Fifteenth United States Army

Fifteenth United States Army
Shoulder Sleeve Insignia of the Fifteenth Army
Active	1944–46
Country	United States
Allegiance	United States Army
Branch	Regular Army
Type	Field army
Garrison/HQ	Fort Sam Houston (1944) Dinant, Belgium (mid-Dec 1944) Suippes, France (5 January 1944) Bad Nauheim, Germany (late 1945)
Engagements	World War II: *Ruhr Pocket *Northern France *Rhineland Campaign
Commanders
Notable commanders	Major General John P. Lucas Major General Ray E. Porter Lieutenant General Leonard T. Gerow General George S. Patton Lieutenant General Hobart R. Gay

The Fifteenth United States Army was the last field army to see service in northwest Europe during World War II and was the final command of General George S. Patton. The Fifteenth Army served two separate missions while assigned to the area. During the later stages of World War II its mission was training and rehabilitating units and acting as a defensive line against counterattacks. After the war its mission was to carry out occupation duties and to gather historical information related to the European Theater of Operations, or ETO. The Fifteenth Army was inactivated in 1946 and has not been activated since.

Fifteenth Army was first activated 21 August 1944 at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, by a transfer of a group of personnel from the Fourth United States Army. No general officer was included in the transfer. Major General John P. Lucas was commanding general designate of the new Fifteenth Army in addition to his other duties. Headquarters, Fifteenth Army was then assigned to the Fourth Army.

On 18 October 1944 an advanced detachment was directed to report to the New York Port of Embarkation. From 2 November 1944 until 2 January 1945 at such time as Fifteenth Army left Ft. Sam Houston, Texas, bound for movement overseas, Colonel Louis Compton was designated commander of Fifteenth Army. From New York, on 3 November, they sailed bound for Greenock, Scotland on the Queen Mary, arriving 10 November 1944. The detachment proceeded to an estate called Doddington Hall in Cheshire, England, where they were billeted with XXII Corps which later came under operational control of Fifteenth Army.

The main body of the Fifteenth Army sailed from New York aboard the Aquitania on 15 November 1944 and dropped anchor in the Firth of Clyde off Gourock, Scotland on 22 November. On 24 November, the temporary Fifteenth Army Headquarters began operations at Doddington Hall.