Army Group South
| Army Group South | |
|---|---|
Heer (  Wehrmacht) | |
| Size | On 1 July 1942: 1,210,861 in total[1] |
| Engagements | World War II |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Gerd von Rundstedt, Fedor von Bock, Walter von Reichenau, Erich von Manstein |
Army Group South (
It was first used in the 1939
Two years later, Army Group South became one of three army groups into which Germany organised their forces for
In September 1944, the Army Group South Ukraine was renamed Army Group South in Eastern Hungary. It fought in Western Hungary until March 1945 and retired to Austria at the end of the Second World War, where it was renamed Army Group Ostmark on 2 April 1945.
Operation Barbarossa
Ukraine was a major center of Soviet industry and mining and had the good farmland required for Hitler's plans for
To carry out these initial tasks its battle order included the
Case Blue
In preparation for Case Blue, the 1942 campaign in southern Russia and the Caucasus, Army Group South was split into two army groups: Army Group A and Army Group B.[3] Army Group A was ordered south to capture the oil fields in the Caucasus.
In February 1943, Army Group Don and the existing Army Group B were combined and re-designated Army Group South. A new Army Group B became a major formation elsewhere. The German Sixth Army, which was destroyed in the Battle of Stalingrad, was re-constituted and later made part of Army Group South in March 1943. On 4 April 1944, Army Group South was re-designated Army Group North Ukraine. Army Group North Ukraine existed from 4 April to 28 September.
In September 1944,
Order of battle for Army Group South, October 1944
| Army Group | Army | Corps | Division | Remarks | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Gen Friessner |
German Sixth Army Gen Fretter-Pico |
IV Panzer Corps
LtGen Kleeman |
24th Panzer Division |
||||||||||
| LXXII Army Corps LtGen Schmidt |
76th Infantry Division |
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| Hungarian VII Army Corps MajGen Vörös |
Hungarian 8th Reserve Division |
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| Hungarian 12th Reserve Division |
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| III Panzer Corps LtGen Breith |
1st Panzer Division |
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| 13th Panzer Division |
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| 23rd Panzer Division |
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Feldherrnhalle Panzergrenadier Division |
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22nd SS Cavalry Division Maria Theresa |
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| 46th Infantry Division |
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503rd Heavy Tank Battalion |
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| German Eighth Army Gen Wöhler |
German XVII Army Corps LtGen Kreysing |
German 8th 8th Jäger Division |
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| Hungarian 27th Infantry Division |
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| Hungarian 9th Frontier Brigade |
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| Hungarian IX Army Corps BrigGen Kovács |
German 3rd Mountain Division |
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| Hungarian 2nd Replacement Division |
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| German XXIX Army Corps LtGen Röpke |
German 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer |
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| German 4th Mountain Division |
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| Hungarian Second Army LtGen von Dalnoki (Attached to German Sixth Army) |
Hungarian II Army Corps MajGen Kiss |
Hungarian 2nd Armored Division |
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| Hungarian 25th Infantry Division |
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| German 15th Infantry Division |
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| Hungarian Group Finta BrigGen Finta |
Hungarian 7th Replacement Division |
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| Hungarian 1st Replacement Mountain Brigade |
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| Hungarian 2nd Replacement Mountain Brigade |
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| Army Reserve LtGen von Dalnoki |
Hungarian 9th Replacement Division |
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| Hungarian Heszlényi
|
Hungarian VIII Army Corps MajGen Lengyel |
Hungarian 23rd Reserve Division |
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| Hungarian 5th Replacement Division |
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| Hungarian 8th Replacement Division |
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| Hungarian 1st Armored Division |
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| German LVII Panzer Corps LtGen Kirchner |
4th SS Panzergrenadier Division |
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| Hungarian 20th Infantry Division |
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| Hungarian 1st Cavalry Division |
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| Army Reserve LtGen Heszlényi
|
Hungarian Szent László Infantry Division |
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Commanders
| No. | Portrait | Commander | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt (1875–1953) | 1 September 1939 | 26 October 1939 | 55 days | |
| (1) | Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt (1875–1953) | 22 June 1941 | 1 December 1941 | 162 days | |
| 2 | Generalfeldmarschall Walter von Reichenau (1884–1942) | 1 December 1941 | 12 January 1942 † | 42 days | |
| 3 | Generalfeldmarschall Fedor von Bock (1880–1945) | 12 January 1942 | 9 July 1942 | 178 days | |
| 4 | Generalfeldmarschall Maximilian von Weichs (1881–1954) | 9 July 1942 | 12 February 1943 | 218 days | |
| 5 | Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein (1887–1973) | 12 February 1943 | 2 April 1944 | 1 year, 50 days | |
| 6 | Generaloberst Johannes Frießner (1892–1971) | 23 September 1944 | 28 December 1944 | 96 days | |
| 7 | General der Infanterie Otto Wöhler (1894–1987) | 28 December 1944 | 6 April 1945 | 99 days | |
| 8 | Generaloberst Lothar Rendulic (1887–1971) | 7 April 1945 | 30 April 1945 | 23 days |
See also
References
- ^ Liedtke, Gregory. Enduring the Whirlwind: The German Army and the Russo-German War 1941-1943. Wolverhampton Military Studies, 2016, p. 228.
- ISBN 978-1846036514. Illustrated.
- ISBN 9781473833869.
| International | |
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| National | |
