5th Panzer Army
| 5th Panzer Army | |
|---|---|
| Active | 8 December 1942 – 30 June 1943 24 January 1944 – 17 April 1945 |
| Country |
 Nazi Germany
|
| Branch | Army |
| Type | Panzer |
| Role | Armoured warfare |
| Size | Army |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Jurgen von Arnim Geyr von Schweppenburg Sepp Dietrich Hasso von Manteuffel |
The 5th Panzer Army, also known as Panzer Group West and Panzer Group Eberbach (German: 5.Panzer-Armee, Panzergruppe West, Panzergruppe Eberbach) was a panzer army which saw action in the Western Front and North Africa. The remnants of the army surrendered in the Ruhr pocket in 1945.
The 5th Panzer Army was created on 8 December 1942 as a command formation for armoured units forming to defend Tunisia against Allied attacks which threatened, after the success of the Allied Operation Torch landings in Algeria and Morocco. The army fought alongside the Italian First Army as a part of Army Group Afrika. The army capitulated on 13 May 1943, along with its commander Gustav von Vaerst. The army was officially disbanded on 30 June 1943.
The army was reformed on 24 January 1944 as Panzer Group West, the armoured reserve for OB West. The new army was placed under the command of Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg. The method of employment of Panzer Group West in the event of an allied invasion was the subject of much controversy, with OB West commander Gerd von Rundstedt and Army Group B commander Erwin Rommel favouring different methods. Rundstedt and Geyr von Schweppenburg believed that the panzer group should be held in reserve some distance from the front, to counterattack Allied penetrations. Rommel was convinced that Allied air power and artillery would not allow the Germans the freedom to move large formations and so insisted that the panzers should be deployed much closer to the front line. In the event, Hitler refused to allow his commanders to commit the panzer group without his authority and when the Allied Invasion began on 6 June 1944, Panzer Group West remained immobile; by 8 June Geyr had been able to rush three panzer divisions northward to defend Caen against British and Canadian forces advancing on that city from their beachheads. Geyr planned to launch these divisions in a counter-attack that would drive the British and Canadians back into the sea. On 10 June Schweppenburg was wounded in an air raid on his field headquarters. Geyr’s reinforced tank units managed to prevent the British advance for another month but he was relieved of his command on 2 July, after seconding Rundstedt’s request that Adolf Hitler authorize a strategic withdrawal from Caen. On 2 July he was replaced by Heinrich Eberbach. The panzer group fought against the Allied forces in Normandy, suffering heavy losses and eventually finding many of its divisions trapped in the Falaise Pocket. After the shattered remnants of the panzer group escaped from Falaise, it began a retreat towards the German border.
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