The Bulgarian Fifth Army was a

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

n field army during the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 16 ( O.S.) / 29 (N.S.) June 1913. Serbian and Greek armies r ...

and

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 opposing ...

First Formation

The Fifth Army was formed in May 1913 under the name of the ''First Reserve Army'', comprising two infantry divisions, the 12th and

13th In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octave pl ...

. Each had 1 artillery brigade, seven infantry regiments, one cavalry brigade, and three border companies. Its commander was Major General Stefan Toshev.
On May 26, the 4th Preslav Infantry Division was included in the Fifth Army in place of the 13th Division. The Fifth Army fought against the Serbs in Osogovo. It was disbanded on August 22, 1913.

Second Formation

On May 17, 1940, after the outbreak of World War II (1941-1945), the Fifth Covering Army was formed. It was given the task of covering the southwestern border of Bulgaria. After the German conquest of the Balkans, the army was reformed into the Fifth Bulgarian Army with Commander

Nikola Mikhov Nikola Mihaylov Mihov ( bg, Никола Михайлов Михов, 11 December 1891 – 1 February 1945) was a Bulgarian lieutenant general of artillery who served as one of the three Regents of Bulgaria for the underage Simeon II (1943–44) ...

. Its task was to replace German troops as occupation force in Southern Yugoslavia, with its headquarters in Skopje. At the beginning of September 1944, the Fifth Army (14th, 15th, 17th and 29th Infantry Divisions and the 1st Cavalry Brigade in Macedonia and Southern Serbia) began withdrawing to the old borders of Bulgaria. The withdrawal itself did not take place in an organized manner, and on September 6, the 14th and 29th Infantry Divisions were disarmed by the Germans and ceased to exist as combat-ready units. Only the 17th Infantry Division, which was closest to the old border, managed to withdraw. The 15th Division was the only one to resist and fight the Germans near Bitola and Prilep with the support of the Bulgarian aviation, after which it withdrew in small groups to Bulgaria. On October 2, 1944, the army was renamed the Sixth Army, and on October 7, 1944, it was disbanded.

Commanders

* Major General Stefan Toshev (May 17, 1913 - August 22, 1913) * Major General

(April 19, 1941 - August 11, 1941) * Major General

Vasil Boydev Vasil Boydev (Bulgarian: Васил Бойдев; January 1, 1893 – April 23, 1983) was a Bulgarian Lieutenant-General who fought in World War II. Biography Vasil Tenev Boydev was born on January 1, 1893, in the town of Kazanlak. He is the son ...

(August 11, 1941 - May 11, 1944) * Major General Konstantin Stoyanov (May 11, 1944 - September 6, 1944) (committed suicide) * Major General Alexander Popdimitrov (September 7, 1944 - September 12, 1944) * Major General Vladimir Ketskarov (September 12, 1944 - October 7, 1944)

Notes

Military history of Bulgaria during World War II Military units and formations of Bulgaria in World War II 10 Military units and formations established in 1913 Military units and formations disestablished in 1913 Military units and formations established in 1941 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 {{bulgaria-stub