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| Army Group E | |
|---|---|
| German:Heeresgruppe E | |
| Active | 1 January 1943 – 8 May 1945[1] |
| Disbanded | 8 May 1945 |
| Country |  Nazi Germany |
| Branch |  Heer ( Wehrmacht) |
| Type | Army group |
| Commanders | |
| Commander | Alexander Löhr |
Army Group E (German:Heeresgruppe E) was aGermanArmy Group active duringWorld War II.
Army Group E was created on 1 January 1943 from the12th Army. Units from this Army Group were distributed throughout theEastern Mediterranean area, includingAlbania,Greece, theTerritory of the Military Commander in Serbia, and theIndependent State of Croatia.
Its principal units were:[2]
The Army Group participated inanti-partisan operations inGreece andYugoslavia. During the course of these operations, several atrocities were committed, including the massacres ofKalavryta andDistomo in Greece. Furthermore, during the disarmament of the Italian army in September 1943, German troops executed over 5,000 Italian prisoners of war in theCephallonia Massacre. At the same time, the Army Groupsuccessfully repelled the British attempt to seize the Italian-occupiedDodecanese Islands.Army Group troops were also involved in theChortiatis massacre (September 1944).
When the fighting in Romania developed into aGerman defeat in the summer of 1944, Army Group E began to withdraw from the Greek islands and mainland. The withdrawal from the southern Balkans was successful. In the autumn of 1944, 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts, together with the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia (Partisans), conquered central Serbia as part of theBelgrade Operation. (The Soviet troops were then redeployed to Hungary.) This forced Army Group E and2nd Panzer Army to set off through the very mountainous terrain of southwestern Serbia, northern Montenegro and finally southeast Bosnia, towards Croatia. Throughout this journey, the Germans were attacked by the Partisans, with some British assistance (Operation Floxo). On the Bosnian border, Army Group E was able to establish a stable defensive position.
Army Group E was joined with what was left ofArmy Group F, which had been dissolved on 25 March 1945.In the spring of 1945, some troops were sent to Hungary, with some units moving to Austria and southern Germany. During the 1945 retreat the fortress units were amalgamated into theLXXXXI Army Corps.
Colonel General Alexander Löhr tried to hold the Independent State of Croatia against the People's Liberation Army. A major offensive by the People's Liberation Army, which began on 12 April 1945, drove the German troops together in the Slovenian-Austrian border area. A few units escaped and eventually surrendered to British forces that had occupied Styria and Carinthia. Alexander Löhr reached a partial agreement with the British Commander-in-Chief to accept the German units.
On 30 April 1945, Army Group E contained theLXIX Command (StuG Brigade South East),XV SS Cossacks (2nd Cossacks,1st Cossacks,11th LFD),XXI Mountain Corps (22nd Volksgrenadiers,369th Croatian,7th SS,181st,41st),XV Mountain Corps (373rd Croatian, 639th Security Regiment),LXXXXI Command (104th Jägers, 20th Jäger Regiment) andLXXXXVII Command (237th,188th Mountain, remains of392nd Croatian).[3]: 1145
On the day of the surrender, 8 May 1945, the mass of the Army group was still three day marches away from the Austrian border. Until 15 May, numerous units managed to escape to Austria. 150,000 German soldiers of the Army group were captured by Tito's forces. At that time, Army Group E consisted of seven German divisions, two Cossack divisions of theXV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps and nine Croatian divisions. 220,000 members of the Croatian forces who fled to Austria with Army Group E were extradited by the British to the Tito partisans after their surrender. Several thousand of them were subsequently killed in theBleiburg Massacre.
A member of Army Group E who later rose to prominence wasAustrian president andUnited NationsSecretary-GeneralKurt Waldheim, who served in the military administration ofThessaloniki.
| No. | Portrait | Commander | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Löhr, AlexanderGeneraloberst Alexander Löhr (1885–1947) | 31 December 1942 | 8 May 1945 | 2 years, 127 days | [4] |
