The 15th Army (German: 15. ''Armee'') was a

field army A field army (or numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps and may be subordinate to an army group. Likewise, air armies are equivalent formation within some air forces, and with ...

of the

German army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

History

The 15th Army was activated in

occupied France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...

on 15 January 1941 with General

Curt Haase Curt Haase (15 December 1881 – 9 February 1943) was a German general (''Generaloberst'') in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He commanded the III Corps during the Invasion of Poland and France. He later commanded the 15th Army in German-occ ...

in command. It was tasked with occupation and defensive duties in the

Pas de Calais The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait (french: Pas de Calais - ''Strait of Calais''), is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel, marking the boundary between the Channel and the North Sea, separating Great Britain from continent ...

area. The

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

landed further west, in

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...

, during June 1944. Afterwards, the 15th Army was withdrawn to the Netherlands, where it fought the Allies during

Operation Market Garden Operation Market Garden was an Allies of World War II, Allied military operation during the World War II, Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a Salient (military), salient into G ...

in September 1944. It suffered defeat against the

First Canadian Army The First Canadian Army (french: 1reArmée canadienne) was a field army and a formation of the Canadian Army in World War II in which most Canadian elements serving in North-West Europe were assigned. It served on the Western Front from July 1944 ...

in the

Battle of the Scheldt The Battle of the Scheldt in World War II was a series of military operations led by the First Canadian Army, with Polish and British units attached, to open up the shipping route to Antwerp so that its port could be used to supply the Allies ...

during which the Army Headquarters at

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

was subject to a mass attack by

Hawker Typhoon The Hawker Typhoon is a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. It was intended to be a medium-high altitude interceptor, as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane, but several design problems were encountered and i ...

s of the

Second Tactical Air Force The RAF Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was one of three tactical air forces within the Royal Air Force (RAF) during and after the Second World War. It was made up of squadrons and personnel from the RAF, other British Commonwealth air forces, ...

on 24 October 1944. Two generals and 70 other staff officers were killed in the attack. During October 1944 the 15th Army continued to resist against the Canadian First Army and British Second Army as they pushed west from the

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Operation Pheasant Operation Pheasant, also known as the Liberation of North Brabant, was a major operation to clear German troops from the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands during the fighting on the Western Front in the Second World War. This offensiv ...

. The British Second Army cleared the 15th Army from the

Roer Triangle The Rur or Roer (german: Rur ; Dutch and li, Roer, , ; french: Rour) is a major river that flows through portions of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. It is a right (eastern) tributary to the Meuse ( nl, links=no, Maas). About 90 perce ...

during

Operation Blackcock Operation Blackcock was an operation to clear German troops from the Roer Triangle, formed by the towns of Roermond and Sittard in the Netherlands and Heinsberg in Germany during the fighting on the Western Front in the Second World War. It wa ...

, pushing it back over the

Rur The Rur or Roer (german: Rur ; Dutch and li, Roer, , ; french: Rour) is a major river that flows through portions of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. It is a right (eastern) tributary to the Meuse ( nl, links=no, Maas). About 90 perce ...

and

Wurm The Wurm (; nl, Worm ) is a river in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany. It rises in the Eifel mountains and flows for 57 kilometres before discharging into the Rur. Geography The Wurm is a left (western) tributary of the ...

rivers. It was involved in the

Battle of Hurtgen Forest A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

before finally surrendering along the

Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...

river in 1945. Today, the former HQ of the 15th Army, in

Tourcoing Tourcoing (; nl, Toerkonje ; vls, Terkoeje; pcd, Tourco) is a city in northern France on the Belgian border. It is designated municipally as a Communes of France, commune within the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), ...

, which is just north of Lille in France, is a museum: .

Sept. 1944 Order of Battle

* LXVII Corps, ''General der Infanterie''

Otto Sponheimer __NOTOC__ Otto Sponheimer (19 December 1886 – 14 March 1961) was a German general (General of the Infantry) in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded several corps. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Na ...

** 64th Infantry Division - ''Generalmajor'' Knut Eberding - trapped and destroyed in

Breskens Pocket The Breskens Pocket was a pocket of fortified German resistance against the Canadian First Army in the Battle of the Scheldt during the Second World War. It was chiefly situated on the southern shore of the Scheldt estuary in the southern Nether ...

** 70th Static Division - ''Generalleutnant''

Wilhelm Daser Wilhelm Josef Daser (31 August 1884 in Germersheim – 14 July 1968 in Ingolstadt) was a German military officer who commanded the 70th infantry division of the Wehrmacht during the Battle of the Scheldt and surrendered unconditionally on 6 Novem ...

- occupied South Beveland and Walcheren on the

Scheldt The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corr ...

** 346th Infantry Division - ''Generalleutnant''

Erich Diestel __NOTOC__ Erich Diestel (8 November 1892 – 3 August 1973) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Awards and decorations * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cro ...

711th Static Division - ''Generalleutnant''

Josef Reichert __NOTOC__ Josef Reichert (12 December 1891 – 15 March 1970) was a German general during World War II who commanded several divisions. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Awards * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 9 Dec ...

719th Coastal Division - ''Generalleutnant'' Karl Sievers - Transferred to 1st Fallschirmarmee September 4. * LXXXVIII Corps, ''General der Infanterie''

Hans-Wolfgang Reinhard __NOTOC__ Hans-Wolfgang Reinhard (11 December 1888 – 6 October 1950) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Awards and decorations * Knight's Cross ...

** 59th Infantry Division - ''Generalleutnant''

Walter Poppe __NOTOC__ Walter Fritz Rudolf Poppe (8 August 1892 – 17 August 1968) was a German general during the Second World War leading the 59th Infantry Division. On 12 January 1942, he succeeded Wilhelm Wetzel as command of the 255th Infantry Divisi ...

** 85th Infantry Division - ''Generalleutnant''

Kurt Chill Kurt Chill (1 May 1895 – 5 July 1976) was a German general during World War II who commanded the LV. Armeekorps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Awards and decorations * Knight's Cross of the Iron ...

- later transferred to LXVII Korps ** 245th Infantry Division -

Oberst ''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway. The Swedish ...

Gerhard Kegler - later transferred to LXVII Korps ** 256th Infantry Division - Destroyed in

Operation Bagration Operation Bagration (; russian: Операция Багратио́н, Operatsiya Bagration) was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (russian: Белорусская наступательная оп� ...

on Eastern Front, reconstituted Sept/Oct 1944 in Holland ** 712th Infantry Division - ''Generalleutnant''

Friedrich-Wilhelm Neumann Friedrich-Wilhelm Neumann (22 January 1889 – 26 January 1975) was a German general during World War II who held several divisional and corps level commands. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Awards and decorations * ...

Commanders

References

* 15 Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 {{Germany-mil-unit-stub