british army of the rhine order of battle

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. There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). At the same time, General Devers' 6th U.S. Army Group would move south through Bavaria and the Black Forest to Austria and the Alps, ending the threat of any Nazi last-ditch stand there. "Now we will have roughly one-sixth of that number. On that day, Eisenhower instructed Patton to halt the 3rd Army at the Mulde River, about 10mi (16km) short of its original objective, Chemnitz. 1st Training Regiment Corps of Royal Engineers. In five days of battle, from 18 to 22 March, Patton's forces captured over 68,000 Germans. 36th District Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, HQ London District & 238 Signal Squadron, Royal Signals, Chelsea. There are: VG Division the newly introduced Volks (People's) Grenadier Divisions. Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. For administrative purposes these units were under command of brigade HQ based in the UK during peacetime. 4th Security Company, Intelligence Corps. During the Cold War NORTHAG was NATO's forward defence in the Northern half of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). 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. While manpower and force size was limited by budgetary constraints, quality of training and equipment was commonly reported of a high standard. 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. 64th Rear Combat Zone Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. [34], For the American crossing, Simpson had chosen the veteran 30th and 79th Infantry Divisions of the XVI Corps. Eisenhower thus turned his attention to other objectives, most notably a rapid meet-up with the Soviets to cut the German Army in two and prevent any possibility of a unified defense. By the end of April, the Third Reich was in tatters. 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. Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Uniquely and rather confusingly, the Infantry, which is a collection of regiments, was organized in 1957 into Brigades, which were not fighting formations but rather provided depots for training recruits to the three or four regiments within the Brigade. 9th Field Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (V). [81] On 2 November 1988 107th (Ulster) Brigade (V) was raised and took command of all Territorial Army units in Northern Ireland, thus freeing 8th Infantry Brigade and 39th Infantry Brigade to focus on counterinsurgency operations. Still, despite the terrain and German machine-gun and 20 millimetres (0.79in) anti-aircraft cannon fire, VIII Corps troops managed to gain control of the east bank's heights, and by dark on 26 March, with German resistance crumbling all along the Rhine, they were preparing to continue the drive the next morning. The English Army was founded in 1660, was succeeded in 1707 by the new British Army, incorporating the existing Scottish regiments. After what had been initially a one man attempt to discover more about the British Army of the Rhine, to which he had never served under, there is now a full team in place determined towards preventing this precious history drifting into obscurity. [43], On 4 April, as it paused to allow the rest of the 12th U.S. Army Group to catch up, the 3rd Army made two notable discoveries. [16][notes 1][17] Combined with the capture of Berchtesgaden, any hope of Nazi leadership continuing to wage war from a so-called "national redoubt" or escape through the Alps was crushed, shortly followed by unconditional German surrender on 8 May 1945. 79th Railway Squadron, Royal Corps of Transport. The British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was the United Kingdom's main contribution to NATO. Although he declined to increase the size of the American crossing force beyond two divisions, he agreed to keep it under the 9th Army rather than Second Army control. Later joined the staff of 10th Armoured Division in Western Desert. Rolling northward 45mi (72km) without casualties, the mobile force stopped for the night 15mi (24km) from its objective. In the south, the 1st Army's III Corps launched its strike on the 5th and the XVIII Airborne Corps joined in on the 6th, both pushing generally northward. [26], On 19 March, Eisenhower told Bradley to prepare the 1st Army for a breakout from the Remagen bridgehead any time after 22 March. On the same day, however, Montgomery announced that the eastbound roads out of Wesel would be turned over to the 9th Army on 30 March with the Rhine bridges leading into that city changing hands a day later. 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. As the Soviet threat increased, so BAOR became less of an occupational army and assumed the role of defender of Western Europe, and as a major contributor to NATO after 1949.This book traces and. One of the British divisions arrived from Italy after the start of the campaign. [2] The Cologne Post was a newspaper published for members of the BAOR during this period. The artillery fire had been so effective and so perfectly timed that the assault battalions merely motored their storm boats across the river and claimed the east bank against almost no resistance. The 9th Army's XVI Corps, which had taken up position north of the Ruhr area after crossing the Rhine, would be assisted in its southward drive by two divisions of the XIX Corps, the rest of which would continue to press eastward along with the XIII Corps. Additional losses in the Rhineland further weakened the German Army, leaving shattered remnants of units to defend the east bank of the Rhine. is infantry division. 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. Faced with trying to make rapid advances through dense forest on rutted dirt roads and muddy trails, which could be strongly defended by a few determined soldiers and well-placed roadblocks, the task forces advanced only about 2 miles (3.2km) on the 25th. divisions are listed in order of their original numbers (e.g., beginning with the former 1st Division and finishing with the former 62nd) . 21 Field Hospital, Royal Army Medical Corps, 32 Field Hospital, Royal Army Medical Corps, Hannover, 83 Field Medical Equipment Depot, Royal Army Medical Corps, Hannover. DECODED: The Cold War in Europe 1945-1995 : NATO's Northern Army Group Wartime Order of Battle 1985. [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. [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. 20th March 2015. The British Rhine occupation force British Second and Fourth Armies were selected to make the advance and to commence on 17 November 1918. On 4 May, the 3rd Army's V Corps and XII Corps advanced into Czechoslovakia, and units of the VI Corps met elements of Lieutenant General Lucian Truscott's U.S. 5th Army on the Italian frontier, linking the European and Mediterranean Theaters. [48], Advancing along this new axis the Seventh Army's left rapidly overran Bamberg, over 100mi (160km) east of the Rhine, on its way to Nuremberg, about 30mi (48km) to the south. On the night of March 23, 1945, the Allied forces that had gathered along the Rhine launched their invasion. Communications and Security Group (UK) (224 Sig Sqn). My representation of this capability for my 1980s British Battle Group will include. A captain of the 506th wrote, "At one point the men were so weary that [on] the order to rest . Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War, and the other after the Second World War. This secondary drive would also give Eisenhower a degree of flexibility in case the northern attack ran into difficulties. There will be no changes to personnel numbers, resourcing, cap badges or locations. Hours later, the attack multiplied as the ground troops were aided by an impressive airborne operation that brought planes, paratroopers, and more soldiers. By the last week of April, it was well known that the Soviets were close, and dozens of American patrols were probing beyond the east bank of the Mulde, hoping to meet them. The divisions were created from 6th (Soest) and 20th (Detmold) Armoured Brigades and the divisional troops of 4th Division. The British Second Army was a field army active during the First and Second World Wars. Inf.Div. 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. 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. Field-Marshal Bernard Montgomery's 21st Army Group was supplied with the task of advancing into Germany in the Niederrhein (Lower-Rhine) area, which eventually resulted in both the operations 'Veritable' and . The purpose of this site is to give people, still serving or not, the opportunity to look back at the places in Germany where they may have served over the years and also a view of the regiments and units which shaped them. [36], Simpson began by moving elements of the XIX Corps' 2nd Armored Division into the XVI Corps bridgehead on 28 March with orders to cross the Lippe east of Wesel, thereby avoiding that city's traffic jams. 13. [33], Another important aspect of Montgomery's plan was Operation Varsity, in which two divisions of Major General Matthew Ridgway's XVIII Airborne Corps were to make an airborne assault over the Rhine. [32][pageneeded] The intention was to create a line from Bremen south to Neuwied. Key to the effort was the logistical support that kept these forces fueled, and the determination to maintain the forward momentum at all costs. In case of a war the Corps first line of defense would have been a screening force of 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards, 16th/5th Queen's Royal Lancers and 664 Squadron AAC, which would have become an ad-hoc brigade formation under command of BAOR's Brigadier Royal Armoured Corps. It was renamed the Guards Division on 01 July 1968. Elements of the 1st Army's V Corps made first contact. [37], A task force of the VII Corps' 3rd Armored Division, which included some of the new M26 Pershing heavy tanks, spearheaded the drive for Paderborn on 29 March. 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). 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]. Contents 1 History 52nd Field Squadron (Construction), 22nd Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, 516th Specialist Team (Bulk Petrol), Royal Engineers, RAF Gtersloh, 1st Postal & Courier Regiment, Royal Engineers, Hannover (in support of 1 (BR) Corps), 11th Postal & Courier Squadron, Royal Engineers, Verden (in support of 1st (BR) Armoured Division), 13th Postal & Courier Squadron, Royal Engineers, Soest (in support of 3rd (BR) Armoured Division), 14th Postal & Courier Squadron, Royal Engineers, Herford (in support of 4th (BR) Armoured Division), 3rd Postal & Courier Depot, Royal Engineers, Dsseldorf (in support of Communication Zone [CommZ]). At the Battle of Rolia (17 August 1808), the first battle fought by the British army during the Peninsular War, [5] an Anglo-Portuguese army under Sir Arthur Wellesley defeated an outnumbered Imperial French division under General of Division Henri Franois Delaborde, near the village of Rolia in Portugal. [49], Meanwhile, on the 7th Army's right, the VI Corps had moved southeast alongside the French 1st Army. Alfred Price. British Army, Master Order of Battle 1991 Forces within the United Kingdom. They frequently remarked on its accuracy and the swiftness of its target acquisitionand especially the prodigious amount of artillery ammunition expended. 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).

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