These mobile forces made great thrusts to isolate pockets of German troops, which were mopped up by additional infantry following close behind. Only when Soviet artillery was falling around his Berlin headquarters bunker did he begin to perceive the final outcome. HQ Western District & 241 (West) Signal Squadron, Royal Signals. It included the four military members of the Army Board, including the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir John Chapple in 1989, the Second Permanent Under Secretary, and the Assistant Chief of the General Staff, a major general. British Formations & Units. The Western Allied invasion of Germany was coordinated by the Western Allies during the final months of hostilities in the European theatre of World War II. The following is a hierarchical outline for the structure of the British Army in 1989. The 11th Armoured Division (Great Britain) | Holocaust Encyclopedia [38], The British Prime Minister and Chiefs of Staff strongly opposed the new plan. As the invasion of Germany commenced, Eisenhower had a total of 90 full-strength divisions under his command, with the number of armored divisions now reaching 25. 39th District Workshop Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. South of the Ruhr River, the 1st Army's northward attack was to be executed by the XVIII Airborne Corps, which had been transferred to Hodges after Operation Varsity, and the III Corps, with the 1st Army's V and VII Corps continuing the offensive east. 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. On 12 April, additional 9th Army elements attained the Elbe and by the next day were on the opposite bank hopefully awaiting permission to drive on to Berlin. PDF Fire and Fury Games - designers of wargame miniatures rules 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. 101st Provost Company, Royal Military Police, 102nd Provost Company, Royal Military Police, JHQ Rheindahlen, 2nd Intelligence Company, Intelligence Corps, JHQ Rheindahlen. When The Sunday Times was discussing the mechanics of "The Fall of Edward Heath", Mr. Harold Macmillan was supposed to have said it was very unwise of any Government to take on the Vatican, the National Union of Mineworkers or the Brigade of Guards. 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. [47], Initially, the opposition in the 6th U.S. Army Group's sector was stiffer than that facing the 12th U.S. Army Group. Later D Day and Normandy. The displaced residents nonetheless had to find housing on their own. 35th Base Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. Rdiger Overmans, Soldaten hinter Stacheldraht. [20], The Allied forces along this line were organized into three army groups. HQ Wales District & Signal Troop, Royal Signals. German Orders of Battle September 1944 > WW2 Weapons In addition, the river flowed quickly and with unpredictable currents along this part of its course. 11th Signal Regiment Royal Corps of Signals. The three infantry battalions were rotated every two years, and the armoured squadron was detached from a BAOR armoured regiment based in West Germany. 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. 4th (NATO) Postal & Courier Regiment, Royal Engineers, Berlin Postal and Courier Troop, Royal Engineers. [30], Two more 3rd Army crossingsboth by VIII Corpsquickly followed. 11th Ordnance (EOD) Battalion, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, 160th Provost Company, Royal Military Police, Aldershot, 240th Provost (Training) Company, Royal Military Police, Aldershot. 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. Western Allied invasion of Germany - Wikipedia With all passes to the Alps now sealed, however, there would be no final redoubt in Austria or anywhere else. 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. This increased the importance of the southern offensives across the Rhine. [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. 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). With spectacular thrusts being made beyond the Rhine nearly every day and the enemy's capacity to resist fading at an ever-accelerating rate, the campaign to finish Germany was transitioning into a general pursuit. 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. Original British Expeditionary Force 1st Division 2nd Division 3rd Division 4th Division 5th Division 6th Division Divisions formed in late 1914 and 1915 7th Division 8th Division 27th Division 28th Division 29th Division 1st and 2nd Dismounted Divisions Guards Division The Divisions of Lord Kitchener's "New Armies" (technically Regular Army) By then, the paratroopers had taken all their first day's objectives in addition to 3,500 prisoners. [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. All had been unceremoniously repulsed by the vastly superior Allied forces. 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 . 18th Base Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. 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. 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. IF YOU WOULD PREFER TO STAY ANONYMOUS OR KEEP ALL CONTENTS PRIVATE PLEASE STATE THIS CLEARLY ON SUBMISSION: All rights reserved. The U.S. III Corps, in the center, did not commit its armor on the first day of the breakout, but still made a gain of 4mi (6.4km). british army of the rhine order of battle. On the morning of 10 April, the 12th U.S. Army Group's drive to the Elbe began in earnest. [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. The BAOR at this point still consisted of 80,000 troops.1956 Saw more major changes to the BAOR. 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). PDF 21 Army Group History & Personnel - British Military History Advancing from northern Italy, the British Eighth Army[l] pushed to the borders of Yugoslavia to defeat the remaining Wehrmacht elements there. 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. 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. Despite scattered resistance from a few isolated units, the war in Europe was over. 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. The 12th and 6th Army Groups were to mount a subsidiary offensive to keep the Germans off balance and diminish their ability to stop the northern thrust. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. In the center of the front, defending the Ruhr, Kesselring had Field Marshal Walther Model commanding Army Group B (15th Army and 5th Panzer Army) and in the south Paul Hausser's Army Group G (7th Army, 1st Army and 19th Army). 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. 5 Ordnance Battalion, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, 6 Ordnance Battalion, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Bielefeld, 2 Aircraft Support Unit, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Detmold, 1st (BR) Corps Troops Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Bielefeld, 20 Electronics Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Minden, 71 Aircraft Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Detmold, 110 Provost Company, Royal Military Police, Sennelager, 115 Provost Company, Royal Military Police, Osnabrck, HQ 1st Armoured Division & Signal Regiment, Royal Signals, Verden, 11th Postal & Courier Squadron, Royal Engineers, Verden. Its left fought for a week to capture Bremen, which fell on 26 April. The Order of Battle (OrBat) shows the formation of the forces that were in Operation Veritable in the beginning of February 1945. . 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. British Army of the Rhine (Hansard, 19 July 1982) . 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. BAOR orbat for the early 80s | Army Rumour Service 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. [35], To the north, the British crossings had also gone well, with the ground and airborne troops linking up by nightfall. [44], The 4 April pause in the 3rd Army advance allowed the other armies under Bradley's command to reach the Leine River, about 50mi (80km) east of Paderborn. On the whole, Western Allied plans were excellent as demonstrated by how rapidly they met their objectives. The British military presence in Berlin comprised 3,100 men in three infantry battalions, an independent armoured squadron, and a number of support units. 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. 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. Commander-in-Chief, UK Land Forces, General Sir Charles Huxtable, HQ United Kingdom Land Forces commanded nine military districts until the spring of 1991. Meanwhile, the 9th and 1st Armies began preparing converging attacks using the east-west Ruhr River as a boundary line. The main targets were rail yards, bridges, and communication centers, with a secondary focus on fuel processing and storage facilities and other important industrial sites. With his escape route to the south severed by the 12th Army Group's eastward drive and Berlin surrounded by the Soviets, Hitler committed suicide on 30 April, leaving to his successor, Grand Admiral Karl Dnitz, the task of capitulation.

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