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. [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. The XV Corps also captured Berchtesgaden, the town that would have been Hitler's command post in the National Redoubt. The German forces there were simply in less disarray than those to the north. 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. 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. The Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) was a NATO military formation comprising five Army Corps from five NATO member nations. 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. 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 September 4, 1944, the unit captured the city of Antwerp. . British Order of Battle Mid 1980 In 1980 the British Army was still organised in the Task Force system. Even Patton agreed with Churchill that he should order the attack on the city since Montgomery's troops could reach Berlin within three days. 3rd Armoured Division was to the rear of the two forward deployed division as reserve. On mobilisation the regiments would join their divisional artillery. Luftwaffe Data Book. 262 Signal Squadron Royal Corps of Signals. The rest of the 9th Army would remain in reserve until the bridgehead was ready for exploitation. Curious Myths of the Middle Ages by Sabine Baring-Gould - Complete text The BAOR at this point still consisted of 80,000 troops.1956 Saw more major changes to the BAOR. ORBAT - 1980s British BG, Part 6 Royal Engineers - Blogger Journal of the US Army War College. In a departure from standard airborne doctrine, which called for a jump deep behind enemy lines several hours prior to an amphibious assault, Varsity's drop zones were close behind the German front, within Allied artillery range. Forward Vehicle Depot, Royal Army Ordnance Corps. [38], The British Prime Minister and Chiefs of Staff strongly opposed the new plan. After overcoming stiff initial resistance, XV Corps also advanced beyond the Rhine, opposed primarily by small German strongpoints sited in roadside villages. . Regimental headquarters are administrative and ceremonial in nature. British Army - Order of Battle - GlobalSecurity.org Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. GMT Games - BAOR: MBT Expansion To the south, elements of the VI Corps met unexpectedly fierce resistance at Heilbronn, 40mi (64km) into the German rear. 79th Railway Squadron, Royal Corps of Transport. However, Patton also realized that the Germans were aware of this difficulty and would expect his attack north of Mainz. 221st (BAOR) EOD Company, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Communications Zone Ordnance Depot, Antwerp, Belgium, Forward Stores Depot, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Dulmen. 98 Squadron - Fassberg Middle East Air Force (Ismailia and Abu Sueir) . 11th Ordnance (EOD) Battalion, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, 160th Provost Company, Royal Military Police, Aldershot, 240th Provost (Training) Company, Royal Military Police, Aldershot. 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. RAF Order of Battle 1949 British 2nd. Army. Phantom Force Of Western Front Northern Advocate, 14 [44], In the center of the 12th U.S. Army Group, Hodges' 1st Army faced somewhat stiffer opposition, though it hardly slowed the pace. The 9th Army's sector of the Ruhr Pocket, although only about 1/3 the size of the 1st Army's sector south of the river, contained the majority of the densely urbanized industrial area within the encirclement. 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. Botch on the Rhine | Max Hastings | The New York Review of Books Marston Moor order of battle - BCW Project Eastern District, Colchester, covering the counties of Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Leicestershire, Norfolk, Rutland, Northamptonshire, and Lincolnshire Combat Service Support units: These units provide essential support services both in combat and in peacetime. Nazi Germany surrendered unconditionally on 8 May, leaving the western Allies in control of most of Germany. Drawing on the experience gained during the campaign in Normandy and the Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine, the Western Allies demonstrated in western Germany and Austria their capability of absorbing the lessons of the past. By the end of March, the Supreme Commander thus leaned toward a decision to place more responsibility on his southern forces. The troops were located principally in the vicinity of Cologne at an approximate cost per month of 300,000. [36], Adding to the Germans' woes, the 6th Army Group made an assault across the Rhine on 26 March. Further north the airborne landings during Operation Plunder in support of the 21st Army Group's crossing of the Rhine were probably not worth the risk.[who?] 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. 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]. [5] Its original function was to control the corps districts which were running the military government of the British zone of Allied-occupied Germany. 11th Signal Regiment Royal Corps of Signals. 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. is infantry division. 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. DECODED: The Cold War in Europe 1945-1995 : NATO's Northern Army Group Wartime Order of Battle 1985. 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. Still, by 11 April 7 Army had penetrated the German defenses in-depth, especially in the north, and was ready to begin its wheeling movement southeast and south. [7] In 1967, the force was reduced in strength to 53,000 soldiers, compared with 80,000 ten years earlier. 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. 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. [40], The first step in realizing Eisenhower's plan was the eradication of the Ruhr Pocket. 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. IF YOU WOULD PREFER TO STAY ANONYMOUS OR KEEP ALL CONTENTS PRIVATE PLEASE STATE THIS CLEARLY ON SUBMISSION: All rights reserved. Unfortunately, because of pressure from the Germans in the northern part of the 2nd Army bridgehead, the British were having trouble completing their bridges at Xanten and were, therefore, bringing most of their traffic across the river at Wesel. 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. "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. The French 1st Army, under de Lattre de Tassigny, was to attack to the south and southeast, taking Stuttgart before moving to the Swiss border and into Austria. British Army - Order of Battle Lt Gen Ivan Jones, Commander Field Army (CFA), described plans for rebalancing his command which will see changes to the structure of the Field Army's primary. However, Hobbs had not fully taken into account the nearly nonexistent road network in front of the XVI Corps bridgehead. With the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, all Western forces were drastically reduced. The speed of change is moving at a remarkable rate and it will only get faster and more complex. 1, which began with "We come as a victorious army, not as oppressors." Denying this opportunity became another argument for rethinking the role of the southern drive through Germany. British Army of the Rhine - YouTube In addition, the river flowed quickly and with unpredictable currents along this part of its course. At the top of the Army organisation is the Army Board of the Defence Council. PDF 21 Army Group History & Personnel - British Military History 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. As the rest of the XIX Corps flowed into the wake of this spectacular drive, the 1st Army was completing its equally remarkable thrust around the southern and eastern edges of the Ruhr. 61st Station Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical 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. [28], The terrain in the vicinity of Nierstein and Oppenheim was conducive to artillery support, with high ground on the west bank overlooking relatively flat land to the east. British Army of the Rhine (Hansard, 19 July 1982) Commander-in-Chief, UK Land Forces, General Sir Charles Huxtable, HQ United Kingdom Land Forces commanded nine military districts until the spring of 1991. Headquartered at JHQ Rheindahlen in West Germany and commanded by a General it consisted in peacetime of British I Corps and support troops. There are: VG Division the newly introduced Volks (People's) Grenadier Divisions. Antony Beevor, Inside the British Army, 1991, 429. 39th District Workshop Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. Also during this year on 1 April, 11th Armoured Division was reorganised into 4th Infantry Division. For operational tasks a battle group would be formed around a combat unit, supported by units or sub-units from other areas. This change will be integrated within broader Defence, national and alliance efforts and enable the Field Army to operate and fight more effectively above and below the threshold of conflict. Ziethen's corps arrived late at Waterloo and linked up with Wellington's flank. [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. The Western Allies rapidly eroded any remaining ability to resist. 34th Base Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, HQ North-West District & Signal Squadron, Royal Signals, at, Trade Training School (Ground crew & maintenance training), 75th Ordnance Company, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Detachment 2 Postal and Courier Regiment, Royal Engineers, 14th Regiment, Royal Artillery, Larkhill (Support regiment, 12th Royal School of Military Engineering Regiment, Royal Engineers, Chattenden, 42nd Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, Hermitage (Geographic Survey), HQ Northern Ireland District & 233 (Northern Ireland) Signal Squadron, Royal Signals, Lisburn, 22 Postal and Courier Squadron, Royal Engineers, Royal Army Ordnance Corps Ordnance Depot, Northern Ireland, Band of the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters (Small Infantry Band), Band of the Royal Hampshire Regiment (Small Infantry Band), Band of the Gloucestershire Regiment (Small Infantry Band), 176 Provost Company, Royal Military Police, at, Band of the Black Watch (Small Infantry Band), 175 Provost Company, Royal Military Police, at Thiepval Barracks, Lisburn. PDF The Original British Army of the Rhine - Orbat [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. 43rd District Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. 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. 20th Maritime Regiment, Royal Corps of Transport. 2339 (Regular Signal Regiments 1st to 30th), Lord & Watson, pp. ORBAT - 1980s British BG, Part 2 Task Organisation - Blogger While manpower and force size was limited by budgetary constraints, quality of training and equipment was commonly reported of a high standard. There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine ( BAOR ). See: Wallace, Linnel, Lt. 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[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. The British Rhine occupation force British Second and Fourth Armies were selected to make the advance and to commence on 17 November 1918. 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. In the end, the campaign proceeded as Eisenhower had planned it. [38], On 28 March, as these developments unfolded, Eisenhower announced his decision to adjust his plans governing the future course of the offensive. [35], To the north, the British crossings had also gone well, with the ground and airborne troops linking up by nightfall. German resistance everywhere was sporadic, and the hastily mounted counterattacks invariably burned out quickly, causing few casualties. The Battle of Arnhem through the eyes of German commander Walter Harzer 4th Armoured Division was the corps' Southern forward deployed division. 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. British Army of the Rhine There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine ( BAOR ). `Drastic Measures to Defend the Reich at the Oder and the Rhine': A British Army of the Rhine : The BAOR, 1945-1993 - Google Books The organisations within the British Army are divided into three types: Combat units:These units spearhead the Armys military capability. 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. The initial advance into Romania, the First JassyKishinev Offensive in April and May 1944 was a failure; the Second JassyKishinev Offensive in August succeeded. Rolling northward 45mi (72km) without casualties, the mobile force stopped for the night 15mi (24km) from its objective. Greenhill Books. A captain of the 506th wrote, "At one point the men were so weary that [on] the order to rest . 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. 79107 (Regular Signal Squadrons, 200299). . Soldiers requisitioned housing and office space as needed from residents. British Army of the Rhine: The BAOR, 1945-1993 (Cold War 1945-1991 Both formations had areas of responsibility located around the German section of the River Rhine . 1997. The British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was formed at the conclusion of World War II from various units of the British 21st Army Group. Welcome to BAOR Locations. 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. 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. Brigades consist of several "units," which are regiment- or battalion-sized, and which consist of a number of sub-units. Despite scattered resistance from a few isolated units, the war in Europe was over. "When I joined my regiment in 1980, the British Army of the Rhine alone had 900 tanks," Crawford wrote in U.K. Defense Journal. 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 had a presence in Germany for 70 years. As its forces reached Nuremberg on 16 April, the Seventh Army ran into the same type of anti-aircraft gun defense that the 1st Army was facing at Leipzig. But these decisions were made in good faith and had little bearing on the ultimate outcome of the campaign. Once this was accomplished the remaining German forces could be defeated in detail. Order 1977, SI 1977 No. [62], Media related to Western Allied invasion of Germany at Wikimedia Commons. Lord & Watson, pp. [42], Meanwhile, the remaining Allied forces north, south, and east of the Ruhr had been adjusting their lines in preparation for the final advance through Germany. [41], By 1 April, when the trap closed around the Germans in the Ruhr, their fate was sealed. German Orders of Battle from March 1, 1945 before the Allies crossed the Rhine. [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. 21st Army Group was then instead ordered to move northeast toward Bremen and Hamburg. There will be no changes to personnel numbers, resourcing, cap badges or locations. 27th District Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. 71st Movement Control Squadron, Royal Corps of Transport, 602nd Transport Unit, Royal Corps of Transport, Antwerp, Belgium. Page last modified:
It will include: 4th (Infantry) Brigade, 7th (Infantry) Brigade, 11th (Infantry) Brigade, 51st (Infantry) Brigade, 8th Engineer Brigade, 102nd Logistic Brigade, 104th Logistic Brigade, 2nd Medical Brigade, 3rd (United Kingdom) Division (3 (UK) Div) will remain as the Armys primary armoured warfighting force comprising: 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade, 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade, 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade, 1st Artillery Brigade, 101st Logistic Brigade, 25th Engineer Group, 7th Air Defence Group, 6th (United Kingdom) Division. Unknown to many, the British Army of the Rhine was first established as an occupational force after the Great War of 1914 - 1918. . NATO's Northern Army Group Wartime Order of Battle 1985 - Blogger british army of the rhine order of battle - Greenlight Insights 8th Signal Regiment Royal Corps of Signals. An intense exchange of fire lasted for about thirty minutes as assault boats kept pushing across the river and those men who had already made it across mounted attacks against the scattered defensive strongpoints. 4th (NATO) Postal & Courier Regiment, Royal Engineers, Berlin Postal and Courier Troop, Royal Engineers. The right-wing of the British Second Army reached the Elbe southeast of Hamburg on 19 April. The Confederation of the Rhine - napoleon.org - Fondation Napolon The bridgehead expanded rapidly, and by 2 May Lbeck and Wismar, 4050 miles (6480km) beyond the river, were in Allied hands, sealing off the Germans in the Jutland Peninsula. 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. Operation Veritable - Order of Battle Both formations had areas of responsibility located around the German section of the River Rhine. The 12th Army Group commander said that American troops could cross the Rhine anywhere, without aerial bombardment or airborne troops, a direct jab at Montgomery whose troops were at that very moment preparing to launch their own Rhine assault following an intense and elaborate aerial and artillery preparation and with the assistance of two airborne divisions, the American 17th and the British 6th. But, the site and the Forum are not solely for the ex-services community. 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). In the British Army, divisions and brigades are referred to as "formations." British Air Forces of Occupation, Royal Air Force (c/o British Army On Rhine 1) ***** ***** No. 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. 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. 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. Also looking forward to going home, tens of thousands of freed forced laborers and Allied prisoners of war further strained the American logistical system. Junior Leaders Regiment Corps of Royal Engineers. German resistance, initially rather determined, dwindled rapidly. The 339th Infantry [85th Division] reached Austrian soil east of Dobbiaco at 0415, 4 May; the Reconnaissance Troop, 349th Infantry. Its primary combat formation was British I Corps. In the. 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. 41st District Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Forward Divisional Headquarters, at Tunis Barracks, Lippstadt, 656 Signal Troop, at Tunis Barracks, Lippstadt, 85 Intelligence Section, Intelligence Corps, at Imphal Barracks, York (detached from 8 Intelligence & Sec Coy), 60 Transport Squadron [to 157 Regiment RCT (V)], 210 Signal Squadron, Royal Corps of Signals, at Catterick Garrison, 586 Signal Troop (Airmobile), Royal Corps of Signals, Band of the Green Howards (Small Infantry Band), Band of the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire (Small Infantry Band), 16th Air Defence Regiment, Royal Artillery, at, 19th Cash Office (United Kingdom), Royal Army Pay Corps, Band of the Royal Hussars (Small Royal Armoured Corps Band), Regimental Band of the King's Own Royal Border Regiment (Small Regimental Band), Band of the 1st Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment (Small Regimental Band), 3rd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment, at Roman Barracks, Colchester Garrison (Mechanised Infantry (Wheeled), with 8 x Fox armoured cars, and 43 x Saxon armoured personnel carriers), Band of the 3rd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment (Small Regimental Band), Airfield Works Group (Group wasn't deployable).