The XXXIX. Armeekorps (motorisiert) was established on 27 January 1940 in Wehrkreis IX under the initial leadership of General der Panzertruppe Rudolf Schmidt, quickly distinguishing itself as one of the mobile operational backbones of the Heer during the campaigns across Western and Eastern Europe. During the 1940 Western campaign, the corps operated under the 18. Armee, leading spearheads across the Netherlands with subordinate formations including the 9. Panzer-Division, 254. Infanterie-Division, and Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, ultimately securing Rotterdam before redeploying toward Arras and later advancing under Panzergruppe Guderian to Belfort and the Swiss border. Following preparation periods in Germany and East Prussia, the formation was committed in June 1941 to Operation Barbarossa under Panzergruppe 3 of Heeresgruppe Mitte, executing daring thrusts across Lithuania through Vilnius, participating in the encirclement battles at Minsk and Smolensk, and then shifting northward to join Heeresgruppe Nord in the desperate offensive toward Tikhvin and defensive struggles along the Volkhov River. On 11 November 1941, General der Panzertruppe Hans-Jürgen von Arnim took command, leading the corps through brutal winter warfare and relief counterattacks near Kholm before the formation was officially redesignated as the XXXIX. Panzerkorps on 9 July 1942. Transferred to the central sector under the 9. Armee, the corps fought tenaciously in the grinding battles of the Rzhev salient and the subsequent retrograde movements toward Mogilev under General der Artillerie Robert Martinek, who held command until falling in action on 28 June 1944 during the massive Soviet summer offensive known as Operation Bagration. In the chaotic collapse of Heeresgruppe Mitte, the corps suffered catastrophic casualties around the Berezina crossings, losing successive commanders including Generalleutnant Otto Schünemann within hours, before survivors were salvaged under General der Panzertruppe Dietrich von Saucken, who spearheaded armored counterstrikes in Lithuania during Operation Doppelkopf to reopen land corridors to the Courland pocket. Handed over to General der Panzertruppe Karl Decker in October 1944, the battered headquarters was temporarily pulled west to participate in the Ardennes offensive before being rushed back to the Eastern Front early in 1945 to stem Soviet spearheads during Operation Solstice in Pomerania and the tragic relief counterattack at Küstrin. In the final weeks of fighting along the Oder front, General der Panzertruppe Karl Decker committed suicide on 21 April 1945, leaving command to Generalleutnant Karl Arndt, who directed the dispersed remnants of the corps west toward the Elbe River until final capitulation. Throughout its existence, the command reflected the brutal trajectory of Germany's armored corps, enduring relentless reorganizations and attrition across every major operational theater of the war.
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SCHWERTERTRÄGER
General der Panzertruppe Karl Decker (1897-1945) was born on 30 November 1897 in Borntin near Neustettin in Pomerania as the son of an officer and entered military service on 3 August 1914 as an Offiziersanwärter in Infanterie-Regiment „von der Goltz“ (7. Pommersches) Nr. 54, seeing action first in East Prussia and later on both Eastern and Western Fronts during the First World War, where he was promoted to Fähnrich on 8 May 1915 and Leutnant on 12 July 1915, earning both classes of the Eisernes Kreuz as well as the Hamburgisches Hanseatenkreuz. Accepted into the Reichswehr after the war, he advanced steadily through the ranks, becoming Oberleutnant in 1925, Rittmeister in 1931, Major in 1936, and Oberstleutnant on 1 April 1939 while commanding Panzerabwehr-Abteilung 38, which took part in the Polish campaign near Kraków. In April 1940 he assumed command of the I. Abteilung of Panzer-Regiment 3 in the 2. Panzer-Division, leading it with distinction through the campaign in France at the Maas, Sedan, Saint-Quentin and Abbeville, and then in the Balkans, where on 18 April 1941, as Oberstleutnant at the head of Kampfgruppe Balck, he crossed the Pinios river, broke through the fortified Australian and New Zealand positions, thrust toward Larissa and compelled the enemy to abandon the Olympus line, while earlier smashing Yugoslav defences in the Strumica basin to open the way for the 2. Panzer-Division’s advance on Salonika; these decisive actions earned him the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 13 June 1941. Promoted Oberst on 1 February 1942 and awarded the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 1 August 1942 while commanding Panzer-Regiment 3 in Russia, he later led Panzer-Brigade 21 and elements at Kursk before taking command of the 5. Panzer-Division on 7 September 1943, being promoted Generalmajor on 1 December 1943. For his outstanding leadership of the division north of Rogatschew from 22 February to 21 March 1944, where he personally directed a thin defensive line and then rushed reserves, heavy Pak and Pioniere to halt a major Soviet envelopment along the Pruth, and for the subsequent relief battles that restored contact with the fortress of Kovel on 5 April by capturing Dubowa and Rudniki, he received the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 4 May 1944 as the 466th recipient and was promoted Generalleutnant on 1 June 1944. In October 1944 he assumed command of the XXXIX. Panzerkorps, attached to the 3. Panzer-Armee, and was promoted General der Panzertruppe on 27 December 1944, his final rank, leading the corps with continued success in heavy defensive fighting until, facing the hopeless encirclement of Heeresgruppe B in the Ruhr Pocket, he took his own life near Groß-Brunsrode on 21 April 1945; he was posthumously awarded the Schwerter to the Ritterkreuz mit Eichenlaub on 26 April 1945 as the 149th recipient in recognition of his overall achievements as Kommandierender General.
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EICHENLAUBTRÄGER
Generaloberst Rudolf Schmidt (1886-1957) was one of the Wehrmacht’s most capable Panzer commanders and earned both the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes and later the Eichenlaub for his leadership of fast-moving armored formations during the early years of the Second World War. As commanding general of the XXXIX. Armeekorps (mot.), Schmidt played a decisive role during the Westfeldzug in May–June 1940, directing deep armored thrusts through France and helping to shatter Allied defenses through rapid exploitation, operational flexibility, and aggressive maneuver warfare; for these achievements he was awarded the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 3 June 1940 as Generalleutnant and commanding general of the corps. During Unternehmen Barbarossa, Schmidt again distinguished himself while leading the XXXIX. Armeekorps (mot.) in Army Group Centre’s advance into the Soviet Union, where his formations achieved major breakthroughs, encirclements, and large prisoner captures during the drive toward Smolensk and the central sector of the Eastern Front. In recognition of these successes and his skill in commanding mobile operations under difficult conditions, he received the Eichenlaub zum Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 10 July 1941 as General der Panzertruppe, becoming the 19th recipient of the decoration. He later rose to command the 2. Panzerarmee and was promoted to Generaloberst, but his career ended prematurely in 1943 after the Gestapo uncovered correspondence in which he had criticized Adolf Hitler and the Nazi leadership following the arrest of his brother, Hans-Thilo Schmidt.
General der Artillerie Robert Martinek (1889-1944) was born on 2 February 1889 in Gratzen, Bohemia, into the family of a brewmaster and entered the Austro-Hungarian Army in 1907 after training at the artillery cadet school in Vienna, receiving promotion to Leutnant in 1910, Oberleutnant in 1914, and Hauptmann in 1917 for distinguished service on the Russian and Italian fronts during the First World War. After the war he continued in the Austrian Bundesheer, rising to Oberst and serving as commandant of the artillery schools and later as Artillerie-Inspekteur before the Anschluss transferred him into the Wehrmacht. In November 1941, as Generalmajor and Kommandeur of the 267. Infanterie-Division, he earned the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 26 December 1941 for decisive actions near Hewelowo on 12–13 December: personally organizing a new defensive front under intense pressure, fighting alongside his troops, and blocking a Soviet breakthrough toward Rusa that threatened the southern flank and rear of the IX. Armee-Korps, thereby gaining critical time for a German counterattack that forced the enemy to pause operations for at least forty-eight hours. Promoted to Generalleutnant, he briefly led the 7. Gebirgs-Division and directed heavy artillery concentrations during the siege of Sevastopol as Höherer Artilleriekommandeur z.b.V. of the 11. Armee. On 1 December 1942 he assumed command of the XXXIX. Panzerkorps, becoming General der Artillerie on 1 January 1943 and receiving the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 21 March 1943. For his skillful conduct of prolonged defensive battles in the Newel–Orsha–Mogilev sector during the winter of 1943–44, in which his expert employment of artillery repeatedly frustrated superior Soviet forces, he was awarded the Eichenlaub to the Ritterkreuz on 10 February 1944 as the 388th recipient. Named in the Wehrmachtbericht for these successes, Martinek was killed on 28 June 1944 near the Beresina by a Soviet air attack while leading his corps during the opening phase of Operation Bagration.
Source :
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gliederungen/Korps/XXXIXKorps.htm
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