German Ground Forces of World War II: Complete Orders of Battle for Army Groups, Armies, Army Corps, and Other Commands of the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS, September 1, 1939, to May 8, 1945

Preface

This compilation serves to remind the world about the incredible achievement in formation, organization and training accomplished by the German armed forces during the Second World War. Granted, this accomplishment served a murderous dictatorship and made possible a system of genocide, enslavement and plunder matched in the twentieth century only by Stalin’s Soviet Union. At the time of their greatest strength the German armed forces were fighting virtually the rest of the civilized world, first to prevent the loss of the ill-gotten gains of the Nazis, and then to preserve Germany itself, primarily from the revenge of the Red Army as it flowed irresistibly westward in overwhelming numbers of men, tanks and aircraft, stamped from the clay beyond the Ural Mountains, rolling in American trucks and marching in American boots, often at the cost of many lives and ships from the Murmansk convoys.

Only the Soviet Union, with half again the population of Germany, would create a more formidable military, and that in only two years, because it had no alternative. At least the Soviet Union had a head start in trained soldiers and factories, albeit many of the latter were removed beyond the Urals or lost to the advancing German Army. But the Soviet Union could create its military force more quickly than Germany because of its geography, resources and allies.

What will be remembered in history is the battle record amassed by the German armed forces while fighting on three fronts, and surrounded as they were by implacable enemies. I hope this compilation will illustrate what a considerable task it was for the soldiers of the Allied nations to destroy the German armed forces. The amphibious invasion at Normandy was an historic military, logistic and engineering achievement. Nevertheless, it must be remembered that without the Red Army occupying, and ultimately destroying, over one hundred fifty German and Axis divisions on the Eastern Front (because of Hitler’s rash decisions to attack the Soviet Union before settling the war in the West, and then declaring war on the United States six months later) it would not have been possible to successfully invade the Continent, even with England as a staging area and with the two mightiest navies and air forces the world has ever seen.

For an entire year after the fall of France, Britain stood alone against what many experts thought to be the finest army of its time. But Britain did so with the doctrines, but not the desire, of the last war, and was defeated in six weeks. Only the English Channel, the Royal Navy and outnumbered Royal Air Force with its superior planes and radar, as well as Hitler’s lack of a large Navy, amphibious landing craft and preparation, and a hidden but real respect on his part of Great Britain, saved the British nation from invasion, occupation and brutal subjugation.

The Soviet Union had no sea barrier or large navy to keep German forces at bay, and had to trade space and lives for time. As Vasilii Chuikov, hero of Stalingrad, observed of his bitter wartime experience, Time is blood. The Red Army (and whatever we thought of the communist system and ideology then and now, the Soviet Union was still our ally and its soldiers were incredibly brave and tough fighting for their invaded homeland) fought for over two years before Allied troops were again fighting on the European continent (Italy) in any large number and diverting any troops from the Eastern Front. The U.S. and Britain could not have won the war without Russia, and her participation and losses saved many American lives. But it took the combined land, sea and air power of three large nations (counting the whole British Empire and Commonwealth) with their war industries to defeat Germany, and this should never be forgotten. No nation or people can go it alone against the rest of the world.

I originally began research for a slightly different work, a compilation of German ground combat units with their higher headquarters and successive commanding generals, from division up to theater, through the whole war. After about three years of work I was stopped in my tracks by the obvious need to consult the captured German officer records to fill in the missing generals’ commands and dates. As I have to work for a living in a nonrelated field (I am not a professor, professional writer or historian) I had to defer research for that book until I had the time and money to go to the National Archives and spend some time finding what I needed in the captured German Army personnel records microfilms.

Fortunately the idea for a companion volume occurred to me, which is the present work. I had never heard of a strict order of battle publication covering all the German ground combat units (division and up) for all the battles and campaigns from September 1939 to the end of the war, showing what divisions were in which Corps, which Corps in which Army and which Armies were in each Army Group so I decided to try to create one. I started by taking notes and orders of battle (hereinafter O/B) from every book I read that gave compositions of higher German headquarters at various times during the course of the war. I possess a fairly decent collection of books on World War Two- well over 500 books- and own almost every book I used to compile this manuscript; those I had to borrow from interlibrary loan I either hunted down and bought at reasonable prices later or, in the case of the German language books, copied them and put them in three-ring binders for future reference. I never took German in high school (not offered) or college but O/Bs, names, dates, places and units are easily discernible in text and maps are easy to read. With a few good German-English military dictionaries I got along.

All the higher headquarters (Corps and up) are easily accessible throughout the book as they are either in numerical or alphabetical order with their subordinate units and also superior commands listed for every O/B. As the divisions are the only units difficult to locate at various times in the war, to help serious researchers interested in finding out where particular divisions were at various times during the war I took considerable time and effort to show where every division went to when it departed a superior command. A second volume listing all combat divisions, their commanders and giving a short history and their movements through the war is planned.

I have taken pains to annotate every source used for each O/B; the annotations are found in parentheses at the end of each heading. The annotations are keyed to the sources identified in the Bibliography, which are both alphabetical by author and numbered. Any errors are my responsibility. I would appreciate any corrections, information or questions anyone wants to communicate to me. Sources conflict and there are some typographical errors in even the most reliable of primary sources; Georg Tessin’s magisterial Verbaende und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945 (hereinafter "Verbaende und Truppen") has a fair number of typographical errors, but I usually could correct them by using the Oberkommando das Heeres (hereinafter OKH) O/B of the same date, the same source that Tessin used in compiling his O/Bs. There are some typographical errors in the Kriegstagebuch der Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (hereinafter KTB-OKW) O/Bs and even in the OKH O/Bs as published in Die Geheimen Tagesberichte der Deutschen Wehrmachtfuehrung im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945 (hereinafter "Die Geheimen Tagesberichte"), particularly after August 1943 when the format for the original order of battle data was changed. You can reach me at genstab@aol.com.

I have been working on this project for more than twenty-five years. I completed the original manuscript in 1996 and sent a query letter and copies of the Preface, the Bibliography and a sample O/B to six publishers. Two of the publishers requested a copy of the complete manuscript for review, but both concluded that publication of it would not be economically feasible. Meanwhile I was discovering new sources, and realized that I needed to do more research in certain areas, particularly regarding both the Eastern and Western Fronts (including the Italian theater) in the last nine months of the war when the OKH O/Bs are farther apart and often inaccurate. To complicate things, I moved to Jacksonville, Florida in 1997, thereby losing the excellent Cleveland Public Library as a source.

During my further research I read an additional sixty-six books. This research was so helpful that I realized that publication of the original manuscript would have proven to be embarrassing. I therefore used the results of my research to produce a substantial revision of the manuscript. Further research and revision followed, until the manuscript reached its final form. I hope that you will enjoy reading and using it.

William T. McCroden

Notes on Sources

Of all the sources in the Bibliography, only two, the actual German Army General Staff Operations Section schematic O/Bs (hereinafter OKH O/Bs) from Kurt Mehner’s Die Geheimen Tagesberichte der Deutschen Wehrmachtfuehrung im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945, and the schematic O/Bs from the German Armed Forces High Command War Diary or Kriegstagesbuch des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht (hereinafter KTB-OKW O/Bs) can be identified as primary sources. A third source, Georg Tessin’s Verbaende und Truppen der Deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945, which is based upon the OKH O/Bs and other documents, covers the periods September 1939 to May 1940 and January to March 1944, neither of which is set forth in the primary sources.

The OKH O/Bs, the originals of which reside at the Bundsarchiv-Militaerarchiv in Freiburg, begin on June 8, 1940 and continue through August 27, 1943. Although an occasional division is missing, there are few typographical errors in these O/Bs. Starting with September 5, 1943, these O/Bs are in a new and different format, and although still in schematic form, are not as accurate as their predecessors. The issue dates of the O/Bs are irregular, and they were likely compiled whenever the OKH Operations Section either were ordered to do so, or believed that events called for new ones. For example, in a typical month three OKH O/Bs were issued, but during the periods June to September 1940, July to November 1941, there are six to eight OKH O/Bs each month.

There is a total of 150 OKH O/Bs in all, and generally each was between eight and four pages in length. OKH did not issue an O/B between December 1943 and mid-April 1944; thereafter, it produced one or two O/Bs each month until the end of hostilities. During this period, however, the OKH General Staff Operations Section did not compile all the O/Bs; it is believed that the Bundesarchiv produced several O/Bs after the war for the period between August 1944 and April 1945. Under the circumstances, the Bundesarchiv O/Bs are thought to be incomplete, inaccurate, or both. Happily, however, the KTB-OKW O/Bs for the dates 16-9-44, 26-11-44, 1-3-45 and 30-4-45 inclusive are considered to be trustworthy. In addition to these issues, some of the OKH O/Bs issued in 1944 are known to have omitted entries for some Armies, particularly the Army of Norway, as well as some army corps subordinate to Heeresgruppe Nord or one of its army commands.

Volume one of Die Geheimen Tagesberichte, printed in two parts, contains the O/Bs from June 9, 1940 through December 22, 1942. Note that the O/Bs for the period January through May 1943 are not published in Die Geheimen Tagesberichte; copies of them, however, may be obtained directly from the Bundsarchiv-Militaerarchiv in Freiberg. For the period between June 1 and December 28, 1943 the O/Bs may be found between volumes seven and nine inclusive. Volume ten contains the O/Bs from April 15 to August 15, 1944, and volume eleven August 31 to December 31, 1944. In volume twelve of Die Geheimen Tagesberichte are set forth all of the O/Bs, at the rate of two per month, for the year 1945.

As compared to the OKH O/Bs, the schematic KTB-OKW O/Bs are much fewer in number, there being only twenty-two of them between June 1940 and April 1945. In the KTB-OKW O/Bs there are two periods of time---June to December 1940, and late December 1943 to September 1944---when there are no O/Bs, in each case owing to conditions in the field. The KTB-OKW O/Bs contain more typographical errors than do the OKH O/Bs, most often having to do with divisional numbers, but occasionally with respect to the Roman numerals associated with army corps commands. This compilation includes an errata list for both the OKH O/Bs and the KTB-OKW O/Bs, as well as for Tessin’s Verbaende und Truppen. Tessin’s work, published in nineteen volumes over a period of eighteen years, is an absolute marvel of detail, and an indispensable resource for any serious student of the German ground forces in the Second World War. While Verbaende und Truppen is not without shortcomings, they are most likely attributable to the enormous amount of data with which Tessin worked than to carelessness on the part of the author. Verbaende und Truppen in fact has been a major inspiration for the present work, which is intended in large part to expand the scope of Tessin’s series by accounting in more detail for the movements of divisions, army corps, and armies between and among the units to which they were subordinate.

Among the many secondary sources utilized in the preparation of the present work, the most authoritative with respect to the war in western Europe and the Mediterranean have been the relevant volumes of the series entitled The United States Army in World War II, published by the US Army Center of Military History. The same source is responsible for the publication of numerous other scholarly works on the same or related subjects, such as The German Campaign in the Balkans; German Antiguerrilla Operations in the Balkans (1940-1944); The German Northern Theater of Operations 1940-1944; and a two-volume set dealing with the Nazi/Soviet war, Moscow to Stalingrad and Stalingrad to Berlin both written by Earl F. Ziemke. Also particularly noteworthy are the works of Colonel David M. Glantz, including among many others, From the Don to the Dnepr.

An excellent one volume history of the war on the Eastern Front war is Colonel Albert Seaton’s The Russo-German War 1941-1945. Also helpful were Paul Carrel’s Hitler Moves East and Scorched Earth, as well as Werner Haupt’s German language books, particularly the Eastern Front Army Group trilogy. On the Italian front the series that has been the most helpful is the British official history, including the two volume set published under the title Mediterranean and Middle East. The U.S. Army in World War II, Mediterranean Theater of Operations multi-volume series was helpful, as was Neither Fear nor Hope, the memoir of a German general, Frido von Senger und Etterlin.

Other books that proved to be sources of reliable data for this work included Telford Taylor’s The March of Conquest, on the subject of the French campaign in 1940; Lost Victories by Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein; and Panzer Leader by General der Panzertruppe Heinz Guderian, both for the eastern front. On the end of the war in the east, Werner Haupt’s 1945: Das Ende im Osten was helpful for Army Groups North, Center and Vistula, and Dr. Manfred Rauchensteiner’s Krieg im Oesterreich 1945 for Army Group South in the war’s last months.

One of the richest sources of O/B material for both the western front and Italy from June 1944 to the end of the war is volume 3, part 2 of British Intelligence in the Second World War, based upon information gathered from ULTRA decodes of German armed forces Enigma messages. Finally, for the period between the end of the Polish campaign and the beginning of the campaign against France, fellow researcher Bill Russ provided me with Army and Army Group O/Bs from captured German documents held by the U.S. National Archives in Washington, D.C.

Method of Compilation / Orders of Battle

Readers will note that in this compilation the issue date of each O/B is not identified. There are practical reasons for this. One of them is that in the OKH O/Bs, the dates of transfer of one unit to another are not identified. While this circumstance is regrettable, its remedy---to review the Army Group and Army war diaries for details---would be prohibitively expensive and time consuming, as well as uncertain of result. To address this problem, each month is divided into five segments, namely: beginning (1st or 2nd); early (3rd through 10th); mid (11th through 20th); late (21st through the third last day of the month) and end (last two days of the month). I included a list of the exact dates of all OKH O/Bs in an Appendix.

Each O/B includes as many time periods as were feasible under the particular circumstances. Often the period is one of several months’ length (e.g., during a lull in the fighting), while at other times an O/B consists of only one time period (e.g., while the particular command was involved in a highly fluid combat situation). A similar problem is created when a particular unit suddenly appears in an O/B with which it was not previously associated. In such circumstances the previous history of the new unit is often unknown, so that the date of its arrival is difficult to determine with any accuracy. To indicate this situation, the designation (From _____): appears before the name of the arriving unit, as an indication that its precise date of arrival is unknown. In like manner, if a given unit departed from its command during a month when publication of a new O/B was not to occur for another thirty days, the designation (gone by_____) or by (month/year) in ___ AK appears with the name of the departing unit with the annotation for its new command. Where no parentheses are used, or the word by does not appear in a destination notation, the arrival or departure of the unit in question actually occurred on the date indicated.

In this compilation the term of a unit’s residence under a particular superior command is indicated in a variety of ways, including the following:

A. The term temp is employed where the term of a particular unit’s subordination to a superior command was brief. For example, where two O/Bs existed for the same period of a month (e.g., early, middle or end), temp is employed to show that a unit departed from its superior command in the first O/B to another superior command in the next O/B in the same period of the month. For purposes of clarity, the designation for the superior command follows that of the unit in each O/B.

B. Following parenthetic expressions are employed where a unit transferred from one superior command to another superior command during the period of a single O/B (e.g., 20th Army Corps early to late 8/43 (9th Army); (mid 8/43-2nd Army) to indicate that 20th Army Corps was under 9th Army to late August 1943, and under 2nd Army in mid August 1943.

C. When annotating the new location of a unit that moved from one superior command to another superior command during the period of a single O/B, the period of arrival with and identity of the new command are indicated to enable tracing of the unit’s movement (e.g., mid 10/44 in 47th PzK (7th Army)). If the transfer involves a new Army or Army Group, that change is noted.

D. When a division was transferred to the Replacement Army (Ersatzheer) the division’s Wehrkreis (regional military district), if available, is indicated (e.g., Wehrkreis I, Wehrkreis VII, Wehrkreis X).

E. Units transferred to OKH Reserve after June 1941 were located somewhere in eastern Europe, either in (i) an area controlled by an eastern front Army Group command; (ii) the territory of an Axis satellite; or (iii) the General Gouvernement (or Wehrkreis General Gouvernement after September 1942), the designation for occupied Poland. Whenever possible, the exact location of the unit is given.

F. Units transferred to OKW Reserve were located in any area controlled by the Reich other than those designated as being under the control of OKH Reserve. Whenever possible, the exact location of the unit is given.

The German Army was a very fluid thing in combat. Quite often a division, a Corps headquarters, or even an Army headquarters would be transferred from one place to another or one superior command or another. A transferring Corps or Army headquarters might take entirely new units under its command on arrival in the new area, retain command of some or all of the units under its control before the transfer, or end up in control of a mixture of old and new units. Occasionally Corps or Army boundaries would be shifted, but there would be no change in the subordinate units involved. At other times Corps commands would simply swap the subordinate units under their respective commands.

In critical battle situations, particularly in those in which German units had sustained sizeable losses in personnel and equipment, the Germans would resort to the use of ad hoc command arrangements referred to as battle groups (kampfgruppen or korpsgruppen) in order to make use of the remnants of units damaged or destroyed in combat. In such situations, a divisional kampfgruppe may be designated as a reinforced division. Likewise, when a particular division was dismembered in combat and its regiments placed under the control of another division or Corps command, this is annotated in the next O/B. In the case of a division, the annotation also indicates the place where the command’s former subordinate units moved.

In some instances an O/B indicated that only the staff of a division was present. If this was the result of the destruction of most of the division in combat, this fact would be noted. At other times, the divisional staff and two of the division’s three regiments might be present in the O/B, in which case the unit would still be treated as a division. On the other hand, if an O/B entry indicated the presence of the divisional staff and only one of the unit’s regiments, the phrase half div was utilized to indicate this fact; if possible, the location of the division’s other elements was also provided.

When a division was reduced in size and effectiveness in combat, this is often made apparent by the substitution of the term "Kampfgruppe for the unit’s previous designation as a division. Units designated with the term Armeegruppe, but commanding only a Corps, are listed with the Corps Groups. On the other hand, an Armeegruppe" that actually commanded Armies is listed under the heading for Army Groups.

A Security Command, when not actually a temporary combat command, is listed under the Army Group Rear Area Commands section under its Army Group. In this regard, Army Group E and Army Group F (less so, since it did hold regular combat units as subordinate commands) each posed a particular problem, as each of them constituted a security command holding down a hostile people.

An Armed Forces Commander (Wehrmacht Befehlshaber) was an exalted command, usually reporting to either an Army Group, or more likely directly to OKW. Troop Commanders in Axis countries are separated from Military and Armed Forces commanders as they had inferior status.

Compilation of Commanding Generals

One important difficulty in constructing a compilation such as this one is that it is often difficult to determine the exact dates of a general officer’s term of service in a particular command. This is for the reason that the available sources of data—Wolf Keilig’s Die Generale des Heeres and Madej’s German Army Order of Battle: Field Army and Officer Corps 1939-1945—are incomplete. Dermot Bradley’s multi-volume work Die Generale des Heeres 1921-1945 covers some of the data missing in Keilig and Madej, but the set is as yet incomplete. Roger Bender and Warren Odegard’s Uniforms, Organization and History of the Panzertruppe was the best reference on the subject of general officers commanding the panzer formations of the Wehrmacht. Karl-Friedrich Hildebrand’s Die Generale der Deutschen Luftwaffe 1935-1945 and Rudolf Absecon’s Rangeliste der Generale der Deutschen Luftwaffe nach dem Stand von 20. April 1945 are both very good sources for data on Luftwaffe general officers commanding ground forces, as is Antonio Munoz’s Goering’s Grenadiers. Mark Yeager’s fine two-volume set Waffen SS Commanders is my best source for information on general officers of the Waffen SS.

Whatever ambiguities may exist in the sources with regard to the exact dates of a general officer’s term of service in a particular command stem primarily from the manner in which the various personnel offices in the Wehrmacht kept records. In particular, it was traditional for German military personnel offices to define the date on which a general took command of a unit as the date on which he was assigned to that command, in spite of the fact that there might actually have been a delay of several days or even weeks between the day on which the general relinquished his former command and actually assumed his new command. Whenever possible, therefore, the best available sources—Keilig’s Die Generale des Heeres, Bradley’s Die Generale des Heeres 1921-1945, and Kurt Mehner’s Die Deutsche Wehrmacht 1939-1945: Fuehrung und Truppe—have been used to identify the relative dates with as much certainty as possible.

Where the exact start or end date for a general’s term of service in a particular command cannot be determined, the date in question is enclosed in parentheses to indicate that it is the ending date for the general’s last known command (or the ending date of his predecessor’s command, whichever was later). To indicate the beginning date of a general officer’s term of service or in the case of an unknown ending date the start of his successor’s command period (or the departing general’s start date for his next command, whichever came first). In the few cases where the identity of the commander of a unit is unknown for a time period of more than a week a blank line has been inserted.

In incidents where there are overlapping dates (e.g., incoming general’s date assuming authority is 12-1-44, departing general’s date relinquishing authority is 12-15-44) it is impossible to know which officer was actually in command.

Another problem is that a general may have been temporarily commanding a second adjacent unit in addition to his own command and it is not always made clear whether he had left his original command. Also, the Personnel Department would consider a general’s end of command date as the date he was assigned to another command-even if he continued in command of his old unit till relieved or if he had been sick or recovering from wounds for months and other generals had been acting commanders (usually with the designation "Fuehrer" or "mFb" (mit der Fuehrung beauftragt), "m.d.St.F.b or stellv. Fuehrer" (mit der Stellvertreter Fuehrung beauftragt) in the meantime. For so-called orderly Germans it’s a real mess and hard to understand why it was done this way. Anyone who has consulted Bradley’s Die Generale des Heeres 1921-1945 knows that exact dates often are not in the OKH office personnel records or Bradley et al would have used them. I have sometimes only been able to obtain the start date of a general’s command of a unit from one source and had to get his ending date from another; in that case I gave both the source numbers in parentheses after the dates.

"Stellenbesetzung" were issued by OKH on the following dates:

— 9-1-39 (Vol. 1 part 1)

— 6-22-41 (Vol. 3)

— the period 11-41 to 5-42 (Vol 4)

— the period 6-42 to 11-42 (Vol. 5)

— the period 12-42 to 5-43 (Vol. 6)

— the period 6-43 to 8-43 (Vol. 7)

— 9-10-43 (Vol. 8)

— 2-29-44 (Vol. 9)

— 6-10-44 (Vol. 10)

— 12-10-44 (Vol. 11)

— 4-24-45 (Vol. 12)

The Stellungbesetzungen, generally speaking, identify the unit commander, first General Staff Officer, and Adjutant for every command, from Army Groups to divisions. They can be found in a variety of sources, but the most complete set of them is to be found in Mehner’s Die Geheimen Tagesberichte.

Reader should note the term Wehrmacht means armed forces, and thus includes the traditional services, i.e., Army (Heer) and Navy (Kriegsmarine), and the Air Force (Luftwaffe), a service newly created under the Third Reich. Wehrmacht did not include a second service newly created under the Third Reich, the Armed SS (Waffen SS) an offshoot of the Nazi Party’s Schuetzstaffeln (SS). The SS, originally created as a bodyguard for Adolf Hitler, grew into a power center within both the Nazi Party and the Third Reich and spawned a plethora of political and quasi-political bodies of armed men, of which the Waffen SS was but one, albeit the largest and best equipped.

Rank Equivalents

Acknowledgments

When an aspiring researcher writes a first book, any help rendered to him or her by an expert or experts in the book’s field of study is doubly appreciated. The late Harold C. Deutsch, former Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Minnesota, graciously encouraged me in my work. I owe special thanks to John Taylor and Tim Mulligan, both professional historians at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., who assisted me in my work on several occasions; to Terence Charman and Christopher Hunt, both of the Imperial War Museum in London; and to Dr. Brunn Meyer of the Freiburg Militaerarchiv.I gratefully acknowledge David M. Glantz, retired Colonel in the United States Army, and a preeminent and prolific researcher and chronicler of the Soviet Army and the Eastern Front in the Second World War, who kindly reviewed my original manuscript and has promoted its publication.

I owe special thanks to former Clevelander Steve Sandman. Steve had the first copy of the indispensable work of Tessin that I ever saw. He kindly loaned these books to me, along with several other extremely helpful volumes from his excellent collection of military history works. This would be a much poorer book without your help, Steve, and I thank you most sincerely.

Thanks also go to Ms. Roxanne Wallace, Executive Director of the Community Assessment Foundation in Cleveland, my employer before leaving Cleveland, and also on my return there. Ms. Wallace allowed me to use my computer before work and during my breaks for typing a large part of the original manuscript. This probably helped me save months of time.

After I moved to Jacksonville in 1997 I received much appreciated help from Ms. Sharon Lewis of the Jacksonville Public Library Interlibrary Loan Department, who assisted me in obtaining several books.

And I thank Miriam Johnson of the Salem, Oregon, Public Library Interlibrary Loan Department for her help in chasing down a few last titles during my two years’ residence in Salem.

Special thanks to Dr. Dieter Zinke of Koblenz, a compiler of the careers of German Army generals, who researched badly need data on generals’ commands from his valuable sources for me in a few cases where I just couldn’t obtain it from any other source.He is a true gentleman and a scholar.

I owe thanks to Dr. Steven H. Newton, a university professor, military historian and established author. Professor Newton has encouraged and assisted me in the publication of this work.

To my publisher Theodore P. Savas of Savas Beatie, and especially production manager Lee Merideth, for all their hard work in putting this project together, and for finding my co-editor Tom Nutter, who did a lot of good work to make this all possible.

My very special thanks are due to Bill Russ of Columbia, SC. He is a serious researcher in the captured German records held by the National Archives (NARA) in Washington, D.C., and provided me with invaluable advice and assistance in obtaining German records that are elusive even for the excellent staff at NARA.

Finally my dear wife Marsha has been so patient over these more than twenty years while her husband was at the library, copy center, bookstore, in another room reading, frantically scribbling, looking things up in three books at once or typing on our only computer. Now her reward is having me back underfoot once again. Thank you so much, sweetheart.

William T. McCroden

Cleveland, 2019

Part I: Chapter 1

Temporary and Miscellaneous Commands

Part A: Anti-Partisan Operation Battle Groups

Anti-Partisan Operation Battle Groups

The preferred German method for conducting anti-partisan operations was to utilize units specially trained for the task. Each Army Group on the eastern front included a Rear Area Command (Rueckwaertiges Heeresgebeit, usually abbreviated Rueckw.H.Geb. or RHG). Generally, each RHG was under the command of a general officer, usually a full general (e.g., General der Artillerie, General der Infanterie, etc.), who had authority over two or more security divisions. Rear Area Commands had characteristics that differed according to the region in which they operated. For example, in the Balkans (under the control of Army Group F and later 2nd Panzer Army) and Greece (the domain of Army Group E), the purpose of the Rear Area Command was to suppress political and social unrest among hostile local populations. In these areas, because of the frequency of armed action by local residents against the German occupation, as well as the relatively few Security Divisions available, combat divisions passing through these territories, or temporarily residing there to rest and refit, frequently were pressed into service against the local population.

In western Europe there were few Security Divisions available to the Commander-in-Chief West (Oberbefehlshaber West, or OB West), save the 325th Security Division stationed in Paris and at the disposal of a subordinate of OB West, the Military Governor of France. Until the summer of 1944, the Army Rear Area Command (Koeruck) of 1st Army (and its successor 19th Army) was responsible for security matters in Southern France. When the Maquis became more active in early June 1944, a new Commander Army Area South France (subsequently 63rd Army Corps) was established and placed under the authority of the Military Commander France. In Italy, Army Group C confronted increased security risks following the Italian surrender, but was forced to use troops with no previous relevant experience or training to deal with those risks.

Owing to the substantial number of anti-partisan operations conducted by the Germans during the Second World War, only those which utilized the equivalent of at least one complete division are dealt with here. Although they were not technically divisions, however, motorized SS Brigades (which often consisted of two complete regiments) utilized in anti-partisan operations are also treated here. The commanders of individual operations are not listed herein, as their identities may be determined by referring to the entry for the controlling unit. These anti-partisan operations were compiled from various sources found in the Bibliography, since they did not appear in the official OKH orders of battle (source 97).

Operation Adler: from mid 7/42 to early 8/42: Army Group Rear Area Command Center (Bobruisk/Mogilev) (36A): 203rd Security Division; 286th Security Division; one SS Police Regiment plus two battalions.

Operation Adler: from late 11/43: 15th Mountain Army Corps (Ugljen Island, Croatia) (168): 114th Jaeger Division; 264th Infantry Division (static).

Operation Adler II: from mid 1/44, 2nd Panzer Army (Croatia) (168): 114th Jaeger Division; 392nd Infantry Division.

Operation Ankara: from late 12/42, 221st Security Division, Army Group Rear Area Command Center (Klimovichi) (133A): 8th SS Police Regiment; 36th Security Regiment (Group Commander); 638th Infantry Regiment (French).

Operation Ankara II: from mid 1/43, 221st Security Division/Army Group Rear Area Command Center (Klimovichi) (133A): 8th SS Police Regiment; 36th Security Regiment (Group Commander); 638th Infantry Regiment (French).

Operation Arnim: from mid 10/43, 69th Reserve Corps (Croatia) (168): 1st Cossack Cavalry Division; 173rd Reserve Division.

Operation Augustus: from mid 12/43, 22nd Mountain Army Corps (Komeno, Greece) (168): 1st Mountain Division.

Battle Group Bader: from late 4/42 (see Operation Trio).

Operation Balkanschlucht: from mid to late 10/43, 21st Mountain Army Corps (Montenegro) (168): 118th Jaeger Division; 297th Infantry Division.

Operation Bamberg: from late 3/42 to early 4/42, Army Group Rear Area Command Center (Belorussia) (36A): 707th Infantry Division.

Operation Bergwind: from early to mid 3/45, 69th Army Corps z.b.V. (Yugoslavia) (168): (units unknown).

Operation Bienenhaus: from late 6/44, 69th Army Corps z.b.V. (Croatia) (168): 1st Cossack Cavalry Division; 1st Croatian Home Defense Mountain Brigade; 5th Croatian Brigade.

Battle Group Bjelovar: from units unknown.

Operation Blitz: from late 9/42, Army Group Rear Area Command Center (Polotsk/Vitebsk) (36A): 286th Security Division.

Operation Blitz: from late 6/44 to early 7/44, 69th Army Corps z.b.V. (Croatia) (97, 168): 1st Cossack Cavalry Division; unknown division (source identifies 42nd Jaeger Division, but this unit was in north Italy in June-July, 1944; possibly 373rd Infantry Division in 69th Army Corps).

Group Boehme: from mid 10/41 to early 12/41, Commander in Chief Southeast (Serbia) (71, 97): 18th Mountain Army Corps (Headquarters only); (1/42 departs for Wehrkreis XVIII, divisions to 65th Corps Command); 342nd Infantry Division; 704th Infantry Division; 714th Infantry Division (static); 713th Infantry Division (late 11/41).

Operation Braun: from late 3/43 to early 4/43, Croatian control (168): Battle group North (two Croatian regiments); Battle Group South (two Croatian regiments); Battle group West with the 1st Croatian Mountain Division Ante Pavelic; 187th Reserve Division.

Operation Braunschweig: from late 4/44 to early 5/44, Army Detachment von Zangen (Istria) (168): 188th Mountain Division; 278th Infantry Division.

Operation Bura: from late 1/45, 21st Mountain Army Corps (Bosnia) (168): 1st Ustacha Brigade (from 8th Croatian Division); 9th Croatian Mountain Division; 369th Infantry Division (one regiment plus artillery regiment).

Operation Cannae: from mid to late 3/44: 22nd Mountain Army Corps (Hungary) (148): Battle Group Braunerz (from 42nd Jaeger Division); Battle Group Streckenbach (from 8th SS Kavallerie Division Florian Geyer) (one regiment).

Operation Cottbus: from late 5/43 to late 6/43, Army Group Rear Area Command Center (Lepel) (36A): 286th Security Division; two SS police regiments.

Operation Croatia Southeast: from mid to late 1/42, 65th Corps Command (89, 170): 342nd Infantry Division; 718th Infantry Division.

Operation Csobo: from early 7/43, Army Group Rear Area Command Center (q.v.) (Gomel) (133A): 8th Hungarian Army Corps.

Operation Dachstein: from late 3/44, Army Detachment von Zangen (Slovenia) (168): 188th Mountain Division.

Operation Delphin: from mid 11/43, 15th Mountain Army Corps (Croatia) (171): 114th Jaeger Division; miscellaneous naval units including Niobe, a destroyer and gunboats (Dalmatian Islands).

Operation Donnerkeil: from late 3/43, Army Group Rear Area Command Center (Polotsk/Vitebsk) (36A, 89): 8th Panzer Division; 201st Security Division.

Operation Draufgaenger: from mid to late 7/44, 5th SS Mountain Army Corps (Serbia) (76): 21st Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS Skanderbeg (alb.nr.1); 7th SS Freiwilligen Gebirgs Division Prinz Eugen (one regiment).

Operation Dreieck: from mid 7/42, Army Group Rear Area Command Center (Gomel (133A): 221st Security Division.

Operation Dreieck und Viereck: from late 9/42, Army Group Rear Area Command Center (Bryansk) (24, 50): Group Gilsa (q.v.).

Operation Dreznica: from late 1/44, 15th Mountain Army Corps (Dalmatia) (171): 114th Jaeger Division; 392nd Infantry Division.

Operation Emil: from early 2/44, 5th SS Mountain Army Corps (Croatia) (168): 1st Mountain Division.

Operation Ernteeinbringung: from late 12/43, 15th Mountain Army Corps (Croatia) (58C): 371st Infantry Division.

Operation Feuerwehr: from early to mid 4/45, 21st Mountain Army Corps (Bosnia) (76): 7th SS Freiwilligen Gebirgs Division Prinz Eugen.

Operation Foca: from early 5/42, Military Commander Serbia (89): 718th Infantry Division (static).

Operation Freischutz: from late 5/43, 55th Army Corps (Bryansk) (50): 6th Infantry Division.

Operation Fruehlingsanfang: from late 3/45, Commander Adriatic Coastland (Slovenia) (168): four SS police regiments.

Operation Fruehlingsfest: from mid 4/44 to mid 5/44, 3rd Panzer Army (Yelyna/Minsk) (36A): 95th Infantry Division; 201st Security Division.

Operation Fruehlingsturm: from mid 1/45, 34th Army Corps z.b.V. (Croatia) (76): 7th SS Freiwilligen Gebirgs Division Prinz Eugen; 41st Fortress Division; 117th Jaeger Division.

Operation Fuchsjagd: from late 2/44, 69th Army Corps z.b.V. (Croatia) (171): 367th Infantry Division (also identified as 330th Mountain Division).

Operation Fuchsjagd III: from early 3/44, 69th Army Corps z.b.V. (Croatia) (171): 367th Infantry Division (also identified as 330th Mountain Division).

Operation Geiserich: from late 9/43, 2nd Panzer Army (Split, Bosnia) (168): 15th Mountain Army Corps.

Operation Gemsbock: from early 6/44, Army Group E (Greece) (71): 22nd Mountain Army Corps.

Operation Geyer: from late 4/44, 68th Army Corps (Megara, Greece) (97, 105A): 11th Luftwaffe Field Division.

Battle Group Greguric: from 1st Croatian Assault Division; 1st Poglavnik Bodyguard Division.

Operation Greif: from mid 8/42, Army Group Rear Area Command Center (Orscha/Vitebsk) (36A): 286th Security Division; two SS police regiments.

Operation Hackfleisch: from early 8/44, 5th SS Mountain Army Corps (Serbia) (168): 7th SS Freiwilligen Gebirgs Division Prinz Eugen.

Operation Hannover: from late 5/42, 4th Army (Yelyna) (163): 43rd Army Corps; 46th Panzer Corps; 131st Infantry Division (under 12th Army Corps).

Operation Hasenjagd: from end 12/43, 15th Mountain Army Corps (Dalmatia) (168): 264th Infantry Division (static).

Operation Herbst II: from late 10/43, 69th Reserve Corps (Yugoslavia) (168): 187th Reserve Division.

Operation Hermann: from mid 7/43 to early 8/43, Higher SS/Police Leader Russia Center (Western Minsk) (36A): Battle Group von Gottberg with the 1st SS Infantry Brigade (mot.); one SS police regiment.

Operation Horrido: from mid 3/44, Army Group E (Greece) (71): 22nd Mountain Army Corps.

Operation Hubertus: from early 11/43, Army Group E (Greece) (25, 95): 22nd Mountain Army Corps.

Operation Jajce I: from late 9/42 to early 10/42, Military Commander Serbia (168): 714th Infantry Division (static); 718th Infantry Division (static).

Operation Jajce II: from late to end 10/42, Military Commander Serbia (168): 718th Infantry Division (static); Croatian troops equal to one division.

Operation Jajce III: from early 12/42, Military Commander Serbia (168): 718th Infantry Division (static).

Action Kammerhoefer: from late 9/43, 69th Army Corps z.b.V. (Croatia) (150): 173rd Reserve Division.

Operation Kammerjaeger: from mid 3/44 to mid 5/44, 1st Bulgarian Army Corps (Serbia) (168): One regiment 1st Mountain Division; 27th Bulgarian Infantry Division.

Operation Karlsbad: from mid to late 10/42, Higher SS/Police Leader Russia Center (Orscha/Vitebsk) (36A): 1st SS Infantry Brigade (mot.).

Operation Klara from late 6/43, Troop Commander Croatia (168): 114th Jaeger Division (reinforced).

Operation Klette II: from mid 1/43, 2nd Panzer Army (Bryansk) (86, 97): 707th Infantry Division (late 1/43 to early 2/43 to 221st Security Division/Army Group Rear Area Command Center (Kletnya); 8th SS Police Regiment; 36th Security Regiment (Group Headquarters); 638th Infantry Regiment (French).

Operation Kondor: from late 8/44, 68th Army Corps z.b.V. (Megara, Greece) (97, 105A): 11th Luftwaffe Field Division.

Operation Konjic: from late 2/43 to late 3/43, Troop Commander Croatia, support of Weiss II (89): 718th Infantry Division (static).

Operation Kozara: from mid to late 10/42, Commander Serbia (171): 714th Infantry Division (static).

Operation Krebs: from late 3/44, 68th Army Corps z.b.V. (Megara, Greece) (105A, 145): 11th Luftwaffe Field Division.

Operation Kreuzotter: from early 8/44, Army Group E (Greece) (71): 22nd Mountain Army Corps.

Operation Kugelblitz: from late 2/43 to early 3/43, 2nd Army (Polotsk) (89, 97, 164): 7th Hungarian Infantry Division; 201st Security Division (early 3/43 to Hungarian Occupation Group East).

Operation Kugelblitz: from early to mid 12/43, 2nd Panzer Army (Bosnia) (76): 5th SS Mountain Army Corps.

Operation Landsturm: from late 10/43, 15th Mountain Army Corps (Dalmatia) (168): 7th SS Freiwilligen Gebirgs Division Prinz Eugen.

Operation Lawine: from mid to late 1/45, 21st Mountain Army Corps (Croatia) (171): 104th Jaeger Division (reinforced).

Operation Leander: from early to mid 9/43, 15th Mountain Army Corps (Croatia) (171): 114th Jaeger Division.

Operation Maibaum: from late 4/44 to mid 5/44, 5th SS Mountain Army Corps (Croatia) (76): 7th SS Freiwilligen Gebirgs Division Prinz Eugen; 13th Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS Handschar (kroat.nr.1) (mid 5/44 under Commander Syrmia).

Operation Maigewitter: from mid 5/43, Army Group Rear Area Command Center (Vitebsk) (36A): 8th Panzer Division.

Operation Maikaefer: from early 7/42, Army Group Rear Area Command Center (Rogachev) (133A): 203rd Security Division.

Operation Merkur: from late 11/43, 15th Mountain Army Corps (Croatia) (171): 114th Jaeger Division (reinforced).

Operation Morganstern: from early to mid 5/44, 15th Mountain Army Corps (Croatia) (168): 92nd Infantry Regiment (mot.); two separate regiments.

Operation Mostar: from late 2/43 to late 3/43, Troop Commander Croatia (89, 168): 9th Croatian Mountain Division; 369th Infantry Division (reinforced); 718th Infantry Division (static).

Operation Muenchen: from early 4/42 to early 5/42, Group Shenckendorff, Army Group Rear Area Command Center (Yelyna) (133A): 221st Security Division; 286th Security Division (till late 4/42); 403rd Security Division (till late 4/42); 707th Infantry Division (till end 4/42); from late 4/42: 285th Security Division (late 4/42 until end 4/42).

Operation Nachbarhilfe: from mid 6/43, 4th Army (Bryansk): 98th Infantry Division.

Operation Nibelungenfahrt: from mid to late 1/44, 15th Mountain Army Corps (Croatia) (171): 114th Jaeger Division.

Operation Nuernberg: from late 11/42, Higher SS/Police Leader Russia Center (Vilna) (36A): Battle Group von Gottberg with the 1st SS Infantry Brigade (mot.); one SS police regiment.

Operation Osterei: from mid 4/44, Commander Syrmia, Army Group F (Croatia) (168): 13th Waffen Gebirgs Division der SS Handschar (kroat.nr.1).

Operation Ozren: from late 1/42 to early 2/42, 65th Corps Command (Serbia) (168): 4th Croatian Home Defense Division; 718th Infantry Division (static) (reinforced) (Group Headquarters).

Operation Panther: from late 10/43, Army Group E (Greece) (95): 22nd Mountain Army Corps.

Operation Panther: from mid to late 12/43, 15th Mountain Army Corps (Croatia) (168): second phase of Operation Wolf; 1st Cossack Cavalry Division; 371st Infantry Division; 373rd Infantry Division.

Operation Paula: from early to mid 7/43, Troop Commander Croatia (168): 100th Jaeger Division; 114th Jaeger Division.

Operation Pfingstausflug: from early to mid 6/44, 3rd Panzer Army Southwest (Vitebsk) (36A): Size and type of formation not definitively known; some evidence that it was the size of an Army.

Operation Prijedor: from mid 12/42, 65th Corps Command (Serbia) (89): 718th Infantry Division (static).

Operation Puma: from 10/43, Army Group E (Greece) (95): 22nd Mountain Army Corps.

Operation Regenschauer: (see Operation Fruehlingfest).

Part I: Chapter 2

Temporary and Miscellaneous Commands

Part B: Provisional Corps, Battle Groups and Corps Groups Reporting to Armies

Provisional Corps, Battle Groups and Corps Groups Reporting to Armies

1. Provisional Corps

Group Bader: (ex-Division Group Sieler), mid 4/45 to 49th Mountain Army Corps (2, 97): 16th Hungarian Infantry Division; 304th Infantry Division (Commander); end 4/45 to 1st Panzer Army Reserve. Commander: Generalmajor Robert Bader.

Group Balck: mid 2/43 to 40th Panzer Corps, disbanded late 2/43 (40): 7th Panzer Division; 11th Panzer Division (Commanding) Commander: Generalleutnant Hermann Balck.

Group Bayerlein: late 11/44 (Corps Command Vosges), disbanded mid 12/44 (87): 361st Volksgrenadier Division (end 12/44 to 89th Army Corps, 1st Army); Panzer Lehr Division (Commanding) (mid 12/44 to 47th Panzer Corps, 6th Panzer Army). Commander: Generalleutnant Fritz Bayerlein.

Group Bayerlein: early 3/45 to 5th Panzer Army, then mid 3/45 became 53rd Army Corps (87): 9th Panzer Division; 11th Panzer Division; 59th Infantry Division (static) (remnant). Commander: Generalleutnant Fritz Bayerlein.

Group Bechtolsheim: mid 5/44 to 30th Army Corps, dissolved mid 6/44 (97): 257th Infantry Division (Commanding); 302nd Infantry Division; 384th Infantry Division (Battle Group). Commander: Generalleutnant Anton von Mauchenheim gennant von Bechtolsheim.

Group Becker: mid 9/43 to 23rd Army Corps, disbanded late 9/43 (97): 253rd Infantry Division (Commanding); 299th Infantry Division; 383rd Infantry Division. Commander: Generalmajor (Generalleutnant 4/43) Fritz Becker.

Group Becker: late 10/43 to 44th Army Corps, disbanded early 11/43 (20, 97): 370th Infantry Division, staff only (Commanding); 4th Rumanian Mountain Division; 24th Rumanian Infantry Division (remnant), plus remnant of a Rumanian Regiment. Commander: Generalmajor (Generalleutnant 4/43) Fritz Becker.

Division Group Becker: end 3/45 to 59th Army Corps (97): 4th Mountain Division; 253rd Infantry Division (Commanding) (mid 4/45 to 49th Mountain Army Corps). Commander: (Generalleutnant) Carl Becker.

Group Behlendorff: mid 8/41 to 2nd Army, disbanded late 8/41 (97): 34th Infantry Division (Commanding) (late 8/41 to 12th Army Corps, 4th Army); 258th Infantry Division (late 8/41 to 12th Army Corps, 4th Army). Commander: Generalleutnant Hans Behlenforff.

Group Belgrade: 7/44, see Group Schneckenberger.

Group Belgrade: 10/44, see Army Detachment Serbia.

Defense District Berlin: late 4/45 to Army Group Vistula (54): 56th Panzer Corps (q.v.). Commander: General der Artillerie Helmuth Weidling.

Group Berlin: early 3/44, Army Detachment Narva (97): 58th Infantry Division (beginning 4/44 to 26th Army Corps); 170th Infantry Division (beginning 4/44 to 26th Army Corps); 227th Infantry Division (Commanding) (beginning 4/44 to 26th Army Corps). Commander: Generalleutnant Wilhelm Berlin.

Group Betzel: beginning 11/44 to 10th Army Corps, disbanded late 11/44 (76A, 97): 4th Panzer Division (Commanding) (early 11/44 to 10th Army Corps, 18th Army); 121st Infantry Division (Battle Group). Commander: Generalmajor Clemens Betzel.

Group Beukemann: mid 2/43 to 7th Army Corps (97): 75th Infantry Division (partial, rest to Group Siebert) (Commanding); 323rd Infantry Division (partial, rest to Group Siebert, then late 2/43 to 2nd Army Reserve); 340th Infantry Division (partial) (late 2/43 to 2nd Army Reserve); 377th Infantry Division (partial) (late 2/43 to 2nd Army Reserve). Commander: Generalmajor Helmuth Beukemann.

Group Bluemm: mid 7/42 to early 8/42: 2nd Army (97): 57th Infantry Division (Commanding); 168th Infantry Division (end 7/43 to 7th Army Corps); 323rd Infantry Division (end 7/43). Commander: Generalleutnant Oscar Bluemm.

Group Bluemm: mid 8/42: to 2nd Army, then later mid 8/42 to 7th Army Corps, disbanded by 9/42 (97): 57th Infantry Division (Commanding); 75th Infantry Division; 323rd Infantry Division. Commander: Generalleutnant Oscar Bluemm.

Corps Group Blumentritt: late 11/44 to 15th Army, disbanded early 12/44 (97): 12th SS Army Corps (Commanding); 47th Panzer Corps. Commander: General der Infanterie Guenther Blumentritt.

Group Boeckmann: late 11/41 to 1st Army Corps, disbanded early 12/41: 11th Infantry Division (Commanding); 21st Infantry Division; 254th Infantry Division. Commander: Generalleutnant Herbert von Boeckmann.

Group Boege: late 8/44 to early 9/44 to 16th Army, then disbanded early 9/44 (51): 10th Army Corps; 43rd Army Corps, headquarters only (Commanding); Corps Group Risse, disbanded early 9/44; Corps Group Wagner, disbanded by mid 9/44; 389th Infantry Division (mid 9/44 to 43rd Army Corps). Commander: General der Infanterie Ehrenfried Boege.

Group Boehme: (ex-Buenau), early 9/43 to Group Allmendinger, then disbanded late 9/43 (97): 1st Rumanian Mountain Division (late 9/43 under Commander Crimea); 73rd Infantry Division (Commanding). Commander: Generalmajor Herman Boehme.

Corps Group Bork: end 4/45, 1st Army (117): 467th Replacement Division; Division Group Hassenstein. Commander: Generalleutnant Max Bork.

Group Botsch: beginning 3/45 to 5th Panzer Army (temporary), then became Corps Group Hoecker (97): 18th Volksgrenadier Division (Commanding); 26th Volksgrenadier Division. Commander: Generalleutnant Walter Botsch.

Group Brandenberger: late 7/42 to early 11/42, 16th Army (97): 8th Panzer Division (Commanding); 218th Infantry Division (end 7/42). Generalleutnant Erich Brandenberger.

Group Brandenberger: mid to late 11/42, 11th Army, then late 11/42 to 16th Army, then 12/42 became Group Tiemann (97): 8th Panzer Division (Commanding) (beginning 12/42 to 59th Army Corps, Army Group Center); 93rd Infantry Division; 218th Infantry Division. Commander: Generalleutnant Erich Brandenberger.

Group Braun: (ex-Battle Group Kress) (early 9/43 to Group Allmendinger, then disbanded late 9/43 (97): 4th Mountain Division (late 9/43 to 5th Army Corps); 4th Rumanian Mountain Division (late 9/43 to 17th Army Reserve). Commander: Generalmajor Julius Braun.

Corps Group Breith: late 3/44 to 1st Panzer Army, disbanded mid 4/44 (57, 151): 3rd Panzer Corps (Commanding); 46th Panzer Corps; Group Gollnick (beginning 4/44). Commander: General der Panzertruppen Hermann Breith.

Group Breith: mid 9/44 to 57th Panzer Corps, then disbanded late 9/44 (97): 4th Mountain Division (Commanding) (late 9/44 to 29th Army Corps, 8th Army); 76th Infantry Division (remnant) (late 9/44 to Army Group South Reserve). Generalleutnant Hermann Breith.

Group Breith: late 9/44 to 6th Army, then disbanded by mid 10/44 (97): 3rd Panzer Corps (Commanding); 7th Hungarian Army Corps with: 4th Hungarian Replacement Division; 12th Hungarian Replacement Division. Commander: General der Panzertruppen Hermann Breith.

Group Breith: late 11/44 to 6th Army (97): 3rd Panzer Corps (Commanding); 6th Hungarian Army Corps with: 8th Hungarian Replacement Division; 20th Hungarian Infantry Division. Commander: General der Panzertruppen Hermann Breith.

Group Breith: end 12/44 to 6th Army (97): Headquarters 3rd Panzer Corps (Commanding); Cavalry Corps; Group Pape. Commander: General der Panzertruppen Hermann Breith.

Group Breith: mid to late 1/45 to 6th Army, then disbanded beginning 2/45 (97): 3rd Panzer Corps (Commanding); 8th Hungarian Army Corps with: 1st Hungarian Cavalry Division (Battle Group). Commander: General der Panzertruppen Hermann Breith.

Group Briesen: mid 4/41 to 2nd Army (7): 49th Mountain Army Corps; 51st Army Corps; 52nd Army Corps (Commanding) headquarters only; 14th Panzer Division (late 4/41 to 14th Army Corps (mot.). Commander: General der Infanterie Kurt von Briesen.

Group Brockdorff: mid 9/41 to 16th Army (temporary), then disbanded (97): 2nd Army Corps (Commanding); 57th Army Corps (mot.). Commander: General der Infanterie Walter Graf von Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt.

Group Budapest: early 11/44 to Army Group Fretter Pico (temporary) then disbanded (36): 6th Hungarian Army Corps (units not given, Group Breith late 11/44 may be same); 9th SS Mountain Army Corps (Commanding). Commander: SS Brigadefuehrer und Generalmajor der Polizei Karl Pfeffer-Wildenbruch.

Battle Commander Budapest: 12/44, see Military & Armed Forces Commanders section.

Battle Group Buddenbrock: end 3/45 to 13th Army Corps (97): 212th Volksgrenadier Division (Commanding) (mid 4/45 to 13th SS Army Corps); 560th Volksgrenadier Division (temporary), destroyed. Commander: Generalmajor Jobst Freiherr von Buddenbrock.

Battle Group Buenau: early 7/43 to early 9/43 to 5th Army Corps then mid 9/43 became Group Boehme (97): 1st Rumanian Mountain Division; 73rd Infantry Division (Commanding). Commander: Generalleutnant Rudolf von Buenau.

Corps Buenau: (ex-Corps Schultz), mid 4/45 to 6th Panzer Army then late 4/45 to 1st SS Panzer Corps and 5/45 to 6th Panzer Army (97, 117, 145): 117th Jaeger Division (end 4/45 to 6th Panzer Army Reserve); 710th Infantry Division (static); Division Stegmann (145) (from 5/45 to Panzer Verband Stegemann). Commander: General der Infanterie Rudolf von Buenau.

Group Burdach: beginning 1/43 to early 2/43 to 27th Army Corps, then early 2/43 to 9th Army, dissolved mid 2/43 (97): 9th Panzer Division (reinforced) (mid 2/43 to 27th Army Corps); 206th Infantry Division (mid 1/43 under 9th Panzer Division, mid 2/43 to 23rd Army Corps): 251st Infantry Division (Commanding) (mid 2/43 to 27th Army Corps); 87th Infantry Division (mid 1/43, then mid 2/43 to 27th Army Corps). Commander: Generalleutnant Karl Burdach.

Group Buschenhagen: late 10/43 to 52nd Army Corps (97): 9th Panzer Division (Battle Group) (Commanding); 8th SS Kavallerie Division Florian Geyer (late 11/43 split between corps to 1st Panzer Army); 16th Panzergrenadier Division (late 11/43 to 57th Panzer Corps). Commander: Generalleutnant Erich Buschenhagen.

Group Buschenhagen: early 11/43 to 57th Panzer Corps, mid 11/43 became Group Sperl (97): 9th Panzer Division (Battle Group) (Commanding); 62nd Infantry Division (staff, with miscellaneous units, division to Group Schwerin). Commander: Generalleutnant Erich Buschenhagen.

Group Center: mid 6/40, see 28th Army Corps.

Corps Command z.b.V.: late 1/43 to early 3/43, 1st Panzer Army, then beginning 2/43 to 4th Panzer Army, early 3/43 to 6th Army, early 4/43 became 68th Corps Command (127, 145): 3rd Panzer Division (early 2/43 to 4th Panzer Army Reserve); 111th Infantry Division (early 2/43 to 4th Panzer Army); 444th Security Division (early 4/43 to 24th Panzer Corps); 454th Security Division (early 4/43 to 24th Panzer Corps). Commander: Luftwaffe General der Flieger Helmuth Felmy.

Corps Group Chevallerie: late 3/44 to 1st Panzer Army, then disbanded mid 4/44 (151): 24th Panzer Corps; 59th Army Corps (Commanding); Group Mauss. Commander: General der Infanterie Kurt von der Chevallerie.

Coastal Defense Zone Command: late 4/45 to Army Detachment Kleffel (97): 219th Infantry Division; 249th Infantry Division; 703rd Infantry Division (Commanding). Commander: Generalmajor Hans-Huettner.

Corps Command Cramer: mid to late 1/43 to 2nd Hungarian Army Reserve (97): 1st Hungarian Panzer Division; 26th Infantry Division (early 2/43 to 2nd Army Reserve); 168th Infantry Division; 10th Hungarian Light Division (remnant) late 1/43; 13th Hungarian Light Division (remnant). Commander: Generalleutnant Hans Kramer.

Corps Command Cramer: early 2/43: to Army Group B, then mid 2/43 became Corps Raus (97): 1st Hungarian Panzer Division (remnant) (mid 2/43 to OKH Reserve); 23rd Hungarian Light Division (mid 2/43 to OKH Reserve); 10th Hungarian Light Division (remnant) (mid 2/43 to OKH Reserve); 13th Hungarian Light Division (remnant) (mid 2/43 to OKH Reserve); 168th Infantry Division; Infantry Division (mot.) Grossdeutschland. Commander: Generalleutnant Hans Kramer.

Battle Group Crisolli: mid 7/44 to 14th Panzer Corps, then disbanded mid 8/44 (97): 3rd Panzergrenadier Division (remnant); 19th Luftwaffe Field Division (static) (mid 8/44 merged into 19th Panzergrenadier Division); 20th Luftwaffe Sturm Division (remnant) (mid 8/44 to 75th Army Corps). Commander: Generalmajor Wilhelm Crisolli.

Group Cruewell: late 12/41 to mid 1/42, Panzer Group Afrika, then disbanded late 1/42 (97): Afrika Corps (Commanding); 20th Italian Corps Marmarica; 101st Italian Trieste Infantry Division (mot.); 132nd Italian Ariete Panzer Division. Commander: Generalleutnant Ludwig Cruewell.

Group Cruewell: end 5/42 to Panzer Army Afrika (temporary), disbanded (80, 98): 10th Italian Army Corps with: 17th Italian Pavia Infantry Division; 27th Italian Brescia Infantry Division; 21st Italian Army Corps with the 60th Italian Sabratha Infantry Division; 102nd Italian Trento Infantry Division (mot.). Commander: Generalleutnant Ludwig Cruewell.

Group Decker: mid 9/44 to 40th Panzer Corps, then late 9/44 became Group Mauss (97): 5th Panzer Division (Commanding) (late 9/44 to Army Detachment); Grasser Reserve; 201st Security Division. Commander: General-leutnant Karl Decker.

Division Group Deckert: early 4/45 to 59th Army Corps, disbanded mid 4/45 (2): 8th Panzer Division (mid 4/45 to 1st Panzer Army Reserve); 19th Panzer Division (Commanding). Commander: Generalmajor Hans-Joachim Deckert.

Corps Dehner: early 9/44 to 19th Army (12): does not appear to orders of battle until becoming 63rd Army Corps mid 11/44. 159th Reserve Division (mid 9/44 to 4th Luftwaffe Flying Corps). Commander: General der Infanterie Ernst Dehner.

Corps Diestel: late 4/45 to Army Detachment Kleffel (97): 11th Naval Infantry Division; 63rd Infantry Division. Commander: Generalleutnant Eric Diestel.

Group East: early 6/40, see 29th Army Corps.

Group Eberbach: mid 11/43 to 1st Panzer Army, then early 12/43 became Group Schoerner (97): 4th Army Corps; 29th Army Corps; 40th Panzer Corps, Headquarters only (Commanding); 24th Panzer Division (early 12/44 to 4th Army Corps, Group Schoerner). Commander: General der Panzertruppen Heinrich Eberbach.

Group Eibl: 1/43, see 24th Panzer Corps.

Frontier Guard Area Command Eifel: beginning 9/39 (5th Army) 10/39 became 23rd Army Corps (145): 26th Infantry Division; 86th Infantry Division; 227th Infantry Division. Commander: General der Infanterie Erich Raschick.

Corps Group Ems: early 4/45 to early 5/45 (Army Group Student then early 4/45 to Army Blumentritt) (97, 121A); also known as 31st Army Corps z.b.V. (formed from Headquarters Wehrkreis X); 2nd Naval Infantry Division; 172nd Divisional Staff; 480th Infantry Division; from late 4/45: 15th Panzergrenadier Division; (from early 5/45): 8th Fallschirmjaeger Division; Division Gilbert. Commander: General der Infanterie Siegfried Rasp.

Group Engel: late 11/44 (81st Army Corps) (88). 12th Volksgrenadier Division (remnant) (Commanding) from 12/44 to 1st SS Panzer Corps (6th Panzer Army); 47th Volksgrenadier Division (remnant). Commander: Generalmajor Gerhard Engel.

Group Erdmannsdorff: late 2/43 to (10th Army Corps) (97): 5th Jaeger Division; 18th Infantry Division (mot.) (reinforced) (Commanding). Commander: Generalleutnant Werner von Erdmannsdorff.

Group Erdmannsdorff: early 3/43 to (10th Army Corps) (97): 5th Jaeger Division with: 18th Infantry Division (mot.) (Commanding) and 122nd Infantry Division; 225th Infantry Division. Commander: Generalleutnant Werner von Erdmannsdorff.

Group Erdmannsdorff: mid 3/43 to (10th Army Corps) dissolved by late 3/43 (97): 5th Jaeger Division; 30th Infantry Division reinforced; 122nd Infantry Division with the 18th Infantry Division (mot.) (Commanding) and 126th Infantry Division; 225th Infantry Division. Commander: Generalleutnant Werner von Erdmannsdorff.

Group Esebeck: mid 5/42 to early 7/42 to (9th Army) mid 7/42 became Corps Harpe (97): Headquarters plus 2nd Panzer Division (Commanding) (part of division to Group Raus and part to 27th Army Corps); 246th Infantry Division; then from late 5/42 to 2nd Panzer Division then mid 7/42 to 46th Panzer Corps; then from late 6/42 to the 197th Infantry Division. Commander: Generalleutnant Hans-Karl Freiherr von Esebeck.

Group Esebeck: early 7/43 to (Group Harpe) (38): 4th Panzer Division (temporary), then to 47th Panzer Corps (9th Army); 10th Panzergrenadier Division from mid 7/43 to the 41st Panzer Corps (9th Army); 12th Panzer Division from mid 7/43 to Group Wuthmann (Group Harpe, 53rd Army