Army Group A (Heeresgruppe A) was the name of several German Army Groups during World War II.
During the German invasion of the Low Countries and France Army Group A was under the command of Generaloberst Gerd von Rundstedt and was responsible for the break-out through the Ardennes. It was composed of 45½ divisions, including the 7 panzer divisions of Panzer Group Kleist.
Order of Battle
4th Army Generaloberst Günther von Kluge
Panzer Group Kleist
V Army Corps (Wehrmacht) General Infantry Richard Ruoff
251st Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) GenLt Hans Kratzert
VIII Army Corps (Wehrmacht) General Infantry Ernst Busch
8th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) GenLt Rudolf Koch-Erpach
28th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) GenMaj Johann Sinnhuber
II Army Corps (Wehrmacht) General Infantry Adolf Strauss
12th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) GenLt Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach
32nd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) GenLt Franz Böhme
XV Army Corps (Wehrmacht) General Infantry Hermann Hoth
5th Panzer Division GenLt Joachim Lemelsen
7th Panzer Division GenMaj Erwin Rommel
62nd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) GenMaj Walter Keiner
Reserve
4th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) GenLt Erick-Oskar Hansen
87th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) GenLt Bogislav von Studnitz
211th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) GenLt Kurt Renner
263rd Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) GenLt Franz Karl
267th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) GenLt Ernst Fessmann
16th Army General Infantry Ernst Busch
XXIII Army Corps (Wehrmacht) GenLt Albrecht Schubert
12th Army Generaloberst Wilhelm List
In 1942, Army Group South was in southern Russia on the Eastern Front. For Case Blue (Fall Blau), the summer offensive of the German Armed Forces (Wehrmacht), Army Group South was split into Army Group A and Army Group B. Army Group A was ordered south to capture the oil fields in the Caucasus.
Army Group A included the following armies:
German 1st Panzer Army
German 11th Army
German 17th Army
Romanian 3rd Army
On January 16, 1945 Colonel Bogislaw von Bonin, the Chief of the Operational Branch of the Army General Staff (Generalstab des Heeres) gave Heeresgruppe A permission to retreat during the Soviet Vistula-Oder Offensive, rejecting a direct order from Adolf Hitler for them to hold fast. Although Heeresgruppe A escaped encirclement and regrouped, von Bonin was arrested by the Gestapo on January 19, 1945, and imprisoned first at Flossenbürg concentration camp and then Dachau concentration camp. He was eventually liberated along with other prisoners in South Tyrol by the US Army in May 1945.
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.
Generaloberst (→ 19 July 40 Generalfeldmarschall) Gerd von Rundstedt (15 Oct 1939 - 1 Oct 1940)
Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm List (10 July - 10 Sep 1942)
Adolf Hitler (10 Sep - 21 Nov 1942)
Generaloberst (→ 1 Feb 43 Generalfeldmarschall) Ewald von Kleist (22 Sep 1942 - June 1943)
General der Gebirgstruppe Hubert Lanz (June - July 1943)
Generalfeldmarschall Ewald von Kleist (July 43 - 25 Mar 1944)
Generaloberst Ferdinand Schörner (25 Mar - 31 Mar 1944)
Generaloberst Josef Harpe (28 Sep 1944 - 17 Jan 1945)
Generaloberst Ferdinand Schörner (17 Jan - 26 Jan 1945)
Generalleutnant Erich von Manstein (26 Oct 1939 - 1 Feb 1940)
Generalleutnant (→ 1 Aug 40 General der Infanterie) Georg von Sodenstern (6 Feb - 1 Oct 1940)
Generalleutnant Hans von Greiffenberg (10 July 1942 - 23 Feb 1943)
Generalleutnant Alfred Gause (23 Feb - 13 May 1943)
Generalleutnant Hans von Greiffenberg (13 May - 16 July 1943)
Generalmajor (from 1 September 43 Generalleutnant) Hans Röttiger (16 July 1943 - 24 Mar 1944)
Generalleutnant Walther Wenck (24 Mar - 22 July 1944)
Generalleutnant Wolf-Dietrich von Xylander (28 September 1944 - 15 February 1945)
