The first Army Group North was deployed during the Invasion of Poland and subsequently renamed Army Group B. The second Army Group North was created on 22 June 1941 from the former Army Group C and used in the northern sector of the Eastern Front from 1941 to January 1945. By then, this second Army Group North had gotten trapped in the Courland Pocket and was accordingly redesignated Army Group Courland. On the same day, the former Army Group Center, which was now defending the northernmost sector of the contiguous Eastern Front, was renamed Army Group North, assuming the status of the third and final iteration of the army group.
First deployment of Army Group North: September – October 1939
Fedor von Bock, commander of Army Group North in September 1939
The staff of Army Group North was formally assembled on 2 September 1939 from the headquarters of 2nd Army,[2] which in turn had been activated just a few days prior, on 26 August.[3]Fedor von Bock, commanding general of 2nd Army, became the first commanding general of Army Group North.[2]
On the morning of 1 September 1939, 3rd Army began its advance from East Prussia southwards towards central Poland, whereas 4th Army attacked from Pomerania into the Danzig Corridor.
After becoming trapped in the Courland Cauldron after 25 January 1945, the Army Group was renamed Army Group Courland. On the same day, in East Prussia, a new Army Group North was created by renaming Army Group Center. On the 2 April 1945, the army group was dissolved, and the staff formed the 12th Army headquarters.
Campaign in East Prussia
Army Group North (old Army Group Centre), was driven into an ever smaller pocket around Königsberg in East Prussia. On April 9, 1945 Königsberg finally fell to the Red Army, although remnants of Army Group units continued to resist on the Heiligenbeil & Danzig beachheads until the end of the war in Europe.
^Obkdo. d. H. Gr. Nord IVa, Az. 62 g. Kdos. Nr. 2095/43 g. Kdos. Verpflegungsstärke nach dem Stand vom 10.9.43. Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv (BA-MA) RH 19 III/648, fol. 105.
^ abTessin, Georg (1980). "Heeresgruppe Nord (1939)". Die Landstreitkräfte: Namensverbände – Die Luftstreitkräfte (Fliegende Verbände) – Flakeinsatz im Reich 1943–1945. Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939–1945 (in German). Vol. 14. Osnabrück: Verlag E. S. Mittler. p. 166. ISBN3764811110.
^Tessin, Georg (1966). "2. Armee (AOK 2)". Die Landstreitkräfte 001–005. Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939–1945 (in German). Vol. 2. Frankfurt/Main: Verlag E. S. Mittler. p. 83. ISBN3764808713.
^Zaloga, Steven J. (2002). "German Army Order of Battle, 1 September 1939". Poland 1939: The Birth of Blitzkrieg. Osprey Publishing. p. 35. ISBN1841764086.
^ abTessin, Georg (1966). "3. Armee (AOK 3)". Die Landstreitkräfte 001–005. Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939–1945 (in German). Vol. 2. Frankfurt/Main: Verlag E. S. Mittler. pp. 153f. ISBN3764808713.
^ abTessin, Georg (1966). "4. Armee (AOK 4)". Die Landstreitkräfte 001–005. Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939–1945 (in German). Vol. 2. Frankfurt/Main: Verlag E. S. Mittler. pp. 219–225. ISBN3764808713.
^Lakowski, Richard (2008). "Der Zusammenbruch der deutschen Verteidigung zwischen Ostsee und Karpaten". In Müller, Rolf-Dieter (ed.). Die Militärische Niederwerfung der Wehrmacht. Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg (in German). Vol. 10/1. München: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt. pp. 491–681. ISBN9783421062376.
Bibliography
Frieser, Karl-Heinz; Schmider, Klaus; Schönherr, Klaus; Schreiber, Gerhard; Ungváry, Kristián; 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] (in German). Vol. VIII. München: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt. ISBN978-3-421-06235-2. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
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