Western Front
In September 1944 von Mellenthin was transferred to eastern France together with his commander Generaloberst Hermann Balck when Balck was promoted again to command a Heeresgruppe. Until November he served as Chief of General Staff Army Group G under Balck. He participated in the Campaign in the West along the front line between Luxembourg and Switzerland, serving in battles around Nancy, Metz, Arracourt, the Vosges and Alsace-Lorraine.
Von Mellenthin was relieved of his command along with several other German officers in early December 1944, due to the unauthorized retreat of the German forces in the sector, and retired to the Officers’ Pool of German High Command. Chief of Staff of the German Army, General Heinz Guderian, obtained restoration to duty for him in late December. From December 28 to February 1945 he was attached to the 9th Panzer Division during the Battle of the Bulge, where the division fought just north of Bastogne. Between March and May 1945 he was Chief of Staff to General Hasso von Manteuffel's Fifth Panzer Army, which was defending western Germany against the US and British forces attacking in the Ruhr region and around Cologne.
During the eastward retreat he was captured by the British at Höxter on the Weser River, on May 3, 1945.
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