Army Group South (original) (raw)

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Name of three distinct German Army groups in the Eastern Front of World War II

Army Group South
German: Heeresgruppe Süd
Briefing at the headquarters of Army Group South at Poltava on 1 June 1942
Active	1 September – 26 October 193922 June 1941 – 9 July 19429 February 1943 – 4 April 194423 September 1944 – 1 April 1945
Country	Germany
Branch	Heer ( Wehrmacht)
Size	On 1 July 1942:1,210,861 in total[1]
Engagements	World War II Invasion of Poland Operation Barbarossa Battle of Brody Operation München Battle of Uman Battle of Kiev First Battle of Kharkov Crimean Campaign Battle of Rostov Second Battle of Kharkov Operation Blue Battle of Voronezh Third Battle of Kharkov Battle of Kursk Operation Citadel Belgorod-Kharkov offensive Battle of the Dnieper Battle of Kiev Dnieper-Carpathian offensive Zhitomir-Berdichev offensive Kirovograd offensive Korsun-Cherkassy pocket Rovno-Lutsk offensive Kamenets-Podolsky pocket Uman–Botoșani offensive Battle of Debrecen Budapest offensive Siege of Budapest Operation Konrad Operation Spring Awakening Vienna offensive
Commanders
Notablecommanders	Gerd von Rundstedt, Fedor von Bock, Walter von Reichenau, Erich von Manstein

Military unit

Army Group South (German: Heeresgruppe Süd) was the name of one of three German Army Groups during World War II.

It was first used in the 1939 September Campaign, along with Army Group North to invade Poland. In the invasion of Poland, Army Group South was led by Gerd von Rundstedt and his chief of staff Erich von Manstein.

Two years later, Army Group South became one of three army groups into which Germany organised their forces for Operation Barbarossa. Army Group South's principal objective was to capture Soviet Ukraine and its capital Kiev.[2]

In September 1944, Army Group South Ukraine was renamed Army Group South in Eastern Hungary. It fought in Western Hungary until March 1945 and retired to Austria at the end of the Second World War, where it was renamed Army Group Ostmark on 2 April 1945.

Operation Barbarossa

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Soldiers of the Army Group South crossing the Soviet border in Ukraine during Operation Barbarossa

Ukraine was a major center of Soviet industry and mining and had the good farmland required for Hitler's plans for Lebensraum ('living space'). Army Group South was to advance up to the Volga River, engaging a part of the Red Army and thus clearing the way for the Army Group North and the Army Group Center on their approach to Leningrad and Moscow respectively.

To carry out these initial tasks its battle order included the First Panzer Group (Gen. Kleist) and the German Sixth (Gen. Reichenau), Seventeenth (Gen. Stülpnagel) and Eleventh Armies (Gen. Schobert), Luftlotte 1 (Keller) and the Romanian Third and Fourth Armies.

Meeting between Adolf Hitler (left) and officers in the headquarters of Army Group South at Poltava. 1 June 1942

In preparation for Case Blue, the 1942 campaign in southern Russia and the Caucasus, Army Group South was split into two army groups: Army Group A and Army Group B.[3] Army Group A was ordered south to capture the oil fields in the Caucasus.

In February 1943, Army Group Don and the existing Army Group B were combined and re-designated Army Group South. A new Army Group B became a major formation elsewhere. The German Sixth Army, which was destroyed in the Battle of Stalingrad, was re-constituted and later made part of Army Group South in March 1943.

By the end of December 1943, the strength of Army Group South had been reduced to 328,397 German soldiers, joined by another 109,816 allied soldiers and non-German volunteer troops.[4]: 386

On 4 April 1944, Army Group South was re-designated Army Group North Ukraine. Army Group North Ukraine existed from 4 April to 28 September.

In September 1944, Army Group South Ukraine was re-designated Army Group South. At the end of World War II in Europe, Army Group South was again renamed; as Army Group Ostmark, the remnants of Army Group South ended the war fighting in and around Austria and Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Army Group Ostmark was one of the last major German military formations to surrender to the Allies.

Order of battle for Army Group South, October 1944

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No.	Portrait	Commander	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Rundstedt, Gerd_Generalfeldmarschall_Gerd von Rundstedt(1875–1953)	1 September 1939	26 October 1939	55 days
(1)		Rundstedt, Gerd_Generalfeldmarschall_**Gerd von Rundstedt**(1875–1953)	22 June 1941	1 December 1941	162 days
2		Reichenau, Walter_Generalfeldmarschall_**Walter von Reichenau**(1884–1942)	1 December 1941	12 January 1942 †	42 days
3		Bock, Fedor_Generalfeldmarschall_**Fedor von Bock**(1880–1945)	12 January 1942	9 July 1942	178 days
4		Weichs, Maximilian_Generalfeldmarschall_**Maximilian von Weichs**(1881–1954)	9 July 1942	12 February 1943	218 days
5		Manstein, Erich_Generalfeldmarschall_**Erich von Manstein**(1887–1973)	12 February 1943	2 April 1944	1 year, 50 days
6		Frießner, Johannes_Generaloberst_**Johannes Frießner**(1892–1971)	23 September 1944	28 December 1944	96 days
7		Wöhler, Otto_General der Infanterie_**Otto Wöhler**(1894–1987)	28 December 1944	6 April 1945	99 days
8		Rendulic, Lothar_Generaloberst_**Lothar Rendulic**(1887–1971)	7 April 1945	30 April 1945	23 days

• Army Group Centre
• Army Group North

1. ^ Liedtke, Gregory. Enduring the Whirlwind: The German Army and the Russo-German War 1941–1943. Wolverhampton Military Studies, 2016, p. 228.
2. ^ Robert Kirchubel (2012). Operation Barbarossa 1941 (1): Army Group South. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 3–10. ISBN 978-1846036514. Illustrated.
3. ^ Adam, Wilhelm; Ruhle, Otto (2015). With Paulus at Stalingrad. Translated by Tony Le Tissier. Pen and Sword Books Ltd. p. 25. ISBN 9781473833869.
4. ^ Frieser, Karl-Heinz (2007). "Die Rückzugsoperationen der Heeresgruppe Süd in der Ukraine". In Frieser, Karl-Heinz; et al. (eds.). Die Ostfront 1943/44: Der Krieg im Osten und an den Nebenfronten. Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg. Vol. 8. Munich: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt. pp. 339–450. ISBN 9783421062352.

• Kirchubel, Robert (2003). Operation Barbarossa 1941 (1) Army Grou South. Osprey Publishing.