Army Group South

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

Army Group South 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 - 3 April 1944 23 September 1944 - 1 April 1945
Country	Germany
Branch	German Army Group
Engagements	World War II Invasion of Poland Operation Barbarossa Operation Blue
Commanders
Notable commanders	Gerd von Rundstedt Erich von Manstein Fedor von Bock

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.[1]

In September 1944, the Army Group South Ukraine was renamed Army Group South in Eastern Hungary. She 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 the 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. Stulpagel) and Eleventh Armies (Gen. Shobert), Luftlotte 1 (Keller) and the Romanian Third and Fourth Armies.

In preparation for Operation 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.[2]

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 destructive Battle of Stalingrad, was re-constituted and later made part of Army Group South in March 1943. 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 again 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	Remarks
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 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 2nd Replacement Division
		German XXIX Army Corps LtGen Röpke	German 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer
			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	30 March 1944	1 year, 47 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

See also

• Army Group Centre
• Army Group North

References

1. Robert Kirchubel (2012). Operation Barbarossa 1941 (1): Army Group South. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 3–10. ISBN 1846036518. Illustrated.
2. Adam, Wilhelm; Ruhle, Otto (2015). With Paulus at Stalingrad. Translated by Tony Le Tissier. Pen and Sword Books Ltd. p. 25. ISBN 9781473833869.