''Oberbefehlshaber West'' (German:
initials
In a written or published work, an initial capital, also referred to as a drop capital or simply an initial cap, initial, initcapital, initcap or init or a drop cap or drop, is a letter at the beginning of a word, a chapter, or a paragraph that ...
OB West), German for "high commander in the West") was the overall commander of the ''
Westheer
The (Western Army) is the name given to the German Army fighting on the Western Front after 1941. The was the largest command structure for the .
History
It was composed of Army Group H, which was based in the Netherlands under Generaloberst Ku ...
'', the German armed forces on the
Western Front 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 opposin ...
. It was directly subordinate to the
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (the German armed forces High Command). The area under the command of the OB West varied as the war progressed. At its farthest extent it reached the French Atlantic coast. By the
end of World War II in Europe
The final battle of the European Theatre of World War II continued after the definitive overall surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allies, signed by Field marshal Wilhelm Keitel on 8 May 1945 in Karlshorst, Berlin. After German dictator Adolf H ...
it was reduced to commanding troops 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 ...
.
Commanders
Order of battle from June 1944 to January 1945
References
Oberbefehlshaber West, German Army, 06.06.1944{More citations needed, date=April 2021
German High Command during World War II