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 ...

in World War II.

History

The 15th Army was activated in occupied France on 15 January 1941 with General Curt Haase in command. It was tasked with occupation and defensive duties in the Pas de Calais area. The Allies 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 Afterwards, the 15th Army was withdrawn to the Netherlands, where it fought the Allies during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 during which the Army Headquarters at Dordrecht was subject to a mass attack by Hawker Typhoons of the Second Tactical Air Force 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. The British Second Army cleared the 15th Army from the Roer Triangle during Operation Blackcock, pushing it back over the Rur and Wurm 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, which is just north of Lille in France, is a museum: .

Sept. 1944 Order of Battle

* LXVII Corps, ''General der Infanterie'' Otto Sponheimer ** 64th Infantry Division - ''Generalmajor'' Knut Eberding - trapped and destroyed in Breskens Pocket ** 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 N ...

- occupied South Beveland and Walcheren on the Scheldt ** 346th Infantry Division - ''Generalleutnant'' Erich Diestel ** 711th Infanterie Division Logo

711th Static Division - ''Generalleutnant'' Josef Reichert ** 719th Infantry Division Logo

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

** 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 Gerhard Kegler - later transferred to LXVII Korps **

256th Infantry Division The 256th Infantry Division (''256. Infanterie-Division'') was a German infantry division in World War II. They formed on August 1939 as part of the 4. Welle (wave). The division was destroyed at Vitebsk in June 1944 during Operation Bagration. ...

- Destroyed in Operation Bagration on Eastern Front, reconstituted Sept/Oct 1944 in Holland ** 712th Infantry Division - ''Generalleutnant'' Friedrich-Wilhelm Neumann

Commanders

References

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