Army Group A

Army Group A () was the name of three distinct army groups of the Heer, the ground forces of the Wehrmacht, during World War II.

The first Army Group A, previously known as "Army Group South", was active from October 1939 to June 1941 and notably served in the Battle of France as the decisive army group in the implementation of the "Sickle Cut" military plan that inflicted crushing subsequent defeats on the French armed forces at occasions such as the Battle of Sedan, Battle of Boulogne and Battle of Dunkirk and that ultimately led to the Armistice of 22 June 1940. Army Group A was subsequently used in the German occupation of France and temporarily became the first Oberbefehlshaber West in German-occupied France. It was eventually replaced in this function by Army Group D and redeployed to German-occupied Poland in preparation for Operation Barbarossa. At the commencement of that attack, Army Group A was renamed "Army Group South" on 22 June 1941, ending the first deployment.

The second Army Group A was inserted into the German line on 7 July 1942, when Army Group South was split during the German 1942 summer offensive ("Case Blue") into Army Group B in the north (directed towards Stalingrad) and Army Group A in the south (directed towards the Caucasus). It advanced towards the Terek river, but was eventually forced to withdraw by the winter of 1942/43, concurrent with the decisive defeat of Army Group B in the Battle of Stalingrad. Initially confined to the Kuban bridgehead and the Crimean peninsula, Army Group A fought a rearguard action against the Red Army during its westwards withdrawal through Ukraine. On 2 April 1944, it was renamed "Army Group South Ukraine".

The third and final Army Group A came into existence on 23 September 1944, when the previous Army Group North Ukraine was renamed "Army Group A". It existed for about five months that were marked by constant withdrawals from the advancing Red Army and eventually left Army Group A at the Oder river line. On 25 January 1945, Army Group A was one of several army groups to be renamed, receiving the designation "Army Group Center". No subsequent Army Group A was formed.

First deployment, 1939–41

Army Group A was formed, through the redesignation of Army Group South, on 26 October 1939 in the central sector of Germany's western frontiers, along the France–Germany border and Belgium–Germany border, in the broader area of the Eifel and Hunsrück mountain ranges. Under its previous name, the army group had fought in the Invasion of Poland in September and October 1939. The initial commander and chief of staff of Army Group A were the same persons who held these portfolios during the time of Army Group South in Poland, Gerd von Rundstedt as commander and Erich von Manstein as chief of staff.

Preparations for the Battle of France

Enthusiasm among the higher echelons of Army Group A for a repetition of the armored thrusts of the Poland Campaign was initially limited; Army Group A chief of staff Georg von Sodenstern predicted as late as 5 March 1940 that a repetition of the swift advances through what was estimated to be a well-developed French defensive line was less than likely. Each of these armies as well as the panzer group were equipped with three army corps each, placing the army group at a total of twelve army corps. Additionally, Army Group A also received the concentration of German armored and motorized formations, as 5th and 7th Panzer Divisions (XV Corps, Hoth) were assigned to 4th Army and 1st, 2nd, 6th, 8th and 10th Panzer Division (divided among XXXXI Corps (Reinhardt) and XIX Corps (Guderian)) assigned to Panzer Group Kleist. Additionally, Panzer Group Kleist also received the 2nd, 13th and 29th Motorized Infantry Divisions (divided among XXXXI Corps and XIV Corps (von Wietersheim). Additionally, most of the 42 available reserve divisions were earmarked to support Army Group A rather than either of the other two army groups. and then swiftly turning northwestwards to rush towards the English Channel and trap the Allied armies in the Low Countries.

4th Army advanced on the army group's right flank (with 6th Army of Army Group B as its right-hand neighbor) from the Monschau sector along the Liège—Namur axis as well as towards Dinant. To its left, 12th Army stood in the army group's center, with its initial thrust directed from the Prüm sector via northern Luxembourg towards Neufchâteau (Belgium) and then towards the Meuse river. Furthest in the south, the 16th Army held the army group's left flank and aimed to advance from the Trier—Merzig sector over Luxembourg City towards Longuyon. This split resulted from additional considerations by Adolf Hitler, who hoped to multiply the offensive gains made by Army Group South by splitting its offensive thrust in two. Whereas Army Group B was to take over the northern sector and the German thrust to the Volga that would climax in the Battle of Stalingrad, Army Group A, under command of Wilhelm List, was assigned to the southern sector of the former Army Group South and placed in charge of the advance into the Caucasus.

On 26 August, Army Group A's commander Wilhelm List caused Hitler significant anger by dispatching an urgent warning to either choose between immediate reinforcement for his army group or his army group's preparations of winter positions. Hitler then dispatched Alfred Jodl to List's HQ on 7 September, hoping that Jodl would find List to have to some degree failed his duties. When Jodl instead returned to Hitler with a report of List as a faithful and conscientious commander, Hitler subsequently flew into rages against Jodl and then against List, ending in the latter's dismissal on 9 September. Instead of naming another officer to succeed him, Hitler then proceeded to assume direct command of Army Group A himself. He would hold this command until 22 November.

Withdrawal from the Caucasus, 1942/43

thumb|Soviet advances in the winter of 1942/43, Army Group A is visible in the southern sector of the front.

As the Soviet Operation Uranus encircled parts of Army Group B in the cauldron of Stalingrad, Army Group A (along with Army Group Don) became the target of intensive Soviet offensive preparations. On this background, Hitler gave up direct command of the army group and instead named Ewald von Kleist, until then in command of 1st Panzer Army (where he was succeeded by Eberhard von Mackensen), to lead Army Group A as commander.

Between the detachment of 1st Panzer Army in January and the addition of 6th Army in October, Army Group A consisted only of the 17th Army as well as several German command posts concerned with the defense of the Black Sea region, such as "Commander Crimea" and "Commander Kerch Strait".

In early February 1943, Army Group A completed the withdrawal into the defenses in the Kuban bridgehead, dubbed "Goth's head position" (), assembling 20 divisions with around 400,000 troops in the Kuban and in Crimea.

The leaders of both Army Group A and Army Group Don would indeed have favored to concede control of the entire Kuban outright and to instead use all available forces to strengthen the line of Army Group Don further north, in order to protect the Donbas region. Opposed by the Red Army's North Caucasus Front (headquartered at Krasnodar) with five Soviet field armies, the German defenders of the Kuban bridgehead were obliged to gradually give ground. Along the line, Army Group A deployed four corps in the Kuban bridgehead itself: V Army Corps (organized as "Group Wetzel", Wilhelm Wetzel), XXXXIV Army Corps, XXXXIX Mountain Corps and Romanian Cavalry Corps, for a total of six German and two Romanian divisions in the Kuban bridgehead. Axis strength in the bridgehead numbered roughly 200,000 soldiers, and they were opposed by roughly 350,000 Soviet troops of the North Caucasus Front. Beginning in late March, air support was provided to the Germans and Romanians by the 1st German Air Corps, which helped roughly equalize the aerial balance of powers. Accordingly, Army Group A was renamed "Army Group South Ukraine" on 5 April, A few days later, 17th Army, which for so long had formed one of the core formations of the former Army Group A, fell under heavy attack in Crimea as the 4th Ukrainian Front on 8 April began its Crimean offensive.

Organizational history

Commanders

• Gerd von Rundstedt (15 October 1939 – 1 October 1940)
• Wilhelm List (10 July – 9 September 1942)
• Adolf Hitler (9 September – 21 November 1942)
• Ewald von Kleist (22 November 1942 – June 1943)
• Hubert Lanz (June – July 1943)
• Ewald von Kleist (July 1943 – 25 March 1944)
• Ferdinand Schörner (25–31 March 1944)

Chiefs of staff

• Erich von Manstein (26 October 1939 – 1 February 1940)
• Georg von Sodenstern (6 February – 1 October 1940)
• Hans von Greiffenberg (10 July 1942 – 23 February 1943)
• Alfred Gause (23 February – 13 May 1943)
• Hans von Greiffenberg (13 May – 16 July 1943)
• Hans Röttiger (16 July 1943 – 24 March 1944)
• Walther Wenck (24 March – 22 July 1944)
• Wolf-Dietrich von Xylander (28 September 1944 – 15 February 1945)

Subordinate formations

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|+Subordinate formations of Army Group A