Army Group C (German: Heeresgruppe C) was an army group of the German Wehrmacht during World War II. In its first deployment between 1939 and 1941, its main assignment was the defense of the Franco-German border during the Phony War and the Western Campaign, after which it was moved to East Prussia to become Army Group North. When Army Group C was deployed a second time from 1943 to 1945, it was used to coordinate German forces on the Italian front.
Army Group C was first formed in Frankfurt on 26 August 1939, from Army Group Command 2 (itself formed on 1 October 1919 as Reichswehrgruppenkommando) in Frankfurt/Main. The only commander of the army group throughout its first tenure of service was Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb,[1]:42 who had been reactivated from retirement upon the outbreak of the war.[2]:52
Between September 1939 and June 1940, Army Group C was deployed to the country's western frontier (mainly to the Franco-German border) to guard the German rear during the Invasion of Poland and Unternehmen Weserübung by other parts of the German armed forces. In preparation of the Battle of France, Army Group A and Army Group B were deployed along the north and center of Germany's western border, leaving Army Group C in control of the Upper Rhine and Palatinate regions. Its principal formation during the Phony War (September 1939 – May 1940) were the 1st Army and 7th Army.[1]:42 Both French and German forces remained largely dormant during the period of September 1939 to May 1940; a small-scale French offensive (Saar Offensive) was answered by the Germans with a disciplined withdrawal into their border fortifications (Siegfried Line) and resulted in the French occupation of around 20 German villages without major combat casualties on either sides. The French side, once faced with the more formidable German static defenses along the Siegfried Line, failed to follow up on their offensive in any meaningful way, causing a prolonged lull in combat along the frontline.[3]:9f.
While the primary attacks against France (to begin on 10 May 1940) were to be carried out by Army Group C's northern neighbors (Case Yellow, Case Red), the command of Army Group C was tasked in February 1940 with the conceptualization of a potential breakthrough attempt against the French fortifications along the border (the "Maginot Line"). Several operational plans resulted, titled "Case Green", "Case Brown", and several operations with codenames such as "Bear", "Lynx", "Panther", and "Tiger".[4]:255f. Ultimately, only the latter operation would be executed (starting on 14 June 1940).[4]:304f.
As Army Group A and Army Group B penetrated into the Low Countries (German invasion of the Netherlands, German invasion of Belgium) and eventually into France itself, Army Group C remained mostly passive, as did the French forces opposite it. Only on 14 June 1940, when the campaign was essentially decided (Paris was captured by 18th Army forces on the same day), did forces of Army Group C launch an offensive against the French defenders of the Maginot Line. Forces of the German 1st Army attacked from the Saarbrücken sector (Operation Tiger). They were joined on 15 June by the forces of 7th Army;[4]:304f. on that day, German forces crossed the Upper Rhine in mass at Breisach.[5]:185 The French government eventually agreed to an armistice on 22 June; the armistice went into force at 01:35 on 25 June.[4]:318f.
On 25 August 1940, Army Group C was ordered back into Germany, where it initially was to take up training tasks during the transitionary period between the German invasion of France and the imminent German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. On 20 April 1941, Army Group C was given the deception name "Section Staff East Prussia" (German: Abschnittstab Ostpreußen) and received new headquarters in East Prussia. With the beginning of the invasion of the Soviet Union, Army Group C (still under the command of Leeb) was officially redesignated Army Group North.[1]:42
On 26 November 1943, Army Group C was deployed a second time for usage on the Italian front. Its immediate predecessor formation, from which the initial staff personnel had been drawn, was the staff of Supreme Commander South (German: Oberbefehlshaber Süd) of the Luftwaffe, previously tasked with the support of the Italian Comando Supremo against the Allies in the Mediterranean theater. The previous Oberbefehlshaber Süd, Albert Kesselring, took charge of the new army group. The two most important armies under the command of Army Group C on the Italian theater were 10th Army and 14th Army.[1]:43
On 3 August 1944, Army Group C was strengthened with the addition of Army Liguria, a German-Italian unit formed from the remnants of the pro-Axis Italian armed forces, organized under the pro-German Italian Social Republic.[6]:1153
As Albert Kesselring was definitively deployed to the Western Front in March 1945, Heinrich von Vietinghoff succeeded Kesselring as commander-in-chief of Army Group C on 10 March 1945.[6]:1154
On 2 May 1945, Army Group C surrendered to the Anglo-American forces.[1]:43
Heinrich Gottfried Otto Richard von Vietinghoff genannt Scheel was a German general (Generaloberst) of the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Vietinghoff commanded the German troops in German-occupied Italy in 1945.
Wilhelm Josef Franz Ritter von Leeb was a German Generalfeldmarschall of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War, who was subsequently convicted of war crimes. Leeb was a highly decorated officer in World War I and was awarded the Military Order of Max Joseph which granted him the title of nobility. During the Battle of France, he commanded Army Group C, responsible for the breakthrough of the Maginot Line.
Army Group A was the name of three distinct army groups of the Heer, the ground forces of the Wehrmacht, during World War II.
Army Group North was the name of three separate army groups of the Wehrmacht during World War II. Its rear area operations were organized by the Army Group North Rear Area.
The 1st Army was a field army of the German Army which participated in World War II. Formed on 26 August 1939 in the Wehrkreis XII military district and surrendering 6 May 1945 near Munich, it fought exclusively on the Western Front.
The 218th Infantry Division (218.Infanterie-Division) was an infantry division of the German Army that served in World War II.
The 2nd Army was a field army of the German Army during World War II.
The 12th Panzer Division was an armoured division in the German Army, established in 1940.
5th Panzer Army was the name of two different German armoured formations during World War II. The first of these was formed in 1942, during the North African campaign and surrendered to the Allies at Tunis in 1943. The army was re-formed in France in 1944, fought in Western Europe and surrendered in the Ruhr pocket in 1945.
Army Group B was the name of four distinct German army group commands that saw action during World War II.
Friedrich Karl Albert Dollmann was a German general during World War II who commanded the 7th Army during the Invasion of France and the early phases of the Allied invasion of Normandy until his death in June 1944.
The 24th Panzer Division was formed in late 1941 from the 1st Cavalry Division based at Königsberg.
The XXIX Army Corps was an infantry corps of the German Army during World War II, active from 1940 to 1945.
The 209th Infantry Division was a German infantry division of the German Heer during World War II.
The 211th Infantry Division was a German infantry division of the German Heer during World War II, active from 1939 to 1944.
The 223rd Infantry Division was an infantry division of the German Heer during World War II.
The 555th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the German Heer during World War II.
The XXV Army Corps was an army corps of Germany's Wehrmacht during World War II.
The XXVI Army Corps was a Wehrmacht army corps during World War II. It existed from 1939 to 1945. It was also known as Corps Wodrig during the Invasion of Poland.
Operation Lehrgang was the evacuation of German and Italian forces from Sicily during World War II. Undertaken in mid-August 1943, Lehrgang evacuated just over 100,000 soldiers from Sicily, which had been the target of an Allied amphibious invasion since July.
References
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Tessin, Georg (1977). Die Landstreitkräfte: Namensverbände. Luftstreitkräfte (Fliegende Verbände). Flakeinsatz im Reich 1943–1945. Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939–1945 (in German). Vol.14. Osnabrück: Biblio Verlag. ISBN3764810971.
1 2 Meyer, Georg (1985). Leeb, Wilhelm Ritter von. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German). Vol. 14, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, ISBN 3428001958, pp. 51–53.
↑ Romanych, Marc; Rupp, Martin (2010). Maginot Line 1940: Battles on the French Frontier. Osprey Publishing. ISBN9781846034992.
1 2 3 4 Umbreit, Hans (1979). "Der Kampf um die Vormachtstellung in Westeuropa". In Maier, Klaus A.; etal. (eds.). Die Errichtung der Hegemonie auf dem Europäischen Kontinent. Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg (in German). Vol.2. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt. pp.235–328. ISBN3421019355.
↑ Kaller, Gerhard (2003). "Baden in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus". Die Länder seit 1918. Handbuch der Baden-Württembergischen Geschichte (in German). Vol.4. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta. pp.151–230. ISBN3608914684.
1 2 Schreiber, Gerhard (2007). "Das Ende des nordafrikanischen Feldzugs und der Krieg in Italien 1943 bis 1945". In Frieser, Karl-Heinz; etal. (eds.). Die Ostfront 1943/44: Der Krieg im Osten und an den Nebenfronten. Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg (in German). Vol.8. Munich: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt. pp.1100–1162. ISBN9783421062352.
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