15th Army (Wehrmacht)

The 15th Army (German: 15. Armee) was a World War II field army.

History

The 15th Army was activated on January 15, 1941, with General Curt Haase in command. First seeing service in France, the army was involved in the protection of the Channel coast from a possible Allied invasion.

It defended against Allied forces with success during Operation Market Garden in September 1944 and later suffered defeat against the First Canadian Army in the Battle of the Scheldt during which the Army Headquarters at Dordrecht was subject to a mass attack by Hawker Typhoons of the Second Tactical Air Force on 24 October 1944. Two generals and 70 other staff officers were killed in the attack.

The British Second Army cleared the 15th Army from the Roer triangle during Operation Blackcock, pushing it back over the Rur and Wurm rivers. It was involved in the Battle of the Bulge before finally surrendering along the Ruhr river in 1945.

Today, the former HQ of the 15th Army, in Tourcoing, which is just north of Lille in France, is a museum: Musée du 5 juin 1944.

Commanders

• General Curt Haase (January 15, 1941 - November 30, 1942)
• General Heinrich von Vietinghoff genannt Scheel (December 1, 1942 - August 7, 1943)
• General Hans von Salmuth (August 8, 1943 - August 24, 1944)
• General Gustav-Adolf von Zangen (August 25, 1944 - April 18, 1945)