LXXXI Army Corps (Wehrmacht)

The LXXXI Army Corps (German: LXXXI. Armeekorps) was an army corps of the German Wehrmacht during World War II. The corps was established in occupied France in 1942 and remained active until 1945.

History

The LXXXI Army Corps was established in occupied France on 28 May 1942 from the renamed Höheres Kommando z. b. V. XXXII.^[1] In turn, the Higher Command XXXII, not to be confused with the XXXII Army Corps, had been established on 15 October 1939 from the Grenzschutz-Abschnittkommando 2.^[2] The initial commander of the LXXXI Army Corps was Adolf-Friedrich Kuntzen.^[3]

The LXXXI Army Corps, initially headquartered at Rouen, was originally subordinate to the 15th Army under Army Group D between June 1942 and July 1944. It was then moved to the 5th Panzer Army in August 1944, to the 7th Army between September and October 1944, and to the 5th Panzer Army between November and December 1944. It was moved back to the 15th Army in early 1945.^[1]

On 5 March 1945, Gauleiter of Cologne-Aachen Josef Grohé demanded from LXXXI Army Corps commander Friedrich Köchling to defend the city of Cologne at all costs; Köchling refused.^[4]: 525

LXXXI Army Corps surrendered in the Ruhr Pocket.^[1]

Structure

Organizational chart of the LXXXI (81st) Wehrmacht Army Corps^[1]

Year	Date	Subordinate units[5][6][7]	Army	Army Group	Operational area
1942	8 June	10th Panzer, 302nd Infantry, 332nd Infantry, 711th Infantry	15th Army	Army Group D	Northern France (Rouen)
	4 July	302nd Infantry, 332nd Infantry, 711th Infantry
	5 August
	2 September	10th Panzer, 302nd Infantry, 332nd Infantry, 711th Infantry
	8 October
	5 November	302nd Infantry, 332nd Infantry, 348th Infantry, 711th Infantry
	1 December	332nd Infantry, 348th Infantry, 711th Infantry
1943	1 January
	3 February
	4 March	191st Infantry, 348th Infantry, 711th Infantry, 17th LFD
	9 April	348th Infantry, 711th Infantry, 17th LFD
	1 May
	1 June
	7 July
	5 August
	5 September
	4 October
	8 November
	3 December
1944	1 January	245th Infantry, 348th Infantry, 711th Infantry, 17th LFD
	12 February	245th Infantry, 711th Infantry, 17th LFD
	11 March
	8 April
	11 May			Army Group B
	12 June	245th Infantry, 346th Infantry, 711th Infantry, 17th LFD
	17 July	89th Infantry, 245th Infantry, 17th LFD
	31 August	49th Infantry, 85th Infantry, 353rd Infantry	5th Panzer Army		Normandy
	16 September	9th Panzer, 116th Panzer, Panzerbrigade 105, 49th Infantry	7th Army		Aachen
	13 October	12th Infantry, 246th Volksgrenadier
	5 November	3rd Infantry, 12th Infantry, 246th Volksgrenadier	5th Panzer Army
	26 November	3rd Infantry, 12th Infantry, 47th Infantry, 340th Volksgrenadier
	31 December	47th Infantry, 353rd Infantry, 363rd Infantry	15th Army		Rur / Ruhr Pocket
1945	19 February	59th Infantry, 363rd Infantry
	1 March	9th Panzer, 11th Panzer, 59th Infantry, 363rd Infantry, 476th Infantry
	12 April	Panzerbrigade 106, Würtz, Scherzer

Noteworthy individuals

• Adolf-Friedrich Kuntzen, corps commander of LXXXI Army Corps (1 April 1942 – 7 September 1944).^[3]
• Friedrich-August Schack, corps commander of LXXXI Army Corps (7 September 1944 – 20 September 1944).^[3]
• Friedrich Köchling, corps commander of LXXXI Army Corps (20 September 1944 – 10 March 1945).^[3]
• Ernst-Günther Baade, corps commander of LXXXI Army Corps (10 March 1945 – May 1945).^[3]
• Otto Zeltmann, chief of the general staff of LXXXI Army Corps.

References

1. Tessin, Georg (1977). "Generalkommando LXXXI. Ameekorps (röm. 81. AK)". Die Landstreitkräfte 71-130. Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945 (in German). Vol. 6. Osnabrück: Biblio Verlag. p. 56. ISBN 3764810971.
2. Tessin, Georg (1977). "Höheres Kommando z. b. V. XXXII (H.K. röm. 32)". Die Landstreitkräfte 31-70. Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945 (in German). Vol. 5. Osnabrück: Biblio Verlag. p. 14. ISBN 3764810971.
3. MacLean, French L. (2014). Unknown Generals - German Corps Commanders In World War II. Pickle Partners Publishing. pp. 117–120. ISBN 9781782895220.
4. Matzerath, Horst (2009). Köln in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus, 1933–1945. Greven Verlag. ISBN 9783774304291.
5. Tessin, Georg (1977). "15. Armee (AOK 15)". Die Landstreitkräfte 15-30. Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945 (in German). Vol. 4. Osnabrück: Biblio Verlag. pp. 1–5. ISBN 3764810971.
6. Tessin, Georg (1977). "5. Panzer-Armee (Pz. AOK 5)". Die Landstreitkräfte 1-5. Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945 (in German). Vol. 2. Osnabrück: Biblio Verlag. pp. 282–283. ISBN 3764810971.
7. Tessin, Georg (1977). "7. Armee (AOK 7)". Die Landstreitkräfte 6-14. Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945 (in German). Vol. 3. Osnabrück: Biblio Verlag. pp. 49–56. ISBN 3764810971.