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Army Group Centre
Army Group Centre
Army Group Centre
Contents
Formation
Order of battle at formation
Campaign and operational history
Operation Barbarossa
Attack on Moscow
Rzhev operations
Campaign in central Russia
Belarusian anti-partisan campaign
Operation Citadel
Wotan Line defensive campaign
Destruction of Army Group Centre
Defensive campaign in Poland and Slovakia
Defence of the Reich campaign
Battle of Berlin
Battle of Prague
Surrender
Commanders
See also
Notes and references
Bibliography
Further reading
Formation
The commander in chief on the formation of the Army Group Centre (22 June 1941) was Fedor von Bock.
Order of battle at formation
Army Group HQ troops
1st Cav. Div., 3rd Pz, 4th Pz., 10th Mot.Div., 267th ID
7th ID, 23rd ID, 258th ID, 268th ID, 221st Sec.Div.
Operation Barbarossa
On 22 June 1941, Nazi Germany and its Axis allies launched their surprise offensive into the Soviet Union.
Their armies, totaling over three million men, were to advance in three geographical directions. Army
Group Centre's initial strategic goal was to defeat the Soviet armies in Belarus and occupy Smolensk. To
accomplish this, the army group planned for a rapid advance using Blitzkrieg operational methods for
which purpose it commanded two panzer groups rather than one. A quick and decisive victory over the
Soviet Union was expected by mid-November. The Army Group's other operational missions were to
support the army groups on its northern and southern flanks, the army group boundary for the later being
the Pripyat River.
Bitter fighting in the Battle of Smolensk as well as the Lötzen decision delayed the German advance for
two months. The advance of Army Group Centre was further delayed as Hitler ordered a postponement of
the offensive against Moscow in order to conquer Ukraine first.
Attack on Moscow
October 1941 detailed order of battle
2nd Army (von Weichs)
The commander in chief as of 19 December 1941 was Günther von Kluge (for a short time before
Christmas of 1941, this role was fulfilled by Günther Blumentritt).
Rzhev operations
1942 opened for Army Group Centre with continuing attacks from Soviet forces around Rzhev. The
German Ninth Army was able to repel these attacks and stabilise its front, despite continuing large-scale
partisan activity in its rear areas. Meanwhile, the German strategic focus on the Eastern Front shifted to
southwestern Russia, with the launching of Operation Blue in June. This operation, aimed at the oilfields in
the southwestern Caucasus, involved Army Group South alone, with the other German army groups giving
up troops and equipment for the offensive.
Despite the focus on the south, Army Group Centre continued to see fierce fighting throughout the year.
While the Soviet attacks in early 1942 had not driven the Germans back, they had resulted in several Red
Army units being trapped behind German lines. Eliminating the pockets took until July, the same month in
which the Soviets made another attempt to break through the army group's front; the attempt failed, but the
front line was pushed back closer to Rzhev. The largest Soviet operation in the army group's sector that
year, Operation Mars, took place in November. It was launched concurrently with Operation Uranus, the
counteroffensive against the German assault on Stalingrad. The operation was repulsed with very heavy
Soviet losses, although it did have the effect of pinning down German units that could have been sent to the
fighting around Stalingrad.
Following the disaster of Stalingrad and poor results of the Voronezh defensive operations, the army high
command expected another attack on Army Group Centre in early 1943. However, Hitler had decided to
strike first. Before this strike could be launched, Operation Büffel was launched to forestall any possible
Soviet spring offensives, by evacuating the Rzhev Salient to shorten the frontline.
The following major anti-partisan operations were conducted in the rear of Army Group Centre, alongside
many smaller operations:
Operation Bamberg: conducted 26 March 1942 – 6 April 1942 by the 707th Infantry Division
supported by a Slovakian regiment, south of Bobruisk. At least 5,000 people (including
many civilians) were killed and agricultural produce was confiscated.[1]
Operation Fruhlingsfest: conducted 17 April 1944 – 12 May 1944 in the area of Polotsk by
units of Gruppe von Gottberg. Around 7,000 deaths were recorded at the hands of German
forces.
Operation Kormoran: conducted 25 May 1944 – 17 June 1944 between Minsk and Borisov
by German security units in the rear of Third Panzer Army. Around 7,500 deaths recorded.
Increasing coordination of the partisan activity resulted in the conducting of Operation Concert against the
German forces.
Operation Citadel
In the spring of 1944, Stavka started concentrating forces along the front line in central Russia for a summer
offensive against Army Group Centre. The Red Army also carried out a masterful deception campaign
(Maskirovka) to convince the Wehrmacht that the main Soviet summer offensive would be launched further
south, against Army Group North Ukraine. The German High Command was fooled and armored units
were moved south out of Army Group Centre.
The offensive, code-named Operation Bagration, was launched on 22 June 1944. 185 Red Army divisions
comprising 2.3 million soldiers and 4,000 tanks and assault guns smashed into the German positions on a
front of 200 km. The 800,000-strong Army Group Centre was crushed. It is estimated that 500,000
Germans were killed, wounded, or captured, including 57,000 prisoners who were paraded through
Moscow on 17 July. The Soviet forces raced forward, liberating Minsk on 3 July, the rest of Belorussia by
mid-July, and reaching the Vistula and the Baltic States by early August. In terms of casualties this was the
greatest German defeat of the entire war.
The commander in chief of Army Group Centre as of 28 June 1944 was Walter Model.
Discussion of the army group's situation in January 1945 should note that the army groups in the east
changed names later that month. The force known as "Army Group Centre" at the start of the Soviet
Vistula-Oder Offensive on 12 January 1945 was renamed "Army Group North" less than two weeks after
the offensive commenced. At the start of the Vistula-Oder Offensive, the Soviet forces facing Army Group
Centre outnumbered the Germans on average by 2:1 in troops, 3:1 in artillery, and 5.5:1 in tanks and self-
propelled artillery.[2] The Soviet superiority in troop strength grows to almost 3:1 if 200,000 Volkssturm
militia are not included in German personnel strength totals.
On 25 January 1945, Hitler renamed three army groups. Army Group North became Army Group
Courland, Army Group Centre became Army Group North, and Army Group A became Army Group
Centre. Army Group Centre fought in the defence of Slovakia and Bohemia-Moravia as well as sections of
the German heartland.
Battle of Berlin
The last Soviet campaign of the war in the European theater, which led to the fall of Berlin and the end of
the war in Europe with the surrender of all German forces to the Allies. The three Soviet Fronts involved in
the campaign had altogether 2.5 million men, 6,250 tanks, 7,500 aircraft, 41,600 artillery pieces and
mortars, 3,255 truck-mounted Katyusha rocket launchers (nicknamed "Stalin Organs" by the Germans),
and 95,383 motor vehicles. The campaign started with the battle of Oder-Neisse. Army Group Centre
commanded by Ferdinand Schörner (the commander in chief as of 17 January 1945) had a front that
included the river Neisse. Before dawn on the morning of 16 April 1945 the 1st Ukrainian Front under the
command of General Konev started the attack over the river Neisse with a short but massive bombardment
by tens of thousands of artillery pieces.
Battle of Prague
Some of the Army Group Centre continued to resist until 11 May 1945, by which time the overwhelming
force of the Soviet Armies sent to liberate Czechoslovakia in the Prague Offensive gave them no option but
to surrender or be killed.
By 7 May 1945, the day that German Chief-of-Staff General Alfred Jodl was negotiating surrender of all
German forces at SHAEF, the German Armed Forces High Command (AFHC) had not heard from
Schörner since 2 May 1945. He had reported that he intended to fight his way west and surrender his army
group to the Americans. On 8 May 1945, a colonel from the Allied Forces High Command was escorted
through the American lines to see Schörner. The colonel reported that Schörner had ordered the men under
his operational command to observe the surrender but that he could not guarantee that he would be obeyed
everywhere. Later that day, Schörner deserted his command and flew to Austria where on 18 May 1945 he
was arrested by the Americans.
Commanders
No. Portrait Commander Took office Left office Time in office
Generalfeldmarschall
1 Fedor von Bock 22 June 1941 19 December 1941 180 days
(1880–1945)
Generalfeldmarschall
2 Günther von Kluge 19 December 1941 12 October 1943 1 year, 297 days
(1882–1944)
Generalfeldmarschall
3 Ernst Busch 29 October 1943 28 June 1944 243 days
(1885–1945)
Generalfeldmarschall
4 Walter Model 28 June 1944 16 August 1944 49 days
(1891–1945)
Generaloberst
5 Georg-Hans Reinhardt 16 August 1944 17 January 1945 154 days
(1887–1963)
Generaloberst
6 Ferdinand Schörner 17 January 1945 25 January 1945 8 days
(1892–1973)
See also
Army Group South
Army Group North
Army Group Centre Rear Area
Police Regiment Centre
Bibliography
Frieser, Karl-Heinz; Schmider, Klaus; Schönherr, Klaus; Schreiber, Gerhard; Ungváry,
Krisztián; Wegner, Bernd (2007). Die Ostfront 1943/44 – Der Krieg im Osten und an den
Nebenfronten [The Eastern Front 1943–1944: The War in the East and on the Neighbouring
Fronts]. Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg [Germany and the Second World
War] (in German). VIII. München: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt. ISBN 978-3-421-06235-2.
Gerlach, C. Kalkulierte Morde. Hamburg Edition, 2000
Tessin, Georg (1980). Die Landstreitkräfte: Namensverbände / Die Luftstreitkräfte (Fliegende
Verbände) / Flakeinsatz im Reich 1943–1945 [Ground forces: Named units and formations /
Air forces (Flying units and formations) / Anti–aircraft service in the Reich 1943–1945].
Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen–SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg
1939–1945 (in German). 14. Osnabrück: Biblio. ISBN 3-7648-1111-0.
Ustinov, Dmitriy. Geschichte des Zweiten Welt Krieges, Volume 10. Berlin: Militärverlag der
Deutschen Demokratischen Republik, 1982
Further reading
Ian Kershaw, The End: The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1944-1945, (New
York: Penguin Press, 2011). ISBN 978-1-101-56550-6.
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