Army group

Japan

During World War II there were six general armies:

• Kantōgun (often known as the "Kwantung Army") originated as the division-level garrison of a Japanese colony in northeast China, in 1908; it remained in northern China until the end of World War II. The strength of the Kantōgun peaked at 700,000 personnel in 1941. It faced and was destroyed by Soviet forces in 1945.
• Shina Hakengun, the "China Expeditionary Army", was formed in Nanjing, in September 1939, to control operations in central China. At the end of World War II, it consisted of 620,000 personnel in 25 infantry and one armored divisions.
• South East Asia, and the South Pacific
  .

In April 1945, the Boei So-Shireibu (translated as "general defense command" or "home defense general headquarters" and similar names) was split into three general armies:

• Dai-Ichi So-Gun ("1st General Army", headquartered in Tokyo
  )
• Dai-Ni So-Gun ("2nd General Army", headquartered in Hiroshima
  )
• Koku So-Gun ("Air General Army", headquartered in Tokyo)

By August 1945, these comprised two million personnel in 55 divisions and numerous smaller independent units. After the surrender of Japan, the Imperial Japanese Army was dissolved, except for the Dai-Ichi So-Gun, which existed until 30 November 1945 as the 1st Demobilization Headquarters.

Soviet Union

The Soviet Army was organized into

Mediterranean/European Theater

• Tunisia Campaign. A primarily British formation, it comprised the British First Army and Eighth Army, but included French and American corps. After the capture of Tunisia
  in May 1943 it was reorganized as the 15th Army Group.
• 15th Army Group: Established on 15 May 1943, under the command of General Harold Alexander for the Allied invasion of Italy. For the invasion of Sicily it consisted of the British Eighth Army and U.S. Seventh Army. Subsequently, the Seventh Army was replaced by the U.S. Fifth Army and Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark succeeded Alexander in December 1944.
• U.S. Ninth Army for some operations. After the breakout from Normandy, it formed the northern wing of the Allied Expeditionary Force
  and was sometimes referred to as the Northern Army Group.
• 12th Army Group: Established on 14 July 1944, the 12th Army Group was officially activated at noon on August 1, 1944, under the command of Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, with Lieutenant Generals Courtney Hodges and George Patton commanding First Army and Third Army, respectively. Eventually, 12th Army Group included Ninth Army under the command of Lieutenant General William Simpson and Fifteenth Army under the command of Lieutenant General "Gee" Gerow, it was the largest of the Western Allies' army groups in World War II. 12th Army Group occupied the middle of the Allied line, between the 21st and 6th Army Groups, and was sometimes referred to as the Central Army Group. This was the only army group in World War II that consisted entirely of U.S. troops. At its peak at end of the war, 12th Army Group consisted of the four aforementioned field armies, twelve corps, and over forty divisions – four-star General Bradley commanded over 1.3 million men in his army group, the largest number of American soldiers ever commanded by a single officer in the history of the United States Army.
• French First Army, it occupied the southern flank of the Allied Expeditionary Force in western Europe and was sometimes referred to^{[by whom?}
  ] as the Southern Army Group.

• Ceylon Army, with a degree of control over the Sino-American Northern Combat Area Command. In November 1944 Giffard was succeeded by Lieutenant General Oliver Leese and firm command established over the Northern Combat Area Command. General William Slim
  replaced Leese in July 1945, shortly before the war ended in August 1945.

During the Cold War, NATO land forces in what was designated the Central Region (most of the

Military organization
Typical units Typical numbers Typical commander fireteam 2–4 lance corporal, corporal squad, section 5–14 corporal, sergeant, staff sergeant platoon, troop 15–45 second lieutenant, first lieutenant, lieutenant company, battery, squadron 80–250 first lieutenant, captain, major battalion, cohort 300–1000 major, lieutenant colonel regiment, brigade, legion 1,000–5,500 colonel, brigadier general division 10,000–25,000 major general corps 30,000–50,000 lieutenant general field army 100,000–300,000 general army group, front 2+ field armies general, admiral region, theater 4+ army groups marshal of the air force, general of the army, admiral of the fleet
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