2nd Army (Wehrmacht)

2. Armee 2nd Army
Active	1939–45
Country	Germany
Branch	Heer
Type	Field army
Engagements	World War II

The 2nd Army (German: 2. Armee Oberkommando) was a World War II field army.

Combat Chronicle

The 2nd Army was activated on 20 October 1939, with General Maximilian Reichsfreiherr von Weichs in command. First seeing service in France, the army was involved in the invasion of the Balkans, before offensive operations in the Ukraine as part of Operation Barbarossa.

In 1942 the II. Armee covered the northern wing of opération Fall Blau operating in the surroundings of Voronezh and suffered a major defeat during the soviet winter offensive that followed the battle of Stalingrad.

In 1945 the army was redisgnated AOK Ostpreußen and was pivotal in the defence of East and West Prussia before finally surrendering on 9 May 1945.^[1]

Organization of 2nd Army during operations in the Balkans^[2]

Commanders

• Colonel-General Fedor von Bock (26 August 1939 - 2 September 1939)
• General der Kavallerie Maximilian von Weichs (20 October 1939 – 15 November 1941) (->Generaloberst 19 July 1940)
• General der Panzertruppe Rudolf Schmidt (15 November 1941 - 15 January 1942)
• General der Kavallerie Maximilian von Weichs (15 January 1942 - 15 July 1942)
• General der Infanterie Hans von Salmuth (14 July 1942 – 3 February 1943) (->Generaloberst 1 Jan 1943)
• General der Infanterie Walter Weiss (4 February 1943 – 9 March 1945) (-> Generaloberst 1 Feb 1944)
• General der Panzertruppe Dietrich von Saucken (10 March 1945 – 7 April 1945)

See also

• 2nd Army (German Empire) for the equivalent formation in World War I

Footnotes

1. Beevor, Antony. Berlin: The Downfall 1945, Penguin Books, 2002, ISBN 0-670-88695-5, pp.26,49,50,88,90,115-116,119,402
2. Nafziger, George. "German 2nd Army, Invasion of the Balkans, 1 April 1941" (PDF). The Nafziger Orders of Battle Collection. United States Army Combined Arms College. Retrieved 6 December 2015.