54th Corps (German Empire)

54th Corps
(Generalkommando zbV 54)

Flag of the Staff of a Generalkommando (1871–1918)
Active September 1916-1919
Country  German Empire
Branch Army
Engagements

World War I

Battle of Amiens (1918)
Disbanded 1919

The 54th Corps (German: Generalkommando zbV 54) was a corps formation of the German Army in World War I. It was formed in September 1916 and was still in existence at the end of the war.[1]

Chronicle

The 54th[2] Corps (z.b.V.)[3] was formed in September 1916.[4] With the onset of trench warfare, the German Army recognised that it was no longer possible to maintain the traditional Corps unit, that is, one made up of two divisions. Whereas at some times (and in some places) a Corps of two divisions was sufficient, at other times 5 or 6 divisions were necessary. Therefore, under the Hindenburg regime (from summer 1916), new Corps headquarters were created without organic divisions.[5] These new Corps were designated General Commands for Special Use (German: Generalkommandos zur besonderen Verwendung).

By the end of the war, the Corps was serving on the Western Front as part of 2nd Army, Heeresgruppe Kronprinz Rupprecht with the following composition:[6]

Commanders

The 54th Corps had the following commanders during its existence:[7][8]

Commander From To
Generalleutnant Viktor Kühne[9] 4 September 1916 2 February 1917
Generalleutnant Richard von Kraewel 2 February 1917 25 February 1917
General der Infanterie Eduard von Liebert 25 February 1917 17 June 1917
Generalleutnant Max von Müller 17 June 1917 21 January 1918
Generalleutnant Alfred von Larisch 21 January 1918 end of the war

Glossary

See also

References

  1. Cron 2002, pp. 88–89
  2. Note that Corps (z.b.V.) were designated with Arabic, not Roman, numerals.
  3. General Commands for Special Use Generalkommandos zur besonderen Verwendung (Genkdo z.b.V.)
  4. Cron 2002, p. 89
  5. Cron 2002, p. 87
  6. Ellis & Cox 1993, p. 187
  7. "The Prussian Machine, GenKdo". Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  8. "German War History". Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  9. Concurrently commander of Armee-Gruppe Kühne from 28 October 1916 "Biography on The Prussian Machine". Retrieved 29 October 2012.
  10. Cron 2002, p. 84

Bibliography

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, December 26, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.