british army of the rhine bases

Pipelines were now constructed from Calais to Ghent, and thence to the storage facilities around Antwerp. British Land Forces in Germany came under the command of the British Army of the Rhine. [9] This required major operations, and the port was not opened for shipping until 26 November. [42] The weight of shell employed would still be formidable; the fire plan still called for 6 tonnes (6 long tons) of shells to be delivered on designated targets, and some would receive up to 11 tonnes (11 long tons). An initial stockpile of 91,000 litres (20,000impgal) was supplied to the unit, followed by daily deliveries of 14,000 litres (3,000impgal) per day. Copy this link, or click below to email it to a friend. The 11th Line of Communications Area took over the administration of the ports and the entire advanced base area, freeing the 12th Line of Communications Area headquarters to move forward. Each man crossing the Rhine was issued with a 24-hour ration, an emergency ration, a tin of preserved meat, a tin of self-heating soup or cocoa, a packet of biscuits and a tommy cooker with six hexamine tablets. ORIGINAL 1943 RAF WILHELMSHAVEN GERMANY MAP WAR BRITISH ARMY MILITARY WWII WW2. British Army of the Rhine in Italian - English-Italian Dictionary | Glosbe [81] The XII Corps plan called for the construction of a class 9 Folding Boat Equipment (FBE) bridge, a class 12 Bailey pontoon bridge and two class 40 Bailey pontoon bridges. Nearly 50 engineer companies, together with three road construction companies and 29 pioneer companies, were engaged in road maintenance. [62], Once the link-up with the ground forces was effected, the 6th Airborne Division drew its supplies from XII Corps, while the US 17th Airborne Division drew its from the US Ninth Army. 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. No. Military Identities: The Regimental System, the British Army and the British People c.18702000. The former held 200 rounds per gun of medium and 250 rounds per gun of heavy artillery ammunition, while the latter held 200 rounds per gun of medium and 150 rounds per gun of heavy artillery ammunition. Second Army's VIII, XII and XXX Corps drew their supplies from No. Not only are the well-equipped forward elements presented, but the light security elements that form BAOR's vital reinforcements are included as well. [11] Rhine Garrison, which principally comprised HQ British Forces Germany in the Rheindahlen Military Complex and Elmpt Station (formerly RAF Bruggen), also reduced in size; the HQ moved to Bielefeld in July 2013 and other units returned to the UK. 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. [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. The Royal Navy formed Force U, consisting of three squadrons, each with a flotilla of twelve Landing Craft Medium (LCM), and a flotilla of twelve Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP), which were transported by road across Holland and Belgium to participate. British Liberation Army | Military Wiki | Fandom London: Penguin, 1970. Instead, 18th GHQ Troops Engineers erected it the following day at a downstream site near the town of Honnopel. IF YOU WOULD PREFER TO STAY ANONYMOUS OR KEEP ALL CONTENTS PRIVATE PLEASE STATE THIS CLEARLY ON SUBMISSION: All rights reserved. A request for an increase in the theatre reserves from 28 to 51 days was approved by the War Office, but it was not possible to increase the stockpile of ammunition, as this was already being shipped at the maximum rate. A new type was flown out direct from the UK factory by priority air freight and fitted to the tanks. 166 FMC was developed from one formerly established there by the VIII Corps, although it had to be expanded as XXX Corps had over 200,000 troops under its command for Operation Veritable. It is a history of British European security commitments, of NATO military strategy, and of the changing character of land warfare after 1945. It closed in 1991 when the refurbished BMH Iserlohn re-opened. A.G.B. [79], Vehicles crossing the Rhine did so with full fuel tanks and a reserve of filled jerricans. [87] The 21st Army Group allocated an additional 2,190 tonnes (2,160 long tons) of road transport capacity to the Second Army between 27 March and 3 April. 14 Army Roadhead. The British Army of 19441945 was highly mechanised, which conferred great tactical and strategic manoeuvrability. By mid-May the 21st Army Group's reserves had been reduced by a quarter. Ammunition expenditure was prodigious, and a system of rationing had to be introduced. The British presence was estimated to have been contributing 1.5 billion euros annually to the German economy in 2004. Photo courtesy of RAMC Lab Tech Cpl Peter Elgar 1958. The British Army of the Rhine - DocuWiki [28] Advance parties from each formation involved travelled by air from Florence, but most Operation Goldflake units moved by sea. [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. Red Sash Wargames Army of the Rhine - Ombre de Turenne SW | Toys & Hobbies, Games, Board & Traditional Games | eBay! The BAOR was formerly armed with tactical nuclear weapons. The second British Army of the Rhine was formed on 25 August 1945 from the British Liberation Army. [20], Commanders have included:[21]General Officer Commanding United Kingdom Support Command (Germany), General Officer Commanding British Forces Germany, Last edited on 10 December 2022, at 22:46, 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, "UK to maintain military presence in Germany", "So, it is time to say Aufwiedersehen. 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. These were manufactured locally in Brussels and fitted in Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) workshops. In a broader context, Barnett 1970 and Chandler and Beckett 2003 provide an essential overview of the experiences that have shaped the British Army over its long history. Its primary combat formation was British I Corps. The history of BAOR, then, is not simply a history of an army formation. A special effort was made to ensure that all units had their full allowance of winter and protective clothing. RAF Germany was disbanded as a separate command in 1993 as part of the reduction of British Armed Forces presence in Europe at the cessation of the Cold War. 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. The Corps was with the BEF in 1940 and thereafter involved in the defene of the UK. A. 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 . Three trains a day were run over this route under an arrangement with SHAEF and the American Military Railway Service. Please subscribe or login. During the two-hour rail halt, the troops were served a hot meal and provided with sandwiches for the next one. Work commenced at 09:30, and the bridge was opened for traffic at midnight. 206 FMC. UK to maintain military presence in Germany - GOV.UK Crossing the Rhine | World War II Database - WW2DB The British Liberation Army (BLA) was the official name given to the British Army forces which fought on the Western Front of World War II between the Invasion of Normandy and the end of the war. Post war First Corps District administered Rhine Province and Westphalia. [39][40], The artillery fire plan for Operation Veritable called for the widespread use of "pepperpot tactics". Army Bases This involved prodigious use of ammunition, fuel and equipment, which in turn demanded a first-class military logistics system. 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. [74], The South Beveland Canal was opened on 19 February to allow inland water transport to reach the Dutch canal system when the western Netherlands were liberated. 13 Army Roadhead while II Canadian Corps advanced on Oldenburg supported from No. For this the British Second Army deployed 1,520 field and medium guns, and the US Ninth Army . French, David. [78] The 21st Army Group headquarters also allocated three additional general transport companies to the British Second Army. A train caught alight, and the fire spread to three nearby storage tanks. Since the end of the Second World War, major reorganisation has resulted in the Coast Artillery being disbanded, the Anti Tank role being discontinued and the Anti . British Army of the Rhine [BAOR] | The National Archives By this time a thaw had set in, and the ground was now soft and muddy, restricting off-road vehicle movement. Montgomery's armies were reinforced by the redeployment of three divisions from Italy under Operation Goldflake. Damaged vehicles on the east bank of the Rhine were collected at points near the river and transported back on rafts. The first troops sailed from Naples on the troop ship SS Esperance Bay on 22 February, and arrived at Marseilles two days later. [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. It has been an honour to command this fantastic organisation doing its very best to support our people here in Germany. British Army Of The Rhine - The Armourers Bench [46] There were 350 different types of ammunition in all. Between 1945 and 1957, West Germany made a dizzying pivot from Nazi bastion to Britain's Cold War ally against the Soviet Union. The Dumbo pipeline was extended from Boulogne to Antwerp in March. The "Waterloo" class 9 FBE could not be built at the intended site at Rees on 24 March because the town had not been captured. The troops in the assault units were issued with 24-hour ration packs, together with a Tommy cooker and a tin containing tea, condensed milk and sugar, enabling the troops in the front line to brew a hot cup of tea. The Mediterranean theatre was only able to provide two field bakeries. [60] Every available amphibious craft was collected. There were doubts as to whether this need could be met, but the situation was eased by the fortuitous arrival of 4,700 tonnes (4,600 long tons) of ammunition that had been pre-loaded on some of the transport that had been allocated by the 21st Army Group. When the First World War ended British troops crossed the Rhine into Germany and entered a cou [47] As it was thought that vehicle movement in the battle area would be restricted by the weather, terrain and battle damage, units were issued with "compo" ration packs for up to two-thirds of a formation's strength, and the divisions and independent brigades were also supplied with two-, three- and five-man "AFV" ration packs in case the distribution of compo packs proved to be too difficult. Nottingham. [77] A 370-metre (1,220ft) class 40 Bailey pontoon bridge was built at Venlo by the 15th GHQ Troops Engineers. Supplies and POL were stocked at Eindhoven; POL at Schijndel; ammunition at Veghel, Uden, Oss and Wijchen; road material at Mill; coal at Best; and bridging at 's-Hertogenbosch. [51] Extremely cold conditions persisted into February, and the divisions were issued with Arctic clothing and equipment that had been stockpiled for operations in Norway. British Forces Germany - Wikipedia Moody 2020 provides the first comprehensive study of how the army intellectualized the arrival of nuclear weapons and how they might be employed in a future war. British Army of the Rhine: The BAOR, 1945-1993 (Cold War 1945-1991) On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Some 10,000 tonnes (10,000 long tons) of wooden piles, baulks and chesses was assembled for the project. At the beginning of March 1945, the 21st Army Group had bulk petrol transport capacity of about 2,700 tonnes (2,700 long tons) per day, assuming 80 per cent of the vehicles were running. Find British Army Of The Rhine stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. [18], Eisenhower ordered Montgomery to resume his preparations for Operation Veritable, the objective of which was to defeat the German forces west of the Rhine. [7] The British Second Army liberated Brussels on 3 September, and Antwerp was captured virtually intact on 4 September,[8] but it could not be used as a port until the Germans were cleared from the Scheldt approaches, through which ships had to pass to reach the port. REME Technical Services BAOR (British Army of the Rhine) 5 Infantry Workshop, Nijmegan Marchers 5 Infantry Workshop, Nijmegan Marchers [92] There was an additional allocation of 5,100 tonnes (5,000 long tons) of road transport for the drive to the Baltic Sea on 26 April, and another 2,700 tonnes (2,700 long tons) was received by the end of the month. [30], The two airborne divisions participating in Operation Varsity, the airborne operation supporting Operation Plunder, were initially supplied by the First Allied Airborne Army. An emergency repair effort was conducted, and many were shipped direct from the workshops to the front lines. [82][84], It was recognised in the planning of Operation Plunder that the maintenance of the floating bridges over the Rhine would require more engineers than could be spared from the campaign ahead. This freed the 9th Line of Communications Sub Area to participate in Operation Goldflake. To maximise their turnaround time, they were only used to cover the flooded stretch, with loads transferred to them and unloaded from them into other vehicles at each end. The affectionate story of British servicemen and their families who had to make Germany a home from home in the decades after the Second World War. This included the 6th Airborne Division, but it was held by the seaborne tail. The United States and the Middle East, 1945-2001, World War II in the Mediterranean and Middle East. New search features Acronym Blog Free tools . Twenty-five special vehicles were built in Army workshops to carry them. TankDiary on Twitter [11] The first phase of this was the transfer of remaining stores to the advanced base. [98] By May the ration strength of the 21st Army Group had risen to 1.711 million. [88] Another 2,000 tonnes (2,000 long tons) was obtained from within the Second Army by grounding artillery and armoured units that were not immediately required for the advance. 15 Army Roadhead opened in the Almelo area on 18 April and was stocked by road from No. Consequently, the daily pack trains that carried supplies were normally run straight through from the advanced base to the corps railheads, which were normally stocked on a commodity basis, and the roadheads supporting the First Canadian Army carried much less stock than its British Second Army counterparts. [28][29] Many of the tanks needed overhaul or modification and this task was beyond the resources of the 21st Army Group's REME units, so excess tanks were shipped to the UK. 10 Army Roadhead, while the attached II Canadian Corps continued to draw its from the First Canadian Army's No. [87], Stocking of No. The second British Army on the Rhine was formed on 25 August 1945 from 21st Army Group. Corps Water Polo Championships, BAOR (British Army of the Rhine)Team Winners, Aldershot. british army of the rhine bases. The troops were located principally in the vicinity of Cologne at an approximate cost per month of 300,000. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. Daily expenditure of ammunition soon exceeded a trainload, so the non-arrival of even one train meant that ammunition had to be drawn from the Second Army roadhead at Bourg Leopold. This had been scheduled to occur on 20 March 1945, but in early February it was brought forward to 20 February. Fifteen minutes after the glider landings, there was a resupply mission flown by 240 Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers from the US Eighth Air Force. zThis page represents the structure of the British Army in 1989, the last year of the Cold War. This was after British forces personnel were scaled down over several years, with 19,100 in April 2010, and 2,850 in April 2019. British Forces Germany (BFG) was the generic name for the three services of the British Armed Forces, made up of service personnel, UK Civil Servants, and dependents (family members), based in Germany. No 13 Army Roadhead was opened at Nijmegen on 2 March, and was stocked by rail. [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. LT COL Served from 1974 - 2011 Served in British Army of the Rhine. British Armed Forces Special Vouchers B.A.O.R. The position gained along the Roer was then taken over by the US Ninth Army. This reduced the pressure on the road network, and also permitted stone for road works to be supplied by rail. British Army of the Rhine | Daly History Blog For this the British Second Army deployed 1,520 field and medium guns, and the US Ninth Army had 624 field and medium guns. At this time the ration strength of the 21st Army Group was around 1.2 million, while that of the Mediterranean theatre was 1.4 million. In addition to the storm boats, DUKWs, Buffaloes and Weasels,[62] there were also amphibious DD tanks. [44], Thus far in the campaign in North West Europe, XXX Corps had only served as part of the British Second Army, and it found that maintenance procedures of the First Canadian Army differed from what it had been used to due to the fact that the First Canadian Army's operations had been conducted where there had been adequate communications. It drew fuel from Dungeness on the coast of Kent and transported it across the Strait of Dover to a terminal near Boulogne. [91] At Artlenburg, 7th Army Troops engineers constructing a 282-metre (925ft) class 40 Bailey pontoon bridge also came under air attack, and two of its mobile cranes were damaged by artillery fire, but the bridge was opened on schedule at 12:00 on 30 April. [47] Four main road routes were available for troop movements, utilising road bridges over the Maas at Grave, Mook and Ravenstein. There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). As a result of this fire it was decided to remove camouflage from the oil storage tanks, because it was not effective against the V-2, and hampered fire fighting efforts. British Army of the Rhine - YouTube Look through examples of British Army of the Rhine translation in sentences, listen to pronunciation and learn grammar. The aim was to re-establish patrols in these areas and flush out paramilitaries from urban bases. The British Army of the Rhine - researchgate.net 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. BAOR stands for British Army Of the Rhine. The problem had been foreseen, and replacements were available on the ordnance depots. The tracks of Sherman tanks were equipped with "duck bill" connectors to facilitate advancing across snow and soft ground. The West German town of Bruggen, 55 miles (88 km) south of Dusseldorf, celebrated its 700th anniversary on Saturday (2 June) by granting the freedom of the city to a British Army unit which has been stationed in the town for 21 years. A comprehensive history of the British army aimed at undergraduate students and the general reader. The 21st Army Group asked for four base supply depots (BSDs), six field bakeries, three field butcheries, a cold storage depot and two detail issue depots (DIDs). [44] For security reasons, troop movements had to be conducted at night. 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. [44] Road maintenance was made especially difficult by the winter weather. Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. British army inner german border.jpg 1,941 1,368 . Part of Ministry of Defence. BMH Iserlohn was one of several BAOR (British Army Of The Rhine) army hospitals in Germany. 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. It was arranged that 40 tanks, 650 wheeled vehicles, 50 Bren gun carriers, and 3,700 personnel would disembark each day in Marseilles, where accommodation was provided for 10,000 troops in tents and 200 vehicles. The second class 40 Bailey pontoon bridge, known as "Blackfriars", was built by the II Canadian Corps Engineers in 50 hours, starting at 10:00 on 26 March. It was also feared for a time that the skeleton FMC was in danger of being inundated, although it was sited on high ground.