Army Group 3 ( 3 A 3 was a French Army formation during the Second World War, stationed along the river Rhine manning the

Maginot line The Maginot Line (french: Ligne Maginot, ), named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by France in the 1930s to deter invasion by Germany and force the ...

. It was responsible for manning the southern end of the

Maginot Line The Maginot Line (french: Ligne Maginot, ), named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by France in the 1930s to deter invasion by Germany and force the ...

, along the River Rhine and controlled one army. The army group's Commander-in-Chief was Antoine-Marie-Benoit Besson.

Fortified sectors

Until 16 March 1940, the Altkirch sector was part of the Fortified Region of Belfort. Afterwards, the Altkirch sector was under the command of the 44th Army Fortress Corps under General Tence, which was in turn under the command of the French 8th Army, General Garchery at the

Fort de Giromagny Fort de Giromagny, also known as Fort Dorsner, was built near Belfort in northeastern France between 1875 and 1879. The fort forms the southern end of the defensive curtain of the Haute Moselle Region, abutting the fortified region of Belfort, whi ...

, part of Army Group 3.Mary, Tome 3, p. 146 The 44th Corps' headquarters was at Dannemarie. The 67th Infantry Division, commanded by General Boutignon, provided infantry support. The 67th DI was a series B reserve division, not suitable for heavy or sustained combat Following to its reorganization, the sector was called the Defensive Sector of Altkirch. The SF/SD Altkirch was commanded by General Salvan. Fortress troops were provided by the 12th and 171st Fortress Infantry Regiments. Artillery support was provided by the third and fourth battalions of the 159th Position Artillery Regiment. At the midpoint of the Battle of France on 1 June 1940, the fortress troops of the SF Altkirch amounted to two fortress infantry regiments in five battalions, comprising 165 officers and 3,300 men.Mary, Tome 3, p. 189

Order of battle

* French 8th Army - General

Marcel Garchery Jeanny-Jules-Marcel Garchery (16 June 1876 - 25 April 1961) was a French general. At various times in his career, he served as Chief of Staff, Army of the Orient (Levant), he commanded the 25th Division and then the 14th Military Region. His final ...

7th Army Corps 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...

*** 13th Infantry Division *** 27th Infantry Division ***2nd Brigade de Spahis (7th and 9th Algerian Spahi regiments of cavalry (horsed)) ** 13th Army Corps *** 19th Infantry Division *** 54th Infantry Division *** 104th Infantry Division *** 105th Infantry Division ** 44th Army Corps (France) *** 67th Infantry Division ***

Fortified Sector of Altkirch The Fortified Sector of Altkirch (''Secteur Fortifiée d'Altkirch'') was the French military organization that in 1940 controlled the section of the French frontier with Germany and Switzerland in the vicinity of Basel. The sector's principal def ...

***

Fortified Sector of Montbéliard The Fortified Sector of Montbéliard (''Secteur Fortifié de Montbéliard'') was the French military organization that in 1940 controlled the section of the French border with Switzerland in the vicinity of Montbéliard. The Montbéliard sector st ...

*** Belfort Defences * 45th Fortress Army Corps (HQ Ornans) **

57th Infantry Division (France) 57th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the French Army during the First World War. It was deployed overseas, seeing action on the Salonika front, fighting alongside British troops. It was sent to the Crimea in December 1918 as part o ...

**63rd Infantry Division ** Jura Central Fortified Sector

References

*Mary, Jean-Yves; Hohnadel, Alain; Sicard, Jacques. Hommes et Ouvrages de la Ligne Maginot, Tome 3. Paris, Histoire & Collections, 2003. (French) *Les Grandes Unités Françaises de la Guerre 1939–1945, Historiques Succincts, Service Historique de l'Armée de Terre, Vincennes : SHAT, 1967

Fortified sectors

Order of battle

References

Further reading