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VI Army Corps VI. Armee-Korps
Flag of the Staff of a Generalkommando (1871–1918)
Active	1815 (1815)–1919 (1919)
Country	Prussia /  German Empire
Type	Corps
Size	Approximately 44,000 (on mobilisation in 1914)
Garrison/HQ	Breslau/Schweidnitzer Straße 24
Shoulder strap piping	Yellow
Engagements	Austro-Prussian War Battle of Königgrätz Franco-Prussian War Siege of Paris Battle of Chevilly World War I Battle of the Frontiers
Insignia
Abbreviation	VI AK

The VI Army Corps / VI AK (German: VI. Armee-Korps) was a corps level command of the Prussian and then the Imperial German Armies from the 19th Century to World War I.

VI AK originated in 1815 as the General Command for the Province of Silesia, with headquarters in Breslau.

The Corps served in the Austro-Prussian War. During the Franco-Prussian War it was assigned to the 3rd Army.

In peacetime the Corps was assigned to the VIII Army Inspectorate but joined the 4th Army at the start of the First World War. It was still in existence at the end of the war. The Corps was disbanded with the demobilisation of the German Army after World War I.

Austro-Prussian War

VI Corps fought in the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, seeing action in the Battle of Königgrätz.

Franco-Prussian War

During the Franco-Prussian War, the Corps was initially held back in Silesia against the possibility of intervention by Austria-Hungary. It only moved up to join the 3rd Army in August 1870. It then participated in the Siege of Paris and the Battle of Chevilly.

Peacetime organisation

The 25 peacetime Corps of the German Army (Guards, I - XXI, I - III Bavarian) had a reasonably standardised organisation. Each consisted of two divisions with usually two infantry brigades, one field artillery brigade and a cavalry brigade each. Each brigade normally consisted of two regiments of the appropriate type, so each Corps normally commanded 8 infantry, 4 field artillery and 4 cavalry regiments. There were exceptions to this rule:

V, VI, VII, IX and XIV Corps each had a 5th infantry brigade (so 10 infantry regiments)

II, XIII, XVIII and XXI Corps had a 9th infantry regiment

I, VI and XVI Corps had a 3rd cavalry brigade (so 6 cavalry regiments)

the Guards Corps had 11 infantry regiments (in 5 brigades) and 8 cavalry regiments (in 4 brigades).

Each Corps also directly controlled a number of other units. This could include one or more

Foot Artillery Regiment

Jäger Battalion

Pioneer Battalion

Train Battalion

World War I

Organisation on mobilisation

On mobilization, on 2 August 1914, the Corps was restructured. The 11th and 12th Cavalry Brigades were withdrawn to form part of the 5th Cavalry Division and the 44th Cavalry Brigade was broken up and its regiments assigned to the divisions as reconnaissance units. The 23rd Infantry Brigade was assigned to the 11th Reserve Division with VI Reserve Corps. Divisions received engineer companies and other support units from the Corps headquarters. In summary, VI Corps mobilised with 25 infantry battalions, 9 machine gun companies (54 machine guns), 8 cavalry squadrons, 24 field artillery batteries (144 guns), 4 heavy artillery batteries (16 guns), 3 pioneer companies and an aviation detachment.

Combat chronicle

On mobilisation, VI Corps was assigned to the 4th Army forming part of centre of the forces for the Schlieffen Plan offensive in August 1914 on the Western Front.

It was still in existence at the end of the war.

Commanders

The VI Corps had the following commanders during its existence:

See also

• Franco-Prussian War order of battle
• German Army order of battle (1914)
• List of Imperial German infantry regiments
• List of Imperial German artillery regiments
• List of Imperial German cavalry regiments

Footnotes

a. This might be a typographical error in the source, as II Btn is also listed (alongside I Btn) as 5th Army Artillery

References

1. German Administrative History Accessed: 31 May 2012
2. Cron 2002, p. 393
3. Cron 2002, pp. 88–89
4. Haythornthwaite 1996, pp. 193–194
5. They formed the Guards Cavalry Division, the only peacetime cavalry division in the German Army.
6. War Office 1918, p. 245
7. Cron 2002, p. 299
8. Cron 2002, pp. 311–312
9. With a machine gun company.
10. 4 heavy artillery batteries (16 heavy field howitzers)
11. Cron 2002, pp. 88–89
12. German Administrative History Accessed: 31 May 2012
13. German War History Accessed: 31 May 2012
14. The Prussian Machine Accessed: 31 May 2012

Bibliography

• Cron, Hermann (2002). Imperial German Army 1914-18: Organisation, Structure, Orders-of-Battle . Helion & Co. ISBN 1-874622-70-1.
• Ellis, John; Cox, Michael (1993). The World War I Databook. Aurum Press Ltd. ISBN 1-85410-766-6.
• Haythornthwaite, Philip J. (1996). The World War One Source Book. Arms and Armour. ISBN 1-85409-351-7.
• Histories of Two Hundred and Fifty-One Divisions of the German Army which Participated in the War (1914–1918), compiled from records of Intelligence section of the General Staff, American Expeditionary Forces, at General Headquarters, Chaumont, France 1919. The London Stamp Exchange Ltd (1989). 1920. ISBN 0-948130-87-3.
• The German Forces in the Field; 7th Revision, 11th November 1918; Compiled by the General Staff, War Office. Imperial War Museum, London and The Battery Press, Inc (1995). 1918. ISBN 1-870423-95-X.

• Corps of Germany in World War I
• Military units and formations established in 1815
• Military units and formations disestablished in 1919