins of the IIIrd (Germanic) Panzer Corps]. Militärgeschichtliche Mitteilungen (in German). Munich: Oldenbourg. 27 (2): 101–136. ISSN 0026-3826.
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