british army of the rhine order of battle

Journal of the US Army War College. However, the same flat east bank meant that the bridgehead would have to be rapidly and powerfully reinforced and expanded beyond the river since there was no high ground for a bridgehead defense. Contents History 1919-1929 1945-1994 Post 1994 See also DECODED: The Cold War in Europe 1945-1995 : NATO's Northern Army Group Wartime Order of Battle 1985. [3], From 1922 the BAOR was organised into two brigades:[1], The second British Army of the Rhine was formed on 25 August 1945 from the British Liberation Army. Otherwise, he would pursue those objectives that would end the war soonest. British Army: Royal Navy: Royal Air Force: Armies: see also the websites: First Army [1st Army] Second Army [2nd Army] Eighth Army [8th Army] Fourteenth Army [14th Army] Corps: . [57], The crossing of the Rhine, the encirclement and reduction of the Ruhr, and the sweep to the ElbeMulde line and the Alps all established the final campaign on the Western Front as a showcase for Western Allied superiority over the Germans in maneuver warfare. Trackpad Publishing, 2022. In preparation for the Allied invasion of Germany east of the Rhine, a series of offensive operations were designed to seize and capture its east and west banks: Operation Veritable and Operation Grenade in February 1945, and Operation Lumberjack and Operation Undertone in March 1945; these are considered separate from the main invasion operation. Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War, and the other after the Second World War. Phantom Force Of Western Front (Rec. Little or no reinforcement was forthcoming as the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) continued to concentrate most forces against the Soviets; it was estimated that the Germans had 214 divisions on the Eastern Front in April. 13. 79th Railway Squadron, Royal Corps of Transport. At the very beginning of 1945, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force on the Western Front, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, had 73 divisions under his command in North-western Europe of which 49 were infantry divisions, 20 armored divisions and four airborne divisions. The Site is now approaching three years of age and much has happened in that time. This increased the importance of the southern offensives across the Rhine. In reality, by the time of the Allied Rhine crossings the Wehrmacht had suffered such severe defeats on both the Eastern and Western Fronts that it could barely manage to mount effective delaying actions, much less muster enough troops to establish a well-organized alpine resistance force. The same court sits in both areas and in the following tables the overall figures shown include Berlin trials. However, concerned that the bypassed Germans would flood much of the nation and cause complete famine among a Dutch population already near starvation, Eisenhower approved an agreement with the local German commanders to allow the Allies to air-drop food into the country in return for a local ceasefire on the battlefield. Recce Intelligence Centre (Laarbruch), Intelligence Corps, I (BR) Corps HQ Defence Company, Royal Pioneer Corps, Bielefeld, 6th Air Defence Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (originally slated to form in 19903 with new HVM system), 43 Plant Squadron, Royal Engineers, Osnabrck, 65 Corps Support Squadron, Royal Engineers, Hameln, (20x M2 Amphibious Rigs). To accomplish both objectives, Patch's 7th Army on Devers' left was to make a great arc, first driving northeastward alongside Bradley's flank, then turning south with the 3rd Army to take Nuremberg and Munich, ultimately continuing into Austria. After General Omar Bradley warned, however, that capturing a city located in a region that the Soviets had already received at the Yalta Conference might cost 100,000 casualties,[56] by 15 April Eisenhower ordered all armies to halt when they reached the Elbe and Mulde Rivers, thus immobilizing these spearheads while the war continued for three more weeks. While certainly incomplete (especially for the period 1120 April 1945), they reflect the ratio between casualties in both theaters in the final months of the war. The Southern half of the Federal Republic of Germany was to be defended by the four Army Corps of NATO's Central Army Group (CENTAG). The German forces there were simply in less disarray than those to the north. 21 Postal and Courier Squadron, Royal Engineers. Rdiger Overmans, Soldaten hinter Stacheldraht. With the Soviets at the door of Berlin, the western Allies decided any attempt on their behalf to push that far east would be too costly, concentrating instead on mopping up resistance in the west German cities. During the Cold War NORTHAG was NATO's forward defence in the Northern half of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). The idea was that each Division would have 2 Task Forces , which . British Formations & Units. British 2nd. The next day they gained some more ground, and one even seized its objective, having slogged a total of 6 miles (9.7km), but the limited progress forced Hobbs to abandon the hope for a quick breakout. The British Army of the Rhine was born in 1945 out of the British Liberation Army at the close of the war as the military government of the British zone of occupied Germany. [33], Montgomery had originally planned to attach one corps of the U.S. 9th Army to the British Second Army, which would use only two of the corps' divisions for the initial assault. Following the reduction of the Ruhr, the 15th Army was to take over occupation duties in the region as the 9th,[39] 1st and 3rd Armies pushed farther into Germany. [6] The Army Department consisted of four components: the General Staff, the Adjutant General's department, which dealt with recruiting, and also had the Provost Marshal (Army), a brigadier, reporting to him, though the RMP headquarters was at Roussillon Barracks, Chichester;[7] the Military Secretary's department, and the Quartermaster General's department. Early in the afternoon of 1 April elements of the 2nd and 3rd Armored Divisions met at Lippstadt, linking the 9th and 1st Armies and sealing the prized Ruhr industrial complex, along with Model's Army Group B, within American lines. The Army must remain adaptable and evolve as a fighting force. In the. [41], By 1 April, when the trap closed around the Germans in the Ruhr, their fate was sealed. As the first boats reached the east bank, seven startled Germans surrendered and then paddled themselves unescorted to the west bank to be placed in custody. This guide will help you find records at The National Archives relating to military operations planned and carried out by the British Army since the end of the Second World War up until. The English Army was founded in 1660, was succeeded in 1707 by the new British Army, incorporating the existing Scottish regiments. 23rd Base Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, 37th (Rhine) Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Mnchengladbach, 62nd Rear Combat Zone Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Mnchengladbach. Once the bridgehead was secured the British 6th Airborne Division would be transferred to Second Army control, while the U.S. 17th Airborne Division would revert to 9th Army control. The re-designation of Force Troops Command (FTC) to 6th (United Kingdom) Division (6 (UK) Div) will provide the Armys asymmetric edge , orchestrating Intelligence, Counter-Intelligence, Information Operations, Electronic Warfare, Cyber and unconventional warfare. On 7 March, Hodges's U.S. 1st Army captured the last intact bridge over the Rhine at Remagen and steadily expanded the bridgehead. At Clive Barracks in Ternhill under 143rd (West Midlands) Brigade until April 1989 as Northern Ireland reaction battalion. Entering in the night, the commandos secured the city late on the morning of 24 March, although scattered resistance continued until dawn on the 25th. [55] The British and Americans contemplated an airborne operation before the attack. To the north, the 9th Army's XIX and XIII Corps would also drive for the Elbe, toward Magdeburg, about 65mi (105km) north of Leipzig, although the army commander, General Simpson, hoped he would be allowed to go all the way to Berlin. 57th Station Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. The British Army is the land warfare branch of the British Armed Forces. [55] This later caused some friction with the Yugoslav forces, notably around Trieste. 27th District Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. As soon as Patton had received the orders on the 19th to make a crossing, he had begun sending assault boats, bridging equipment and other supplies forward from depots in Lorraine where they had been stockpiled since autumn in the expectation of just such an opportunity. To the south, elements of the VI Corps met unexpectedly fierce resistance at Heilbronn, 40mi (64km) into the German rear. To increase Simpson's ability to bring his army's strength to bear for exploitation, Montgomery also agreed to turn the bridges at Wesel, just north of the inter-army boundary, over to the 9th Army once the bridgehead had been secured. 158 Provost Company Corps of Royal Military Police. Elements of the 1st Army's V Corps made first contact. The 12th and 6th Army Groups were to mount a subsidiary offensive to keep the Germans off balance and diminish their ability to stop the northern thrust. Even before the encirclement had been completed, the Germans in the Ruhr had begun making attempts at a breakout to the east. During the fighting west of the Rhine up to March 1945, the German Army on the Western Front had been reduced to a strength of only 26 divisions, organized into three army groups (H, B and G). Within 21st Army Group the Canadian First Army (under Harry Crerar) held the left flank of the Allied line, with the British Second Army (Miles C. Dempsey) in the center and the U.S. 9th Army (William Hood Simpson) to the south. Following this primary assault, which XII Corps would undertake, VIII Corps would execute supporting crossings at Boppard and St. Goar, 2530 miles (4048km) northwest of Mainz. [8], With the end of the Cold War, the 1993 Options for Change defence cuts resulted in BAOR being reduced in size, and in 1994 it became British Forces Germany (BFG). As the division's area of operation was hilly and woody 19th Infantry Brigade based in Colchester was added to it. by | Jun 30, 2022 | robert a altman cause of death | what vpn does rush limbaugh endorse | Jun 30, 2022 | robert a altman cause of death | what vpn does rush limbaugh endorse Although Kesselring brought an outstanding track record as a defensive strategist with him from the Italian campaign, he did not have the resources to make a coherent defense. 4th Security Company, Intelligence Corps. Battle Royal. The change resulted from an agreement between the American and Soviet military leadership based on the need to establish a readily identifiable geographical line to avoid accidental clashes between the converging Allied forces. Recce Intelligence Centre (Gtersloh), Intelligence Corps. From 1952 the commander-in-chief of the BAOR was also the commander of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) in the event of a general war with the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies. 89) are: Area 1 The Federal Republic of Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands; Area 2 Berlin. They include the Adjutant-Generals Corps, the Army Medical Services, the Royal Logistics Corps and the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. The U.S. III Corps, in the center, did not commit its armor on the first day of the breakout, but still made a gain of 4mi (6.4km). [49], Following the capture of Nuremberg, the 7th Army discovered little resistance as the XXI Corps' 12th Armored Division dashed 50mi (80km) to the Danube, crossing it on 22 April, followed several days later by the rest of the corps and the XV Corps as well. [38], The British Prime Minister and Chiefs of Staff strongly opposed the new plan. They include the Royal Artillery, the Royal Engineers, the RoyalSignals and the Intelligence Corps. On 30 April, as the Red Army closed in from the east, Hitler killed himself in his Berlin bunker. At the very beginning of 1945, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force on the Western Front, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, had 73 divisions under his command in North-western Europe of which 49 were infantry divisions, 20 armored divisions and four airborne divisions. 14th Independent Topographic Squadron, Royal Engineers. Under the new concept, Bradley's 12th U.S. Army Group would make the main effort, with Hodges' 1st Army in the center heading east for about 130mi (210km) toward the city of Leipzig and the Elbe River. 11th Ordnance (EOD) Battalion, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, 160th Provost Company, Royal Military Police, Aldershot, 240th Provost (Training) Company, Royal Military Police, Aldershot. This force would block any German counterattack from the Ruhr. Sup Regt RSA listed with SW Dist by Isby & Kamps 1985. This Photo Album The 2nd Army's XII Corps and the 9th Army's XVI Corps began the main effort about 02:00 on 24 March, following a massive artillery and air bombardment. Of the land still under Nazi control, almost none was actually in Germany. Many towns flew white flags of surrender to spare themselves the otherwise inevitable destruction suffered by those that resisted, while German troops surrendered by the tens of thousands, sometimes as entire units. This secondary drive would also give Eisenhower a degree of flexibility in case the northern attack ran into difficulties. The British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) and the Royal Air Force Command constituted Great Britain's armed forces in Germany and were one of the main pillars of the NATO defence doctrine on West German soil. 3rd Field Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, 10th Airborne Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Borden, (supported 5th Airborne Brigade), 16th Armoured Field Ambulance, Aldershot (to. [29], By midafternoon on 23 March, all three regiments of the 5th Infantry Division were in the bridgehead, and an attached regiment from the 90th Infantry Division was crossing. Further West in Belgium was the British Communications Zone, which was headquartered in Emblem, outside Antwerp and tasked with receiving reinforcements and supplies from Great Britain and to co-ordinate their onward movement to 1 (BR) Corps. On the Eastern Front, the Soviet Red Army (including the Polish Armed Forces in the East under Soviet command), had taken most of Poland, launched an offensive into East Prussia and began their invasion into Eastern Germany in February 1945, and by March were within striking distance of Berlin. From 1968 through 2010, the Infantry was administered by 'Divisions' of infantry Guards Division, Scottish Division, King's Division, Queen's Division and Prince of Wales' Divisions [four regiments were not under these Divisions]. While the U.S. Ninth and First Armies held their ground from Magdeburg through Leipzig to western Czechoslovakia, Eisenhower ordered three Allied field armies (1st French, and the U.S. [59], Several German political leaders have described the invasion as "liberation", including President Richard von Weizscker in 1985[60] and Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2019. The appropriate documents were signed on the same day and became effective on 8 May. Forty-nine of these divisions were American, 12 British, eight French, three Canadian and one Polish. After the assumption of government by civilians, it became the command formation for the troops in Germany only, rather than being responsible for administration as well. On 7 March, the Allies seized the intact bridge across the Rhine at Remagen, and established a large bridgehead on the river's east bank. The rest of the 9th Army would remain in reserve until the bridgehead was ready for exploitation. On the 30th and 31st, the 2nd Armored made an uninterrupted 40mi (64km) drive east to Beckum, cutting two of the Ruhr's three remaining rail lines and severing the autobahn to Berlin. Army Groups, Armies, Corps and Divisions. HQ Wales District & Signal Troop, Royal Signals. Thus, he decided to feint at Mainz while making his real effort at Nierstein and Oppenheim, 910mi (1416km) south of the city. [16] Also on 4 May, after a shift in inter-army boundaries that placed Salzburg in the 7th Army sector, that city surrendered to elements of the XV Corps. Involved in battle of El Alamein and the invasion of Sicily. [36], Adding to the Germans' woes, the 6th Army Group made an assault across the Rhine on 26 March. German Orders of Battle from March 1, 1945 before the Allies crossed the Rhine. The British Second Army was a field army active during the First and Second World Wars. By attaching mechanized infantry units to armored divisions, they created a hybrid of strength and mobility that served them well in the pursuit of warfare through Germany. At the northern crossing site, elements of British XXX Corps began the assault (Operation Turnscrew) about 21:00, attempting to distract the Germans from the main crossings at Xanten in the center and Rheinberg to the south. Only on 20 April, after breaching the ring of anti-aircraft guns and fighting house-to-house for the city, did its forces take Nuremberg. During the First World War the army was active on the Western Front throughout most of the war and later active in Italy. [58], For their part, captured German soldiers often claimed to be most impressed not by American armor or infantry but by the artillery. Page last modified: His overriding objective was the swiftest military victory possible. Only a month earlier had seen the first large scale NORTHAG exercise, appropriately named, Battle Royal. Total given for serviceable Luftwaffe strength by 9 April 1945 is 3,331 aircraft. . Later D Day and Normandy. [38], On 28 March, as these developments unfolded, Eisenhower announced his decision to adjust his plans governing the future course of the offensive. Finally, the Germans surrendered, and by midnight units moved out laterally to consolidate the crossing sites and to attack the first villages beyond the river. This page is a list of British Armies in WWII. On 29 March, the 1st Army turned toward Paderborn, about 80mi (130km) north of Giessen, its right flank covered by the 3rd Army, which had broken out of its own bridgeheads and was headed northeast toward Kassel. In the British Army division-level formations are administrative or deployable formations. [51], On the 21st Army Group's left, one corps of the Canadian First Army reached the North Sea near the Dutch-German border on 16 April, while another drove through the central Netherlands, trapping the German forces remaining in that country. On 29 November 1952, the Headquarters of Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) formed. 63rd Station Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Special Investigations Branch (Germany), JHQ Rheindahlen. 18th Base Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. By midnight, infantry units had pushed the boundary of the bridgehead more than 5 miles (8.0km) inland, ensuring the unqualified success of the first modern assault crossing of the Rhine. Most of these units were progressively dissolved, so that by February 1920 there were only regular battalions: In August 1920 Winston Churchill, as Secretary of State for War, told Parliament that the BAOR was made up of approximately 13,360 troops, consisting of staff, cavalry, Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, infantry, machine gun corps, tanks and the usual ancillary services. 1st Training Regiment Corps of Royal Engineers. All had been unceremoniously repulsed by the vastly superior Allied forces. [57], By the beginning of 1945, Allied victory in Europe was inevitable. Headquartered at JHQ Rheindahlen in West Germany and commanded by a General it consisted in peacetime of British I Corps and support troops. Captain Murray S. Pulver, commander of Company B, 120th Infantry Regiment, was in his usual placethe thick of the fighting. South of the Ruhr River, the 1st Army's northward attack was to be executed by the XVIII Airborne Corps, which had been transferred to Hodges after Operation Varsity, and the III Corps, with the 1st Army's V and VII Corps continuing the offensive east. The 30th was to cross between Wesel and Rheinberg while the 79th assaulted south of Rheinberg. The importance of quickly obtaining a deep bridgehead was increased by the fact that the first access to a decent road network was over 6 miles (9.7km) inland at the town of Gro-Gerau. Both formations had areas of responsibility located around the German section of the River Rhine. Thus all three armies of the 12th U.S. Army Group were in a fairly even northsouth line, enabling them to advance abreast of each other to the Elbe. [44], The Elbe River was the official eastward objective, but many American commanders still eyed Berlin. 88 mm Pak 43 with spread mount covered in a securing position behind the river Rhine, Germany spring 1945. The Field Army rebalancing is part of the Armys response to the emerging Defence thinking and will create a Field Army of integrated, interdependent and complementary formations from 1 Aug 2019. [20], The Allied forces along this line were organized into three army groups. In total they were to consist of 16 Divisions in four Corps (out of the current British total in Europe of 61 and 16), together with appropriate cavalry, air resources and extended lines of communication. . Original British Expeditionary Force 1st Division 2nd Division 3rd Division 4th Division 5th Division 6th Division Divisions formed in late 1914 and 1915 7th Division 8th Division 27th Division 28th Division 29th Division 1st and 2nd Dismounted Divisions Guards Division The Divisions of Lord Kitchener's "New Armies" (technically Regular Army) Commander-in-Chief, UK Land Forces, General Sir Charles Huxtable, HQ United Kingdom Land Forces commanded nine military districts until the spring of 1991. 20th March 2015. Garrisons which closed at this time included Soest (home of the 6th Armoured Brigade),[10] Soltau (home of the 7th Armoured Brigade)[11] and Minden (home of the 11th Armoured Brigade). 64th Rear Combat Zone Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. 5 Ordnance Battalion, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, 6 Ordnance Battalion, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Bielefeld, 2 Aircraft Support Unit, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Detmold, 1st (BR) Corps Troops Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Bielefeld, 20 Electronics Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Minden, 71 Aircraft Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Detmold, 110 Provost Company, Royal Military Police, Sennelager, 115 Provost Company, Royal Military Police, Osnabrck, HQ 1st Armoured Division & Signal Regiment, Royal Signals, Verden, 11th Postal & Courier Squadron, Royal Engineers, Verden. Since the Allied armies on the Rhine were more than 300 miles (480km) from Berlin, with the Elbe River, 200 miles (320km) ahead, still to be crossed it seemed clear that the Soviets would capture Berlin long before the Western Allies could reach it. But these decisions were made in good faith and had little bearing on the ultimate outcome of the campaign. [7] In 1967, the force was reduced in strength to 53,000 soldiers, compared with 80,000 ten years earlier. The officer in charge of the unit capturing the area, typically a company or battalion, accepted responsibility over the town. Detachments to 1st Armoured, 2nd Infantry, 3rd Armoured, 4th Armoured Divisions, 1st Artillery Brigade, and 1st Infantry Brigade. Key to the effort was the logistical support that kept these forces fueled, and the determination to maintain the forward momentum at all costs. The largest difference was in the period from 1-10.4.1945, for which the Heeresarzt recorded 63,386 killed and wounded in the East (12,510 killed, 50,876 wounded) vs. only 431 in the West (100 killed, 331 wounded), an East vs. West ratio of about 147:1 in killed and wounded. 32nd Base Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. 30-06-2021 12:05:06 ZULU, 1st (United Kingdom) Division (1 (UK) Div) with its blend of lighter infantry, logistics, engineers and medics will provide more strategic choice and a range of capabilities, conducting capacity building, stabilisation operations, disaster relief and UK resilience operations. The British Rhine occupation force British Second and Fourth Armies were selected to make the advance and to commence on 17 November 1918. Such reinforcement units are indicated in the list below in italics followed by the higher command they were to reinforce in Germany in brackets. Brigade groups took over from divisions as the smallest operative units. This decree of 5 August was followed by a decree dated 19 October (Fontainebleau Decree) ordering the destruction of all British merchandise found in territories occupied by Napoleon, included within which were the states of the Confederation. Back in the 1950s, a posting in Germany was being actively encouraged as a vast British Army presence continued to expand. One of the British divisions arrived from Italy after the start of the campaign. Both formations had areas of responsibility located around the German section of the River Rhine . 4th Armoured Division Transport Regiment, Royal Corps of Transport, 4th Ordnance Battalion, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Herford, 4th Armoured Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Detmold, 4th Armoured Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, Minden, 114th Provost Company, Royal Military Police, Detmold, HQ 11th Armoured Brigade & 211th Signal Squadron, Royal Signals, Minden, HQ 20th Armoured Brigade & 200th Signal Squadron, Royal Signals, Detmold, 43 (Lloyd's Company) Air Defence Battery, (36x.

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