Army Group South Ukraine

Summary

Army Group South Ukraine (German: Heeresgruppe Südukraine, Romanian: Grupul de Armate Ucraina de Sud) was a joint German-Romanian group on the Eastern Front during World War II.

Army Group South Ukraine
German: Heeresgruppe Südukraine
Romanian: Grupul de Armate Ucraina de Sud
Active5 April – 23 September 1944
Country Nazi Germany
 Romania (until 24 August 1944)
Allegiance Nazi Germany
Branch Heer ( Wehrmacht)
 Romanian Land Forces
Size905,000 (500,000 Germans, 405,000 Romanians)[1]

120 tanks + 280 assault guns[2][3]

7,600 artillery pieces[4]
810 aircraft[5]
EngagementsEastern Front
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Ferdinand Schörner
Johannes Frießner

Army Group South Ukraine was created on 5 April 1944 by renaming Army Group A.[6] This army group saw action during the Jassy-Kishinev Operation and after taking heavy casualties was redesignated Army Group South (Heeresgruppe Süd) at midnight on 23 September 1944.[7][a]

Geographically, Army Group South Ukraine – headquartered at Slănic-Moldova – held 392 miles (680 km) of front, of which 160 were held by Romanians.[8] Its operational area covered all of Eastern Romania, from a line 40 km (25 miles) east of Bucharest.[9]

Order of Battle, 15 August 1944[10] (Army HQ[11]) edit

Commanders edit

No. Portrait Commander[b] Took office Left office Time in office
1
 
Schörner, FerdinandGeneralfeldmarschall
Ferdinand Schörner
(1892–1973)
31 March 194425 July 194486 days
2
 
Frießner, JohannesGeneraloberst
Johannes Frießner
(1892–1971)
25 July 194423 September 194490 days

Notes edit

  1. ^ Edwald Klapdor. 2011, Viking Panzers: The German 5th SS Tank Regiment in the East in World War II, pg 383 states that it was redesignated Army Group South on 15 September, 1944.
  2. ^ Army Group South Ukraine could not take major operational decisions without securing Ion Antonescu's approval.[12]


Bibliography edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ David M. Glantz, Jonathan M. House, University Press of Kansas, Oct 16, 2015, When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler, Revised and Expanded Edition, p. 281
  2. ^ Samuel W. Mitcham Jr., Stackpole Books, Jan 23, 2007, The German Defeat in the East: 1944-45, p. 170
  3. ^ Command and General Staff School, 1985, Professional Journal of the United States Army, p. 57
  4. ^ Command and General Staff School, 1985, Professional Journal of the United States Army, p. 57
  5. ^ Command and General Staff School, 1985, Professional Journal of the United States Army, p. 57
  6. ^ Ziemke 2002, p. 286.
  7. ^ Ziemke 2002, p. 360.
  8. ^ Samuel W. Mitcham Jr., Stackpole Books, Jan 23, 2007, The German Defeat in the East: 1944-45, pp. 171-172
  9. ^ Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 156
  10. ^ Samuel W. Mitcham Jr., Stackpole Books, Jan 23, 2007, The German Defeat in the East: 1944-45, pp. 164-165
  11. ^ Samuel W. Mitcham Jr., Stackpole Books, Jan 23, 2007, The German Defeat in the East: 1944-45, p. 172
  12. ^ Mark Axworthy, London: Arms and Armour, 1995, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941–1945, p. 158

References edit

  • Ziemke, Earl F. (2002). Stalingrad to Berlin: The German Defeat in the East. Washington, D.C: Center of Military History, US Army. ISBN 9781780392875.
  • Klapdor, Ewald (2011). Viking Panzers: The German 5th SS Tank Regiment in the East in World War II. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books.