Army Group South

Army Group South
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 1939; 22 June 1941 – 9 July 1942; 9 February 1943 – 4 April 1944; 23 September 1944 – 1 April 1945
Country	Germany
Branch	Heer ( Wehrmacht)
Size	On 1 July 1942:; 1,210,861 in total
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
Notable; commanders	Gerd von Rundstedt, Fedor von Bock, Walter von Reichenau, Erich von Manstein

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

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.

Case Blue

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

Army Group	Army	Corps	Division

South Gen Friessner	German Sixth Army Gen Fretter-Pico	IV Panzer Corps LtGen Kleeman	24th Panzer Division
		LXXII Army Corps LtGen Schmidt	76th Infantry Division
		Hungarian VII Army Corps MajGen Vörös	Hungarian 8th Reserve Division
		Hungarian VII Army Corps MajGen Vörös	Hungarian 12th Reserve Division
		III Panzer Corps LtGen Breith	1st Panzer Division
			13th Panzer Division
			23rd Panzer Division
			Feldherrnhalle Panzergrenadier Division
			22nd SS Cavalry Division Maria Theresa
			46th Infantry Division
			503rd Heavy Tank Battalion
	German Eighth Army Gen Wöhler	German XVII Army Corps LtGen Kreysing	German 8th 8th Jäger Division
			Hungarian 27th Infantry Division
			Hungarian 9th Frontier Brigade
		Hungarian IX Army Corps BrigGen Kovács	German 3rd Mountain Division
		Hungarian IX Army Corps BrigGen Kovács	Hungarian 2nd Replacement Division
		German XXIX Army Corps LtGen Röpke	German 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer
		German XXIX Army Corps LtGen Röpke	German 4th Mountain Division
	Hungarian Second Army LtGen von Dalnoki (Attached to German Sixth Army)	Hungarian II Army Corps MajGen Kiss	Hungarian 2nd Armored Division
			Hungarian 25th Infantry Division
			German 15th Infantry Division
		Hungarian Group Finta BrigGen Finta	Hungarian 7th Replacement Division
			Hungarian 1st Replacement Mountain Brigade
			Hungarian 2nd Replacement Mountain Brigade
		Army Reserve LtGen von Dalnoki	Hungarian 9th Replacement Division
	Hungarian Third Army LtGen Heszlényi	Hungarian VIII Army Corps MajGen Lengyel	Hungarian 23rd Reserve Division
			Hungarian 5th Replacement Division
			Hungarian 8th Replacement Division
			Hungarian 1st Armored Division
		German LVII Panzer Corps LtGen Kirchner	4th SS Panzergrenadier Division
			Hungarian 20th Infantry Division
			Hungarian 1st Cavalry Division
		Army Reserve LtGen Heszlényi	Hungarian Szent László Infantry Division

Commanders

No.	Commander	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1	Rundstedt, GerdGeneralfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt (1875–1953)	1 September 1939	26 October 1939	55 days
(1)	Rundstedt, GerdGeneralfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt (1875–1953)	22 June 1941	1 December 1941	162 days
2	Reichenau, WalterGeneralfeldmarschall Walter von Reichenau (1884–1942)	1 December 1941	12 January 1942 †	42 days
3	Bock, FedorGeneralfeldmarschall Fedor von Bock (1880–1945)	12 January 1942	9 July 1942	178 days
4	Weichs, MaximilianGeneralfeldmarschall Maximilian von Weichs (1881–1954)	9 July 1942	12 February 1943	218 days
5	Manstein, ErichGeneralfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein (1887–1973)	12 February 1943	2 April 1944	1 year, 50 days
6	Frießner, JohannesGeneraloberst Johannes Frießner (1892–1971)	23 September 1944	28 December 1944	96 days
7	Wöhler, OttoGeneral der Infanterie Otto Wöhler (1894–1987)	28 December 1944	6 April 1945	99 days
8	Rendulic, LotharGeneraloberst Lothar Rendulic (1887–1971)	7 April 1945	30 April 1945	23 days

References

^ Liedtke, Gregory. Enduring the Whirlwind: The German Army and the Russo-German War 1941–1943. Wolverhampton Military Studies, 2016, p. 228.
^ Robert Kirchubel (2012). Operation Barbarossa 1941 (1): Army Group South. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 3–10. ISBN 978-1846036514. Illustrated.
^ Adam, Wilhelm; Ruhle, Otto (2015). With Paulus at Stalingrad. Translated by Tony Le Tissier. Pen and Sword Books Ltd. p. 25. ISBN 9781473833869.
^ 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.

[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.

[Adam-3] Adam, Wilhelm; Ruhle, Otto (2015). With Paulus at Stalingrad. Translated by Tony Le Tissier. Pen and Sword Books Ltd. p. 25. ISBN 9781473833869.

[Frieser_2007_Ukraine-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.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Wehrmacht Army Group Rear Areas during the German–Soviet War, 1941–45
Army Group Rear Area Command	North Centre South
Commanding organisations	Army High Command Kommandostab Reichsführer-SS Army Group North Army Group Centre Army Group South
Commanders	Erich Friderici Ludwig Kübler Kuno-Hans von Both Franz von Roques Karl von Roques Edwin von Rothkirch Max von Schenckendorff Joachim Witthöft
Security Divisions	201st 203rd 207th 213th 221st (Police Battalion (PB) 309) 281st 285th 286th 403rd 444th 454th 707th
HSS-PF	Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski Friedrich Jeckeln Hans-Adolf Prützmann
Order Police and SS Detachments	Einsatzgruppen (PB 9) Police Regiment North Police Regiment Centre (PB 307, PB 316, PB 322) Police Regiment South (PB 45, PB 303, PB 314) Police Regiment Special Purpose (PB 304, PB 315, PB 320) SS Cavalry Brigade 1st SS Infantry Brigade 2nd SS Infantry Brigade
Milestones	Hunger Plan Hitler's speech of 30 March 1941 Criminal orders (Barbarossa Decree * Commissar Order * Guidelines for the Conduct of the Troops in Russia) Mogilev conference Nazi security warfare
Major crimes	Babi Yar Kamianets-Podilskyi massacre Persecution of Soviet prisoners of war
War crimes trials	High Command Trial Kharkov Trial Krasnodar Trial Minsk Trial Riga Trial Ukase 43
Related articles	The Holocaust War of annihilation War crimes of the Wehrmacht Myth of the clean Wehrmacht
Historiography	Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933–1945 Hitler’s Bandit Hunters Hitler's Generals on Trial Hitler's War in the East 1941−1945 Marching into Darkness: The Wehrmacht and the Holocaust The Wehrmacht: History, Myth, Reality

Authority control databases
International	VIAF
National	Germany United States Israel

Operation Barbarossa

Case Blue

Order of battle for Army Group South, October 1944

Commanders

See also

References