The army was formed on 10 November 1944 in the Netherlands from the staffs of the Armed Forces Commander of the Netherlands and the "Kleffel" (previously known as "Narva") Task Force. The designation as "army" was for most of the command's existence a deception measure as it did not command more than three divisions until April 1945. The surrender of German forces of the Northwest High Command to British 21st Army Group, including 25th Army, was signed on 4 May 1945 and took effect at 0800 on the following day.