The corps was raised on 26 July 1943 in Berlin-Lichterfeld, with initial mustering taking place on the Truppenübungsplatz at Beverloo, in occupied Belgium.

[4] The corps was caught in the Falaise pocket, where it fought to maintain a corridor for the trapped German forces, losing all its armour and equipment in the process.

Refitting was complete by early December, and it was ordered to the Ardennes region to join Dietrich's 6th Panzer Army, in preparation for an offensive codenamed Wacht Am Rhein, and the ensuing Battle of the Bulge.

[8] The corps, composed of the LSSAH and Hitlerjugend divisions, was instrumental in one of the last successful German offensives, Operation Southwind, eliminating the Soviet bridgehead west of the Garam in February 1945.

The Germans then launched a pincer movement north and south of Lake Balaton as part of Operation Spring Awakening on 6 March 1945.

Dietrich's army made "good progress" at first, but as they drew near the Danube, the combination of the muddy terrain and strong Soviet resistance ground them to a halt.