british army of the rhine bases british army of the rhine bases

Between 6 and 8 April, the 21st Army Group released another 4,630 tonnes (4,560 long tons) of road transport, along with two DUKW companies that were converted to using 3-ton trucks. [25] This was codenamed Operation Goldflake, and it involved the redeployment of the I Canadian Corps and British 5th Division from Italy to North West Europe. Deployed on the European Central Front with its NORTHAG sister formations, BAOR was a significant feature of NATOs forward shield of ground forces to deter or, if deterrence failed, to repel a major Warsaw Pact offensive on the Continent. British Army Germany, is the superior institution under which the remaining installations of the British Forces Germany are organised after the completion of the withdrawal of the British Forces from Germany in February 2020. 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. The great majority of Canadian requirements, including ordnance stores, ammunition, petroleum products, most engineer, medical and dental stores, rations, office machinery and other supplies, were provided through British channels. History of the british army of the rhine 06 09 14. Demands for smoke generators exhausted the available stocks and generators were taken from the anti-aircraft gun positions around Antwerp. [68] By the time the amphibious phase of Operation Plunder commenced at 09:00 on 23 March,[69] 61,000 tonnes (60,000 long tons) of ammunition, 18,000 tonnes (18,000 long tons) of POL, 5,100 tonnes (5,000 long tons) of supplies, 30,000 tonnes (30,000 long tons) of engineer stores and 5,500 tonnes (5,400 long tons) of other stores had been dumped at No. French, David. London: Bantam, 2009. CONTENTS OF EMAILS MAY BE DISPLAYED ON THIS SITE (BUT IN AN ENCRYPTED FORMAT TO DETER SPAMMERS) TO BENEFIT HISTORY. [3], The 21st Army Group's campaign in North West Europe had commenced with Operation Overlord, the Allied landings in Normandy on D-Day, 6 June 1944. 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. Since prompt clearance of the trains was essential to allow turnaround of the locomotives and rolling stock, vehicles had to be used to clear less urgently required supplies such as POL, coal and engineer stores. British and Commonwealth PWX were flown directly to the UK, while American PWX were flown to collecting camps around Le Havre. Strachan, Hew, ed. zThis page represents the structure of the British Army in 1989, the last year of the Cold War. [63][64] When mounted on the proposed trailer, the 15-metre (50ft) LCM was 4.6 metres (15ft) high, which left only 7.6 centimetres (3in) of clearance under some of the bridges they had to pass under between Antwerp and the staging area around Nijmegen. Red Sash Wargames Army of the Rhine - Ombre de Turenne SW | Toys & Hobbies, Games, Board & Traditional Games | eBay! By mid-May the 21st Army Group's reserves had been reduced by a quarter. 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). [51] Each of the assaulting infantry carried five days' supplies, and the armoured divisions carried six. Until the railway bridges could be brought into operation, maintenance depended entirely on road transport. [51] Rations were moved forward however, and 2,318,222 rations were stockpiled for Operation Veritable. En 1961, il est affect au Royal Corps of Signals, et fair partie de la British Army of the Rhine. Fourteen transport platoons,[53] each of which operated thirty vehicles,[54] were taken from the formations to serve the corps's needs. For nearly 70 years, generations would grow up on bases with special schools, shops, housing and even their own radio station, as parts of the Rhineland became little bubbles of Britishness . As was written earlier we are constantly searching for information, and adding or updating pages. Another petrol depot arrived from Italy in April. Initially Goldflake convoys sailed to Marseilles by a direct route but after the Battle of the Ligurian Sea on the night of 17/18 March they were routed further south, through the Strait of Bonifacio between Corsica and Sardinia. [14] With the German offensive defeated, the US First Army reverted to American command on 18 January 1945,[15] but the US Ninth Army remained part of the 21st Army Group until 4 April. The Commander-in-Chief of BAOR also served as the commander of NATO's northern Army Group, and as such had Dutch and German units under command in the event of war. A. The army roadheads were mainly supplied by rail. They were also utilised for duties such as manning level crossings. In 1961, he received a commission into the Royal Corps of Signals, and served in the British Army of the Rhine . Its commander was the British commander of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). IF YOU WOULD PREFER TO STAY ANONYMOUS OR KEEP ALL CONTENTS PRIVATE PLEASE STATE THIS CLEARLY ON SUBMISSION: All rights reserved. Between 1945 and 1957, West Germany made a dizzying pivot from Nazi bastion to Britain's Cold War ally against the Soviet Union. [32][33], A major user of fuel was the Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation (FIDO) system at pinoy, which consumed 410,000 litres (90,000impgal) per night. You can order records in advance to be ready for. This involved a large expenditure of ammunition, including some that was in short supply like ML 4.2-inch mortar rounds and the Mark VIIIz ammunition used by the Vickers machine gun. British Army of the Rhine - YouTube 0:00 / 58:47 British Army of the Rhine Ichioku 334 subscribers Subscribe 6.6K views 1 year ago BBC Documentary from 2012 (small edit to avoid. [28], On 15 February, the region south of the Seine under British administration by 5th Line of Communications Sub Area and the 101st Beach Sub Area were reduced to the ports of Caen and Ouistreham and the depots around them, while that administered by the 9th Line of Communications Sub Area was handed over to the US Communications Zone, as was the region between the Somme and the Seine administered by the 6th Line of Communications Sub Area, except for the city of Amiens. Post war First Corps District administered Rhine Province and Westphalia. staff to a British Advanced Ordnance Depot. 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. Cold War British Army Threat Recognition Guide It's the 1980s and the British Army Of the Rhine is still stationed in West Germany facing down the USSR's forces. Media in category "British Army of the Rhine". Learning and Adapting: The British Army from Somme to the Mexico and the United States, 18361848, Wars of, Semi-Military and Paramilitary Organizations, South West Pacific, 19411945, Campaigns in, Southeast Asian Military History, Colonial, Southeast Asian Military History, Precolonial. British army inner german border.jpg 1,941 1,368 . 12 Army Roadhead via the American rail bridge at Wesel three days later. During the first three weeks of April 1945, the 21st Army Group advanced about 320 kilometres (200mi) across northern Germany to reach the Elbe on 19 April and then the Baltic Sea. Your current browser may not support copying via this button. There were tactical, operational and political reasons for this: the best sites for a crossing of the Rhine were there;[20] a crossing in the north gave access to the North German Plain, where the terrain was good for mobile warfare, for which his Allied forces were particularly suited;[21] it offered a means of cutting off the Ruhr,[22] a major industrial region of Germany;[23] and it had the political advantage of involving the British and Canadians. [72][97], As the German forces crumbled before the Allied onslaught, the numbers of German prisoners of war grew to the point where orders were issued on 1 May that no more prisoners should be sent west of the Rhine. Army Group Royal Artillery . Every available amphibious craft was collected, and they were joined by a Royal Navy contingent of 36 Landing Craft Medium (LCM) and 36 Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP) that were transported by road across Holland and Belgium to participate. [43] Over 2.5 million rounds of 25-pounder ammunition was made available for Operation Veritable. A third bridge, "Westminster", was commenced by the 6th Army Troops Engineers on 26 March, completed at 18:00 on 29 March, and ceremoniously opened by Dempsey the next morning. Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War, and the other after the Second World War. The War Office found that it could provide another two field bakeries from the United Kingdom, along with three field butcheries that were already scheduled to be sent. The British Army of the Rhine was born in 1945 out of the British Liberation Army at the close of the war as the military government of the British zone of occupied Germany. [63][72] The seaborne tail of the 6th Airborne Division established a DUKW replenishment area west of the Rhine from whence supplies were moved until it could cross the river. Pipelines were now constructed from Calais to Ghent, and thence to the storage facilities around Antwerp. british army of the rhine bases. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here. Thank you. [28][29], At the start of January 1945, British bulk storage facilities were more than sufficient to hold the thirty days' reserve of petrol, oil and lubricants (POL) that Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) stipulated should be held, but the American position was not so good. 166 Field Maintenance Centre (FMC) at Veghel and the two Canadian FMCs at Wijchen and Oss. On 16 April XXX Corps sent its road transport back to the Rhine roadhead to collect the ammunition it needed to capture Bremen. Battle of Route Coloniale 4, 1950: Frances first devastat British Armed Forces, from the Glorious Revolution to Pres Communications, French Revolution to Present, Hippolyte, Comte de Guibert, Jacques Antoine, Hungary, Warfare in Medieval and Early Modern, India 'Mutiny' and 'Revolution,' 1857-1858, Japanese Army in the World War II Era, The Imperial, Justice, Military, the Anglo-American Tradition. It was therefore decided that the floating bridges should be replaced by semi-permanent ones as soon as operational circumstances permitted. By this time a thaw had set in, and the ground was now soft and muddy, restricting off-road vehicle movement. 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. It would also free transport to support a rapid advance. [60] In the three days preceding the assault, the three hundred and thirty six 25-pounders assigned to the XII Corps fired 225,061 rounds, the sixteen 4.5-inch guns fired 7,002 rounds, the one hundred and sixty 5.5-inch guns fired 69,607 rounds, the fifty two 155 mm howitzers fired 4,335 rounds, the sixteen 7.2-inch howitzer fired 3,964 rounds, and the two 8-inch howitzers 176 rounds. The War Office therefore created a new headquarters, called the 25th Garrison, to take over the RMA, and four new line of communications sub area headquarters, the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th. Similar Royal Air Force Germany, Royal Electrical and Mech, British Army, Royal Military Police, Army Air Corps. [66][76], At Gennep, the 6th Army Troops Engineers built a 312-metre (1,023ft) class 30 Bailey bridge using the piers and abutments of a demolished railway bridge. A general study of the historical experiences that have shaped the British army. [95][92] To take pressure off the roads, the 21st Army Group placed an air composite platoon capable of receiving and handling up to 510 tonnes (500 long tons) per day under the Second Army's control. CENTAG consisted, from north to south, of III GE Corps, V US Corps, VII US Corps, and II (GE) Corps in the extreme . There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine ( BAOR ). The average tonnage on the canal system rose steadily from 27,000 tonnes (27,000 long tons) in January to 35,000 tonnes (34,000 long tons) in February, 48,000 tonnes (47,000 long tons) in March and 56,000 tonnes (55,000 long tons) in April. [19] He intended to make the main Allied effort in the north, in the 21st Army Group's sector. Its original function was to control the corps districts which were running the military government of the British zone of Allied-occupied Germany.After the assumption of government by civilians, it became the command formation for the troops in Germany only, rather than being responsible for . Manage all your favorite fandoms in one place! [28] Advance parties from each formation involved travelled by air from Florence, but most Operation Goldflake units moved by sea. The attacks resulted in the deaths of nine people, including three civilians, and many wounded. [55][56][57], With Antwerp in operation, some supplies were now coming directly from the United States. . [88][93], Dumbo surpassed its target of 1million imperial gallons (4.5million litres) (about 3,620 tonnes (3,560 long tons)) per day on 15 March 1945, and by 3 April the Dumbo lines were delivering 4,500 long tons (4,600t) a day. Both formations had areas of responsibility located around the German section of the River Rhine. On 4 May Montgomery took the surrender of the German forces in front of the 21st Army Group. After some debate, the Combined Chiefs of Staff endorsed his strategy at the Malta Conference in January and February 1945. Meanwhile, the class 40 Bailey pontoon bridge at Xanten was erected by the 7th Army Troops Engineers in 31 hours, and opened to traffic at 16:30 on 25 March. 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 . Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery's 21st Army Group consisted of the General Harry Crerar's First Canadian Army and Lieutenant General Sir Miles Dempsey's British Second Army. The longer shipping time meant that a working margin of 30 days' supplies was desirable instead of the one of 14 days for shipments from the United Kingdom. [94] New lines continued to be laid, the last one being laid to Bocholt on 24 May. After successfully carrying the Eureka torch at the show in November 2021, some of our Eureka and AB family will finally be able to join us for the first time since the pandemic struck in 2020. Captured German dumps held sufficient quantities of food for them, but they were not always easily accessible or distributable, so some had to be fed from 21st Army Group stocks, on a temporary ration scale of 1,100 calories (4,600J) per man per day. Following the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the permanent deployment in Germany ended in 2020. The best introduction to the regimental system of the British army. [27], On 10 February, the 5th Canadian Armoured Division loaded its 450 tanks and 320 Bren gun carriers on flat wagons in Rimini and Riccione, from whence they moved by rail to Leghorn. Work commenced at 09:30, and the bridge was opened for traffic at midnight. These provided health care and bathing and delousing with DDT to prevent the spread of disease. The British Army of 19441945 was highly mechanised, which conferred great tactical and strategic manoeuvrability. The 5 miles (8.0km) of the Nijmegen-Cleve road was under 610 millimetres (24in) of water, and DUKWs were employed to move supplies forward along it to a "skeleton" FMC, No. Engineers soon had bridges over the Rhine in operation, which were then superseded by more permanent road and rail bridges. British logistics in the Western Allied invasion of Germany was the support of Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery's Anglo-Canadian 21st Army Group and the RAF Second Tactical Air Force operations in the Second World War from 8 January 1945 until the end of the war in Europe on 8 May 1945. Damaged vehicles on the east bank of the Rhine were collected at points near the river and transported back on rafts. Canadian units indented for warlike stores direct to their division's Ordnance Field Park, which carried stocks of spare parts for mechanical transport, small arms, armament, signal stores, and engineering equipment, as well as complete wireless sets and small arms. Depots and stocks remaining in the RMA were transferred to the control of the War Office. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Adjutant Generals Base AGDU Army Guard Dog Unit AGR Army General Reserve A.G.R.A. [28], Originally scheduled to start on 12 January 1945, when the ground would have been hard and frozen and off-road vehicle movement possible, Operation Veritable was delayed for five weeks by the Ardennes Offensive. ORIGINAL 1943 RAF WILHELMSHAVEN GERMANY MAP WAR BRITISH ARMY MILITARY WWII WW2. Large numbers of displaced persons were also encountered, and they were accommodated in special camps. Its primary combat formation was British I Corps. [61] Up to seven trains per day were required to move the ammunition from the advance base to the ammunition railheads at No. This reduced the pressure on the road network, and also permitted stone for road works to be supplied by rail. Home; About. Their construction would require 3,000 wooden piles 30 centimetres (12in) in diameter and 18 to 23 metres (60 to 75ft) in length. It was also feared for a time that the skeleton FMC was in danger of being inundated, although it was sited on high ground. The 3rd Canadian Division made use of Buffalo tracked amphibious vehicles. The four Army garrisons in Germany were under the direct administrative control of UKSC(G). [36] Operation Veritable would be spearheaded by the five British divisions of Lieutenant General Sir Brian Horrocks's XXX Corps, and would form part of a giant pincer movement with Operation Grenade, which would be conducted by Lieutenant General William H. Simpson's US Ninth Army. reminiscing, whether colonel or corporal. SGT Served from 1967 - 1985 Served in British Army of the Rhine.