In mid-to-late 1944, the Western Allies had undertaken the ambitious
Operation Market Garden, a multi-layered airborne assault against several targets in the
Low Countries with the aim to quickly cross the major geographic barrier of the area, the
Rhine river. Although the German counterattack against Market Garden broadly succeeded and inflicted heavy Allied casualties (especially at
Arnhem), German operational planners feared repeated Allied attempts to break through the German defenses in the northern sector of the Western Front. Army Group H was formed on 11 November 1944 in the
German-occupied Netherlands, using personnel from the former
Army Detachment Kleffel as well as parts of the former
Army Detachment Serbia.
Kurt Student was assigned for command of the army group, then being prepared for formation, on 27 October 1944. After 7 April 1945, the command staff of Army Group H was also designated "Supreme Commander North West". In the broader German strategy of the
Western Front, Army Group H was subordinate to
Supreme Command West (also known, from its previous designation, as "Army Group D"), along with
Army Group B and
Army Group G. On 1 March 1945, the army group had an overall strength of seven infantry divisions, four airborne divisions, one panzer division, one
Panzergrenadier division and the 106th Panzer Brigade. With the deep advances by the Western Allies into the German heartland between March and April (such as the capture of
Eisenach and
Würzburg on 7 April), western Germany was effectively split into several areas of defense, of which the remaining forces of Army Group H in the "Fortress Holland", especially 25th Army, were the strongest.
Ernst Busch replaced Blaskowitz as commander of Army Group H on 15 April 1945. == Noteworthy individuals ==