Army Group G (''Heeresgruppe G'') fought on the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to:
Military frontiers
* Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...
of
World War II and was a component of
OB West.
History
When the
Allied invasion of Southern France took place, Army Group G had eleven divisions with which to hold France south of the
Loire.
[Pogue (references]
CHAPTER XII The Campaign in Southern France
p.227 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First Army had been withdrawn a few weeks earlier to hold the line on the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
)
, mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur
, mouth_coordinates =
, mouth_elevation =
, progression =
, river_system = Seine basin
, basin_size =
, tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle
, tributari ...
southeast of Paris, formed three march groups and withdrew eastward toward
Dijon
Dijon (, , ) (dated)
* it, Digione
* la, Diviō or
* lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920.
The earlie ...
. 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
The United States Army Central, formerly the Third United States Army, commonly referred to as the Third Army and as ARCENT, is a military formation of the United States Army which saw service in World War I and World War II, in the 1991 Gulf Wa ...
. 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
The 6th United States Army Group was an Allied Army Group that fought in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. Made up of field armies from both the United States Army and the French Army, it fought in France, Germany, ...
. By the time the retreat was over General
Johannes Blaskowitz
Johannes Albrecht Blaskowitz (10 July 1883 – 5 February 1948) was a German '' Generaloberst'' during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. After joining the Imperial German Army i ...
had lost about half his force and was relieved on 21 September by General
Hermann Balck. 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
The United States Army Central, formerly the Third United States Army, commonly referred to as the Third Army and as ARCENT, is a military formation of the United States Army which saw service in World War I and World War II, in the 1991 Gulf Wa ...
, while the much reduced German 19th Army opposed the
French First Army
The First Army (french: 1re Armée) was a field army of France that fought during World War I and World War II. It was also active during the Cold War.
First World War
On mobilization in August 1914, General Auguste Dubail was put in th ...
and the
U.S. Seventh Army
The Seventh Army was a United States army created during World War II that evolved into the United States Army Europe (USAREUR) during the 1950s and 1960s. It served in North Africa and Italy in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations and Fra ...
under General
Alexander M. Patch
General Alexander McCarrell Patch (November 23, 1889 – November 21, 1945) was a senior United States Army officer who fought in both world wars, rising to rank of general. During World War II, he commanded U.S. Army and Marine Corps force ...
.
Army Group G fought in the
Vosges Mountains
The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...
during November 1944 and retreated through
Lorraine
Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of G ...
and north
Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
during December.
[100th Infantry Division Association ]References
Reference is a relationship between objects in which one object designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another object. The first object in this relation is said to ''refer to'' the second object. It is called a ''name'' ...
In late November 1944, Army Group G temporarily lost responsibility for the German troops in the
Colmar Pocket
The Colmar Pocket (french: Poche de Colmar; de , Brückenkopf Elsass) was the area held in central Alsace, France, by the German Nineteenth Army from November 1944 to February 1945, against the U.S. 6th Army Group (6th AG) during World War II ...
and on the Rhine River south of the
Bienwald
The Bienwald is a large forested area in the southern Pfalz region of Germany near the towns of Kandel and Wörth am Rhein. The western edge defines the eastern extent of the Wissembourg Gap, a corridor of open terrain between the Bienwald ...
to the short-lived
Army Group ''Oberrhein''. In January 1945 the Army Group attacked in
operation Nordwind
Operation Northwind (german: Unternehmen Nordwind) was the last major German offensive of World War II on the Western Front. Northwind was launched to support the German Ardennes offensive campaign in the Battle of the Bulge, which by Decemb ...
, the last big German counter-attack on the Western Front.
[ 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
Crailsheim is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Incorporated in 1338, it lies east of Schwäbisch Hall and southwest of Ansbach in the Schwäbisch Hall district. The city's main attractions include two Evangelical churches, a ...
, Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
and Munich during April 1945.
Army Group G surrendered to U.S. forces at Haar, in Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
, in Germany on May 5, 1945.[World Almanac of World War II, editor: Peter Young; St. Martin's Press]
Commanders
The following persons served as commanders of the group.
Order of battle
Notes
References
* Cole, Hugh M.
UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR: The European Theater of Operations THE ARDENNES: BATTLE OF THE BULGE
*Pogue, Forrest C
United States Army in World War II: European Theater of Operations: The Supreme Command
*
website of the 100th (U.S.) Infantry Division Association
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G
Military units and formations disestablished in 1945
Military units and formations established in 1944