12th Army Group
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The Twelfth United States
Army Group An army group is a military organization consisting of several field army, field armies, which is self-sufficient for indefinite periods. It is usually responsible for a particular geographic area. An army group is the largest field organizatio ...
was the largest and most powerful
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
formation ever to take to the field, commanding four field armies at its peak in 1945:
First United States Army First Army is the largest OC/T organization in the U.S. Army, comprising two divisions, ten brigades, and more than 7,500 Soldiers. Its mission is to partner with the U.S. Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve to enable leaders and deli ...
,
Third United States Army Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...
,
Ninth United States Army The Ninth Army was a field army of the United States Army, most recently garrisoned at Caserma Ederle, Vicenza, Italy. It was the United States Army Service Component Command of United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM or AFRICOM). Activated just ...
, and Fifteenth United States Army. The
order of battle Order of battle of an armed force participating in a military operation or campaign shows the hierarchical organization, command structure, strength, disposition of personnel, and equipment of units and formations of the armed force. Various abbr ...
across the four armies comprised 12
corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...
, containing a total of 48
divisions Division may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication * Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting of 10,000 t ...
. Formed eight days after the
Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...
, it initially controlled the First and the Third US Armies. Through various configurations in 1944 and 1945, the Twelfth US Army Group controlled the majority of American forces on the Western Front. It was commanded by General
Omar Bradley Omar Nelson Bradley (12 February 1893 – 8 April 1981) was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the United States Army during and after World War II, rising to the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He wa ...
with its headquarters established in London on 14 July 1944. During the first week of the Normandy landings and the
Battle of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the N ...
, Bradley's First US Army formed the right wing of the Allied lines. They were joined during July by the Third US Army, under the command of General George S. Patton, to form the Twelfth Army Group. Twelfth Army Group became operational in France on 1 August 1944. With General Omar Bradley assuming command of the Twelfth Army Group, Lieutenant General Courtney Hodges assumed command of the First Army. In addition, the
USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
's
Ninth Air Force The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint D ...
(not included in the 1.3 million soldiers figure) was attached to support the field armies of the Twelfth Army Group. Until 1 September 1944, when General Dwight D. Eisenhower assumed overall command of the Allied land forces in
Northwest Europe Northwestern Europe, or Northwest Europe, is a loosely defined subregion of Europe, overlapping Northern Europe, Northern and Western Europe. The term is used in geographic, history, and military contexts. Geographic definitions Geography, Geo ...
, the US forces in Normandy were included with the
British Second Army The British Second Army was a Field Army active during the World War I, First and World War II, Second World Wars. During the First World War the army was active on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front throughout most of the war and later ...
and the First Canadian Army in the British headquarters formation
21st Army Group The 21st Army Group was a British headquarters formation formed during the Second World War. It controlled two field armies and other supporting units, consisting primarily of the British Second Army and the First Canadian Army. Established ...
, commanded by General Bernard Montgomery. After the breakout from the beach-head at Normandy, the Twelfth Army Group formed the center of the Allied forces on the Western Front. To the north was the British 21st Army Group (the First Canadian and British Second) and, to the south, advancing from their
landing Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying animal, aircraft, or spacecraft returns to the ground. When the flying object returns to water, the process is called alighting, although it is commonly called "landing", "touchdown" or " spl ...
on the Mediterranean coast, was the
Sixth United States Army Group The 6th United States Army Group (also referred to as the Southern Group of Armies) was an Allied army group that fought in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. Made up of field armies from both the United States Army an ...
( Seventh United States Army and French First Army). As the Twelfth advanced through Germany in 1945, it grew to control four United States field armies: the First, the
Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...
, the
Ninth In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second. Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...
and the Fifteenth. By
V-E Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945; it marked the official surrender of all German military operations ...
, the Twelfth Army Group was a force that numbered over 1.3 million men.CSI REPORT No. 6, Larger units: Theater Army – Army Group – Field Army, Combat Studies Institute, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, January 198

/ref> Twelfth Army Group was inactivated on 12 July 1945 upon Bradley's departure to become Director of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration. Its subordinate elements then became directly subordinate to United States Army Europe.


Staff


Order of battle – 8 May 1945

* 12th Army Group – General Omar N. Bradley ** First Army – General Courtney H. Hodges *** 78th Infantry Division – Major General Edwin P. Parker Jr. *** VII Corps – Lieutenant General J. Lawton Collins **** 3rd Armored Division – Brigadier General Doyle O. Hickey **** 9th Infantry Division – Major General Louis A. Craig **** 69th Infantry Division – Major General Emil F. Reinhardt **** 104th Infantry Division – Major General Terry de la Mesa Allen Sr. *** VIII Corps – Major General Troy H. Middleton **** 6th Armored Division – Major General Robert W. Grow **** 76th Infantry Division – Major General William R. Schmidt **** 87th Infantry Division – Major General Frank L. Culin Jr. **** 89th Infantry Division – Major General Thomas D. Finley ** Third Army – General George S. Patton Jr. *** 4th Infantry Division – Major General Harold W. Blakeley *** 70th Infantry Division – Major General Allison J. Barnett *** III Corps – Major General
James Van Fleet General (United States), General James Alward Van Fleet (19 March 1892 – 23 September 1992) was a United States Army officer who served during World War I, World War II and the Korean War. Van Fleet was a native of New Jersey, who was raised i ...
**** 14th Armored Division – Major General Albert C. Smith **** 99th Infantry Division – Major General Walter E. Lauer *** V Corps – Major General Clarence R. Huebner **** 9th Armored Division – Major General John W. Leonard **** 16th Armored Division – Brigadier General John L. Pierce **** 1st Infantry Division – Major General Clift Andrus **** 2nd Infantry Division – Major General Walter M. Robertson **** 97th Infantry Division – Brigadier General Milton B. Halsey *** XII Corps – Major General Stafford LeRoy Irwin **** 4th Armored Division – Major General William M. Hoge **** 11th Armored Division – Major General Holmes E. Dager **** 5th Infantry Division – Major General Albert E. Brown **** 26th Infantry Division – Major General Willard S. Paul ****
90th Infantry Division 90th Division may refer to: ;Infantry * 90th Division (1st Formation) (People's Republic of China), 1949–1950 * 90th Division (2nd Formation) (People's Republic of China), 1950–1952 * 90th Light Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) * 90th Infantry Di ...
– Major General Herbert L. Earnest *** XX Corps – Major General Walton H. Walker **** 13th Armored Division – Major General John Millikin **** 65th Infantry Division – Major General Stanley E. Reinhart **** 71st Infantry Division – Major General
Willard G. Wyman General (United States), General Willard Gordon Wyman (21 March 1898 – 29 March 1969) was a senior United States Army Officer (armed forces), officer who served as Commanding officer, Commanding General of Continental Army Command from 1956 t ...
**** 80th Infantry Division – Major General Horace L. McBride ** Ninth Army – Lieutenant General William H. Simpson *** XIII Corps – Major General Alvan C. Gillem, Jr. **** 35th Infantry Division – Major General Paul W. Baade **** 84th Infantry Division – Major General Alexander R. Bolling **** 102nd Infantry Division – Major General Frank A. Keating *** XVI Corps – Major General John B. Anderson **** 29th Infantry Division – Major General Charles H. Gerhardt **** 75th Infantry Division – Major General Ray E. Porter **** 79th Infantry Division – Major General Ira T. Wyche **** 95th Infantry Division – Major General Harry L. Twaddle *** XIX Corps – Major General Raymond S. McLain **** 2nd Armored Division – Major General Isaac D. White **** 8th Armored Division – Major General John M. Devine **** 30th Infantry Division – Major General Leland S. Hobbs **** 83rd Infantry Division – Major General Robert C. Macon ** Fifteenth Army – Lieutenant General Leonard T. Gerow *** 66th Infantry Division – Major General Herman F. Kramer *** 106th Infantry Division – Major General Donald A. Stroh *** XXII Corps – Major General Ernest N. Harmon **** 17th Airborne Division – Major General William M. Miley **** 94th Infantry Division – Major General Harry J. Malony *** XXIII Corps – Major General Hugh J. Gaffey **** 28th Infantry Division – Major General Norman D. Cota **
XVIII Airborne Corps The XVIII Airborne Corps is a corps of the United States Army that has been in existence since 1942 and saw extensive service during World War II. The corps is designed for Rapid deployment force, rapid deployment anywhere in the world and is r ...
(attached to 21st Army Group) – Major General Matthew B. Ridgway *** 5th Armored Division – Major General Lunsford E. Oliver *** 7th Armored Division – Major General Robert W. Hasbrouck *** 8th Infantry Division – Major General Bryant E. Moore ***
82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into hostile areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...
– Major General James M. Gavin Source: Bradley, Omar, ''A Soldier's Story'', New York: Henry Holt and Company (1950), pp. 557–561


References and notes


External links


Military situation maps produced by the Engineering Section of the 12th Army Group
– Library of Congress
Omar Nelson Bradley, Lt. General FUSAG 12TH AG
– Omar Bradley's D-Day June 6, 1944 Maps restored, preserved and displayed at Historical Registry {{Authority control 12 Military units and formations established in 1944 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945