Army Group F

Army Group F ( _de. "Heeresgruppe F") was a strategic command formation of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War subordinated to Oberbefehlshaber Südost (OB South East).

Created 12 August 1943, at Bayreuth (WK XIII), it was primarily stationed in the Balkans. Its commander from August 1943 was Maximilian von Weichs promoted to "Generalfeldmarschall" on 1 February 1943, with General Lieutenant Hermann Foertsch serving as the Chief of Staff. [D 4, Hogg] Its primarily participation in combat was in defending against possible Allied invasion in what was seen as Germany’s "weak underbelly", and fighting off local partisan groups that were gaining strength. In late 1944, he oversaw the German retreat from Greece and most of Yugoslavia in the wake of the Budapest Offensive.

The Army Group included for much of the war the 2nd Panzer Army that looked formidable only on paper. Its only armour were the obsolete Italian tanks, and nearly half of its troops were Bulgarian or collaborator volunteers.

Order of Battle July 1944

The subordinate units of the Army Group were predominantly the less capable "fortress" and reerve divisions, collaborationist units such as the "Cossacks" and 392nd Croatian division and Bulgarian divisions [p.200, Mitcham] :LXIX Corps z.b. V General of Infantry Helge Auleb:XV Mountain Corps General of Panzer troops Gustav Fehn:V SS Mountain Corps General Lieutenant Arthur Pheps:I Bulgarian Corps:Branderburg Panzergrenadier Division (mot.) (Army Group reserve)

Created for the defence of Belgrade was the Armeekorps Belgrade commanded by General Willi Scheckenburger.

It later came to include the Armeeabteilung Serbien, and the Croatian troops. [p.6, Thomas]

The Army Group F was disbanded 25 March 1945.

References

ources

* Hogg, Ian V., "German Order of Battle 1944: The regiments, formations and units of the German ground forces", Arms and Armour Press, London, 1975
* Thomas, Nigel, (Author), Andrew, Stephen, (Illustrator), "The German Army 1939-45 (4): Eastern Front 1943-45" (Men-at-Arms 330), Osprey Publishing, 1998 ISBN 978-1855327962
* Mitcham, Samuel W., Jr., German Defeat in the East, 1944-45 (Stackpole Military History), 2007 ISBN 978-0811733717

See also

*Wehrmacht
*Yugoslav Front of World War II