Army Group North (german: Heeresgruppe Nord) was a German strategic formation, commanding a grouping of

field armies 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 ...

during

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 ...

. The German Army Group was subordinated to the ''

Oberkommando des Heeres The (; abbreviated OKH) was the high command of the Army of Nazi Germany. It was founded in 1935 as part of Adolf Hitler's rearmament of Germany. OKH was ''de facto'' the most important unit within the German war planning until the defeat at ...

'' (OKH), the German army high command, and coordinated the operations of attached separate

army corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

, reserve formations, rear services and logistics, including the

Army Group North Rear Area Army Group North Rear Area (''Rückwärtiges Heeresgebiet Nord'') was one of the three Army Group Rear Area Commands, established during the 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union. Initially commanded by General Franz von Roques, it was an area ...

Operational history

The Army Group North was created on the 2 September 1939 by reorganization of the 2nd Army Headquarters. Commander in Chief as of 27 August 1939 was Field Marshal

Fedor von Bock Moritz Albrecht Franz Friedrich Fedor von Bock (3 December 1880 – 4 May 1945) was a German who served in the German Army during the Second World War. Bock served as the commander of Army Group North during the Invasion of Poland ...

Invasion of Poland

The first employment of Army Group North was in the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...

of 1939, where in September it controlled: * 3rd Army * 4th Army * a reserve of four divisions ** 10th Panzer Division ** 73rd Infantry Division ** 206th Infantry Division ** 208th Infantry Division. The Army Group was commanded by

for the operation. After the end of the campaign, it was transferred to the Western Theatre and on the 10 October 1939 was renamed as the

Army Group B Army Group B (German: ') was the title of three German Army Groups that saw action during World War II. Operational history Army Group B first took part in the Battle of France in 1940 in Belgium and the Netherlands. The second formation of Ar ...

, and consisted of: * 6th Army * 4th Army

Invasion of the Soviet Union

In preparation for

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

, Army Group North was reformed from Army Group C on 22 June 1941. Army Group North was commanded by Field Marshal

Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb Wilhelm Josef Franz Ritter von Leeb (5 September 1876 – 29 April 1956) was a German field marshal and war criminal in World War II. Leeb was a highly decorated officer in World War I and was awarded the Military Order of Max Joseph which gr ...

and staged in East Prussia. Its strategic goal was

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, with operational objectives being the territories of the

Baltic republics The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

and securing the northern

flank Flank may refer to: * Flank (anatomy), part of the abdomen ** Flank steak, a cut of beef ** Part of the external anatomy of a horse * Flank speed, a nautical term * Flank opening, a chess opening * A term in Australian rules football * Th ...

of Army Group Centre in

Northern Russia Russian North (russian: Русский Север) is an ethnocultural region situated in the northwestern part of Russia. It spans the regions of Arkhangelsk Oblast, the Republic of Karelia, Komi Republic, Vologda Oblast and Nenets Autonomous ...

between

Western Dvina River , be, Заходняя Дзвіна (), liv, Vēna, et, Väina, german: Düna , image = Fluss-lv-Düna.png , image_caption = The drainage basin of the Daugava , source1_location = Valdai Hills, Russia , mouth_location = Gulf of Riga, Baltic Se ...

and Daugavpils- Kholm Army Group boundary. On commencement of the Wehrmacht's Baltic offensive operation the army group deployed into Lithuania and northern Belorussia. It served mainly in Baltic territories and north Russia until 1944. Commander in Chief 22 June 1941:

. Its subordinate armies were deployed with the following immediate objectives: * 18th Army - from Koenigsberg to Ventspils - Jelgava * 4th Panzer Group - Pskov * 16th Army - Kaunas, Daugavpils *Army Group troops ** Army-Group signals regiment 537 ** Army-Group signals regiment 639 (2nd echelon)

The Baltic offensive operation

All operational objectives such as

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

were achieved despite stubborn Red Army resistance and several unsuccessful

counter-offensive In the study of military tactics, a counter-offensive is a large-scale strategic offensive military operation, usually by forces that had successfully halted the enemy's offensive, while occupying defensive positions. The counter-offensive ...

s such as the

Battle of Raseiniai The Battle of Raseiniai (23–27 June 1941) was a large tank battle that took place in the early stages of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The battle was fought between the elements of the German 4th Panzer Group an ...

, and the army group approached Leningrad, commencing the Siege of Leningrad. However, while the Baltic states were overrun, the Siege of Leningrad continued until 1944, when it was lifted as a result of the Red Army Leningrad-Novgorod strategic offensive operation. In September 1941, the Spanish

Blue Division The Blue Division ( es, División Azul, german: Blaue Division) was a unit of volunteers from Francoist Spain within the German Army (''Wehrmacht'') on the Eastern Front during World War II. It was officially designated the Spanish Volunteer ...

was assigned to Army Group North.

Northern Russia offensive operation

Composition:
October 1941 * 16th Army * 18th Army

Nevsky Pyatachok Nevsky Pyatachok (russian: Не́вский пятачо́к) is the name of the Neva Bridgehead 50 km east south-east of Leningrad and 15 km south of Shlisselburg. It was the site of one of the most critical and costly campaigns dur ...

Operation Nordlicht

Northern Russia defensive campaign

Commander in Chief 17 January 1942: GFM

Georg von Küchler Georg Carl Wilhelm Friedrich von Küchler (30 May 1881 – 25 May 1968) was a German field marshal and war criminal during World War II. He commanded the 18th Army and Army Group North during the Soviet-German war of 1941–1945. After the en ...

Composition:
September 1942 * 11th Army * 16th Army * 18th Army December 1942 * 16th Army * 18th Army

Demyansk Pocket The Demyansk Pocket (german: Kessel von Demjansk; russian: Демя́нский котёл) was the name given to the pocket of German troops encircled by the Red Army around Demyansk, south of Leningrad, during World War II's Eastern Front. Th ...

Kholm Pocket
Soviet Toropets-Kholm Operation
Battle of Velikiye Luki

Battle of Krasny Bor The Battle of Krasny Bor was part of the Soviet offensive Operation Polyarnaya Zvezda in the Eastern Front of World War II. It called for a pincer attack near Leningrad to build on the success of Operation Iskra and completely lift the si ...

Baltic defensive campaign

Commander in Chief 9 January 1944: Field marshal

Walter Model Otto Moritz Walter Model (; 24 January 1891 – 21 April 1945) was a German field marshal during World War II. Although he was a hard-driving, aggressive panzer commander early in the war, Model became best known as a practitioner of defen ...

Commander in Chief 31 March 1944: Generaloberst

Georg Lindemann Georg Lindemann (8 March 1884 – 25 September 1963) was a German general during World War II. He commanded the 18th Army during the Soviet Kingisepp–Gdov Offensive. World War II In 1936, Lindemann was promoted to Generalmajor and given comm ...

Commander in Chief 4 July 1944: Generaloberst Johannes Frießner
Commander in Chief 23 July 1944: GFM

Ferdinand Schörner Ferdinand Schörner (12 June 1892 – 2 July 1973) was a German military commander who held the rank of ''Generalfeldmarschall'' in the ''Wehrmacht'' of Nazi Germany during World War II. He commanded several army groups and was the last Command ...

March 1944 * Army detachment "Narwa" * 16th Army * 18th Army Battle of Narva, consisting of: #

Battle for Narva Bridgehead The Battle of Narva Bridgehead ( et, Narva lahingud, german: Schlacht um den Brückenkopf von Narva, russian: Битва за плацдарм Нарва; 2 February – 26 July 1944) was the campaign that stalled the Soviet Estonian operati ...

and #

Battle of Tannenberg Line The Battle of Tannenberg Line (german: Die Schlacht um die Tannenbergstellung; russian: Битва за линию «Танненберг») or the Battle of the Blue Hills ( et, Sinimägede lahing) was a military engagement between the Germ ...

Combat in South Estonia, 1944
Soviet Baltic Offensive

Battle of Porkuni Battle of Porkuni ( et, Porkuni lahing) was the largest engagement between Estonians serving in the Red Army and Estonian pro-independence and Waffen-SS units. It took place on 21 September 1944 between Lake Porkuni and the Sauvälja village ab ...

Battle of Vilnius (1944)

Battle of Memel The Battle of Memel or the siege of Memel (german: Erste Kurlandschlacht) was a battle which took place on the Eastern Front during World War II. The battle began when the Red Army launched its ''Memel offensive operation'' (russian: Меме� ...

After becoming trapped in the Courland Cauldron after 25 January 1945, the Army Group was renamed

Army Group Courland Army Group Courland (german: Heeresgruppe Kurland) was a German Army Group on the Eastern Front which was created from remnants of the Army Group North, isolated in the Courland Peninsula by the advancing Soviet Army forces during the 1944 Balt ...

. On the same day, in East Prussia, a new Army Group North was created by renaming Army Group Center. On the 2 April 1945, the army group was dissolved, and the staff formed the 12th Army headquarters.

Campaign in East Prussia

Army Group North (old Army Group Centre), was driven into an ever smaller pocket around Königsberg in East Prussia. On April 9, 1945 Königsberg finally fell to the Red Army, although remnants of Army Group units continued to resist on the

Heiligenbeil The term Heiligenbeil can refer to: *The German name of Mamonovo, Russia * Heiligenbeil concentration camp built near Mamonovo *Heiligenbeil Pocket The Heiligenbeil Pocket or Heiligenbeil Cauldron (german: Kessel von Heiligenbeil) was the site o ...

& Danzig beachheads until the end of the war in Europe. October 1944 * 16th Army * Armee-Abteilung Grasser * 18th Army November 1944 * 16th Army * Armee-Abteilung Kleffel * 18 Armee December 1944 * 16th Army * 18th Army Soviet East Prussian Offensive

Battle of Königsberg The Battle of Königsberg, also known as the Königsberg offensive, was one of the last operations of the East Prussian offensive during World War II. In four days of urban warfare, Soviet forces of the 1st Baltic Front and the 3rd Belorussia ...

Heiligenbeil pocket The Heiligenbeil Pocket or Heiligenbeil Cauldron (german: Kessel von Heiligenbeil) was the site of a major encirclement battle on the Eastern Front during the closing weeks of World War II, in which the Wehrmacht's 4th Army was almost entirely ...

Campaign in West Prussia

Commander in Chief 27 January 1945: Generaloberst Dr. Lothar Rendulic
Commander in Chief 12 March 1945:

Walter Weiß __NOTOC__ General Walter-Otto Weiß, also spelt Weiss (5 September 1890 – 21 December 1967), was a German general during World War II. In 1945 he became commander in chief of Army Group North on the Eastern Front. He was a recipient of the Kni ...

Composition:
February 1945 * Armee-Abteilung Samland * 4th Army Soviet East Pomeranian Offensive
Battle of Kolberg

Courland Pocket The Courland Pocket (Blockade of the Courland army group), (german: Kurland-Kessel)/german: Kurland-Brückenkopf (Courland Bridgehead), lv, Kurzemes katls (Courland Cauldron) or ''Kurzemes cietoksnis'' (Courland Fortress)., group=lower-alpha ...

On the 25 January 1945 Hitler renamed three army groups. Army Group North became

, more appropriate as it had been isolated from Army Group Centre and was trapped in Courland, Latvia; Army Group Centre became Army Group North and

Army Group A Army Group A (Heeresgruppe A) was the name of several German Army Groups during World War II. During the Battle of France, the army group named Army Group A was composed of 45½ divisions, including 7 armored panzer divisions. It was responsibl ...

became Army Group Centre.

Commanders

Notes and references

Bibliography

* {{Subject bar , portal1=Military of Germany , portal2=World War II

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

Military units and formations established in 1939 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945