Army Group G

Army Group G (German: Armeegruppe G / Heeresgruppe G) fought on the Western Front of World War II and was a component of OB West.¹

History

Army Group G was initially deployed as an Armeegruppe-type formation on 28 April 1944, but was later upgraded to Heeresgruppe-type on 12 September 1944.²

When the Allied invasion of Southern France took place, Army Group G had eleven divisions with which to hold France south of the Loire.³ Between August 17 and 18, the German Armed Forces High Command ordered Army Group G (with the exception of the troops holding the fortress ports) to abandon southern France. German LXIV Corps, in command in the southwest since First Army had been withdrawn a few weeks earlier to hold the line on the River Seine southeast of Paris, formed three march groups and withdrew eastward toward Dijon. At the same time, the German Nineteenth Army retreated northward through the Rhône valley toward the Plateau de Langres. There it was joined by the German Fifth Panzer Army, which was assigned to Army Group G for a counter-attack against the United States Third Army.⁴ The retreat did not go according to plan: as the Nineteenth Army retreated, many personnel of Army Group G were taken prisoner by the Sixth United States Army Group. By the time the retreat was over General had lost about half his force. He was relieved on 21 September by General . By mid-September. Fifth Panzer was positioned on the left wing of the German line north of the Swiss border. From there, Fifth Panzer with elements of First Army attacked US Third Army, while the much reduced 19th Army opposed the and the .