What is a WWII Corps?

[Walt's Daughter]

I can't tell you how many times people ask, what is a division, what is a battalion, how many men in a squad, etc. Well tonight I am going to give you some information on what constituted an US Army Corps. Since this site is about VI CORPS COMBAT ENGINEERS, my readers should be familiar with the framework.

 

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For the U.S. Army in World War II "the corps was the key headquarters for employing all combat elements in proper tactical combinationS."4 Situated below army and above division in the hierarchy of command, the corps consisted essentially of a commander and his staff, headquarters units, and certain organic elements. The corps controlled a varying number of divisions. While the U.S. Army World War II infantry division was standardized and usually included about fifteen thousand men, the corps, as one commander described it, was an amorphous, elastic tactical unit that "expands and contracts according to the allocation of troops from higher headquarters based on the enemy, the terrain and the contemplated missions."

 

Combat units moved from one corps to another at the discretion of the army commander. In addition, the corps controlled pools of non-divisional combat units, such as corps artillery, engineers, tanks, and tank destroyers, which were distributed to divisions as dictated by need and availability. As part of a multi-corps army, the corps had few administrative functions. In essence, "the corps became the key headquarters for employing all combat elements in proper tactical combinations."

 

Twenty-two U.S. Army corps were actively engaged in combat operations at some time during World War II. Successful corps command made a significant, yet largely unrecognized, contribution to Allied victory in World War II. Thirty-four U.S. Army general officers commanded these corps in battle. For a professional officer, corps command was the ultimate position of tactical leadership. Corps commanders who moved on to higher military positions during or after the war, such as Omar N. Bradley, George S. Patton, Jr., J. Lawton Collins, and Matthew B. Ridgway, are well known to military historians, and many have published their memoirs. However, the majority of corps commanders have evoked little historical interest. Innis P. Swift led First Corps in the Pacific for nearly a year and a half, Alvan C. Gillem led Thirteenth Corps for twenty-two months in the European Theater of Operations (ETO), and Geoffrey Keyes commanded Second Corps during twenty-one months of combat in Italy. Despite such accomplishments, these distinguished officers are relatively unknown.