XXXXVIII (XLVIII). Panzerkorps | |
---|---|
Active | 15 December 1940 - 08 May 1945 |
Country | Nazi Germany |
Branch | Army |
Type | Panzer corps |
Role | Armoured warfare |
Size | Corps |
Engagements | World War II |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders |
Hermann Balck Dietrich von Choltitz Hans Cramer Walter Nehring |
XXXXVIII Panzer Corps (also: XXXXVIII Army Corp or XXXXVIII. Armeekorps), was a corps-level formation of the German Army which saw extensive action on both the eastern and western fronts during World War II.
The corps was originally formed on 15 December 1940 in Germany. At the dawn of Operation Barbarossa, on 22 June 1941, it was redesignated as the XXXXVIII Panzer Corps. The Corps was attached to Field Marshal Ewald von Kleist's Panzer Group 1, a part of Army Group South. The corps took part in the Battle of Brody early in the campaign, and later saw action at Berdichev and Kirovograd. As all German Corps on the Eastern Front, the XXXXVIII Corps implemented the criminal Commissar Order.
From late 1941 to May 1942, the corps took part in defensive operations in the Kursk area. Thereafter the corps joined the Fall Blau offensive towards Stalingrad under Army Group B. During the Battle of Stalingrad the corps was trapped and its major units, 22nd Panzer Division and 1st Armoured Division (Romania), were destroyed. However, it was quickly reformed and used by Field Marshal Erich von Manstein's Operation Winter Storm efforts to relieve General Friedrich Paulus' trapped Sixth Army still in Stalingrad.