The Corps whose home station was formed (as the XXXIX Army Corps) in 1940 for the German invasion of France, in which it was part of Group Guderian, the 2nd and 1st Armies. In June 1941 the Corps was assigned to Army Group Centre for Operation Barbarossa, Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union. It initially attacked towards Vilnius and then took part in the first Battle of Minsk. By August, it was assigned to Army Group North for the attack on Leningrad.