11th Army (Wehrmacht) - Formation

Formation

The 11th Army was activated in 1940 to prepare for the forthcoming German attack on the Soviet Union.

The 11th Army was part of Army Group South when it invaded the USSR during Operation Barbarossa. In September 1941, Erich von Manstein was appointed its commander. His predecessor, Colonel-General Eugen Ritter von Schobert, perished when his Fiesler Storch aircraft landed in a Soviet minefield.

At the start of Barbarossa, the 11th Army order of battle included:

Army Staff

  • LIV Corps
    • 50th Infantry division
    • 170th Infantry division
    • 138th Artillery brigade
    • 190th Assault Gun battalion
    • 197th Assault Gun battalion
    • 46th Combat Engineer battalion
    • 744th Combat Engineer battalion
    • 454th Corps Signal battalion
  • XXX Corps
    • 198th Infantry division
    • 14th Infantry division (Romanian)
    • 5th Cavalry brigade (Romanian)
    • 249th Assault Gun battalion
    • 610th Anti-aircraft Artillery battalion
    • 70th Nebelwerfer battalion (150 mm mortars 280 mm guns)
    • 110th Artillery brigade
    • 690th Field Engineer begiment
    • 430th Corps Signal battalion
    • 430th Corps Supply battalion
    • 430th Corps Cartographic battalion
  • XI Corps
    • 76th Infantry division
    • 239th Infantry division
  • Army reserves and other assets
    • 22nd Infantry division
    • Railroad operations command
    • 19th Construction brigade
    • 300th Tank battalion
    • 617th Cartography battalion
    • 756th Traffic controllers battalion
    • 766th Artillery regiment
    • 926th Construction command
    • 558th Army Communications regiment
    • 693rd Propaganda company

The 11th Army was tasked with invading the Crimea and the pursuit of enemy forces on the flank of Army Group South during its advance into the Soviet Union.

The 11th Army order of battle included three Corps: XXX Corps, which was composed of the 22nd, 72nd and Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler divisions and the XI Corps, consisting of the 170th Infantry Division and the 1st and 4th Mountain Divisions; and LIVth Corps, consisting of the 46th, 73rd and 50th Infantry Divisions. The latter formation had been in charge of the advance into the Crimean peninsula earlier in September. The Romanian 3rd Army, three Mountain brigades and three cavalry brigades, were also under von Manstein's command.

Einsatzgruppe D was attached to the 11th Army.

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