Army Group D

Army Group D (Heeresgruppe D) was a German Army Group which saw action during World War II.

Army Group D
Heeresgruppe D
Active	26 October 1940 –
Country	Nazi Germany
Commanders
Notable commanders	Erwin von Witzleben Gerd von Rundstedt Günther von Kluge Walter Model Albert Kesselring
Insignia
Identification symbol

Army Group D was formed on 26 October 1940 in France, its initial cadre coming from the disbanded Army Group C.

On 15 April 1941, the status of Army Group D was upgraded. From that date on, the commander of Army Group D was also to be considered Oberbefehlshaber West (or OB WEST – the Commander in Chief for the Western Theatre). As a result of this, Army Group D is sometimes incorrectly referred to as Army Group West.

Commanders

No.		Name	Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Generalfeldmarschall Erwin von Witzleben (1881–1944)	25 October 1940	15 March 1942	348 days
2		Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt (1875–1953)	15 March 1942	2 July 1944	2 years, 109 days
3		Generalfeldmarschall Günther von Kluge (1882–1944)	2 July 1944	15 August 1944	44 days
(2)		Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt (1875–1953)	15 August 1944	11 March 1945	208 days
4		Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring (1885–1960)	11 March 1945	22 April 1945	42 days

Orders of battle

May 1941

• Seventh Army
• First Army
• Fifteenth Army
• Commander of all German troops of Occupation in the Netherlands

May 1944

• Army Group G
• Army Group B
• Panzer Group West
• First Fallschirm Army

December 1944

• Army Group G
• Army Group B
• Army Group H
• Sixth SS Panzer Army

References

• 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.