Twelfth United States Army Group

The Twelfth United States Army Group was the largest and most powerful United States Army formation ever to take to the field, commanding four field armies at its peak in 1945: First United States Army, Third United States Army, Ninth United States Army, and Fifteenth United States Army. The order of battle across the four armies comprised 12 corps, containing a total of 48 divisions. Formed eight days after the Normandy landings, it initially controlled the First and the Third US Armies. Through various configurations in 1944 and 1945, the Twelfth US Army Group controlled the majority of American forces on the Western Front. It was commanded by General Omar Bradley with its headquarters established in London on 14 July 1944.

During the first week of the Normandy landings and the Battle of Normandy, Bradley's First US Army formed the right wing of the Allied lines. They were joined during July by the Third US Army, under the command of General George S. Patton, to form the Twelfth Army Group. Twelfth Army Group became operational in France on 1 August 1944. With General Omar Bradley assuming command of the Twelfth Army Group, Lieutenant General Courtney Hodges assumed command of the First Army. In addition, the USAAF's Ninth Air Force (not included in the 1.3 million soldiers figure) was attached to support the field armies of the Twelfth Army Group.

Until 1 September 1944, when General Dwight D. Eisenhower assumed overall command of the Allied land forces in Northwest Europe, the US 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 Bernard 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 First Canadian and British Second) 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 grew to control four United States field armies: the First, the Third, the Ninth and the Fifteenth. By V-E Day, the Twelfth Army Group was a force that numbered over 1.3 million men.

Twelfth Army Group was inactivated on 12 July 1945 upon Bradley's departure to become Director of the Veterans Administration. Its subordinate elements then became directly subordinate to United States Army Europe.

Order of battle – 8 May 1945

 * 12th Army Group.svg 12th Army Group – General Omar N. Bradley
 * 1st Army.svg First Army – General Courtney H. Hodges
 * 78th Infantry Division SSI.svg 78th Infantry Division – Major General Edwin P. Parker Jr.
 * US VII Corps SSI.png VII Corps – Lieutenant General J. Lawton Collins
 * 3rd US Armored Division SSI.svg 3rd Armored Division – Brigadier General Doyle O. Hickey
 * 9th Infantry Division patch.svg 9th Infantry Division – Major General Louis A. Craig
 * US 69th Infantry Division.svg 69th Infantry Division – Major General Emil F. Reinhardt
 * 104TrngDivLdrTrngSSI.svg 104th Infantry Division – Major General Terry de la Mesa Allen Sr.
 * VIII CORPS SSI.gif VIII Corps – Major General Troy H. Middleton
 * 6th US Armored Division SSI.svg 6th Armored Division – Major General Robert W. Grow
 * 76 Inf Div SSI.svg 76th Infantry Division – Major General William R. Schmidt
 * US 87th Infantry Division.svg 87th Infantry Division – Major General Frank L. Culin Jr.
 * 89th Regional Readiness Command SSI.svg 89th Infantry Division – Major General Thomas D. Finley
 * US3ASSI.svg Third Army – General George S. Patton Jr.
 * 4th Infantry Division SSI.svg 4th Infantry Division – Major General Harold W. Blakeley
 * 70th Infantry Division patch.svg 70th Infantry Division – Major General Allison J. Barnett
 * 3 Corps Shoulder Sleeve Insignia.svg III Corps – Major General James Van Fleet
 * 14th US Armored Division SSI.svg 14th Armored Division – Major General Albert C. Smith
 * US 99th Infantry Division.svg 99th Infantry Division – Major General Walter E. Lauer
 * V Corps.svg V Corps – Major General Clarence R. Huebner
 * 9th US Armored Division SSI.svg 9th Armored Division – Major General John W. Leonard
 * 16th US Armored Division SSI.svg 16th Armored Division – Brigadier General John L. Pierce
 * US 1st Infantry Division SSI.svg 1st Infantry Division – Major General Clift Andrus
 * 2nd Infantry Division SSI (full color).svg 2nd Infantry Division – Major General Walter M. Robertson
 * 97THID.svg 97th Infantry Division – Brigadier General Milton B. Halsey
 * XII CORPS SSI.gif XII Corps – Major General Stafford LeRoy Irwin
 * 4th US Armored Division SSI.svg 4th Armored Division – Major General William M. Hoge
 * 11th US Armored Division SSI.svg 11th Armored Division – Major General Holmes E. Dager
 * US 5th Infantry Division.svg 5th Infantry Division – Major General Albert E. Brown
 * Yankee Division.svg 26th Infantry Division – Major General Willard S. Paul
 * 90th Infantry Division.patch.svg 90th Infantry Division – Major General Herbert L. Earnest
 * XX Corps ssi.gif XX Corps – Major General Walton H. Walker
 * 13th US Armored Division SSI.svg 13th Armored Division – Major General John Millikin
 * 65th Infantry Division SVG.svg 65th Infantry Division – Major General Stanley E. Reinhart
 * US 71st Infantry Division.svg 71st Infantry Division – Major General Willard G. Wyman
 * 80th Inf Div SSI SVG.svg 80th Infantry Division – Major General Horace L. McBride
 * US Ninth Army patch.svg Ninth Army – Lieutenant General William H. Simpson
 * USA - XIII Corps.png XIII Corps – Major General Alvan C. Gillem, Jr.
 * 35th Infantry Division SSI.svg 35th Infantry Division – Major General Paul W. Baade
 * US 84th Infantry Division.svg 84th Infantry Division – Major General Alexander R. Bolling
 * 102 INF DIV SSI.svg 102nd Infantry Division – Major General Frank A. Keating
 * XVI Corps SSI.svg XVI Corps – Major General John B. Anderson
 * 29th Infantry Division SSI.svg 29th Infantry Division – Major General Charles H. Gerhardt
 * 75e Division d'Infanterie (USA).svg 75th Infantry Division – Major General Ray E. Porter
 * 79th Infantry Division SSI.svg 79th Infantry Division – Major General Ira T. Wyche
 * 95TrainingDivSSI SVG.svg 95th Infantry Division – Major General Harry L. Twaddle
 * XIX Corps SSI.svg XIX Corps – Major General Raymond S. McLain
 * United States Army 2nd Armored Division CSIB.svg 2nd Armored Division – Major General Isaac D. White
 * 8th US Armored Division SSI.svg 8th Armored Division – Major General John M. Devine
 * 30th Infantry Division SSI.svg 30th Infantry Division – Major General Leland S. Hobbs
 * 83rd Infantry Division SSI.svg 83rd Infantry Division – Major General Robert C. Macon
 * 15th US Army SSI.svg Fifteenth Army – Lieutenant General Leonard T. Gerow
 * 66th Infantry Division shoulder sleeve insignia.jpg 66th Infantry Division – Major General Herman F. Kramer
 * 106Infantry Division.svg 106th Infantry Division – Major General Donald A. Stroh
 * XXII Corps SSI.svg XXII Corps – Major General Ernest N. Harmon
 * USA - 17 ABN DIV.svg 17th Airborne Division – Major General William M. Miley
 * 94th Regional Readiness Command SSI.svg 94th Infantry Division – Major General Harry J. Malony
 * XXIII Corps SSI.gif XXIII Corps – Major General Hugh J. Gaffey
 * 28th Infantry Division SSI (1918-2015).svg 28th Infantry Division – Major General Norman D. Cota
 * XVIII Airborne Corps CSIB.svg XVIII Airborne Corps (attached to 21st Army Group) – Major General Matthew B. Ridgway
 * 5th US Armored Division SSI.svg 5th Armored Division – Major General Lunsford E. Oliver
 * 7th US Armored Division SSI.svg 7th Armored Division – Major General Robert W. Hasbrouck
 * 8th Infantry Division patch.svg 8th Infantry Division – Major General Bryant E. Moore
 * 82nd Airborne Division CSIB.svg 82nd Airborne Division – Major General James M. Gavin

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