Army Group F

Army Group F
Heeresgruppe F
Active 12 August 1943 – 25 March 1945
Disbanded 25 March 1945
Country  Nazi Germany
Commanders
only commander Maximilian von Weichs[1]

Army Group F (German: Heeresgruppe F) was a strategic command formation of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War. The commander of Army Group F served also as the Oberbefehlshaber Südost (OB South East).

Created 12 August 1943, at Bayreuth (WK XIII), it was primarily stationed in the Balkans. Its commander from August 1943 was Maximilian von Weichs promoted to Generalfeldmarschall on 1 February 1943, with Lieutenant General Hermann Foertsch serving as the Chief of Staff.[2] Its primary participation in combat was in defending against possible Allied invasion in what was seen as Germany’s "weak underbelly", and fighting off local partisan groups that were gaining strength. In late 1944, it oversaw the German retreat from Greece and most of Yugoslavia in the wake of the Budapest Offensive.

The Army Group included for much of the war the 2nd Panzer Army in Yugoslavia and Albania, and the Army Group E in Greece.

Order of Battle November 1943

Order of Battle July 1944

The subordinate units of the Army Group were predominantly the less capable "fortress" and reserve divisions, collaborationist foreign volunteer units such as the "Cossacks" and 392nd (Croatian) Infantry Division.[3]

For the defence of Serbia, the Commander of Army Group F assembled Army Group Serbia on 26 September 1944. Army Group Serbia (German: Armee-Abteilung Serbien) commanded by General Hans Felber. Army Group Serbia was disbanded on 27 October 1944.

Army Group F was disbanded 25 March 1945.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Tessin 1980, p. 71.
  2. ↑ D 4, Hogg
  3. ↑ p.200, Mitcham

Sources

  • Hogg, Ian V., German Order of Battle 1944: The regiments, formations and units of the German ground forces, Arms and Armour Press, London, 1975
  • Thomas, Nigel, (Author), Andrew, Stephen, (Illustrator), The German Army 1939-45 (4): Eastern Front 1943-45 (Men-at-Arms 330), Osprey Publishing, 1998 ISBN 978-1-85532-796-2
  • Mitcham, Samuel W., Jr., German Defeat in the East, 1944-45 (Stackpole Military History), 2007 ISBN 978-0-8117-3371-7
  • Tessin, Georg (1980). Die Landstreitkräfte: Namensverbände / Die Luftstreitkräfte (Fliegende Verbände) / Flakeinsatz im Reich 1943–1945 [Ground forces: Named units and formations / Air forces (Flying units and formations) / Anti–aircraft service in the Reich 1943–1945]. Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen–SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939–1945 (in German). 14. Osnabrück: Biblio. ISBN 3-7648-1111-0.
  • Heeresgruppe F - Lexikon des Wehrmacht (in German)
  • National archive Washington documents:
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