25th Army (Wehrmacht)

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25th Army

Lineup November 1944
Country German Reich NSGerman Reich (Nazi era) German Empire
Armed forces Wehrmacht
Type army
structure see structure
management
Commander in chief see list

The 25th Army / Army High Command 25 (AOK 25) 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. From April 1945 it was called Fortress Holland .

history

Army High Command 25 was formed at the beginning of November 1944, shortly after the end of the Battle of the Scheldt estuary , on the Western Front from the staffs of the Wehrmacht Commander-in-Chief of the Netherlands and the disbanded Army Division Kleffel (formerly Narwa or Grasser) and the newly formed Army Group H under Colonel General Kurt Student assumed. The Wehrmacht commander-in-chief, General der Flieger, Friedrich Christiansen, also took over command of the army. Until the beginning of the German Ardennes offensive (December 16, 1944) the camouflage designation AOK 15 was used to disguise the relocation of the 15th Army to the Aachen area , where it replaced the 5th Panzer Army , which was intended for use in the offensive .

British-Canadian advance in April 1945

At the end of March 1945, the British 2nd Army fought for the passage over the Rhine between Emmerich and Wesel as part of Operation Plunder , which put Army Group H in a difficult position. General Günther Blumentritt , who had led the 25th Army since the end of January, had to take over the leadership of the 1st Parachute Army instead of the wounded Alfred Schlemm . The commanding general of the XXX took over the deputy army command for him. Army Corps Philipp Kleffel . From the bridgehead at Emmerich, the 2nd Corps of the Canadian 1st Army began an outbreak to the north in the first days of April, as a result of which the cohesion of the German front could no longer be maintained. On April 7th, the 25th Army was renamed “ Fortress Holland ”, and on the same day Army Group H was renamed “Commander-in-Chief Northwest”. The previous commander in chief of the Army Group, Colonel General Johannes Blaskowitz , was replaced by Field Marshal Ernst Busch and took over command of the "Fortress Holland".

On May 4th near Lüneburg the partial surrender of the troops of the Commander-in-Chief Northwest including the fortress Holland to the commander of the 21st Army Group Bernard Montgomery was agreed, which came into force the next morning at 8:00 a.m. At the end of May, under Canadian supervision, the repatriation of German troops from the Netherlands to prison camps in the British occupation zone began on foot . Some units, mostly pioneers , remained in Dutch custody to be used for tasks such as demining .

people

Commander in Chief of the 25th Army:
period of service Rank Surname
November 10, 1944 to January 29, 1945 General of the Aviators Friedrich Christiansen
January 29 to March 28, 1945 General of the Infantry Günther Blumentritt (m. D. F. b.)
March 28 to April 7, 1945 General of the cavalry Philipp Kleffel (head of department)
April 7, 1945 until the surrender Colonel General Johannes Blaskowitz
Chief of the General Staff of the 25th Army:
period of service Rank Surname
November 10, 1944 to April 7, 1945 Lieutenant General Paul Reichelt
General Staff Officers (Ia) of the 25th Army:
period of service Rank Surname
November 20, 1944 to 1945 Colonel Hermann Rehm
1945 to April 7, 1945 Colonel Paul Müncheberg

structure

Structure as of December 31, 1944

Structure from January 26 to February 1, 1945

  • XXX. Army corps at special disposal
  • LXXXVIII. Army Corps
    • 6th Paratrooper Division
    • 2nd Paratrooper Division

Structure from February 19 to March 1, 1945

  • XXX. Army corps at special disposal
    • Combat Group 346th Infantry Division
  • LXXXVIII. Army Corps

Structure from March 31, 1945

Web links