1943/44 SS-Panzerkorps
The 1943 SS-PzK (even including changes up to 1944) was basically a standard Army
Panzerkorps (corps headquarters, signal battalion, supply battalion, field post, military
police, mapping units, etc.) with a few additional units, (heavy Panzer battalion, rocket
launcher battalion, medical battalion, and later also an artillery battalion and an
artillery observation battery). Note that there were two-division SS corps for all the
various SS divisions, although these corps were organized slightly differently, depending
on the type of divisions commanded. In all cases, the subordinate divisions were only
loosely attached, could and did operate independently, and certainly did not cede any of
their divisional units to the corps.
The reason for the extra corps units is quite basic. The SS had, at the time of the
creation of the SS-PzK, (and the other SS corps), no "GHQ" troops of its own. [The
Waffen-SS divisions had always had more units than their Army counterparts - for several
reasons, of course, one being that there weren't any Waffen-SS non-divisional units.] The
Army had its Heerestruppen, which were used to create main points of effort, or provide
higher echelon support. The Waffen-SS did not. The "corps" troops were redesigned as
"Sondertruppen der RFSS", (which was the Waffen-SS equivalent to the Heerestruppen), as
soon as there were enough to warrant a separate branch; the units the corps had were more
of a foot in the door for even more Waffen-SS units, rather than a fixed feature within
the corps organization.
Second, the SS wanted to keep as much control over their units as possible. The
more higher commands, the more direct control. And, let's never forget, the ultimate aim
of the SS was to become independent of the Army and then replace it completely, at least
when victory was finally achieved. Wanting to have SS officers with practical experience
in commanding larger formations is a natural consequence of this thinking. And, following
this concept to the its logical conclusion, Waffen-SS officers were finally also put in
command of armies.
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