Italy
The corps was renamed as II SS Panzer Corps in June 1943, after the I SS Panzer Corps was created during that same month. In July 1943, the corps took part in the failed Operation Citadel, spearheading Generaloberst Hermann Hoth's 4th Panzer Army attack on the southern pincer aimed at reducing the Kursk salient. The corps' three SS panzergrenadier divisions were involved in mammoth tank battles around Prokhorovka, pushing deeper into the salient than any other unit. After the operation was canceled, the corps was ordered to the Italian front. The coup which deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini caused much confusion, and only one division, the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler ended up being transferred, along with the corps personnel. The remaining combat divisions remained on the Eastern front. The Leibstandarte took part in operations to disarm Italian troops. After the completion of this, it was involved in anti-partisan operations in northern Italy. In November, 1943, the Leibstandarte returned to Russia, with the corps remaining in northern Italy.
In January 1944, the corps was ordered to France to refit, before being sent back into action on the Eastern Front. It took part in the efforts to relieve Generaloberst Hans-Valentin Hube's encircled 1st Panzer Army. The corps two combat divisions, the 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen and 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg, provided the spearhead for the relief operation and was the first to effect a linkup with Hube's forces.
Read more about this topic: II SS Panzer Corps, Kursk
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