XV Corps (United States)
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| U.S. XV Corps | |
|---|---|
 XV Corps shoulder sleeve insignia |
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| Active | 15 Feb 1943 - 31 Mar 1946 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | Regular Army |
| Type | Army Corps |
| Engagements | World War II |
Initially constituted on October 1, 1933 as part of the Organized Reserves, the XV Corps was activated on 15 February 1943 at Camp Beauregard, Louisiana. XV Corps fought for 307 days in the European Theater of Operations, fighting from Normandy through France and southern Germany into Austria. The corps was commanded in combat by Major General Wade H. Haislip initially as a subordinate unit to Third U.S. Army and later as part of the Seventh U.S. Army.
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[edit] Normandy
XV Corps took part in the July, 1944 breakout from Normandy (Operation Cobra). The corps liberated Le Mans on August 8, 1944. In a controversial decision by the Twelfth United States Army Group commander, Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, the corps was halted at Argentan on August 13, 1944, before it effected juncture with Canadian troops, allowing Germans trapped in the Falaise Pocket an escape route to the east. Seizing a bridgehead over the Seine River on August 20, 1944, the corps then mopped up German resistance along the west bank of the river. Subsequently, the corps had no divisions assigned to it and used its corps troops to screen the southern flank of the U.S. XII Corps.
[edit] Lorraine
On September 11, XV Corps drove toward the Moselle River and crossed it at Charmes the following day. On September 13, the French 2nd Armored Division, assigned to the corps, destroyed a German Panzer brigade in the town of Dompaire. After several days of battle, XV Corps liberated Lunéville on September 22, 1944. From September 28 until October 10, 1944, the corps cleared the Parroy Forest in Lorraine against determined German resistance. For another 12 days, XV Corps fought to capture the hill mass east of the Parroy Forest. On November 1, 1944, the corps' French 2nd Armored Division took Baccarat after a two-day battle. From November 13 to 19, 1944, XV Corps pierced German defenses in the Vosges Mountains near Sarrebourg, enabling the French 2nd Armored Division to force the Saverne Gap and liberate Strasbourg on November 23, 1944. This breakthrough unbalanced German defenses in the northern Vosges and opened the way for Seventh Army troops to advance into Alsace and reach the Rhine River.
[edit] Alsace
On December 5, 1944, the corps moved north against German defenses in the Maginot Line around Bitche. The fighting for the old French forts continued until December 20, 1944. Thereafter, the corps assumed a defensive stance. The corps withstood a fierce German counter-offensive (Operation Nordwind) into Alsace during January, 1945. During this period, XV Corps defended well, restored most of its original position by January 7, 1945, and assumed a defensive stance again until mid-February. From February 15 to 23, 1945, the corps made limited attacks, seizing Forbach, Gros Recherding, and hills south of Saarbrücken. Subsequently, the corps rested and prepared for offensive action designed to breach the Siegfried Line and invade Germany.
[edit] Germany and Austria
On March 15, 1945, XV Corps (along with the VI Corps and the XXI Corps) launched a major offensive (Operation Undertone). On March 20, 1945, the corps broke through the Siegfried Line, captured Homburg and Zweibrücken and then assaulted across the Rhine River in the region of Worms and Mannheim on March 26, 1945. Taking Bamberg on April 13, 1945, the corps moved south and seized Nuremberg on April 20, 1945 after five days of house-to-house combat. On May 3, 1945, the corps took Munich, and by the next day the corps had advanced to Salzburg, Austria, where combat operations for the corps ceased.
[edit] Campaign Credits and Inactivation
XV Corps is credited with service in the Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe campaigns. XV Corps Headquarters was inactivated in Germany on March 31, 1946. Subsequent to the Second World War, the corps was activated and inactivated several times, with the last inactivation occurring on March 31, 1968 at the Presidio of San Francisco, California.
[edit] Subordination
| U.S. Third Army | 06 Jul 1944 – 23 Aug 1944 |
| U.S. First Army | 24 Aug 1944 – 28 Aug 1944 |
| U.S. Third Army | 29 Aug 1944 – 28 Sep 1944 |
| U.S. Seventh Army | 29 Sep 1944 – VE Day |
[edit] References
- Weigley, Russell F., (1981). "Eisenhower's Lieutenants". Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-13333-5.
- Williams, Mary H., compiler (1958). "U. S. Army in World War II, Chronology 1941-1945". Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office.
- Wilson, John B., compiler (1999). "Armies, Corps, Divisions, and Separate Brigades". Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office. ISBN 0-16-049994-1.
