Twelfth United States Army Group
Twelfth United States Army Group | |
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Twelfth Army Group Shoulder Sleeve Insignia | |
Active | 1944–45 |
Country |
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Branch |
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Type | Army group |
Role | Army Group Headquarters |
Size | 1.3 million men |
Part of | Allied Expeditionary Force |
Engagements | World War II |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Omar Bradley |
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.[1] 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.
During the first week of the Normandy landings and the Battle of Normandy, Bradley's First US Army formed the right wing of the Allied lines. They were joined during July by the Third US Army, under the command of General George S. Patton, to form the Twelfth Army Group. Until September, when General Eisenhower assumed overall command of the Allied land forces in Northwest Europe, the U.S. forces in Normandy were included with the British Second Army and the First Canadian Army in the British headquarters formation 21st Army Group, commanded by General Montgomery.
After the breakout from the beach-head at Normandy, the Twelfth Army Group formed the center of the Allied forces on the Western Front. To the north was the British 21st Army Group (the First Canadian and British Second)) and, to the south, advancing from their landing on the Mediterranean coast, was the Sixth United States Army Group (Seventh United States Army and French First Army).
As the Twelfth advanced through Germany in 1945, it grew to control four United States field armies: the First, the Third, the Ninth and the Fifteenth. By V-E Day, the Twelfth Army Group was a force that numbered over 1.3 million men.[2]
Order of Battle – 8 May 1945
12th Army Group – General Omar N. Bradley First Army – General Courtney H. Hodges 78th Infantry Division – Major General Edwin P. Parker VII Corps – Lieutenant General J. Lawton Collins 9th Infantry Division – Major General Louis A. Craig 69th Infantry Division – Major General Emil F. Reinhardt 104th Infantry Division – Major General Terry de la Mesa Allen, Sr.
Third Army – General George S. Patton, Jr. 1st Infantry Division – Major General Clift Andrus 2nd Infantry Division – Major General Walter M. Robertson 9th Armored Division – Major General John W. Leonard 70th Infantry Division – Major General Allison J. Barnett 97th Infantry Division – Brigadier General Milton B. Halsey III Corps – Major General James Van Fleet 4th Infantry Division – Major General Harold W. Blakeley 14th Armored Division – Major General Albert C. Smith 99th Infantry Division – Major General Walter E. Lauer
V Corps – Major General Clarence R. Huebner 16th Armored Division – Brigadier General John L. Pierce
XII Corps – Major General Stafford LeRoy Irwin 4th Armored Division – Major General William M. Hoge 5th Infantry Division – Major General Albert E. Brown 11th Armored Division – Major General Holmes E. Dager 26th Infantry Division – Major General Willard S. Paul 90th Infantry Division – Major General Herbert L. Earnest
XX Corps – Major General Walton H. Walker 13th Armored Division – Major General John Millikin 65th Infantry Division – Major General Stanley E. Reinhart 71st Infantry Division – Major General Willard G. Wyman 80th Infantry Division – Major General Horace L. McBride
Ninth Army – Lieutenant General William H. Simpson 2nd Armored Division – Major General Isaac D. White VIII Corps – Major General Troy H. Middleton 6th Armored Division – Major General Robert W. Grow 76th Infantry Division – Major General William R. Schmidt 87th Infantry Division – Major General Frank L. Cullin, Jr. 89th Infantry Division – Major General Thomas D. Finley
XIII Corps – Major General Alvan C. Gillem, Jr. 30th Infantry Division – Major General Leland S. Hobbs 35th Infantry Division – Major General Paul W. Baade 83rd Infantry Division – Major General Robert C. Macon 84th Infantry Division – Major General Alexander R. Bolling 102nd Infantry Division – Major General Frank A. Keating
XVI Corps – Major General John B. Anderson 29th Infantry Division – Major General Charles H. Gerhardt 75th Infantry Division – Major General Ray E. Porter 79th Infantry Division – Major General Ira T. Wyche 95th Infantry Division – Major General Harry L. Tawddle
XIX Corps – Major General Raymond S. McLain 3rd Armored Division – Brigadier General Doyle O. Hickey 8th Armored Division – Major General John M. Devine
Fifteenth Army – Lieutenant General Leonard T. Gerow 66th Infantry Division – Major General Herman F. Kramer 106th Infantry Division – Major General Donald A. Stroh XVIII Airborne Corps – Major General Matthew B. Ridgway 5th Armored Division – Major General Lunsford E. Oliver 7th Armored Division – Major General Robert W. Hasbrouck 8th Infantry Division – Major General Bryant E. Moore 82nd Airborne Division – Major General James M. Gavin
XXII Corps – Major General Ernest N. Harmon 17th Airborne Division – Major General William M. Miley 94th Infantry Division – Major General Harry J. Malony
XXIII Corps – Major General Hugh J. Gaffey 28th Infantry Division – Major General Norman D. Cota
Source: Bradley, Omar, A Soldier's Story, New York: Henry Holt and Company (1950), pp. 557–561
References and notes
- ↑ Bradley, Omar N. (1983). A General's Life. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-41023-0.
- ↑ CSI REPORT No. 6, Larger units: Theater Army – Army Group – Field Army, Combat Studies Institute, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, January 1985
External links
- Military situation maps produced by the Engineering Section of the 12th Army Group – Library of Congress
- Omar Nelson Bradley, Lt. General FUSAG 12TH AG – Omar Bradley's D-Day June 6, 1944 Maps restored, preserved and displayed at Historical Registry