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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. ==Early formation== Fifteenth Army was first activated 21 August 1944〔http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar//USA/USA-E-Supreme/USA-E-Supreme-15.html〕 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.〔History of the Fifteenth United States Army, page 10〕 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. On 25 November 1944 orders were given to place Fifteenth Army under 12th Army Group. Organization continued with a command post established at Chateau d'Ardennes although the main components of the Fifteenth remained in England. As the German offensive now known as the Battle of the Bulge began, the CP was in danger and the headquarters evacuated to Cerfontaine, Belgium. The headquarters moved again on 24 December 1944 to Fme de Suippes in France. On 25 December 1944 the main body left Doddington Hall for a staging area in Southampton, England and boarded the British landing ship ''Empire Javelin'' the next afternoon. The Fifteenth Army group consisted of 208 officers and 624 enlisted men. An additional 652 men plus the British crew were on board. Crossing the English Channel a few days later, on 28 December 1944, an explosion rocked the ship, possibly from a mine. A French frigate, ''L'Escarmouche,'' and some smaller vessels came to the rescue. ''L'Escarmouche'' was attached to the side of the ''Empire Javelin'' and many of the men jumped from the deck of the ''Empire Javelin'' to ''L'Escarmouche''. Some men were rescued from life rafts and one life boat and some were pulled out of the water. About 10 minutes after a second explosion, the ''Empire Javelin'' sank at about 5:25 pm. Thirteen men were missing in action and 20 men were injured in this incident. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fifteenth United States Army」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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