Army Group G was initially deployed as an
Armeegruppe-type formation on 28 April 1944, but was later upgraded to
Heeresgruppe-type on 12 September 1944. When the
Allied invasion of Southern France took place, Army Group G had eleven divisions with which to hold France south of the
Loire. Between August 17 and 18, the
German Armed Forces High Command ordered Army Group G (
with the exception of the troops holding the fortress ports) to abandon southern France.
German LXIV Corps, in command in the southwest since
First Army had been withdrawn a few weeks earlier to hold the line on the
River Seine southeast of Paris, formed three march groups and withdrew eastward toward
Dijon. At the same time, the
German Nineteenth Army retreated northward through the Rhône valley toward the
Plateau de Langres. There it was joined by the
German Fifth Panzer Army, which was assigned to Army Group G for a counter-attack against the
United States Third Army. The retreat did not go according to plan: as the Nineteenth Army retreated, many personnel of Army Group G were taken prisoner by the
Sixth United States Army Group. By the time the retreat was over General
Johannes Blaskowitz had lost about half his force. He was relieved on 21 September by General
Hermann Balck. By mid-September. Fifth Panzer was positioned on the left wing of the German line north of the Swiss border. From there, Fifth Panzer with elements of First Army attacked US Third Army, while the much reduced 19th Army opposed the
French First Army and the
United States Seventh Army. Army Group G fought in the
Vosges Mountains during November 1944 and retreated through
Lorraine and north
Alsace during December. In late November 1944, Army Group G temporarily lost responsibility for the German troops in the
Colmar Pocket and on the Rhine River south of the
Bienwald to the short-lived
Army Group Oberrhein. In January 1945 the Army Group attacked in
Operation Nordwind ("North Wind"), the last big German counter-attack on the Western Front. ==Commanders==