The General Commander in the South East (''Oberbefehlshaber Südost'' (German:
initials
In a written or published work, an initial is a letter at the beginning of a word, a chapter, or a paragraph that is larger than the rest of the text. The word is ultimately derived from the Latin ''initiālis'', which means ''of the beginning ...
OB Südost)) was the overall command of the
German Armed Forces in
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
and the
Balkans
The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
between 1943 and 1945 during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. It was directly subordinate to
German Armed Forces High Command.
History
Overall command of the Germans forces in Greece and the Balkans was, together with Italy, in the hands of
Albert Kesselring
Albert Kesselring (30 November 1885 – 16 July 1960) was a German military officer and convicted war crime, war criminal who served in the ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II. In a career which spanned both world wars, Kesselring reached the ra ...
as
OB Süd until the end of 1942.
From 1 January 1943 a new post of ''Oberbefehlshaber Südost'' was created and given to
Alexander Löhr
Alexander Löhr (20 May 1885 – 26 February 1947) was an Austrian Air Force (1927–1938), Austrian Air Force commander during the 1930s and, after the Anschluss, annexation of Austria, he was a Luftwaffe commander. Löhr served in the Luftwaff ...
, the commander of the
12th Army, who occupied the area at that time.
The forces under his command were reformed into
Army Group E.
In August 1943 a second
Army Group F
Army Group F () was a strategic command formation of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War. The commander of Army Group F served also as the ''OB South East, Oberbefehlshaber Südost'' (Commander-in-Chief in the Southeast).
Created 12 Augus ...
was created in the Balkans under command of Generalfeldmarschall
Maximilian von Weichs.
As von Weichs outranked Alexander Löhr, he was appointed ''OB Südost'' and the HQ of Army Group E became subordinated to the new Army Group F.
After almost 2 years of heavy fighting, Army Group F was disbanded on 25 March 1945, and Alexander Löhr again assumed the role of ''OB Südost''.
Commanders
{{Officeholder table end
Sources
Axis History
German High Command during World War II