| VI Army Corps VI. Armee-Korps | |
|---|---|
 Flag of the Staff of a Generalkommando (1871–1918) | |
| Active | 1815 (1815)–1919 (1919) |
| Country |  Prussia / German Empire |
| Type | Corps |
| Size | Approximately 44,000 (on mobilisation in 1914) |
| Garrison/HQ | Breslau/Schweidnitzer Straße 24 |
| Shoulder strap piping | Yellow |
| Engagements | Austro-Prussian War |
| Insignia | |
| Abbreviation | VI AK |
TheVI Army Corps / VI AK (German:VI. Armee-Korps) was acorps level command of thePrussian and then theImperial GermanArmies from the 19th Century toWorld War I.
VI AK originated in 1815 as the General Command for theProvince of Silesia, with headquarters inBreslau.[1]
The Corps served in theAustro-Prussian War. During theFranco-Prussian War it was assigned to the 3rd Army.
In peacetime the Corps was assigned to theVIII Army Inspectorate but joined the4th Army at the start of theFirst World War.[2] It was still in existence at the end of the war.[3] The Corps was disbanded with the demobilisation of the German Army afterWorld War I.
VI Corps fought in theAustro-Prussian War in 1866, seeing action in theBattle of Königgrätz.
During theFranco-Prussian War, the Corps was initially held back inSilesia against the possibility of intervention byAustria-Hungary. It only moved up to join the 3rd Army in August 1870. It then participated in theSiege of Paris and theBattle of Chevilly.
The 25 peacetimeCorps of the German Army (Guards, I - XXI, I - III Bavarian) had a reasonably standardised organisation. Each consisted of twodivisions with usually two infantry brigades, one field artillery brigade and a cavalry brigade each.[4] Each brigade normally consisted of two regiments of the appropriate type, so each Corps normally commanded 8 infantry, 4 field artillery and 4 cavalry regiments. There were exceptions to this rule:
Each Corps also directly controlled a number of other units. This could include one or more
On mobilization, on 2 August 1914, the Corps was restructured. The 11th and 12th Cavalry Brigades were withdrawn to form part of the5th Cavalry Division[7] and the 44th Cavalry Brigade was broken up and its regiments assigned to the divisions as reconnaissance units. The 23rd Infantry Brigade was assigned to the11th Reserve Division withVI Reserve Corps. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from the Corps headquarters. In summary, VI Corps mobilised with 25 infantry battalions, 9 machine gun companies (54 machine guns), 8 cavalry squadrons, 24 field artillery batteries (144 guns), 4 heavy artillery batteries (16 guns), 3 pioneer companies and an aviation detachment.
| Corps | Division | Brigade | Units |
|---|---|---|---|
| VI Corps | 11th Division | 21st Infantry Brigade | 10th Grenadier Regiment |
| 38th Fusilier Regiment | |||
| 22nd Infantry Brigade | 11th Infantry Regiment | ||
| 51st Infantry Regiment | |||
| 6th Jäger Battalion[9] | |||
| 11th Field Artillery Brigade | 6th Field Artillery Regiment | ||
| 42nd Field Artillery Regiment | |||
| 11th Jäger zu Pferde | |||
| 1st Company, 6th Pioneer Battalion | |||
| 11th Divisional Pontoon Train | |||
| 1st Medical Company | |||
| 3rd Medical Company | |||
| 12th Division | 24th Infantry Brigade | 23rd Infantry Regiment | |
| 62nd Infantry Regiment | |||
| 78th Infantry Brigade | 63rd Infantry Regiment | ||
| 157th Infantry Regiment | |||
| 12th Field Artillery Brigade | 21st Field Artillery Regiment | ||
| 57th Field Artillery Regiment | |||
| 2nd Uhlan Regiment | |||
| 2nd Company, 6th Pioneer Battalion | |||
| 3rd Company, 6th Pioneer Battalion | |||
| 12th Divisional Pontoon Train | |||
| 2nd Medical Company | |||
| Corps Troops | II Battalion, 6th Foot Artillery Regiment[10]a | ||
| 13th Aviation Detachment | |||
| 6th Corps Pontoon Train | |||
| 6th Telephone Detachment | |||
| 6th Pioneer Searchlight Section | |||
| Munition Trains and Columns corresponding toII Corps |
On mobilisation, VI Corps was assigned to the4th Army forming part of centre of the forces for theSchlieffen Plan offensive in August 1914 on theWestern Front.
It was still in existence at the end of the war.[11]
The VI Corps had the following commanders during its existence:[12][13][14]
| From | Rank | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 15 April 1815 | Friedrich Heinrich von Hünerbein | |
| 11 February 1819 | Wieprecht Graf von Zieten | |
| 29 November 1839 | Generalleutnant | Friedrich Wilhelm, Count Brandenburg |
| 10 September 1849 | Karl Friedrich von Lindheim | |
| 10 May 1862 | General der Kavallerie | Louis Wilhelm Franz von Mutius |
| 30 October 1866 | General der Kavallerie | Wilhelm von Tümpling |
| 27 November 1883 | Generalleutnant | Karl Otto von Wichmann |
| 23 November 1886 | Generalleutnant | Oktavio von Boehn |
| 12 January 1889 | General der Artillerie | Eduard von Lewinski |
| 21 February 1895 | General der Infanterie | Erbprinz Bernhard von Sachsen-Meiningen |
| 29 May 1903 | Generalleutnant | Remus von Woyrsch |
| 2 February 1911 | General der Infanterie | Kurt von Pritzelwitz |
| 7 November 1915 | General der Kavallerie | Georg von der Marwitz |
| 17 December 1916 | General der Infanterie | Julius Riemann |
| 23 November 1917 | Generalleutnant | Konstanz von Heineccius |
| 15 December 1918 | General der Infanterie | Kurt von dem Borne |
| 25 June 1919 | Generalleutnant | Friedrich von Friedeburg |
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