Stellv. Gen.Kdo. XI. Armeekorps - April 1945

[John R]

I am researching the fighting in the Weser/Aller area in April 45 and am trying to understand some details regarding stellv. Gen.Kdo. XI. Armeekorps. Any help would be very gratefully received. Current key questions/areas are:

1. What was Lehrstab XI at Bergen? Was it associated with the Panzertruppenschule?

2. I understand that Schule VIII für Fahnenjunker der Infanterie Hannover moved to Wetzlar/Weilburg in 1944. However, British reports of the battle for Ibbenbüren in early April 45 indicate the presence of ‘Fahnenjunker der Infanterie Hannover’. As Wetzlar is some distance to the south of Ibbenbüren it seems strange that the officer cadets would have moved so far to do battle when there were presumably closer threats from the US Army. On the other hand it would seem unlikely that the British would wrongly identify the unit against which they fought. Assuming the Fhj Hannover/Wetzler fought at Ibbenbüren why would they have continued to use the ‘Hannover’ in their title and not ‘Wetzlar’? Could it have been HUS 11 rather than Fhj Hannover fighting at Ibbenbüren as this school had reformed in Hannover in Mar 45 and would have been closer for deploying to Ibbenbüren? All very confusing and any help in unravelling the spaghetti would be much appreciated.

3. What other elements of stellv.Gen.Kdo. Armeekorps XI fought as part of Armeegruppe Student/Blumentritt against the British and/or the Americans? Some sources state that in April 45 it only consisted of a KG from 3.Panzergrenadier-Division but this is puzzling as I can find no mention of this unit in any allied sources and 3.Panzergrenadier-Division was bottled up in the Ruhr pocket where it eventually surrendered. How could a KG have broken clean to make it all the way back to the Hannover area? How far south of the Wesergebirge did stellv.Gen.Kdo. Armeekorps XI's responsibility extend?

That's probably enough for the moment and I'm sure there will be supplementary questions.

regards to all

John R