18th Army (Wehrmacht)
|
18th Army |
|
|---|---|
| active | November 4, 1939 to May 8, 1945 |
| Country |
.svg){kind=small} German Empire
|
| Armed forces | Wehrmacht |
| Armed forces | army |
| Type | army |
| commander | |
| Last commander | Ehrenfried Boege |
The 18th Army / Army High Command 18 (18th Army) was a major unit of the Army of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War . She was the high command of changing army corps and numerous special troops.
history
The 18th Army was set up in Wehrkreis VI on November 4, 1939 .
She pushed during the campaign in the west (May 1940) by the Netherlands and Belgium to northern France before, was by From July 1940, East Prussia moved and took off June 22, 1941 at the Russian campaign , where she, along with the 16th Army the core of the Northern Army Group formed .
In September 1941, together with Panzer Group 4 , they opened the attack on Leningrad . After a small gain in land, the city began to be starved, which brought enormous suffering to the population who had been trapped until January 1944. To the east of it, the main fighting took place on the Volkhov Front in 1942–1944 .
In Operation Iskra (January 1943), the Soviets cleared an 8 to 11 kilometer wide corridor on the south coast of Lake Ladoga , through which the direct land connection could again guarantee supplies to Leningrad. On January 18, the city of Shlisselburg was retaken by the Red Army, and on January 22, 1943, the Soviet side began restoring the railway line to Leningrad.
In January 1944, the siege of Leningrad during the Leningrad-Novgorod Operation was lifted by a new major Soviet offensive. On January 12, the 2nd Baltic Front attacked the 16th Army on Novosokolniki in the south , and two days later the offensive of the 2nd Shock Army from the Oranienbaum bridgehead began . On January 15, the 42nd and 67th Armies of the Leningrad Front also entered. On January 17th, the first German line of defense was breached and on January 19th Novgorod was liberated by the Soviet 59th Army . The breakthrough of the 2nd shock army from the Oranienbaum pocket in the direction of Krasnoye Selo threatened the rear connections of the 18th Army. At the end of January to mid-February, the 18th Army had to retreat via the Luga and Pljussa sections to the isthmus at Narva and south of Lake Peipus on the Pleskau - Ostrow line.
The 18th Army, which was temporarily able to hold onto the isthmus of Narva in the spring of 1944, was gradually pushed back to Courland by autumn 1944 , where it surrendered on May 8, 1945 as part of the Kurland Army Group .
Commander in chief
| from | to | Rank | Surname |
| November 5, 1939 | January 16, 1942 | Colonel General | Georg von Küchler |
| January 16, 1942 | March 29, 1944 | Colonel General | Georg Lindemann |
| March 29, 1944 | September 2, 1944 | General of the artillery | Herbert Hole |
| September 5, 1944 | May 8, 1945 | General of the Infantry | Ehrenfried Boege |
Insinuation
| from | to | Army Group | Operational area |
| December 1939 | June 1940 | Army Group B | Western front |
| June 1940 | September 1940 | OKH | Western front |
| September 1940 | May 1941 | Army Group B | Western front |
| May 1941 | June 1941 | Army Group C | East Prussia |
| June 1941 | January 1945 | Army Group North | Eastern Front |
| January 1945 | May 1945 | Army Group Courland | Courland |
Basic and battle structure
Structure on June 22, 1941
- Commander in Chief: Colonel General Georg von Küchler
- Chief of the General Staff: Colonel i. G. Wilhelm Hasse
- 1st General Staff Officer: Lieutenant Colonel i. G. Mauritz Freiherr von Strachwitz
I. Army Corps
- Commanding general: General of the infantry Kuno-Hans von Both
- Chief of the General Staff: Colonel i. G. Otto von Kries
- 1st General Staff Officer: Major i. G. Helmut Weber
| unit | equipment |
|---|---|
| 1st Infantry Division | 324 rifle groups (with MG), 73 motorcycle rifle groups (without MG), 12 cycling groups (without MG), 24 cavalry groups (without MG), 36 pioneer groups (with MG), 9 light pioneer groups (without MG), 84 5cm grenade launchers, 54 8.1cm grenade launchers, 112 heavy machine guns (tripods), 81 separate light machine guns (bipods), 90 anti-tank rifles, 1,200 horse and carts , 487 trucks, 234 cars, 12 light half-tracks, 2 medium-sized half-tracks, 2 Sd.Kfz. 221, 20 7.5cm infantry guns, 6 15cm infantry guns, 66 3.7cm anti-tank guns, 6 5cm anti-tank guns, 36 10.5cm howitzers, 9 15cm howitzers |
| 11th Infantry Division | Identical to the 1st Infantry Division |
| 21st Infantry Division | 324 rifle groups (with MG), 76 motorcycle rifle groups (without MG), 24 cycling groups (without MG), 9 cavalry groups (without MG), 36 pioneer groups (with MG), 9 light pioneer groups (without MG), 87 5cm grenade launchers, 54 8.1cm grenade launchers, 112 heavy machine guns (tripods), 81 separate light machine guns (bipods), 90 anti-tank rifles, 1,195 horse and carts , 506 trucks, 231 cars, 12 light half-tracks, 2 medium-sized half-tracks, 20 7.5cm infantry guns, 6 15cm infantry guns, 66 3.7cm anti-tank guns, 6 5cm anti-tank guns, 36 10.5cm howitzers, 9 15cm howitzers |
| Staff, artillery commander 123 (motorized) | 2 light rifle groups (without MG), 1 motorcycle rifle group (without MG), 3 trucks, 6 cars |
| Observation Department 4 (motorized) | 7 light rifle groups (without MG), 4 motorcycle rifle groups (without MG), 59 trucks, 69 cars |
| Observation Department 26 (motorized) | Identical to observation department 4 (mot.) |
| Staff, Artillery Regiment 110 (motorized) zbV | 3 light rifle groups (without MG), 5 trucks, 14 cars |
| Staff, Artillery Regiment 609 (mot.) ZbV | Identical to the staff, Artillery Regiment 110 (mot.) ZbV |
Battle calendar
| from | to | assignment | |
| November 5, 1939 | May 9, 1940 | Securing the western border | |
| May 10, 1940 | May 14, 1940 | Attack on Holland: Attack on IJssel and Grebbe | |
| May 10, 1940 | May 14, 1940 | Overcoming the Meuse and Peel and breaking through to the coast | |
| May 10, 1940 | May 15, 1940 | Attack on the southern border of Holland | |
| May 15, 1940 | May 30, 1940 | Securing North Holland | |
| May 16, 1940 | May 18, 1940 | Walcheren | |
| May 15, 1940 | May 20, 1940 | Attack on Antwerp fortress and overcoming the Scheldt | |
| May 21, 1940 | May 27, 1940 | Attack in Flanders and breakthrough on Ghent | |
| May 28, 1940 | June 4th 1940 | Attack via the Neuzen-Gent Canal and the Lys | |
| May 28, 1940 | June 6, 1940 | Attack on Dunkirk | |
| June 11, 1940 | June 13, 1940 | Attack on Paris | |
| June 12, 1940 | June 13, 1940 | Overcoming the Seine | |
| June 14, 1940 | June 18, 1940 | Pursuit battles on the Loire | |
| June 17, 1940 | June 20, 1940 | Overcoming the Loire | |
| July 21, 1940 | June 21, 1941 | Securing in southwestern France, relocation to the east | |
| June 22, 1941 | June 25, 1941 | Breakthrough through the border security | |
| June 22, 1941 | June 26, 1941 | Advance on the Memel and capture of Kovno | |
| June 24, 1941 | June 29, 1941 | Capture of Libau | |
| June 27, 1941 | July 7, 1941 | Battles in Lithuania and Latvia | |
| June 27, 1941 | July 12, 1941 | Advance along the Daugava | |
| 4th July 1941 | July 13, 1941 | Advance to the west of Estonia | |
| July 11, 1941 | 4th August 1941 | Advance and Battle of Dorpat | |
| August 5, 1941 | August 19, 1941 | Breakthrough at Wesenburg and advance on Narva | |
| August 20, 1941 | August 28, 1941 | Fight for Reval | |
| August 7, 1941 | August 7, 1941 | First foray across the former Soviet border | |
| August 13, 1941 | August 18, 1941 | Reaching the east bank of Lake Peipus and the Narva | |
| August 18, 1941 | August 28, 1941 | Break through the Soviet positions on the Luga | |
| August 25, 1941 | September 25, 1941 | Advance on Neva and Lake Ladoga | |
| August 29, 1941 | September 25, 1941 | Breaking through the Soviet belt of fortifications around Leningrad | |
| September 17, 1941 | September 25, 1941 | Reaching Peterhof | |
| September 9, 1941 | October 10, 1941 | Capture of the Baltic islands of Hobulaid, Worms, Kessu | |
| September 11, 1941 | October 15, 1941 | Capture of Moon Island | |
| September 16, 1941 | October 10, 1941 | Capture of the island of Oesel | |
| September 8, 1941 | October 15, 1941 | Capture of the Baltic Islands | |
| September 26, 1941 | September 30, 1942 | Trench warfare at Leningrad and Oranienbaum | |
| January 13, 1942 | May 21, 1942 | Defensive battles during the Soviet counter-offensive on the Volkhov | |
| May 22, 1942 | June 27, 1942 | Surrender of the Soviet troops in the Volkhov Basin | |
| August 27, 1942 | September 3, 1942 | First Ladoga battle | |
| December 1, 1942 | March 31, 1943 | Second Ladoga battle | |
| March 15, 1943 | March 26, 1943 | Defense fighting near Novgorod | |
| July 22, 1943 | September 24, 1943 | Third Ladoga battle | |
| January 14, 1944 | March 1, 1944 | Defense fighting between Novgorod and Leningrad | |
| February 2, 1944 | April 23, 1944 | Defensive battles along the Narva | |
| April 24, 1944 | July 13, 1944 | Defensive battles within the Army Group North | |
| July 14, 1944 | October 6, 1944 | Defensive battles and retreat to the Baltic States, battles on Lake Peipus on the Dorpat-Verro line | |
| July 10, 1944 | October 19, 1944 | Dodging a line of defense in southern Courland | |
| October 27, 1944 | March 30, 1945 | First through Sixth Battles of Courland | |
| January 4, 1945 | May 8, 1945 | Trench warfare in Courland , surrender | |
References
See also
- Schematic war organization of the Wehrmacht on May 10, 1940
- Schematic war organization of the Wehrmacht on June 22, 1941
Literature (essentially unsuitable, revisionist)
- Bönninghausen, C., Freiherr von: Kampf und Ende Rhenish-Westphalian Infantry Divisions 1941–45, Coesfeld undated (self-published).
- Werner Haupt : Army Group North, Bad Nauheim 1967.
- Werner Haupt: Kurland 1944/45 - the forgotten Army Group, Friedberg 1979.
- Werner Haupt: Leningrad, Volkhov, Courland, 1976.
- Franz Kurowski (2000): Kettle Kurland, Podzun-Pallas Verlag, Wölfersheim-Berstadt. ISBN 3-7909-0716-2 .
- Georg Tessin : Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS in World War II 1939–1945. Volume 4. The Land Forces 15–30 . 2nd Edition. Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1976, ISBN 3-7648-1083-1 .
Web links
- German 18th Army. December 1939 - April 1945 (PDF; 185 kB) Accessed September 15, 2011 (English).