The 6th Army Group was an army group of the Allies (namely the United States Army) during World War II.
It was created in Corsica, Italy (specifically activated on August 1, 1944) to consolidate the combined French and American forces that were planning to invade southern France in Operation Dragoon. The 6th Army Group, also known as the Southern Group of Armies, was commanded by Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers. It consisted of the French First Army (before September 25 1944 it was called French Army B) commanded by Général Jean de Lattre de Tassigny) and the US Seventh Army commanded by Lt. Gen. Alexander Patch.
The 6th Army Group remained subordinate to AFHQ in the Mediterranean Theatre during the invasion and in the weeks immediately afterwards. At about the time the 6th Army met the American 12th Army Group, which had broken out of the Normandy bridgehead, near Dijon in mid-September, command was handed to SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Forces) under U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Its area of operation extended from the High Vosges , progressing through Germany and eventually, Western Austria and the Lake of Constance. Soldiers of the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division, which was part of the US Seventh Army, were the first allied troops to arrive at Berchtesgaden which they secured along with the Berghof Hitler's Alpine residence.
