They include the Adjutant-Generals Corps, the Army Medical Services, the Royal Logistics Corps and the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. [34], After an hour of extremely intense artillery preparation, which Eisenhower himself viewed from the front, the 30th Infantry Division began its assault. 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?] 14th Independent Topographic Squadron, Royal Engineers. 88 mm Pak 43 with spread mount covered in a securing position behind the river Rhine, Germany spring 1945. ), taking the same title as the army of occupation following the Great War in 1919. But two days later, on 15 April, they had to abandon these hopes. British Army of the Rhine | Military Wiki | Fandom The two 9th Army divisions tasked for the assault concentrated in the Rheinberg area south of Wesel. Trackpad Publishing, 2022. [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. 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]. Its been seven years since Waltersons first acquired the Forces of Valor brand from its former owner, Unimax. Although the Ruhr area still contained a significant number of Axis troops and enough industry to retain its importance as a major objective, Allied intelligence reported that much of the region's armament industry was moving southeast, deeper into Germany. Of the land still under Nazi control, almost none was actually in Germany. 1 FV432, towing a bar mine layer and mounting a Ranger Scatterable mine discharger . Page 10. [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. 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. Task organisation was completely dependent on the Brigades mission and at the discretion of the Brigade commander. 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. The 1st Army's area, on the other hand, was composed of rough, heavily forested terrain with a poor road network. After taking Coburg, about 50mi (80km) south of Erfurt, on 11 April, XII Corps troops captured Bayreuth, 35mi (56km) farther southeast, on 14 April. [20], The Allied forces along this line were organized into three army groups. With the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, all Western forces were drastically reduced. 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. 4th Armoured Division Transport Regiment, Royal Corps of Transport, 4th Ordnance Battalion, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Herford, 4th Armoured Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Detmold, 4th Armoured Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, Minden, 114th Provost Company, Royal Military Police, Detmold, HQ 11th Armoured Brigade & 211th Signal Squadron, Royal Signals, Minden, HQ 20th Armoured Brigade & 200th Signal Squadron, Royal Signals, Detmold, 43 (Lloyd's Company) Air Defence Battery, (36x. Although the defense of these sites was somewhat more determined than that XII Corps had faced, the difficulties of the Boppard and St. Goar crossings were compounded more by terrain than by German resistance. There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine ( BAOR ). 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. The British 2nd Army advanced towards Hamburg, crossing the River Elbe on 29 April 1945 and pushing on towards Denmark and the Baltic. In a few days the war in Europe would be over. british army of the rhine order of battle [34], For the American crossing, Simpson had chosen the veteran 30th and 79th Infantry Divisions of the XVI Corps. (Copied from the Structure of the British Armed Forces in 1989). A battle group in the british army in the late cold war period was a task organised unit comprising of a mix of sub units commanded by either an armoured regiment or mechanised infantry battalion HQ. [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. Once the Ruhr was surrounded, he wanted the 9th Army transferred from the British 21st Army Group to the U.S. 12th Army Group. There are: VG Division the newly introduced Volks (People's) Grenadier Divisions. [44], The Elbe River was the official eastward objective, but many American commanders still eyed Berlin. After General Omar Bradley warned, however, that capturing a city located in a region that the Soviets had already received at the Yalta Conference might cost 100,000 casualties,[56] by 15 April Eisenhower ordered all armies to halt when they reached the Elbe and Mulde Rivers, thus immobilizing these spearheads while the war continued for three more weeks. 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). 608th Signal Troop (Cipher Equipment), Royal Signals, 68th Transport Squadron, Royal Corps of Transport, JHQ Rheindahlen. These figures do not include POWs that died or were released during this period. Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War, and the other after the Second World War. During peacetime these regiments were under command of their brigade. British Commandos on the outskirts of Wesel 3-inch mortar of the 8th Royal Scots under enemy fire during the Rhine crossing, 24 March 1945 Aftermath [ edit] Impact on German forces and command [ edit] The Allied operation was opposed by the German 1st Parachute Army, commanded by General Alfred Schlemm, a part of Army Group H. 5th Security Company, Intelligence Corps, 6th Intelligence Company (Photo Intell), Intelligence Corps, JHQ Rheindahlen. German military historian Rdiger Overmans (, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 21:59. Army. 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]. German resistance everywhere was sporadic, and the hastily mounted counterattacks invariably burned out quickly, causing few casualties. Does anyone have an order of Battle for RAF in 1949? This consisted of: 10th Infantry Brigade Group11th Infantry Brigade Group12th Infantry Brigade Group. Early in the afternoon of 1 April elements of the 2nd and 3rd Armored Divisions met at Lippstadt, linking the 9th and 1st Armies and sealing the prized Ruhr industrial complex, along with Model's Army Group B, within American lines. British Army formations & units [1939-1945] - unit histories The change resulted from an agreement between the American and Soviet military leadership based on the need to establish a readily identifiable geographical line to avoid accidental clashes between the converging Allied forces. 3rd Field Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, 10th Airborne Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Borden, (supported 5th Airborne Brigade), 16th Armoured Field Ambulance, Aldershot (to. 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. Think You Know About The BAOR? Think Again - Forces Network To the south, elements of the VI Corps met unexpectedly fierce resistance at Heilbronn, 40mi (64km) into the German rear. 6th Division focuses on Cyber, Electronic Warfare, Intelligence, Information Operations and unconventional warfare through niche capabilities such as the Specialised Infantry Battalions.". Curious Myths of the Middle Ages by Sabine Baring-Gould - Complete text His detailed plans, code-named Operation Plunder, were comparable to the Normandy invasion in terms of numbers of men and extent of equipment, supplies, and ammunition to be used. [35], To the south, the discovery of a defensive gap in front of the 30th Infantry Division fostered the hope that a full-scale breakout would be possible on 25 March. Communications and Security Group (UK) (224 Sig Sqn). Crossing Of The Rhine In The Final Months Of WW2 - warhistoryonline The 21st Army Group had 30 full-strength divisions, 11 each in the British Second and U.S. 9th Armies and eight in the Canadian First Army, providing Montgomery with more than 1,250,000 men. As of 1 April 1989, the following amounts of troops were deployed around the world: 71,000 in Great Britain, 56,000 (of which the Berlin brigade makes up 3,000), 10,200 in Northern Ireland (including 3,200 on roulement), 5,000 in Hong Kong, 4,000 in the Lines of Communications counties (Netherlandsand Belgium), 3,200 in Cyprus (including 850 on British Army of the Rhine There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine ( BAOR ). 30th District Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, HQ South-East District & 251 Signal Squadron, Royal Signals, Aldershot, 640 Signal Troop (Electronic Warfare), Royal Corps of Signals, at, B Squadron (assigned to 3rd Commando Brigade, Royal Marines), C Squadron (assigned to protect key government personnel and the, Falklands Band of the Parachute Regiment (Large Infantry Band), 50 Field Squadron (Construction) [to 39 Engineer Regiment, RE]. 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. [55] The British and Americans contemplated an airborne operation before the attack. 20 Postal and Courier Squadron, Royal Engineers. Bradley had three American armies, the U.S. 1st Army (Courtney Hodges) on the left (north), the U.S. 3rd Army (George S. Patton) on the right (south), and the U.S. 15th Army (Leonard T. Gerow). 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. 3rd Armoured Division was the corps' reserve formation. 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. [12], Following the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the permanent deployment of British Army units in Germany began to be phased out, with the last military base handed back to the German Bundeswehr in February 2020. The first British Army of the Rhine was set up in March 1919 to implement the occupation of the Rhineland. On 7 March, Hodges's U.S. 1st Army captured the last intact bridge over the Rhine at Remagen and steadily expanded the bridgehead. . The 9th Army's commander, Lieutenant General William Hood Simpson and the Second Army's Lieutenant-General Dempsey took exception to this approach. The Site is now approaching three years of age and much has happened in that time. 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. Near the town of Merkers, elements of the 90th Infantry Division found a sealed salt mine containing a large portion of the German national treasure. A heavy bombing campaign by USAAF and RAF forces, known as the "Interdiction of Northwest Germany", designed primarily to destroy the lines of communication and supply connecting the Ruhr to the rest of Germany had been underway since February. 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. [22], Facing the Allies was Oberbefehlshaber West ("Army Command West") commanded by Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring, who had taken over from Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt on 10 March. . 1956 Saw more major changes to the BAOR. See: Wallace, Linnel, Lt. 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[46], As was the case throughout the campaign, the German ability to fight was sporadic and unpredictable during the drive to the ElbeMulde line. 75 years after the infamous Battle of Arnhem, rare photos reveal terrifying death and destruction as allied troops struggle to liberate Netherlands from the Nazis. 63rd Station Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Special Investigations Branch (Germany), JHQ Rheindahlen. An hour later, at 03:00, the 79th Infantry Division began its crossing upriver, achieving much the same results. On the night of March 23, 1945, the Allied forces that had gathered along the Rhine launched their invasion. 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. NORTHAG wartime structure in 1989 - Wikipedia 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. Another seven American divisions arrived during February,[19] along with the British 5th Infantry Division and I Canadian Corps, both of which had arrived from the fighting on the Italian front. [6] The Army Department consisted of four components: the General Staff, the Adjutant General's department, which dealt with recruiting, and also had the Provost Marshal (Army), a brigadier, reporting to him, though the RMP headquarters was at Roussillon Barracks, Chichester;[7] the Military Secretary's department, and the Quartermaster General's department. The proclamation demanded compliance with all orders by the commanding officer, instituted a strict curfew and limited travel and confiscated all communications equipment and weapons. . 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. 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. The U.S. VII Corps, on the left, had the hardest going due to the German concentration north of the bridgehead, yet its armored columns managed to advance 12mi (19km) beyond their line of departure. BAOR had command of four Areas or Districts: I Corps District;