british army of the rhine order of battle british army of the rhine order of battle

During peacetime these regiments were under command of their brigade. HQ Eastern District & 239 Signal Squadron, Royal Signals, Colchester, London District, Horse Guards, covering Greater London. Simpson now had both the opportunity and the means to unleash the power of the 9th Army and begin in earnest the northern drive to surrounding the Ruhr. 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). 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. British Army of the Rhine There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine ( BAOR ). [28], The location of the river-crossing assault was critical. Positioned on the North German Plain, it is the command element of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG). Postal and Courier Depot, Royal Engineers, Central Volunteer HQ Royal Engineers (Postal and Courier Services). 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. The German forces there were simply in less disarray than those to the north. 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. 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. 11th Signal Regiment Royal Corps of Signals. The first wave of boats was halfway across when the Germans began pouring machine-gun fire into their midst. West German military historian Burkhart Mller-Hillebrand estimated 265,000 dead from all causes and 1,012,000 missing and prisoners of war on all German battlefronts from 1 Jan 1945 30 April 1945. 3rd Base Ammo Depot, Royal Army Ordnance Corps. The Forces of Valor Update: Lucky Number Seven Second Army (United Kingdom) - Wikipedia The 9th Army's commander, Lieutenant General William Hood Simpson and the Second Army's Lieutenant-General Dempsey took exception to this approach. Upstream at Oppenheim, however, the effort did not proceed so casually. [25], To the south in the Saar-Palatinate region, Patton's U.S. 3rd Army had dealt a devastating blow to the German 7th Army and, in conjunction with the U.S. 7th Army, had nearly destroyed the German 1st Army. (Copied from the Structure of the British Armed Forces in 1989). The Western Allies still had to fight, often bitterly, for victory. Field-Marshal Montgomei*y's British 2nd Army has becorfie the phantom force of the Western Front. Operation Plunder - Wikipedia Also on 28 March, elements of the U.S. 17th Airborne Division operating north of the Lippe River in conjunction with British armored forcesdashed to a point some 30mi (48km) east of Wesel, opening a corridor for the XIX Corps and handily outflanking Dorsten and the enemy to the south. [80] The brigade had been disbanded in September 1981 with its units and area initially having been taken over by 8th Infantry Brigade. Antony Beevor, Inside the British Army, 1991, 429. 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. In Operation Eclipse, the 17th Airborne Division, 82d Airborne Division, 101st Airborne Division, and a British brigade were to seize the Tempelhof, Rangsdorf, Gatow, Staaken, and Oranienburg airfields. At the top of the Army organisation is the Army Board of the Defence Council. Otherwise, he would pursue those objectives that would end the war soonest. - - - - - - - - - II Army Corps - GM Pirch-I: Strength: 33,000-36,000 men and 80-96 guns The last date on which the Army did not contain either a Guard's Brigade or Division as an operational unit was in 1920. Even Patton agreed with Churchill that he should order the attack on the city since Montgomery's troops could reach Berlin within three days. 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. 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. 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. There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine ( BAOR ). british army of the rhine order of battle. 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). German military historian Rdiger Overmans (, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 21:59. Sub-units are generally about 100 personnel strong. [22], For several reasons, Eisenhower began to readjust these plans toward the end of March. US General George Marshall estimated about 263,000 German battle deaths on the Western Front for the period from 6 June 1944 to 8 May 1945, or a longer period. By the end of 28 March, Hodges' 1st Army had crossed the Lahn, having driven at least 50mi (80km) beyond the original line of departure, capturing thousands of German soldiers in the process. Simpson planned to commit the XIX Corps as soon as possible after the bridgehead had been secured, using the XIII Corps to hold the Rhine south of the crossing sites. This site is maintained by a Cold War history enthusiast, for other Cold War . The XV Corps also captured Berchtesgaden, the town that would have been Hitler's command post in the National Redoubt. My representation of this capability for my 1980s British Battle Group will include. For the period 1 March 1945-20 April 1945 they recorded 343,321 killed and wounded in the East (62,861 killed, 280,460 wounded) versus 22,598 killed and wounded in the West (5,778 killed, 16,820 wounded), an East vs. West ratio of about 15:1 in killed and wounded. Simpson, in turn, ordered a combat command of the 2nd Armored Division, which had just reached Beckum, to make a 15mi (24km) advance southeast to Lippstadt, midway between Beckum and the stalled 3rd Armored Division spearhead. Meanwhile, the 9th and 1st Armies began preparing converging attacks using the east-west Ruhr River as a boundary line. [6], As the potential threat of Soviet invasion across the North German Plain into West Germany increased, BAOR became more responsible for the defence of West Germany than its occupation. 62 Cyprus Support Squadron, Royal Engineers. Welcome to BAOR Locations. 20 Postal and Courier Squadron, Royal Engineers. Lord & Watson, pp. 10th Field Squadron (Airfields), 38th Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers. 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. Completing the Allied line to the Swiss border was the 6th Army Group commanded by Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers, with the U.S. 7th Army (Alexander Patch) in the north and the French 1st Army (Jean de Lattre de Tassigny) on the Allied right, and southernmost, flank. Retrieved 9 October 2021. 1st Training Regiment Corps of Royal Engineers. With Montgomery allowing use of the Wesel bridges to the 9th Army for only five out of every 24 hours, and with the road network north of the Lippe under 2nd Army control, General Simpson was unable to commit or maneuver sufficient forces to make a rapid flanking drive. Its been seven years since Waltersons first acquired the Forces of Valor brand from its former owner, Unimax. [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. 158 Provost Company Corps of Royal Military Police. In the early morning hours of 25 March, elements of the 87th Infantry Division crossed the Rhine to the north at Boppard, and then some 24 hours later elements of the 89th Infantry Division crossed 8 miles (13km) south of Boppard at St. Goar. British Army of the Rhine : The BAOR, 1945-1993 - Google Books [21], As these three army groups cleared out the Wehrmacht west of the Rhine, Eisenhower began to rethink his plans for the final drive across the Rhine and into the heart of Germany. British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) - GlobalSecurity.org Ullstein Taschenbuchvlg., 2002. p.273 During the period January to March 1945 the POW's held Western Allies increased by 200,000; During the period April to June 1945 the number increased to 5,440,000. The British Army is the land warfare branch of the British Armed Forces. With the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, all Western forces were drastically reduced. They frequently remarked on its accuracy and the swiftness of its target acquisitionand especially the prodigious amount of artillery ammunition expended. 21 Postal and Courier Squadron, Royal Engineers. Nowhere, it seemed, were the Germans able to resist in strength. Outline of the British Army at the end of the Cold War At 11:30 on 25 April, a small patrol from the 69th Infantry Division met a lone Soviet horseman in the village of Leckwitz. [22], In addition, there was the matter of the Ruhr. PDF The Original British Army of the Rhine - Orbat A British infantryman removes a Nazi flag from a building after crossing into Germany following the river crossing on March 23, 1945 Operation Plunder followed the Allies' victory in the Battle. After the end of the Second World War the British Army was drastically reduced in manpower to such an extent that the former British Rhine Army consisted of only two British divisions, the 7th Armoured Division and the 2nd Infantry Division. Page last modified: The right-wing of the British Second Army reached the Elbe southeast of Hamburg on 19 April. Task organisation was completely dependent on the Brigades mission and at the discretion of the Brigade commander. 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. These commands consisted of units of all three services and were commanded by one or 2-star rank flag officers. 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. 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. 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. Ziethen's I Army Corps was granted the honour of being the first major Allies force to enter Paris. Once the Ruhr was surrounded, he wanted the 9th Army transferred from the British 21st Army Group to the U.S. 12th Army Group. By 13 April, the 9th Army had cleared the northern part of the pocket, while elements of the XVIII Airborne Corps' 8th Infantry Division reached the southern bank of the Ruhr, splitting the southern section of the pocket in two. 3rd Armoured Division was to the rear of the two forward deployed division as reserve. ), taking the same title as the army of occupation following the Great War in 1919. 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. During the three days leading up to Montgomery's attack, targets in front of the 21st Army Group zone and in the Ruhr area to the southeast were pummeled by about 11,000 sorties, effectively sealing off the Ruhr while easing the burden on Montgomery's assault forces. The same day, in response to the 3rd Army's robust showing in the Saar-Palatinate region, and to have another strong force on the Rhine's east bank guarding the 1st Army's flank, Bradley gave Patton the go-ahead for an assault crossing of the Rhine as soon as possible. [31]Montgomery was exhibiting his now-legendary meticulous and circumspect approach to such enterprises, a lesson he had learned early in the North African campaign. 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. The idea was that each Division would have 2 Task Forces , which . The professional head of the British Army is the Chief of the General Staff. The initial advance into Romania, the First JassyKishinev Offensive in April and May 1944 was a failure; the Second JassyKishinev Offensive in August succeeded. 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. 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). 23 Postal and Courier Squadron, Royal Engineers, 30th Transport Regiment, Royal Corps of Transport, Episkopi, 1x Artillery Battery, Royal Artillery, six month roulement (6x, 1x Air Defence Troop, Royal Artillery, six month roulement, (12x, Falkland Islands Postal and Courier Troop, Royal Engineers, 67th Port Squadron, Royal Corps of Transport, 77th Ordnance Company, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Fortress Postal and Courier Troop, Royal Engineers, 247 Gurkha Signal Squadron Royal Corps of Signals, The Queen's Gukha Engineer Regiment Corps of Royal Engineers, 24 Postal and Courier Squadron, Royal Engineers, The Gurkha Transport Regiment Royal Corps of Transport, 415 Maritime Troop, Royal Corps of Transport. United Kingdom - Official Armored Brigade Wiki 2 Postal and Courier Regiment, Royal Engineers. In a double envelopment, the French captured Stuttgart on 21 April, and by the next day, both the French and the VI Corps had elements on the Danube. [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. PDF Fire and Fury Games - designers of wargame miniatures rules After driving east nearly 100 miles (160km), this corps was to meet elements of the 1st Army near Paderborn, completing the encirclement of the Ruhr. [23], On 21 March, Army Group H headquarters became Oberbefehlshaber Nordwest ("Army Command Northwest") commanded by Ernst Busch leaving the former Army Group H commanderJohannes Blaskowitzto lead "Army Command Netherlands" (25th Army) cut off in the Netherlands. The first British Army of the Rhine was set up in March 1919 to implement the occupation of the Rhineland. 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. The 339th Infantry [85th Division] reached Austrian soil east of Dobbiaco at 0415, 4 May; the Reconnaissance Troop, 349th Infantry. 79107 (Regular Signal Squadrons, 200299). But, the site and the Forum are not solely for the ex-services community. 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. 1stCorps District8th Corps District30th Corps DistrictBritish Troops Berlin, Click here for information from Mar 49 onwards 1st (BR) Corps6th Armoured Division7th Armoured Division11th Armoured Division2nd Infantry DivisionBritish Troops BerlinRhine Army TroopsHamburg DistrictHannover DistrictRhine District5 Army Group Royal Artillery (Anti-Aircraft). The deployment and distribution of the divisions of the Wehrmacht and subordinate units of allies on March 1, 1945. [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. "When I joined my regiment in 1980, the British Army of the Rhine alone had 900 tanks," Crawford wrote in U.K. Defense Journal. On 6 May, the Polish 1st Armoured Division seized the Kriegsmarine naval base in Wilhelmshaven, where General Maczek accepted the capitulation of the fortress, naval base, East Frisian Fleet and more than 10 infantry divisions. 50 Construction Field Squadron Corps of Royal Engineers, 62 Chief Engineer Command (Works) [Water utilities, water development, and well drilling], 63 Chief Engineer Command (Works) [Electrical power generation and distribution, originally utilities and force protection], 64 Chief Engineer Command (Works) [Fuels, fuel production, and distribution], 156th Provost Company, Royal Military Police, Colchester, 7th Ordnance Battalion, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Colchester. 11th Ordnance (EOD) Battalion, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, 160th Provost Company, Royal Military Police, Aldershot, 240th Provost (Training) Company, Royal Military Police, Aldershot. Sup Regt RSA listed with SW Dist by Isby & Kamps 1985. [8] These districts controlled the regular army brigades in the UK (inc 1st and 5th Brigades) and the predominantly TA regional brigades. Its left fought for a week to capture Bremen, which fell on 26 April. Brigade groups took over from divisions as the smallest operative units. 4th Security Company, Intelligence Corps. After taking Coburg, about 50mi (80km) south of Erfurt, on 11 April, XII Corps troops captured Bayreuth, 35mi (56km) farther southeast, on 14 April. 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. . 414th Tank Transporter Unit Royal Corps of Transport. 1956 Saw more major changes to the BAOR. As its forces approached Leipzig, about 60mi (97km) south of Magdeburg and 15mi (24km) short of the Mulde River, the 1st Army ran into one of the few remaining centers of organized resistance. This page is a list of British Armies in WWII. HQ 1st Infantry Brigade & 215 Signal Squadron Royal Corps of Signals. Use the search function to locate the Order of battle by title or file name. With all passes to the Alps now sealed, however, there would be no final redoubt in Austria or anywhere else. [23][24], After capturing the Ruhr, Eisenhower planned to have the 21st Army Group continue its drive east across the plains of northern Germany to Berlin. On 27 November 1989 Peter Inge became the commander of NATO's Northern Army Group and Commander-in-Chief, British Army of the Rhine in Germany with the local rank of general;[115] he succeeded General Brian Kenny. 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). The Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) was a NATO military formation comprising five Army Corps from five NATO member nations. British Army of the Rhine - BAOR Locations When the task force failed to advance on 31 March, Maj. Gen. J. Lawton Collins, commander of the VII Corps, asked Simpson if his 9th Army, driving eastward north of the Ruhr, could provide assistance. Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. [31], Plunder called for the Second Army to cross at three locations along the 21st Army Group frontat Rees, Xanten and Rheinberg. British Army of the Rhine (1st British Army) Berlin Field Force Royal Hussars (1 Sqn, the remainder at the Land Warfare Centre) 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards . [57], By the beginning of 1945, Allied victory in Europe was inevitable. The rest of the 9th Army would remain in reserve until the bridgehead was ready for exploitation. Ultimately under the command of Field Marshal, On 3 May the 85th and 88th [Infantry] Divisions sent task forces north over ice and snow 3 feet deep to seal the Austrian frontier and to gain contact with the American Seventh Army, driving southward from Germany. 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. The enemy armored unit began making its presence felt almost immediately, and by the end of 26 March, the combination of the panzer division and the rough terrain had conspired to sharply limit the 30th Division's forward progress. Many of the units stationed in the United Kingdom were to move immediately to Germany to reinforce British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) in case of war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. The British Second Army was a field army active during the First and Second World Wars. 21st Army Group was then instead ordered to move northeast toward Bremen and Hamburg. These figures do not include POWs that died or were released during this period. 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. [2] The Cologne Post was a newspaper published for members of the BAOR during this period. 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. 88 mm Pak 43 with spread mount covered in a securing position behind the river Rhine, Germany spring 1945. All units within the service are either Regular (full-time) or Territorial Army (part-time), or a combination with sub-units of each type. JanuaryMay 1945:265,000 to 400,000(For all fronts)[i]200,000 captured(JanuaryMarch)4,400,000 surrendered(AprilJune)[j]. Isby and Kamp, Armies of NATO's Central Front, 1985, 251-255. Think You Know About The BAOR? Think Again - Forces Network As the division's area of operation was hilly and woody 19th Infantry Brigade based in Colchester was added to it. 1, which began with "We come as a victorious army, not as oppressors." 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. A German holdout force of 70,000 in the Harz Mountains40mi (64km) north of Erfurtwas neutralized in this way, as were the towns of Erfurt, Jena, and Leipzig. During the First World War the army was active on the Western Front throughout most of the war and later active in Italy. "I have been visiting some of the units and found them, ready for the .