Twelfth United States Army Group

Twelfth United States Army Group
Twelfth Army Group Shoulder Sleeve Insignia
Active	1944–45
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army
Type	Army group
Role	Army Group Headquarters
Size	4 Field Armies: First, Third, Ninth, and Fifteenth Armies Over 1.7 million men at its peak
Part of	Allied Expeditionary Force
Engagements	World War II
Commanders
Notable commanders	Omar Bradley

The Twelfth United States Army Group was the largest and most powerful United States Army formation ever to take to the field. It controlled the majority of American forces on the Western Front in 1944 and 1945. It was commanded by General Omar Bradley with its headquarters established in London on 14 July 1944.

Bradley's First United States Army, which later formed part of the Twelfth Army Group, formed the right wing of the Allied lines during the Normandy landings and the Battle of Normandy. They were joined during July by the Third United States Army, under the command of General George S. Patton. Until September, when General Eisenhower assumed overall command of the Allied land forces in Northwest Europe, the U.S. forces in Normandy were included with the British Second Army and the First Canadian Army in the British headquarters formation 21st Army Group, commanded by General Montgomery.

After the breakout from the beach-head at Normandy, the Twelfth Army Group formed the center of the Allied forces on the Western Front. To the north was the British 21st Army Group (the 2 aforementioned field armies) and, to the south, advancing from their landing on the Mediterranean coast, was the Sixth United States Army Group (Seventh United States Army and French First Army).

As the Twelfth advanced through Germany in 1945, it controlled four field armies: First United States Army, Third United States Army, Ninth United States Army and Fifteenth United States Army. By V-E Day, the Twelfth Army Group was a force that numbered over 1.3 million men.

Order of Battle – 8 May 1945

See also: Sixth United States Army Group § Order of Battle – 8 May 1945

• 12th Army Group – General Omar N. Bradley
  • First Army – General Courtney H. Hodges
    • 78th Infantry Division – Major General Edwin P. Parker
    • VII Corps – Lieutenant General J. Lawton Collins
      • 9th Infantry Division – Major General Louis A. Craig
      • 69th Infantry Division – Major General Emil F. Reinhardt
      • 104th Infantry Division – Major General Terry de la Mesa Allen, Sr.
  • Third Army – General George S. Patton, Jr.
    • 1st Infantry Division – Major General Clift Andrus
    • 2nd Infantry Division – Major General Walter M. Robertson
    • 9th Armored Division – Major General John W. Leonard
    • 70th Infantry Division – Major General Allison J. Barnett
    • 97th Infantry Division – Brigadier General Milton B. Halsey
    • III Corps – Major General James Van Fleet
      • 4th Infantry Division – Major General Harold W. Blakeley
      • 14th Armored Division – Major General Albert C. Smith
      • 99th Infantry Division – Major General Walter E. Lauer
    • V Corps – Major General Clarence R. Huebner
      • 22px 16th Armored Division – Brigadier General John L. Pierce
    • XII Corps – Major General Stafford LeRoy Irwin
      • 4th Armored Division – Major General William M. Hoge
      • 5th Infantry Division – Major General Albert E. Brown
      • 11th Armored Division – Major General Holmes E. Dager
      • 26th Infantry Division – Major General Willard S. Paul
      • 90th Infantry Division – Major General Herbert L. Earnest
    • XX Corps – Major General Walton H. Walker
      • 22px 13th Armored Division – Major General John Millikin
      • 65th Infantry Division – Major General Stanley E. Reinhart
      • 71st Infantry Division – Major General Willard G. Wyman
      • 80th Infantry Division – Major General Horace L. McBride
  • Ninth Army – Lieutenant General William H. Simpson
    • 2nd Armored Division – Major General Isaac D. White
    • 22px VIII Corps – Major General Troy H. Middleton
      • 6th Armored Division – Major General Robert W. Grow
      • 76th Infantry Division – Major General William R. Schmidt
      • 87th Infantry Division – Major General Frank L. Cullin, Jr.
      • 89th Infantry Division – Major General Thomas D. Finley
    • 22px XIII Corps – Major General Alvan C. Gillem, Jr.
      • 30th Infantry Division – Major General Leland S. Hobbs
      • 35th Infantry Division – Major General Paul W. Baade
      • 83rd Infantry Division – Major General Robert C. Macon
      • 84th Infantry Division – Major General Alexander R. Bolling
      • 102nd Infantry Division – Major General Frank A. Keating
    • 22px XVI Corps – Major General John B. Anderson
      • 29th Infantry Division – Major General Charles H. Gerhardt
      • 75th Infantry Division – Major General Ray E. Porter
      • 79th Infantry Division – Major General Ira T. Wyche
      • 95th Infantry Division – Major General Harry L. Tawddle
    • 22px XIX Corps – Major General Raymond S. McLain
      • 3rd Armored Division – Brigadier General Doyle O. Hickey
      • 8th Armored Division – Major General John M. Devine
  • 22px Fifteenth Army – Lieutenant General Leonard T. Gerow
    • 66th Infantry Division – Major General Herman F. Kramer
    • 106th Infantry Division – Major General Donald A. Stroh
    • XVIII Airborne Corps – Major General Matthew B. Ridgway
      • 5th Armored Division – Major General Lunsford E. Oliver
      • 7th Armored Division – Major General Robert W. Hasbrouck
      • 8th Infantry Division – Major General Bryant E. Moore
      • 82nd Airborne Division – Major General James M. Gavin
    • 22px XXII Corps – Major General Ernest N. Harmon
      • 17th Airborne Division – Major General William M. Miley
      • 94th Infantry Division – Major General Harry J. Malony
    • 22px XXIII Corps – Major General Hugh J. Gaffey
      • 28th Infantry Division – Major General Norman D. Cota

Source: Bradley, Omar, A Soldier's Story, New York: Henry Holt and Company (1950), pp. 557–561