9th Army (Germany)
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The 9th Army (German: 9. Armee) was a World War II field army.
The 9th Army was activated on May 15, 1940 with General Johannes Blaskowitz in command. First seeing service along the Siegfried Line, the army was involved in the invasion of France, before being part of Operation Barbarossa in Russia. During Operation Zitadelle, the 9th army was assigned to capture and destroy the Kursk salient. Leading the advance from the north, the army failed to capture the heavily fortified Ponyri railway station, which was needed to continue the advance towards Kursk. After taking heavy casualties at Ponyri, the army was withdrawn out of commission for several months. It received some refreshments and defended the area of Bobruisk in the first half of 1944. After being annihilated during Operation Bagration the army was reconstituted and involved in the defence of Warsaw in autumn and winter 1944. After being pushed back westward to the river Oder during the soviet winter offensive in January 1945 it took part at the Battle of Berlin.
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[edit] Battle of Berlin
[edit] Battle of the Seelow Heights
In the Battle of Berlin three of the 9th's formations were tasked with defending the Seelow Heights. To the north was the CI Army Corps, in the centre General Helmuth Weidling's LVI Panzer Corps, and to south the of the Heights was the XI SS Panzer Corps. In addition south of Frankfurt (which was defended by the Frankfurt Garrison) was the V SS Mountain Corps.[1]
The Battle of the Seelow Heights started on 16 April 1945 when Marshal Georgy Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front attacked across the Oder. The 9th Army was able to hold the line for about 3 days. After very heavy fighting Weidling's LVI Panzer Corps was driven back towards Berlin. Most of the CI Army Corps divisions, now north of the salient created by the 1st Belorussian Front were reassigned to along with LVI Panzer Corps to Army Detachment Steiner which was tasked with counter-attacking and pinching off the salient – a fantasy created in Hitler's mind which was never possible. In the end Weidling corps was driven back into the Berlin and he was promoted to commander of the Berlin Defensive Area, reporting directly to Hitler. Theodor Busse and the rest of the 9th Army were driven into a pocket in the Spree Forest south of the Seelow Heights and east of Frankfurt.[2]
[edit] Battle of Halbe
From inside the pocket east of Frankfurt Busse organised a breakout to the west to join up with the 12th Army. The breakout, known as the Battle of Halbe proved to be a very costly resulting in the destruction of the Ninth Army as a coherent force. The survivors of the 9th Army that were not killed, and did not surrender to the Soviets during the breakout, crossed the Elbe with 9th Army the and surrendered to the US Army.
[edit] Commanders
- General Johannes Blaskowitz (May 15, 1940 - May 29, 1940)
- General Otto Colinburg-Bodigheim (May 30, 1940 - January 14, 1942)
- General Walter Model (January 15, 1942 - November 3, 1943)
- General Josef Harpe (November 4, 1943 - May 19, 1944)
- General Hans Jordan (May 20, 1944 - June 26, 1944)
- General Nicolaus von Vormann (June 27, 1944 - August 31, 1944)
- General Smilo Freiherr von Lüttwitz (September 1, 1944 - January 19, 1945)
- General Theodor Busse (January 20, 1945 - May 2, 1945)
[edit] See also
- Army Group Centre
- Order of battle of the German Ninth Army, October 1941
- German Panzer Division Kurmark
[edit] References
- Beevor, Antony. Berlin: The Downfall 1945, Penguin Books, 2002, ISBN 0-670-88695-5
