Otto von Below, Western Front Mar 18

[duckman]

Hi all,

I have no idea where to post this, so it's living here by default.

Otto von Below commanded 14th Army on the Italian Front up to Jan 18, and the turns up in March 18 commanding 17th Army in Operation Michael. I don't have the name to hand, but his chief-of-staff in both armies was the same.

I am wondering whether the whole HQ up'ed-stakes and moved to the west or whether it was just Below and his "wife".

Was 17th Army a wholly new creation, or a rebadged reincarnation of the 14th?

The closest comparison I can think of that might be more familiar is Gough's career:

1916 - Gough's Reserve Army redesignated 5th Army (rebadged).

1917 - 5th Army takes over section of Ypres salient, which I presume involved moving the HQ, but the composite units (Corps and Divs anyway) were freshly attached. (relocation)

1918 - Rawlinson and Montgomery take over. Redesignated 4th Army - rebadged or new creation? (recreation would be closer).

Not the best example as I do not expect that all the component units of 14th Army shipped off to France. I'm just interested in the HQ.

Have posted this on other fora without luck, so I thought I'd try my hand.

Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

Duckman