Army Group B
Army Group B was the name of three different German Army Groups that saw action during World War II.
Contents
Battle for France
The first was involved in the Western Campaign in 1940 in Belgium and the Netherlands which was to be aimed to conquer the Maas bridges after the German airborne actions in Rotterdam. Army Group B had approximately 300,000 men involved in these operations which occurred in May 1940.
Eastern Front
The second Army Group B was formed when Army Group South was split into two formations for the summer offensive of 1942. Army Group B was given the task of protecting the northern flank of Army Group A, and included the 6th Army's attack on Stalingrad.
In February 1943, the existing Army Group B and Army Group Don were combined to create a new Army Group South. This was done on the Eastern Front.
Italy and northern France
A new Army Group B was formed in northern Italy under Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in 1943, to defend against a possible allied attack there.
Army Group B was subsequently moved to northern France to defend occupied France against the D-Day landings, on 6 June 1944. On 19 July, Field Marshal Günther von Kluge took command from Rommel. About one month later, on 17 August, Field Marshal Walter Model replaced Kluge. From 1944 to 1945, the army group fought in the campaigns in France. Army Group B participated in the Battle of Normandy. Moving to the Low Countries, Model received a shock when his HQ was located at Osterbeek close to Arnhem during the 17 September start of Operation Market Garden[1] before the army group participated in the Battle of the Bulge. Finally, Army Group B was isolated in the Ruhr Pocket in northern Germany and, after being divided up into smaller and smaller sections, the final section was surrendered on 21 April 1945.
Commanders
Western Front
- 12 October 1939 to August 1940 Generalfeldmarshall Fedor von Bock
Eastern Front
- August 1942 to February 1943 Generaloberst Maximilian von Weichs
Northern Italy/Northern France
- 14 July 1943 Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel
- 19 July 1944 Generalfeldmarschall Günther von Kluge
- 17 August 1944 to April 1945 Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model
Order of battle
Army Group HQ troops
- 537th Signals Regiment
- 605th Signals Regiment (2nd list)
Subordinated units
| Date | Subordinated commands |
|---|---|
| 1939 | |
| November 1939 | 4th Army, 6th Army, 18th Army |
| 1940 | |
| May 1940 | 6th Army, 18th Army |
| June 1940 | 9th Army, 6th Army, 4th Army, Panzer Group Kleist |
| July 1940 | 7th Army, 4th Army |
| August 1940 | 7th Army, 4th Army, 6th Army |
| September 1940 | 18th Army, 4th Army, 6th Army |
| 1941 | |
| January 1941 | 18th Army, 4th Army, 17th Army, 2nd Panzer Group, Military commander in the General Government |
| May 1941 | 9th Army, 4th Army |
| 1942 | |
| August 1942 | 2nd Army, Hungarian 2nd Army, Italian 8th Army, XXIX Army Corps, 6th Army, 4th Panzer Army |
| September 1942 | 2nd Army, Hungarian 2nd Army, Italian 8th Army, 6th Army, 4th Panzer Army |
| October 1942 | 2nd Army, Hungarian 2nd Army, Italian 8th Army, 4th Panzer Army, Romanian 3rd Army, Romanian 4th Army |
| November 1942 | 2nd Army, Hungarian 2nd Army, Italian 8th Army, Romanian 3rd Army, 6th Army, 4th Panzer Army, Romanian 4th Army |
| December 1942 | 2nd Army, Hungarian 2nd Army, Italian 8th Army |
| 1943 | |
| January 1943 | 2nd Army, Hungarian 2nd Army, Italian 8th Army, Army Detachment Fretter-Pico |
| February 1943 | 2nd Army, Army Detachment Lanz, Italian 8th Army, Hungarian 2nd Army |
| September 1943 | LI Army Corps, II SS Corps, LXXXVII Army Corps |
| December 1943 | in disposal of the OKW in Denmark |
| 1944 | |
| May 1944 | 7th Army, 15th Army, Wehrmacht commander in the Netherlands |
| June 1944 | 7th Army, 15th Army, Wehrmacht commander in the Netherlands, Panzer Group West |
| August 1944 | 1st Army, 5th Panzer Army, 7th Army, 15th Army, Wehrmacht commander in the Netherlands |
| September 1944 | 7th Army, 1st Parachute Army, 15th Army |
| November 1944 | 7th Army, 5th Panzer Army, Student Army Group |
| December 1944 | 7th Army, 5th Panzer Army |
| 1945 | |
| January 1945 | 7th Army, 5th Panzer Army, 6th Panzer Army, 15th Army |
| February 1945 | 7th Army, 5th Panzer Army, 15th Army |
| April 1945 | 15th Army, 5th Panzer Army, Army Detachment von Lüttwitz |
References
- ↑ Builder, Banks, Nordin, p. 106
Bibliography
- Builder, Carl H., Bankes, Steven C. & Nordin Richard, Command concepts: a theory derived from the practice of command and control, RAND, Santa Monica, CA, 1999
See also
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
