2nd Army (Wehrmacht)

2nd Army
German: 2. Armee
Insignia
Active	August 1939 October 1939 – April 1945
Country	Nazi Germany
Branch	German army ( Wehrmacht)
Type	Field army
Engagements	Battle of France Eastern Front
Commanders
Notable commanders	Fedor von Bock Maximilian von Weichs Rudolf Schmidt Hans von Salmuth Walter Weiß

The 2nd Army (German : 2. Armee) was a field army of the German Army during World War II.

History

1939–1941

The 2nd Army headquarters was briefly established in Berlin from Group Command 1 on 26 August 1939 and at the beginning of the Invasion of Poland it was renamed Army Group North on 2 September. ^[1]

The 2nd Army was reestablished on 20 October 1939, with Generaloberst Maximilian von Weichs in command, by renaming the 8th Army, which had been moved from Poland to the west. After the beginning of the Battle of France the army was assigned to Army Group A in June 1940, when it fought across the Aisne and around Reims. In April 1941, the army was involved in the invasion of the Balkans, capturing Belgrade in a rapid offensive.

1941–1945

From 1941 until the end of the war the army was deployed in the Eastern Front, starting with the Operation Barbarossa as part of Army Group Centre. ^[1] It advanced from Białystok to Mogilev, Gomel, Chernigov, Bryansk successively and defended against Soviet counterattack near Kursk. In 1942 the 2nd Army covered the northern wing of Case Blue operating in the surroundings of Voronezh under Army Group B. With Hans von Salmuth as the commander, it suffered a major defeat during the Voronezh-Kastornensk operation, the Soviet winter offensive that followed the battle of Stalingrad. On 4 February 1943 Walter Weiß replaced von Salmuth as commander. ^[1]

General der Panzertruppe Dietrich von Saucken became commander of the army on 10 March 1945. The army was renamed Army East Prussia (AOK Ostpreußen) on 7 April and was pivotal in the defence of East and West Prussia before end of World War II in Europe on 9 May 1945. ^{[2] : 115–119  [3] : 20f.}

Commanders

No.	Portrait	Commander	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Bock, FedorGeneraloberst Fedor von Bock (1880–1945)	26 August 1939	2 September 1939	7 days
2		Weichs, MaximilianGeneraloberst Maximilian von Weichs (1881–1954)	20 October 1939	15 November 1941	2 years, 26 days
3		Schmidt, RudolfGeneral der Panzertruppe Rudolf Schmidt (1886–1957)	15 November 1941	15 January 1942	61 days
(2)		Weichs, MaximilianGeneraloberst Maximilian von Weichs (1881–1954)	15 January 1942	14 July 1942	180 days
4		Salmuth, HansGeneraloberst Hans von Salmuth (1888–1962)	15 July 1942	3 February 1943	203 days
5		Weiß, WalterGeneraloberst Walter Weiß (1890–1967)	4 February 1943	9 March 1945	2 years, 33 days
6		Saucken, DietrichGeneral der Panzertruppe Dietrich von Saucken (1892–1980)	10 March 1945	7 April 1945	28 days

Organization of 2nd Army during operations in the Balkans

See also

• 2nd Army (German Empire) for the equivalent formation in World War I

References

Citations

1. Tessin 1973, pp. 83–88.
2. Beevor, Antony (2002). Berlin: The Downfall 1945. Penguin Books. ISBN   0670886955.
3. Tessin, Georg (1966). Die Landstreitkräfte 001–005. Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945. Vol. 2. Verlag E. S. Mittler & Sohn GmbH. ISBN   3764808713.
4. Nafziger, George. "German 2nd Army, Invasion of the Balkans, 1 April 1941" (PDF). The Nafziger Orders of Battle Collection. United States Army Combined Arms College. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 7, 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2015.

Bibliography

• Tessin, Georg (1973). Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939–1945[Formations and Units of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS in World War II, 1939–1945]. Vol. 2. Bissendorf: Biblio Verlag. ISBN   3-7648-0871-3.