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| 1st Army | |
|---|---|
| German:1. Armee | |
| Active | 26 August 1939 – 6 May 1945 |
| Country |  Nazi Germany |
| Branch |  German army ( Wehrmacht) |
| Type | Field army (Wehrmacht) |
| Engagements | World War II |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Erwin von Witzleben Johannes Blaskowitz Joachim Lemelsen Kurt von der Chevallerie Otto von Knobelsdorff Kurt von Tippelskirch Hans von Obstfelder Hermann Foertsch Rudolf Koch-Erpach |
The1st Army (German:1. Armee) was aWorld War II field army.
The 1st Army was activated on 26 August 1939, inWehrkreis XII with GeneralErwin von Witzleben in command. Its primary mission was to take defensive positions and guard the western defences (West Wall) ofGermany against Allied forces along theMaginot Line during theattack on Poland,[1] making it the principal German combatant during the short-lived FrenchSaar Offensive.
During theWestern campaign it belonged to theArmy Group C and initially remained passive towards theMaginot Line. the 1st Army continued its defensive assignment on the French border until June 1940, when theBattle of France had turned decisively to Germany's favor.[1]
Starting on 14 June 1940, the 1st Army began the penetration of the Maginot Line, breaking through French defenses, it began concentrating its forces in the frontier sector south ofSaarbrücken. Another penetration was conducted north ofWörth am Main on 19 June. Beginning on 21 June and until 24 June, the 1st Army participated in the annihilation of the remnants of the French forces in theMoselle andVosges regions.[1]
After the end of the western campaign, the army remained inFrance. It secured the demarcation line and then the Atlantic coast (Atlantic Wall) in southwest France until May 1942, when they were moved to Normandy.
After the French capitulation, the 1st Army spent until mid-1944 protecting theAtlantic coast of France from a possible seaborne incursion. At the time of the first AlliedNormandy landings on 6 June 1944, the 1st Army, then underKurt von der Chevallerie was headquartered atBordeaux and attached toJohannes Blaskowitz'sArmy Group G atToulouse, along with19th Army (Georg von Sodenstern) atAvignon.[2]: 442 was pushed back to the western border of theGerman Reich. and reorganized inLorraine after a hasty retreat with the rest of the German forces across France, in August 1944, During the battles along the German frontier, the First Army attempted to prevent theThird United States Army from crossing theMoselle River and capturingMetz while also attempting to hold the northernVosges Mountains against theSeventh United States Army.
In November 1944, both defensive lines were broken and the First Army retreated to the German border and defended theSaarland of Germany, an important industrial region.
With the Third U.S. Army engaged to the north against the GermanArdennes Offensive, the 1st Army attacked the Seventh U.S. Army on New Year's Day 1945 inOperation Nordwind, causing the Americans to give ground and inflicting significant casualties where Seventh U.S. Army defensive lines were stretched taut by the length of frontage they had to cover. With the failure ofNordwind in late January, the 1st Army was first pushed back to theSiegfried Line and then forced to retreat across theRhine River. From March 15 to March 24, 1945 duringOperation Undertone, the7th US Army on a broad front surrounded to the 1st Army nearKaiserslautern. However, when the Allies pierced the German fortifications, they were forced to retreat. Thereafter, the First Army made an ordered withdrawal to theDanube River, and later toMunich. On May 6, 1945, near the Alps, the 1st armysurrendered to allied forces.
| No. | Portrait | Commander | Took office | Left office | Time in office |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Witzleben, ErwinGeneraloberst Erwin von Witzleben (1881–1944) | 26 August 1939 | 23 October 1940 | 1 year, 58 days |
| 2 |  | Blaskowitz, JohannesGeneraloberst Johannes Blaskowitz (1883–1948) | 24 October 1940 | 2 May 1944 | 3 years, 191 days |
| 3 | .jpg) | Lemelsen, JoachimGeneral der Panzertruppe Joachim Lemelsen (1888–1954) | 3 May 1944 | 3 June 1944 | 31 days |
| 4 |  | Chevallerie, KurtGeneral der Infanterie Kurt von der Chevallerie (1891–1945) | 4 June 1944 | 5 September 1944 | 93 days |
| 5 | | Knobelsdorff, OttoGeneral der Panzertruppe Otto von Knobelsdorff (1886–1966) | 6 September 1944 | 29 November 1944 | 84 days |
| 6 | | Knobelsdorff, OttoGeneral der Infanterie Kurt von Tippelskirch[3] (1891–1957) | 30 October 1944 | 11 November 1944 | 12 days |
| 7 |  | Obstfelder, HansGeneral der Infanterie Hans von Obstfelder (1886–1976) | 30 November 1944 | 2 February 1945 | 64 days |
| 8 |  | Foertsch, HermannGeneral der Infanterie Hermann Foertsch (1895–1961) | 28 February 1945 | 4 May 1945 | 65 days |
| 9 | .jpg) | Koch, RudolfGeneral der Kavallerie Rudolf Koch-Erpach (1886–1971) | 6 May 1945 | 8 May 1945 | 2 days |