| I Corps | |
|---|---|
 I Corps formation badge during the Second World War.[1] | |
| Active | 1815–1994 |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Type | Field corps |
| Engagements | Waterloo Campaign |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | The Prince of Orange SirDouglas Haig SirCharles Monro SirHubert Gough SirArthur Holland SirJohn Dill SirHarold Alexander SirJohn Crocker |
| Insignia | |
| Corps formation sign during the First World War.[3] |  |
I Corps ("First Corps") was anarmy corps in existence as an active formation in theBritish Army for most of the 80 years from its creation in theFirst World War until the end of the Cold War, longer than any other corps. It had a short-lived precursor during theWaterloo Campaign. It served as the operational component of theBritish Army of the Rhine (part of NATO'sNorthern Army Group (NORTHAG)) during the Cold War, and was tasked with defendingWest Germany.
Assembling an army in Belgium to fight Napoleon's resurgent forces in the spring of 1815, theDuke of Wellington formed it into army corps, deliberately mixing units from the Anglo-Hanoverian, Dutch-Belgian and German contingents so that the weaker elements would be stiffened by more experienced or reliable troops. As he put it: 'It was necessary to organize these troops in brigades, divisions, and corps d’armee with those better disciplined and more accustomed to war'.[4] He placed I Corps under the command of thePrince of Orange and it was this corps that was first contacted by the advancing French atQuatre Bras on 16 June 1815. However, Wellington did not employ the corps as tactical entities, and continued his accustomed practice of issuing orders directly to divisional and lower commanders. When he drew up his army on the ridge atWaterloo, elements of the various corps were mixed up, and although he gave the Prince of Orange nominal command of the centre, that officer had different forces under him. Subsequent to the battle, the corps structure was re-established for the advance into France, I Corps being commanded byMaj-Gen Sir John Byng, the Prince of Orange having been wounded at Waterloo.[5]
General Officer Commanding (GOC): GeneralThe Prince of Orange
After Waterloo the army corps structure largely disappeared from the British Army, except for ad hoc formations assembled during annual manoeuvres (e.g.Army Manoeuvres of 1913). In 1876 a Mobilisation Scheme for eight army corps was published, with 'First Corps' based onColchester. In 1880 First Corps' organization was:
This scheme had been dropped by 1881.[6] The Stanhope Memorandum of 1891 (drawn up byEdward Stanhope whenSecretary of State for War) laid down the policy that after providing for garrisons and India, the army should be able to mobilise three army corps for home defence, two of regular troops and one partly of militia, each of three divisions. Only after those commitments, it was hoped, might two army corps be organised for the unlikely eventuality of deployment abroad.[7]
When theSecond Anglo-Boer War was imminent in September 1899, a field army, referred to as the Army Corps (sometimes I Army Corps) was mobilised and sent to Cape Town. It was, in fact, 'about the equivalent of the First Army Corps of the existing mobilization scheme',[8] and was placed under the command of Gen SirRedvers Buller, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Aldershot Command. However, once in South Africa the corps never operated as such, and the three divisions (1st,2nd and3rd) were widely dispersed.
The 1901 Army Estimates introduced bySt John Brodrick allowed for six army corps based on the six regional commands (Aldershot, Southern, Irish, Eastern, Northern and Scottish) of which only I Corps (Aldershot Command) and II Corps (Southern Command on Salisbury Plain) would be entirely formed of regular troops.[9] However, these arrangements remained theoretical, the title 'I Corps' being added to Aldershot Command. In early October 1902 a memorandum was issued showing the organization and allocation of the 1st Army Corps, to which SirJohn French had recently been appointed in command:[10]
In 1907 the title changed to 'Aldershot Corps' but reverted to simply 'Aldershot Command' the following year.[11] Finally, theHaldane Reforms of 1907 established a six-divisionBritish Expeditionary Force for deployment overseas, but only Aldershot Command possessed two infantry divisions and a full complement of 'army troops' to form an army corps in the field.[12]
Pre-war planning for theBritish Expeditionary Force (BEF) did not envisage any intermediate headquarters betweenGHQ and the six infantry divisions, but it was assumed that if corps HQs became necessary, then theGOC Aldershot Command would automatically become GOC I Corps in the field.[13] On mobilisation in August 1914 the decision was made to conform to the two-division army corps organisation employed by the French armies alongside which the BEF was to operate.[14] SirDouglas Haig, then commanding at Aldershot, therefore took I Corps HQ to France with1st Division and2nd Division under command, and it remained on theWestern Front throughout the war. It had a peripheral part at theBattle of Mons, then saw hard fighting at theBattle of the Aisne andFirst Battle of Ypres in 1914, at theBattle of Aubers Ridge in the Spring of 1915 and alongside theCanadian Corps at theBattle of Hill 70, as well in many other large battles of the First World War.
The composition of army corps changed frequently. Some representative orders of battle for I Corps are given here.
Order of Battle at Mons 23 August 1914[15]
General Officer Commanding:Lieut-Gen SirDouglas Haig
By the time of the battles ofAubers Ridge andFestubert (May 1915), I Corps still had 1st and 2nd Divisions under command, but had been reinforced by47th (1/2nd London) Division of the Territorial Force, and1st Canadian Division.[17] Once the era of trench warfare had set in on the Western Front (1915–17), the BEF left its army corps in position for long periods, so that they became familiar with their sector, while rotating divisions as they required rest, training, or transfer to other sectors.[18]
From May 1916 to August 1917,I Corps Cavalry Regiment was provided by the1st South Irish Horse.[19]
On 25 September 1918, for the final battles, I Corps was transferred from First Army toSir William Birdwood'sFifth Army.[20]
Order of Battle during the final advance in Artois 2 October-11 November 1918[2][21]
General Officer Commanding:Lieut-Gen SirArthur Holland
BGGS: Brig-Gen G.V. Hordern
Deputy Adjutant & Quartermaster-General: Brig-Gen N.G. Anderson
Commander, Royal Artillery: Brig-Gen H.C. Sheppard
Commander, Heavy Artillery: Brig-Gen F.G. Maunsell
Commander, Engineers: Brig-Gen H.W. Gordon
During theSecond World War, I Corps' first assignment was again to theBritish Expeditionary Force (BEF) where it was commanded by GeneralSir John Dill, and then Lieutenant GeneralMichael Barker from April 1940. After theGermans broke through Allied lines in theBattle of France in May 1940, the BEF was forced to retreat toDunkirk forevacuation to England. TheCommander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the BEF, GeneralLord Gort, ordered Barker to form the rearguard with I Corps to cover the evacuation, and surrender to the Germans as a last resort. However, theacting commander ofII Corps, Major GeneralBernard Montgomery, advised Gort that Barker was in an unfit state to be left in final command, and recommended that Major GeneralHarold Alexander of the1st Division should be put in charge. Gort did as Montgomery advised, and in the event the bulk of I Corps was successfully evacuated. As Montgomery recalled: '"Alex" got everyone away in his own calm and confident manner'.[24]
The order of battle was as follows:[25]
General Officer Commanding: Lieutenant GeneralM.G.H. Barker
After returning to Britain, I Corps remained there, based atHickleton Hall inSouth Yorkshire withinNorthern Command, on anti-invasion duties, preparing defences to repel aGerman invasion of the United Kingdom.[33]
I Corps, now commanded by Lieutenant GeneralJohn Crocker, then took part in theNormandy landings on 6 June 1944 where, along withXXX Corps, under Lieutenant GeneralGerard Bucknall (who had commanded I Corps between April and August 1943), it was a spearhead corps of Lieutenant GeneralMiles Dempsey'sBritish Second Army, itself part of the21st Army Group. The corps was then involved in theBattle of Normandy in fierce attritional fighting for control of the Normandy beachhead.
After fighting for two months in theBattle for Caen, I Corps was subordinated on 1 August 1944 to theCanadian First Army, commanded byLieutenant GeneralHarry Crerar, for the remainder of the Normandy campaign[34] and the subsequent operations in theLow Countries.[35] I Corps participated inOperation Astonia (the capture ofLe Havre) andClearing the Channel Coast.
I Corps later helped to garrison "The Island" area between Arnhem and Nijmegen in the aftermath ofOperation Market Garden.
DuringOperation Pheasant inNorth Brabant, I Corps was unique in fielding divisions from several nations:Polish 1st Armoured Division,Canadian 4th Armoured Division, British49thPolar Bears Division, and US104thTimberwolf Division.
After theBattle of the Scheldt, I Corps gave up command of any combat forces. Its headquarters administered 21st Army Group's logistics area around the port ofAntwerp,Belgium until the end of the war.
General Officer Commanding:Lieutenant-GeneralJohn Crocker
Attached:
Assignments of corps to armies, and divisions to corps, changed frequently during the campaign:
As of 6 June 1944[47]
As of 7 July 1944
As of 1 August 1944 (now part of First Canadian Army)
After the defeat of Germany, the 21st Army Group became theBritish Army of the Rhine (BAOR), and 1 Corps, under the command ofLieutenant-GeneralIvor Thomas, was transformed into a corps district, with an administrative, rather than combat, role. It was disbanded in 1947.[48]
In October 1951 the corps was reactivated to become the principal combat element of the BAOR, with its headquarters inBielefeld. In March 1952, following the reactivation of6th Armoured Division, its component formations were:
Included as part of this wasCanadian Forces Europe, as Canada's contribution to the NATO land forces in Germany. A Canadian mechanised brigade remained part of BAOR until 1970, until it was moved south. The size of this force, 6,700, was such that it was referred to within British circles as a "light division".
4th Division was reformed from11th Armoured Division on 1 April 1956.[49]
On 1 July 1960, the5th Division was redesignated as the 1st Division and the renamed formation took on the 1st Division's lineage and insignia. The division was located atVerden an der Aller, Germany, and formed part of theBritish Army of the Rhine (BAOR).[50][51][52] The formation conducted division-wide trials using the "square brigade" concept. When they were deemed successful in 1970, all brigades within the BAOR were reorganised accordingly.[53] The square brigade was developed in the 1950s. It called for a brigade to contain twoarmoured regiments and twomechanised infantry battalions. In the late 1960s, newanti-tank anddefence in depth concepts were developed as fears of a possible surprise attack by theWarsaw Pact grew. Major-GeneralEdwin Bramall promoted these new ideas when he took command of the 1st Division in January 1972. Bramall felt there was an over-reliance on the arrival of reinforcements to resist an offensive by theSoviet Union rather than the BAOR being able to do so itself. Using the division, the new tactics were refined and were later adopted by the BAOR, and further developed at a higher level in the mid-1970s.[54] The basic concept was to draw Soviet armoured forces intokill zones along their anticipated route of advance. These zones would bemined, and Soviet tanks engaged byanti-tank guided missile-equipped infantry and tanks inhull down positions to inflict heavy casualties. BAOR would conduct afighting withdrawal as needed using its own reinforcements to counterattack any Soviet breakthroughs. It was expected such methods would allow BAOR to resist an offensive for five days without receiving external reinforcements. Because this strategy required tanks to be used in a more-defensive manner, it ran counter to the then-established doctrine that called for tanks to be used in a more-offensive capacity and in a local counterattack role.[54]
Between 1958 and 1960 the Corps was reorganised into three mixed armour/infantry divisions including five brigade groups. In 1965 these brigade groups were brought together into three centralised divisions (1st, 2nd, and 4th). In 1958, the "infantry" designation was dropped from the 2nd Infantry Division's title as part of this reorganisation.[55] During the 1970s, 4th Division consisted of two "square" brigades.[56]
With the end ofNational Service, manpower across the whole of BAOR dropped from around 77,000 to 55,000.
In the late 1970s the Corps was reorganised as four small five-battle-group armoured divisions plus a roughly brigade sized infantry 'Field Force'. It then comprised:
In 1981,John Nott, the Secretary of State for Defence for the governmentelected in 1979, announced the1981 Defence White Paper. It, like the Mason Review, aimed to balance the British military in line with the nation's financial resources and save manpower. Resultingly, the BAOR was restructured from four armoured divisions of two brigades, into a force of three divisions of three brigades.[58][59]
Following the 1981-3 reorganisation, the Corps consisted of1st and4th Armoured Divisions, which would have manned the front line against the anticipated attack by theSoviet 3rd Shock Army, plus in an in-depth, reserve role the3rd Armoured Division (United Kingdom) and finally the2nd Infantry Division which was tasked with rear-area security.[60] 3rd Armoured Division then comprised the4th (based inMünster), the 6th (Soest), and the 33rd Armoured Brigades (Paderborn).
Formations from the early 1980s to the 1990s included:
During the 1980s, the 33rd Armoured Brigade joined the4th Armoured Division and in exchange the 3rd Armoured Division received the19th Infantry Brigade (Colchester, England).[61] During 1983, the 6th Armoured Brigade converted into the 6th Airmobile Brigade and maintained that role until 1988.[62][63]
With the end of theCold War, in 1992 1 (BR) Corps was disbanded, and its HQ closed. Some of the staff serving in HQ 1(BR) Corps were reassigned to the new HQUnited Kingdom Support Command (Germany) which was formed from the rump of HQ BAOR. The remainder of the staff formed the British component (50% of the total staff in the HQ) in theHeadquarters Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps (HQ ARRC), a newly instated multi-national NATO Rapid Reaction Corps HQ. The Corps Commander reported to the Supreme Allied Commander EuropeSACEUR, but had no troops under command except when assigned to ARRC by NATO member nations, for operations or for exercises. HQ ARRC moved toRheindahlen in 1994.
Commanders have included:[64]
From 1901 to 1905 the commander ofthe troops at Aldershot was also commander 1st Army Corps
Note: I Corps was disbanded at the end of the First World War and reformed at the start of the Second World War
Note: I Corps was disbanded in June 1947 and reformed in late 1951[48]