Army Group Centre () was the name of two distinct strategic German Army Groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The first Army Group Centre was created on 22 June 1941 (by renaming Army Group B) as one of three German Army formations assigned to the invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa).
After Army Group North had gotten trapped in the Courland Pocket, it became Army Group Courland and the first Army Group Centre was renamed "Army Group North". A second iteration of Army Group Centre was instead formed by the redesignation of Army Group A, which became the second Army Group Centre.
Formation
The commander in chief on the formation of the Army Group Centre (22 June 1941) was Fedor von Bock.
Order of battle at formation
Campaign and operational history
Operation Barbarossa
On 22 June 1941, Nazi Germany and its Axis allies launched their surprise offensive into the Soviet Union. Their armies, totaling over three million men, were to advance in three geographical directions. Army Group Centre's initial strategic goal was to defeat the Soviet armies in Belarus and occupy Smolensk. To accomplish this, the army group planned for a rapid advance using Blitzkrieg operational methods for which purpose it commanded two panzer groups rather than one. A quick and decisive victory over the Soviet Union was expected by mid-November. The Army Group's other operational missions were to support the army groups on its northern and southern flanks, the army group boundary for the later being the Pripyat River.
July 1941 order of battle
3rd Panzer Group, 9th Army, 4th Army, 2nd Panzer Group, z. Vfg. 2nd Army
August 1941 order of battle
3rd Panzer Group, 9th Army, 2nd Army, Panzer Group Guderian (2nd Panzer Group, with additional units)
September 1941 order of battle
3rd Panzer Group, 9th Army, 4th Army, 2nd Panzer Group, 2nd Army
Bitter fighting in the Battle of Smolensk as well as the Lötzen decision delayed the German advance for two months. The advance of Army Group Centre was further delayed as Hitler ordered a postponement of the offensive against Moscow in order to conquer Ukraine first.
Attack on Moscow
October 1941 detailed order of battle
2nd Army (von Weichs) LIII Army Corps (Weisenberger) 56th ID, 31st ID, 167th ID LXIII Army Corps (Heinrici) 52nd ID, 131st ID XIII Army Corps (Felber) 260th ID, 17th ID Reserve: 112th ID
2nd Panzer Army (Guderian) XXXIV Army Corps (Metz) 45th ID, 134th ID XXXV Army Corps (Kempfe) 95th ID, 296th ID, 262nd ID, 293rd ID XLVIII Panzer Corps (Kempff) 9th Pz, 16th Mot.Div., 25th Mot.Div. XXIV Panzer Corps (Geyer von Schweppenburg) 3rd Pz, 4th Pz, 10th Mot.Div. XLVII Panzer Corps (Lemelsen) 17th Pz, 18th Pz, 29th Mot.Div.
4th Army (von Kluge) VII Army Corps (Fahrmbacher) 197th ID, 7th ID, 23rd ID, 267th ID XX Army Corps (Materna) 268th ID, 15th, 78th ID IX Army Corps (Geyer) 137th ID, 263rd ID, 183rd ID, 292nd ID
Panzer Group 4 (Hoepner), Subordinated to 4th Army
XII Army Corps (Schroth) 34th ID, 98th ID XL Army Corps (Stumme) 10th Pz, 2nd Pz, 258th ID XLVI Panzer Corps (von Vietinghoff) 5th Bz, 11th Pz, 251nd ID LVII Panzer Corps (Kuntzen) 20th Pz, SS "Das Reich" Mot.Div., 3rd Mot.Div. [352]
9th Army (Strauss) XXVII Army Corps (Wager) 255th ID, 162nd ID, 86th ID V Army Corps (Ruoff) 5th ID, 35th ID, 106th ID, 129th ID VIII Army Corps (Heitz) 8th ID, 28th ID, 87th ID XXIII Army Corps (Schubert) 251st ID, 102nd ID, 256th ID, 206th ID 161st ID (Reserve)
Panzer Group 3 (Hoth), Subordinated to 9th Army
LVI Panzer Corps (Schaal) 6th Pz, 7th Pz, 14th Mot.Div. XLI Panzer Corps (Reinhardt) 1st Pz, 36th Mot.Div. VI Army Corps (Forster) 110th ID, 26th ID, 6th ID
November 1941 order of battle
2nd Panzer Army, 3rd Panzer Group, 2nd Army, 4th Army, 9th Army
The commander in chief as of 19 December 1941 was Günther von Kluge (for a short time before Christmas of 1941, this role was fulfilled by Günther Blumentritt).
Rzhev operations
1942 opened for Army Group Centre with continuing attacks from Soviet forces around Rzhev. The German Ninth Army was able to repel these attacks and stabilise its front, despite continuing large-scale partisan activity in its rear areas. Meanwhile, the German strategic focus on the Eastern Front shifted to southwestern Russia, with the launching of Operation Blue in June. This operation, aimed at the oilfields in the southwestern Caucasus, involved Army Group South alone, with the other German army groups giving up troops and equipment for the offensive.