German Ninth Army
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The German Ninth Army (German: 9.Armee Oberkommando) was a World War II field army.
The Ninth 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 train 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 After taking heavy casualties at Ponyri, the army was withdrawn out of commission for several months.
The Ninth Army was also involved in the defence of Warsaw and the Battle of Halbe as the German forces retreated. In 1945, under the command of General Theodor Busse, the remnants of the army moved to defensive positions south of Berlin. Following the Soviet breakthroughs along the Eastern Front, the Ninth Army was ordered to link up with the Twelfth Army of General Walther Wenck and relieve Berlin. An impossible task, the surviving units of the Ninth Army were instead driven into the forests around Berlin where they were involved in particularly fierce fighting. A minority managed to join with the Twelfth Army and fight their way west to surrender to the Allies.
[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)
