Sixth United States Army Group

Last updated

Sixth United States Army Group
US 6th Army Group.svg
Shoulder sleeve insignia
Active1944–45
Country Flag of the United States.svg United States
BranchFlag of the United States Army.svg  United States Army
Type Army group
RoleArmy group headquarters
Sizec. 700,000 officers and men: [lower-alpha 1] Seventh US and First French Armies
Part of Allied Expeditionary Force
Engagements World War II
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Jacob L. Devers

The 6th United States Army Group (also referred to as the Southern Group of Armies) was an Allied army group that fought in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. Made up of field armies from both the United States Army and the French Army, it fought in France, Germany, Austria, and, briefly, Italy. It was established in July 1944 and commanded throughout its duration by General Jacob L. Devers.

Contents

In a lead role in Operation Undertone, its Seventh Army fought its way across the Rhine into Germany, captured Nuremberg and then Munich. Finally it crossed the Brenner Pass and made contact with the US Fifth Army at Vipiteno, Italy. [3]

History

The Sixth Army Group was originally created in Corsica, France (specifically activated on 29 July 1944 [4] ) as "Advanced Allied Force HQ", a special headquarters within AFHQ (the headquarters of Henry Maitland Wilson, the Supreme Commander Mediterranean Theatre) commanded by Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers. Its initial role was to supervise the planning of the combined French and American forces which invaded southern France in Operation Dragoon and provide liaison between these forces and AFHQ. [5] [6] Dragoon was the operational responsibility of the Seventh United States Army commanded by Lt. Gen. Alexander Patch. [5] Available to Patch were three corps (US VI Corps and French I and II Corps) and 24,000 Maquis of the Forces Francaises de l'Interieur. [6] The two French corps constituted French Army B commanded by Général Jean de Lattre de Tassigny [7] which was later renamed French First Army. Although Sixth Army Group Headquarters was officially activated on 1 August, it consisted of only the personnel of the Advanced Detachment AFHQ and, for reasons of security, retained the detachment title. The Advanced Detachment headquarters on Corsica had no command or operational duties and functioned primarily as a liaison and coordinating agency while preparing itself for the day it would become operational in France as Sixth Army Group headquarters. [4]

Devers' headquarters remained subordinate to AFHQ during the invasion and in the weeks immediately afterwards while operational control of the troops on the ground resided with Patch until his forces linked near Dijon, France, with Twelfth United States Army Group's Third Army advancing from the west after breaking out of the Normandy beachhead. At this time, on 15 September, Devers' headquarters was designated Sixth Army Group to take operational control of Seventh Army and French Army B and came under the overall command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander at SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Forces). [8]

In late 1944 and early 1945 the Sixth Army Group was involved in fierce fighting in the Alsace repelling the German advance during Operation Nordwind and subsequent pitched engagements closing off the Colmar Pocket. The 63rd Infantry Division was the first Seventh Army unit to cross the Siegfried Line, and the first to get an entire division through it. The 3rd Infantry Division suffered the highest casualty count of all US divisions, with over 27,000 casualties.

The Army Group later advanced through Bavaria, and eventually into western Austria in the waning days of the war. Elements of Sixth Army Group linked up south of the Brenner Pass on 4 May 1945 with troops of the Fifth United States Army of the Allied 15th Army Group advancing north from Italy. [3] Germany surrendered on 9 May 1945.

The Sixth Army Group effectively inactivated on 15 June 1945 when the US Seventh Army was selected, along with the Third Army, to form the occupation forces of Germany. It remained as an occupation and defensive force in southern Germany into the early 21st Century. It also occupied part of Austria until that country was released from occupation in the mid-1950s.

The French First Army reverted to the control of the provisional French government shortly after the surrender of Germany.

Devers relinquished command of the Sixth Army Group in late June 1945 when he was selected to take command of the Army Ground Forces in lieu of General Joseph Stilwell who was reassigned as commander of the Tenth United States Army following the death of General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr.

The Sixth Army Group was officially inactivated on 20 July 1945.

Order of battle – 8 May 1945

Order of battle shifted frequently in the Sixth Army Group, but accelerated dramatically during its late-war push through southern Bavaria into the Austrian Alps to head off German establishment of a National Redoubt and close off passes to Nazi escape. Order of Battle on 8 May represents a significantly different disposition in some instances than in the weeks and even days leading up to it.

See also

Citations and notes

  1. At the end of the war, French forces in NW Europe amounted to around 450,000 men [1] while the Seventh Army had 230,000 during the Alsatian Campaign. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Theater of Operations, United States Army</span> Major formation of the United States Army in the Western Front of World War II

The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It commanded Army Ground Forces (AGF), United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), and Army Service Forces (ASF) operations north of Italy and the Mediterranean coast. It was bordered to the south by the North African Theater of Operations, United States Army (NATOUSA), which later became the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, United States Army (MTOUSA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">12th Armored Division (United States)</span> Formation of the United States Army (1942–1945)

The 12th Armored Division was an armored division of the United States Army in World War II. It fought in the European Theater of Operations in France, Germany and Austria, between November 1944 and May 1945.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">14th Armored Division (United States)</span> Military unit

The 14th Armored Division was an armored division of the United States Army assigned to the Seventh Army of the Sixth Army Group during World War II. It remains on the permanent roll of the Regular Army as an inactive division, and is eligible for reactivation. The division is officially nicknamed the "Liberators".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fifteenth United States Army</span> Field army of the United States

The Fifteenth United States Army, commonly known as Fifteenth Army, was a field army of the United States in the European Theater of World War II. It was the last United States field army to see service in northwestern Europe during the war and was commanded by General George S. Patton until his death in December 1945. The Fifteenth Army served two separate missions while assigned to the area. During the later stages of the war its mission was the training and rehabilitation of units and acting as a defensive line against counterattacks. After World War II its mission was to carry out occupation duties and to gather historical information related to the European Theater of Operations. Fifteenth Army was inactivated at Bad Nauheim, Germany, in 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twelfth United States Army Group</span> Military unit

The Twelfth United States Army Group was the largest and most powerful United States Army formation ever to take to the field, commanding four field armies at its peak in 1945: First United States Army, Third United States Army, Ninth United States Army, and Fifteenth United States Army. The order of battle across the four armies comprised 12 corps, containing a total of 48 divisions. Formed eight days after the Normandy landings, it initially controlled the First and the Third US Armies. Through various configurations in 1944 and 1945, the Twelfth US Army Group controlled the majority of American forces on the Western Front. It was commanded by General Omar Bradley with its headquarters established in London on 14 July 1944.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VI Corps (United States)</span> Military unit

The VI Corps was activated as VI Army Corps in August 1918 at Neufchâteau, France, serving in the Lorraine Campaign. Constituted in the Organized Reserves in 1921, it was allotted to the Regular Army in 1933 and activated on 1 August 1940 at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. VI Corps took part in some of the most high-profile operations in World War II.

The Mediterranean Theater of Operations, United States Army (MTOUSA), originally called the North African Theater of Operations, United States Army (NATOUSA), was a military formation of the United States Army that supervised all U.S. Army forces which fought in North Africa and Italy during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacob L. Devers</span> US Army general (1887–1979)

Jacob Loucks Devers was a general in the United States Army who commanded the 6th Army Group in the European Theater of World War II. He was involved in the development and adoption of numerous weapons, including the M4 Sherman and M26 Pershing tanks, the DUKW amphibious truck, the Bell H-13 Sioux helicopter, and the M16 rifle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Patch</span> United States Army general (1889–1945)

Alexander McCarrell Patch was a senior United States Army officer who fought in both world wars, rising to rank of general. During World War II, he commanded U.S. Army and Marine Corps forces during the Guadalcanal Campaign in the Pacific, and the Seventh Army on the Western Front in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colmar Pocket</span> WWII German-held area in France

The Colmar Pocket was the area held in central Alsace, France, by the German Nineteenth Army from November 1944 to February 1945, against the U.S. 6th Army Group during World War II. It was formed when 6th AG liberated southern and northern Alsace and adjacent eastern Lorraine, but could not clear central Alsace. During Operation Nordwind in December 1944, the 19th Army attacked north out of the Pocket in support of other German forces attacking south from the Saar into northern Alsace. In late January and early February 1945, the French First Army cleared the Pocket of German forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward H. Brooks</span> US Army general (1893–1978)

Lieutenant General Edward Hale Brooks was a highly decorated senior officer of the United States Army, a veteran of both World War I and World War II, who commanded the U.S. Second Army during the Korean War. He received the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) for heroism as a junior officer in World War I and, remaining in the army during the interwar period, rose to command the 2nd Armored Division during the Battle of Normandy as well as VI Corps during the subsequent defeat of German forces in World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Allied invasion of Germany</span> 1945 offensive in the European theatre of World War II

The Western Allied invasion of Germany was coordinated by the Western Allies during the final months of hostilities in the European theatre of World War II. In preparation for the Allied invasion of Germany east of the Rhine, a series of offensive operations were designed to seize and capture its east and west banks: Operation Veritable and Operation Grenade in February 1945, and Operation Lumberjack and Operation Undertone in March 1945; these are considered separate from the main invasion operation. The Allied invasion of Germany east of the Rhine started with the Western Allies crossing the river on 22 March 1945 before fanning out and overrunning all of western Germany from the Baltic in the north to the Alpine passes in the south, where they linked up with troops of the U.S. Fifth Army in Italy. Combined with the capture of Berchtesgaden, any hope of Nazi leadership continuing to wage war from a so-called "national redoubt" or escape through the Alps was crushed, shortly followed by unconditional German surrender on 8 May 1945. This is known as the Central Europe Campaign in United States military histories.

The 1st Army Corps was first formed before World War I. During World War II it fought in the Campaign for France in 1940, on the Mediterranean islands of Corsica and Elba in 1943 - 1944 and in the campaigns to liberate France in 1944 and invade Germany in 1945.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Army North</span> Theater Army of the U.S. Army

The United States Army North (ARNORTH) is a formation of the United States Army. An Army Service Component Command (ASCC) subordinate to United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM), ARNORTH is the joint force land component of NORTHCOM. ARNORTH is responsible for homeland defense and defense support of civil authorities. ARNORTH is headquartered at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Redesignated ARNORTH in 2004, it was first activated in early January 1943 as the United States Fifth Army, under the command of Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Army Group</span> Military unit

The Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) was a NATO military formation comprising four Western European Army Corps, during the Cold War as part of NATO's forward defence in western Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William H. H. Morris Jr.</span> United States Army general

Lieutenant General William Henry Harrison Morris Jr. was a senior United States Army officer who fought in both World War I and World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Undertone</span> US military operation in World War 2

Operation Undertone, also known as the Saar-Palatinate Offensive, was a large assault by the U.S. Seventh, Third, and French First Armies of the Sixth and Twelfth Army Groups as part of the Allied invasion of Germany in March 1945 during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roderick R. Allen</span> United States Army general (1894–1970)

Major General Roderick Random Allen was a senior United States Army officer, who commanded the 20th and 12th Armored Divisions during World War II. Under his command of the 12th AD, the division defended Strasbourg from recapture; it provided the armored contingent in the closure of the Colmar Pocket and the liberation of Colmar; it spearheaded General George Patton's drive to the Rhine; captured intact the remaining bridge over the Danube River and broke the German defense line; and played a major part in blocking the Brenner Pass, thereby trapping over a million German soldiers in Italy as the war ended. En route to the Brenner Pass it overran eleven concentration camps at Landsberg, Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seventh United States Army</span> Division of the U.S. Army, active intermittently between 1943 and 2010

The Seventh Army was a United States army created during World War II that evolved into the United States Army Europe (USAREUR) during the 1950s and 1960s. It served in North Africa and Italy in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations and France and Germany in the European Theater between 1942 and 1945.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlos Brewer</span> United States Army general (1890–1976)

Major General Carlos Brewer was a United States Army officer who commanded the 12th Armored Division during World War II. After training the 12th Armored Division, he was not permitted to command the division in combat due to his age, so he requested his rank be reverted from major general to Colonel so that he could become an artillery officer in the European Theater of Operations (ETO). He innovated the method of field artillery targeting used in World War II, and implemented triangular organization of divisions.

References

Further reading