To the south, elements of the VI Corps met unexpectedly fierce resistance at Heilbronn, 40mi (64km) into the German rear. In December 1989, Headquarters UK Land Forces at Wilton directed field forces through a three-star's command, Commander UK Field Army, Lieutenant General Sir David Ramsbotham. There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine ( BAOR ). 3rd Training Regiment Corps of Royal Engineers. To the south, Patton's 3rd Army was to drive east to Chemnitz, about 40mi (64km) southeast of Leipzig, but well short of the Elbe, and then turn southeast into Austria. On the Western Front, the Allies had been fighting in Germany with campaigns against the Siegfried Line since the Battle of Aachen, the Battle of Metz and the Battle of Hrtgen Forest in late 1944 and by January 1945, had pushed the Germans back to their starting points during the Battle of the Bulge. 256 Mobile Civilian Plant Group, Royal Engineers, 1st Postal & Courier Regiment, Royal Engineers, Hannover, 7th Tank Transporter Regiment, Royal Corps of Transport, Sennelager, 10 Corps Transport Regiment, Royal Corps of Transport, Bielefeld, 24 Transport & Movement Regiment, Royal Corps of Transport, Hanover, 25 Transport & Movement Regiment, Royal Corps of Transport, Bielefeld, 14 Corps Support Squadron, Royal Corps of Transport, Bielefeld. Contents 1 History 1.1 1919-1929 Rdiger Overmans, Soldaten hinter Stacheldraht. 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. [49], As the 6th U.S. Army Group and the 3rd Army finished clearing southern Germany and approached Austria, it was clear to most observers, Allied and German alike, that the war was nearly over. [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. "The ETO", a term generally only used to refer to American forces in the Western European Theater, fielded 42,000 pieces of artillery; American forces comprised approximately 2/3 of all Allied forces during the campaign. [27], These were exactly the orders Patton had hoped for; he felt that if a sufficiently strong force could be thrown across the river and significant gains made, then Eisenhower might transfer responsibility for the main drive through Germany from Montgomery's 21st Army Group to Bradley's 12th. On 29 November 1952, the Headquarters of Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) formed. All units within the service are either Regular (full-time) or Territorial Army (part-time), or a combination with sub-units of each type. The deployment and distribution of the divisions of the Wehrmacht and subordinate units of allies on March 1, 1945. Postal and Courier Depot, Royal Engineers, Central Volunteer HQ Royal Engineers (Postal and Courier Services). A very armour orientated BAOR were as follows: 1 (BR) Corps (Bielefeld)1st Armoured Division (Verden)2nd Armoured Division (Lbbecke)3rd Armoured Division (Krbecke)4th Armoured Division (Herford)5th Field Force (Osnabrck)Artillery Division (Bielefeld). The only potent unit left for commitment against the Allied Rhine crossings in the north, the 116th began moving south from the Dutch-German border on 25 March against what the Germans considered their most dangerous threat, the U.S. 9th Army. The ensuing airdrops, which began on 29 April,[52] marked the beginning of what was to become a colossal effort to put war-torn Europe back together again.[53]. Forty-nine of these divisions were American, 12 British, eight French, three Canadian and one Polish. Orders of battle (London : Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1960) 2 vol. The Germans lacked both the manpower and the heavy equipment to make a more determined defense. Brigade groups took over from divisions as the smallest operative units. German resistance everywhere was sporadic, and the hastily mounted counterattacks invariably burned out quickly, causing few casualties. [20], The Allied forces along this line were organized into three army groups. Any ground the Western Allies gained in the future Soviet zone would merely be relinquished to the Soviets after the war. Includes a chapter on the creation of the postmodern regimental system between 1945 and 1970 against the backdrop of postwar austerity and the consequent reorganization and amalgamation of many regiments. They frequently remarked on its accuracy and the swiftness of its target acquisitionand especially the prodigious amount of artillery ammunition expended. 1st Division provides specialist soldiers and equipment to develop other nations armies, deal with disaster and humanitarian crises worldwide and enable our warfighting division. 20th Maritime Regiment, Royal Corps of Transport. Later D Day and Normandy. At Worms, about 25 miles (40km) south of Mainz, the 7th Army's XV Corps established a bridgehead, which it consolidated with the southern shoulder of the 3rd Army's bridgehead early the next day. 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. More reorganisation was implemented in January 1978 with the creation of 3rd and th Armoured Brigades. In the north, from the North Sea to a point about 10 miles (16km) north of Cologne, was the 21st Army Group commanded by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. 1997. The wisdom of putting lightly-armed paratroopers so close to the main battlefield was debated, and the plan for amphibious forces to cross the Rhine prior to the parachute drop raised questions as to the utility of making an airborne assault at all. According to rumor, Hitler's most fanatically loyal troops were preparing to make a lengthy, last-ditch stand in the natural fortresses formed by the rugged alpine mountains of southern Germany and western Austria. After the reduction of the Ruhr Pocket, the main thrust east would be made by Bradley's 12th Army Group in the center, rather than by Montgomery's 21st Army Group in the north as originally planned. This NATO creation saw the BAOR being placed under its command. On that day, Eisenhower instructed Patton to halt the 3rd Army at the Mulde River, about 10mi (16km) short of its original objective, Chemnitz. 27th District Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. On 29 April, the British made an assault crossing of the Elbe, supported on the following day by the recently reattached XVIII Airborne Corps. HQ 1st Infantry Brigade & 215 Signal Squadron Royal Corps of Signals. [49], On 30 April, elements of 7th Army's XV and XXI Corps captured Munich, 30 miles (48km) south of the Danube, while the first elements of its VI Corps had already entered Austria two days earlier. . 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. Eisenhower sent Bradley his final word on the matter: the 9th Army was to stay putthere would be no effort to take Berlin. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. 6 (UK) Div will include: 1st Signal Brigade, 11th Signal Brigade, 1st Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade, 77th Brigade and the Specialist Infantry Group, Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps. [45], Meanwhile, on the 12th U.S. Army Group's southern flank, the 3rd Army had advanced apace, moving 30mi (48km) eastward to take Erfurt and Weimar, and then, by 12 April, another 30mi (48km) through the old 1806 Jena Napoleonic battlefield area. After overcoming stiff initial resistance, XV Corps also advanced beyond the Rhine, opposed primarily by small German strongpoints sited in roadside villages. [46], Every unit along the ElbeMulde line was anxious to be the first to meet the Red Army. 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. "When I joined my regiment in 1980, the British Army of the Rhine alone had 900 tanks," Crawford wrote in U.K. Defense Journal. 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. 5th Security Company, Intelligence Corps, 6th Intelligence Company (Photo Intell), Intelligence Corps, JHQ Rheindahlen. . [5] Its original function was to control the corps districts which were running the military government of the British zone of Allied-occupied Germany. These commands consisted of units of all three services and were commanded by one or 2-star rank flag officers. [34], For the American crossing, Simpson had chosen the veteran 30th and 79th Infantry Divisions of the XVI Corps. [31], By 28 March, the 8th Armored Division had expanded the bridgehead by only about 3mi (4.8km) and still had not reached Dorsten, a town about 15mi (24km) east of the Rhine, whose road junction promised to expand the XVI Corps' offensive options. 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. Both formations had areas of responsibility located around the German section of the River Rhine . During transition to war, the support units of BAOR would have formed the British Rear Combat Zone headquartered in Dsseldorf, which would have supplied the fighting forces and guarded the lines of communication within West Germany. However, Hobbs had not fully taken into account the nearly nonexistent road network in front of the XVI Corps bridgehead. [59], In retrospect, very few questionable decisions were made concerning the execution of the campaign.[who?] On 7 March, Hodges's U.S. 1st Army captured the last intact bridge over the Rhine at Remagen and steadily expanded the bridgehead. This was the first major step towards the army of today, with a brigade group comprising of armour, infantry, an engineer squadron and armoured reconnaissance regiment, opposed to divisions comprising of solely infantry of armour ( the first case of mixed brigades being used effectively was near Soltau, April 1945, by 4th Armoured Brigade, led by Brigadier Carver). [49], Meanwhile, on the 7th Army's right, the VI Corps had moved southeast alongside the French 1st Army. Instead, the 1st Army struck eastward, heading for Giessen and the Lahn River, 65mi (105km) beyond Remagen, before turning north toward Paderborn and a linkup with the 9th Army. The predecessor to British Forces Germany, the BAOR was active from 1919-1929, and then 1945-1994. and comes complete with a manual big enough to be deemed as an offensive weapon i.e. While Montgomery was carefully and cautiously planning for the main thrust in the north, complete with massive artillery preparation and an airborne assault, American forces in the south were displaying the kind of basic aggressiveness that Eisenhower wanted to see. Thus, as his forces had approached the east bank of the river, Montgomery proceeded with one of the most intensive buildups of material and manpower of the war. The British Second Army was a field army active during the First and Second World Wars. My representation of this capability for my 1980s British Battle Group will include. British Army of the Rhine There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine ( BAOR ). The British 2nd Army advanced towards Hamburg, crossing the River Elbe on 29 April 1945 and pushing on towards Denmark and the Baltic. 4th Petrol Depot, Royal Army Ordnance Corps. The British Army is the land warfare branch of the British Armed Forces. [26], On 19 March, Eisenhower told Bradley to prepare the 1st Army for a breakout from the Remagen bridgehead any time after 22 March. The BAOR at this point still consisted of 80,000 troops. 79107 (Regular Signal Squadrons, 200299). 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. Should the U.S. political leadership direct him to take Berlin, or if a situation arose in which it became militarily advisable to seize the German capital, Eisenhower would do so. British Army of the Rhine - YouTube 0:00 / 58:47 British Army of the Rhine Ichioku 334 subscribers Subscribe 6.6K views 1 year ago BBC Documentary from 2012 (small edit to avoid. 1st Armoured Division Transport Regiment, Royal Corps of Transport, 1st Ordnance Battalion, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Verden, 7th Armoured Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Fallingbostel, 12th Armoured Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Osnabrck, 1st Armoured Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, Bergen-Hohne, 2nd Armoured Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, Osnabrck, 111th Provost Company, Royal Military Police, Bergen-Hohne, HQ 7th Armoured Brigade & 207th Signal Squadron, Royal Signals, Soltau, HQ 12th Armoured Brigade & 212th Signal Squadron, Royal Signals, Osnabrck, HQ 22nd Armoured Brigade & 201st Signal Squadron, Royal Signals, Bergen-Hohne, 10 (Assaye) Air Defence Battery (under command of Field regiment for admin), HQ 3rd Armoured Division & Signal Regiment, Royal Signals, Soest, 13th Postal & Courier Squadron, Royal Engineers, Soest. In the battle of Ligny Ziethen faced Vandamme's III Corps. The General Officer commanding Headquarters Northern Ireland reported directly, operationally, to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. It was originally composed of five corps, composed of two divisions each, plus a cavalry division:[1], IV Corps: Commanded by Sir Alexander Godley, VI Corps: Commanded by Sir Aylmer Haldane, IX Corps: Commanded by Sir Walter Braithwaite and later by Ivor Maxse, Cavalry Division (formed from 1st Cavalry Division). "I have been visiting some of the units and found them, ready for the . In addition, since Berlin and the rest of Germany had already been divided into occupation zones by representatives of the Allied governments at the Yalta Conference, Eisenhower saw no political advantage in a race for Berlin. Tanks and tank destroyers had been ferried across all morning, and by evening a Treadway bridge was open to traffic. While this was short notice, it did not catch the XII Corps completely unaware. These rapid advances on the Eastern Front destroyed additional veteran German combat units and severely limited German Fhrer Adolf Hitler's ability to reinforce his Rhine defenses. During Operation Lumberjack, Operation Plunder and Operation Undertone, German casualties during FebruaryMarch 1945 are estimated at 400,000 men, including 280,000 men captured as prisoners of war.[18]. [36], The 1st Army's drive from the Remagen bridgehead began with a breakout before dawn on 25 March. In that time, the Company has released a number of well-received projects that cut across the diecast spectrum, from big and beefy 1:32 scale tanks to pose-able 1:72 scale WWII-era fighters. 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. The appropriate documents were signed on the same day and became effective on 8 May. The Allied invasion of Germany east of the Rhine started with the Western Allies crossing the river on 22 March 1945 before fanning out and overrunning all of western Germany from the Baltic in the north to the Alpine passes in the south, where they linked up with troops of the U.S. Fifth Army in Italy. 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]. [36], Adding to the Germans' woes, the 6th Army Group made an assault across the Rhine on 26 March. Isby and Kamp, Armies of NATO's Central Front, 1985, 251-255. [27], On 21 March, Patton ordered his XII Corps to prepare for an assault over the Rhine on the following night, one day before Montgomery's scheduled crossing. The executive committee of the Army Board was responsible for the 'detailed management of the Army.' During the Cold War NORTHAG was NATO's forward defence in the Northern half of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). Meanwhile, Operation Widgeon began 2 miles (3.2km) north of Wesel as the 2nd Army's 1st Commando Brigade slipped across the river and waited within 1 mile (1.6km) of the city while it was demolished by one thousand tons of bombs delivered by RAF Bomber Command. Up until now, if you have played a war game on the pc it's probably been a top-down hex game that's turn based, makes absolutely no use whatsoever of your machine's graphics and sound capabilities. 211 Mobile Civilian Artisan Group, Royal Engineers. 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. This site is maintained by a Cold War history enthusiast, for other Cold War . The initial assault waves crossed the river quickly, meeting only light opposition. 7th Intelligence Company, Intelligence Corps. By the evening of 11 April, elements of the 9th Army's 2nd Armored Divisionseemingly intent on demonstrating how easily their army could take that coveted prizehad dashed 73mi (117km) to reach the Elbe southeast of Magdeburg, just 50mi (80km) short of the German capital. 21 Postal and Courier Squadron, Royal Engineers. After attempting to strike a deal whereby he would surrender only to the Western Allies, a proposal that was summarily rejected on 7 May, Dnitz granted his representative, Alfred Jodl, permission to effect a complete surrender on all fronts. The three complementary British Army Divisions harness the wide range of British Army capabilities, providing choice to the Government in defence of the UKs interests. Commander-in-Chief, UK Land Forces, General Sir Charles Huxtable, HQ United Kingdom Land Forces commanded nine military districts until the spring of 1991. Through a combination of flanking movements and night attacks, First Army troops were able to destroy or bypass the guns, moving finally into Leipzig, which formally surrendered on the morning of 20 April. BAOR had command of four Areas or Districts: I Corps District; 20th March 2015. By the end of the day, the units that had taken Leipzig joined the rest of the 1st Army on the Mulde, where it had been ordered to halt. 12th Royal School of Military Engineer Regiment Corps of Royal Engineers. In reserve were the XVI Corps' 8th Armored Division, and 35th and 75th Infantry Divisions, as well as the 9th Army's XIII and XIX Corps, each with three divisions. Inf.Div. The 9th Army's commander, Lieutenant General William Hood Simpson and the Second Army's Lieutenant-General Dempsey took exception to this approach. The best introduction to the regimental system of the British army. 31 General Hospital, Royal Army Medical Corps, 82nd Field Medical Equipment Depot, Royal Army Medical Corps, Dsseldorf, 382nd Field Medical Company, Royal Army Medical Corps. 158 Provost Company Corps of Royal Military Police. 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. 3rd Armoured Division was the corps' reserve formation. Advancing from northern Italy, the British Eighth Army[l] pushed to the borders of Yugoslavia to defeat the remaining Wehrmacht elements there. The Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) was a NATO military formation comprising five Army Corps from five NATO member nations. (see. [22], In addition, there was the matter of the Ruhr. Ziethen's I Army Corps was granted the honour of being the first major Allies force to enter Paris. [35], Although the armored division bolstered his offensive capacity within the bridgehead, Simpson was more interested in sending the XIX Corps across the Wesel bridges, as Montgomery had agreed, and using the better roads north of the Lippe to outflank the enemy in front of the 30th Division. The events of the first few days of the final campaign would be enough to convince him that this was the proper course of action. ), taking the same title as the army of occupation following the Great War in 1919. After passing north of the Lippe on 29 March, the 2nd Armored Division broke out late that night from the forward position that the XVIII Airborne Corps had established around Haltern, 12mi (19km) northeast of Dorsten. [40], The first step in realizing Eisenhower's plan was the eradication of the Ruhr Pocket. HQ Wales District & Signal Troop, Royal Signals. 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. Its new location was in the towns of Iserlohn and Soest, as the previous occupants (The Canadian Brigade) had moved to southern GermanyBy 1973, 1 (BR) Corps consisted of: 1st Division (Verden)7th Armoured Brigade (Soltau)11th Infantry Brigade (Minden)2nd Division (Lbbecke)4th Guards Infantry Brigade (Mnster)12th Mechanised Brigade (Osnabrck)4th Division (Herford)6th Armoured Brigade (Krbecke)20th Armoured Brigade (Detmold). Only when Soviet artillery was falling around his Berlin headquarters bunker did he begin to perceive the final outcome. 14th Independent Topographic Squadron, Royal Engineers. The initial advance into Romania, the First JassyKishinev Offensive in April and May 1944 was a failure; the Second JassyKishinev Offensive in August succeeded. The hoard included vast quantities of German paper currency, stacks of priceless paintings, piles of looted gold and silver jewelry and household objects, and an estimated $250,000,000 worth of gold bars and coins of various nations. Phantom Force Of Western Front (Rec. 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: . Fire and Fury Games - designers of wargame miniatures rules Soldiers posted copies of General Eisenhower's Proclamation No. 5 (Gibraltar 177983) Field Battery, 94th Locating Regiment Royal Artillery. 4th Guards Infantry Brigade (Iserlohn)6th Infantry Brigade (Mnster)7th Armoured Brigade (Soltau)11th Infantry Brigade (Minden)12th Infantry Brigade (Osnabrck)20th Armoured Brigade (Detmold)Berlin Brigade (Berlin)In 1968 6th Infantry Brigade was relocated back to Great Britain, only to return in the Autumn of 1970. VIII Corps crossing sites were located along the Rhine Gorge, where the river had carved a deep chasm between two mountain ranges, creating precipitous canyon walls over 300 feet (91m) high on both sides. With the surrender of the German Army on 9 May 1945, the 21st Army Group became an army of occupation. Thus, on 15 April when Eisenhower ordered Patton's entire 3rd Army to drive southeast down the Danube River valley to Linz, and south to Salzburg and central Austria, he also instructed the 6th U.S. Army Group to make a similar turn into southern Germany and western Austria. It was administered by the War Office from London, which was subsumed into the Ministry of Defence in 1964. The divisions were created from 6th (Soest) and 20th (Detmold) Armoured Brigades and the divisional troops of 4th Division. 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. Regimental headquarters are administrative and ceremonial in nature. The main thrust beyond the river was to be made in the north by Montgomery's 21st Army Group, elements of which were to proceed east to a juncture with the U.S. 1st Army as it made a secondary advance northeast from below the Ruhr River. Both formations had areas of responsibility located around the German section of the River Rhine. All had been unceremoniously repulsed by the vastly superior Allied forces. The two 9th Army divisions tasked for the assault concentrated in the Rheinberg area south of Wesel. 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. Headed from Bielefeld it comprised of; 5th Heavy Regiment RA (Hildesheim)50th Missile Regiment, RA (Menden)12 Air Defence Regiment, RA (Dortmund)22nd Air Defence Regiment, RA (Soest)94th Locating Regiment, RA (Celle)1st Battalion, The Royal Scots, Infantry (Mnster)8th Transport Regiment, RCT (Mnster). 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). The Allied front along the Rhine stretched 450 miles (720km) from the river's mouth at the North Sea in the Netherlands to the Swiss border in the south. To view a summary of the British Army in 1952 please click here.During October 1954 HQ BAOR reallocated fromBad Oeynhausento Rheindalen. As heavier equipment was ferried across the Rhine, both divisions began pushing east, penetrating 36 miles (4.89.7km) into the German defensive line that day. On 25 August 1945, it was redesignated as the British Army of the Rhine (B.A.O.R. Includes 25 armored divisions and 5 airborne divisions. Taking up the advance again the next day, it immediately ran into stiff opposition from students of an SS panzer replacement training center located near Paderborn. At nine o'clock in the evening on Sunday, September 17, 1944, Harzer received the order to defeat all the British on the north side of the Lower Rhine with his division. 3rd Squadron, 13th Signal Regiment (Radio), Royal Signals, Royal Air Force Gatow Station Flight, (2x, Berlin Ordnance Company, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, 504th Commander Royal Army Service Corps (CRASC) (Overseas Deployment Training). Seventh and Third Armies) into southeastern Germany and Austria. 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.

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