Army Group G
German: Armeegruppe G
Heeresgruppe G
Active28 April 1944 – 5 May 1945
Country Nazi Germany
Branch Heer ( Wehrmacht)
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Johannes Blaskowitz
Hermann Balck
Paul Hausser
Friedrich Schulz

Army Group G (German: Armeegruppe G / Heeresgruppe G) fought on the Western Front of World War II and was a component of OB West.[1]

History

Army Group G was initially deployed as an Armeegruppe-type formation on 28 April 1944, but was later upgraded to Heeresgruppe-type on 12 September 1944.[2]: 13 

When the Allied invasion of Southern France took place, Army Group G had eleven divisions with which to hold France south of the Loire.[3] Between August 17 and 18, the German Armed Forces High Command ordered Army Group G (with the exception of the troops holding the fortress ports) to abandon southern France. The German LXIV Corps, which had been in charge of troops in the southwest since First Army had been withdrawn a few weeks earlier to hold the line on the River Seine southeast of Paris, formed three march groups and withdrew eastward toward Dijon. At the same time, the German Nineteenth Army, retreated northward through the Rhône valley toward the Plateau de Langres where it was joined by the German Fifth Panzer Army which was assigned to Army Group G so that a counter-attack could be delivered against the United States Third Army.[4] The retreat did not go according to plan, as the Nineteenth Army retreated many personnel of Army Group G were taken prisoner by the Sixth United States Army Group.[5] By the time the retreat was over General Johannes Blaskowitz had lost about half his force and was relieved on 21 September by General Hermann Balck.[6] By mid September the Fifth were in position on the left wing of the German line north of the Swiss border. From there the Fifth Panzer with elements of the First attacked the United States Third Army, while the much reduced German 19th Army opposed the French First Army and the U.S. Seventh Army under General Alexander M. Patch.[7]

Army Group G fought in the Vosges Mountains during November 1944 and retreated through Lorraine and north Alsace during December.[8] In late November 1944, Army Group G temporarily lost responsibility for the German troops in the Colmar Pocket and on the Rhine River south of the Bienwald to the short-lived Army Group Oberrhein. In January 1945 the Army Group attacked in operation Nordwind, the last big German counter-attack on the Western Front.[8] With the failure of Nordwind and the ejection of the Germans from the Colmar Pocket, Army Group Oberrhein was dissolved and Army Group G reassumed responsibility for the defense of southwestern Germany.

Unable to halt the offensive by Allied troops that cleared the Rhineland-Palatinate and subsequently assaulted over the Rhine River, Army Group G's troops nevertheless fought to defend the cities of Heilbronn, Crailsheim, Nuremberg and Munich during April 1945.

Army Group G surrendered to U.S. forces at Haar, in Bavaria, in Germany on May 5, 1945.[9]

Commanders

The following persons served as commanders of the group.[10]

No. Portrait CommanderTook officeLeft officeTime in office
1
Johannes Blaskowitz
Blaskowitz, JohannesGeneraloberst
Johannes Blaskowitz
(1883–1948)		8 May 194421 September 1944136 days
2
Hermann Balck
Balck, HermannGeneral der Panzertruppe
Hermann Balck
(1893–1982)		21 September 194424 December 194494 days
(1)
Johannes Blaskowitz
Blaskowitz, JohannesGeneraloberst
Johannes Blaskowitz
(1883–1948)		24 December 194429 January 194536 days
3
Paul Hausser
Hausser, PaulSS-Oberst-Gruppenführer
Paul Hausser
(1880–1972)		29 January 19452 April 194563 days
4
Friedrich Schulz
Schulz, FriedrichGeneral der Infanterie
Friedrich Schulz
(1897–1976)		2 April 19455 May 194533 days

Order of battle

Army Group Headquarters troops
Army group signals regiment 606
Subordinated units
1944
May 1944 First Army, Nineteenth Army
August 1944 Nineteenth Army
September 1944 Nineteenth Army, First Army, Fifth Panzer Army
1945
January 1945 First Army
February 1945 First Army, Nineteenth Army
March 1945 First Army, Seventh Army, Nineteenth Army
April 1945 First Army, Nineteenth Army

Notes

  1. ↑ Cole (references) End Notes Archived October 31, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Tessin, Georg (1977). Die Waffengattungen - Gesamtübersicht. Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939–1945 (in German). Vol. 1. Osnabrück: Biblio. ISBN 3764810971.
  3. ↑ Pogue (references) CHAPTER XII The Campaign in Southern France p.227
  4. ↑ Pogue (references) p.228
  5. ↑ Fact File : Antwerp Captured, BBC, June 2003
  6. ↑ Pogue (references) p.229
  7. ↑ Pogue (references) p.230
  8. 1 2 100th Infantry Division Association References
  9. ↑ World Almanac of World War II, editor: Peter Young; St. Martin's Press
  10. ↑ Tessin 1980, p. 91.

References


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