British Army during the Second World War

At the start of 1939, theBritish Armywas, as it traditionally always had been, a small volunteer professional army. At the beginning of theSecond World Waron 1 September 1939, the British Army was small in comparison with those of its enemies, as it had been at the beginning of theFirst World Warin 1914. It also quickly became evident that the initial structure and manpower of the British Army was woefully unprepared and ill-equipped for a war with multiple enemies on multiple fronts. During the early war years, mainly from 1940 to 1942, the British Army suffered defeat in almost everytheatre of warin which it was deployed. But, from late 1942 onwards, starting with theSecond Battle of El Alamein,the British Army's fortunes changed and it rarely suffered another defeat.

While there are a number of reasons for this shift, not least the entrance of both theSoviet Unionand theUnited Statesin 1941, as well as thecracking of the Enigma codethat same year, an important factor was the stronger British Army. This included better equipment, leadership, training, bettermilitary intelligenceand massconscriptionthat allowed the army to expand to form largerarmiesandarmy groups,as well as create new specialist formations such as theSpecial Air Service(SAS),Special Boat Service(SBS),Commandosand theParachute Regiment.During the course of the war, eight men would be promoted to the rank ofField Marshal,the army's highest rank.

By the end of the Second World War in September 1945, over 3.5 million men and women had served in the British Army, which had suffered around 720,000 casualties throughout the conflict.

Background

The main British Army campaigns in the course of the Second World War

The British Army was called on to fight around the world, starting withcampaigns in Europein 1940. After theDunkirk evacuationof Allied Forces from France (May–June 1940), the army fought in theMediterranean and Middle East theatres,and in theBurma Campaign.After a series of setbacks, retreats and evacuations, the British Army and itsAllieseventually gained the upper hand. This began with victory in theTunisian Campaignin North Africa in May 1943, followed byItalybeingforced to surrenderafter the invasions ofSicilyandthe Italian mainlandin 1943. In 1944 the British Armyreturned to Franceand with its Allies drove theGerman Armyback into Germany. Meanwhile, inEast AsiatheJapaneseArmy were driven back by the Allies from the Indian border into eastern Burma. In 1945 both the German and Japanese Armies were defeated and surrendered within months of each other.

Impact of the First World War

High losses had been sustained by the British Army during theFirst World Warand many soldiers returned embittered by their experiences. The British people had also suffered economic hardships after the war and with the onset of the Great Depression in the 1930s had contributed to a widespread antipathy to involvement in another war. One of the results was the adoption of a doctrine of casualty avoidance,as the British Army knew that British society, and the soldiers themselves, would never again allow them to recklessly throw away lives.The British Army had analysed the lessons of the First World War and developed them into an inter-wardoctrine,at the same time trying to predict how advances in weapons and technology might affect any future war.Developments were constrained by theTreasury.In 1919, theTen Year Rulewas introduced, which stipulated that theBritish Armed Forcesshould draft their estimates "on the assumption that theBritish Empirewould not be engaged in any great war during the next ten years ". In 1928,Winston Churchill,who wasChancellor of the Exchequerfrom 6 November 1924 to 4 June 1929 (and who later becamePrime Minister),successfully urged theBritish Governmentto make the Rule self-perpetuating so that it was in force unless specifically countermanded (Cabinet abandoned the rule in 1932)

In the 1920s, and much of the 1930s, the General Staff tried to establish a small mechanized professional army, using theExperimental Mechanized Forceas a prototype. Thestructure of the British Armyhad been organized to sacrifice firepower for mobility and removed from its commanders the fire support weapons that were needed to advance over the battlefield.The army had been equipped and trained to win quick victories using superiormechanisedmobility and technology rather than manpower.It also adopted a conservative tendency to consolidate gains on the battlefield rather than aggressively exploiting successes.However, with the lack of any identified threat, the Army's main function was togarrisonthe British Empire.

During this time, the army suffered from a lack of funding. TheRoyal Navy,being the first line of defence, received the major proportion of the defence budget.Second priority was the creation of abomberforce for theRoyal Air Force(RAF) to retaliate against the expected attacks on British cities.The development ofradarin 1935, which had the ability to track enemy aircraft, resulted in additional funding being provided for the RAF to build a fighter aircraft force.The army's shortage of funds, and no requirement for large armoured forces to police the Empire, was reflected in the fact that no large-scale armoured formations were formed until 1938.The effectiveness of the British Army was also hampered by the doctrine of casualty avoidance.

Alan Brookethe CIGS from November 1941 complained several times in the earlier entries in his private diary about the lack of suitable officers for command positions, which he puts down to high losses in the First World War

• It is lamentable how poor we are regards Army and Corps Commanders. We ought to remove several, but heaven knows where we shall find anything much better. Postwar addition: This shortage of real leaders was a constant source of anxiety to me during the war. I came to the conclusion that it was due to the cream of the manhood having been lost in the First World War. It was the real leaders, in the shape of platoon, company and battalion commanders, who were killed off. These were the men we were short of now. I found this shortage of leaders of quality applied to all three fighting services, and later I was able to observe that the same failing prevailed among politician and diplomats. (8 October 1941)
• Most of the morning was spent sorting out and adjusting senior officers.... There were at least 3 Corps Commanders that must be changed, and possibly 4!…. The dearth of suitable higher commanders is lamentable. I cannot quite make out to what it must be attributed. The only thing I feel can account for it is the fact that the flower of our manhood was wiped out some 20 years ago and it is just some of those that we lost then that we require now.(23 October 1941)
• Furthermore (the situation) is made worse by the lack of good military commanders. Half our Corps and Divisional Commanders are totally unfit for their appointments, and yet if I were to sack them I could find no better! They lack character, imagination, drive and power of leadership. The reason for this state of affairs is to be found in the losses we sustained in the last war of all our best officers, who should now be our senior commanders. I wonder if we shall muddle through this time.... (31 March 1942)

Organisation

Further information:List of British divisions in World War IIandList of British brigades of the Second World War

Left to rightBernard Montgomery,Archibald WavellandClaude Auchinleckwho all rose to prominence during the war, pictured here in June 1946.

Second World War

At the outbreak of the Second World War, only two armoured divisions (the1stand7th) had been formed,in comparison to the seven armoured divisions of the German Army.In September 1939, the British Army had a total of 892,697 officers and men in both the full-time regular army and part-timeTerritorial Army(TA). The regular army could muster 224,000 men, who were supported by a reserve of 173,700 men. Of the regular army reservists, only 3,700 men were fully trained and the remainder had been in civilian life for up to 13 years.In April 1939, an additional 34,500 men had been conscripted into the regular army and had only completed their basic training on the eve of war.The regular army was built around 30 cavalry or armoured regiments and 140 infantry battalions.The Territorial Army numbered 438,100, with a reserve of around 20,750 men.This force comprised 29yeomanryregiments (eight of which were still to be fully mechanized), 12 tank and 232 infantry battalions.

In May 1939 theMilitary Training Act 1939introduced limitedconscriptionto meet the growing threat ofGermany.The Act required all men aged between 20 and 22 years to do six months of military training. When the UK declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, theNational Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939was rushed throughParliamentthat required all fit men between the ages of 18 and 41 years to register for training (except for those in exempted industries and occupations).

By the end of 1939 the British Army's size had risen to 1.1 million men. By June 1940 it stood at 1.65 million menand had further increased to 2.2 million men by June 1941. The size of the British Army peaked in June 1945, at 2.9 million men. By the end of the Second World War some three million people had served.

In 1944, the United Kingdom was facing severe manpower shortages. By May 1944, it was estimated that the British Army's strength in December 1944 would be 100,000 less than it was at the end of 1943. Although casualties in theNormandy Campaign,the main effort of the British Army in 1944, were actually lower than anticipated, losses from all causes were still higher than could be replaced. Two infantry divisions and a brigade (59thand50thdivisions and70th Brigade) were disbanded to provide replacements for other British divisions in the21st Army Groupand all men being called up to the Army were trained as infantrymen. Furthermore, 35,000 men from theRAF Regimentand theRoyal Artillerywere transferred to the infantry and were retrained as rifle infantrymen, where the majority of combat casualties fell.In addition, in theEighth Armyfighting in theItalian Campaignof the Mediterranean theatre several units, mainly infantry, were also disbanded to provide replacements, including the 1st Armoured Division and several other smaller units, such as the168th Brigade,had to be reduced tocadre,and several other units had to be amalgamated. For example, the 2nd and 6th battalions of theRoyal Inniskilling Fusilierswere merged in August 1944. At the same time, most infantry battalions in Italy had to be reduced from four to three riflecompanies.

The pre-war army had allowed recruits to be assigned to the Corps of their wishes. This led to men being allocated to the wrong or unsuitableCorps.TheSecretary of State for War,Leslie Hore-Belishaattempted to address these problems, and the wider problems of the British Army.The process of allocating men would remain ad hoc at the start of the war. The army would be without the quotas of men required from skilled professions and trades, which modern warfare demanded. With the British Army being the least popular service compared to the Royal Navy and RAF, a higher proportion of army recruits were said to be dull and backwards.

The following memorandum to the executive committee of the Army Council highlighted the growing concern.

"The British Army is wasting manpower in this war almost as badly as it did in the last war. A man is posted to a Corps almost entirely on the demand of the moment and without any effort at personal selection by proper tests."

Only with the creation of theBeveridge committeein 1941, and their subsequent findings in 1942, would the situation of skilled men not being assigned correctly be addressed. The findings led directly to the creation of theGeneral Service Corpsthat remains in place today.

Infantry division

Further information:List of British infantry brigades of the Second World War (1–100)andList of British infantry brigades of the Second World War (101–309 and named)

During the war, the British Army raised 43 infantry divisions.Not all of these existed at the same time, and several were formed purely as training or administrative formations. Eight regular army divisions existed at the start of the war or were formed immediately afterwards from garrisons in the Middle East. The Territorial Army had 12 "first line" divisions (which had existed, generally, since the raising of the Territorial Force in the early 1900s), and raised a further 12 "second line" divisions from small cadres. Five other infantry divisions were created during the war, either converted from static "county" divisions or specially raised forOperation Torchor the Burma Campaign.

Infantry Division Structure.

The 1939 infantry division had a theoretical establishment of 13,863 men. By 1944, the strength had risen to 18,347 men.This increase in manpower resulted mainly from the increased establishment of a division's subunits and formations; except for certain specialist supporting services, the overall structure remained substantially the same throughout the war. A 1944 division typically was made up of three infantry brigades; a Medium Machine Gun (MMG) battalion (with 36Vickers machine guns,in three companies, and one company of 164.2-inch mortars); a reconnaissance regiment; a divisional artillery group, which consisted of three motorised field artillery regiments each with twenty-four25-pounderguns, an anti-tank regiment with forty-eight anti-tank guns and a light anti-aircraft regiment with fifty-fourBofors 40 mmguns;three field companies and one field park company of theRoyal Engineers;three transport companies of theRoyal Army Service Corps;an ordnance field park company of theRoyal Army Ordnance Corps;three field ambulances of theRoyal Army Medical Corps,a signals unit of theRoyal Corps of Signals;and a provost company of theRoyal Military Police.During the war, theRoyal Electrical and Mechanical Engineerswas formed to take over the responsibility of recovering and repairing vehicles and other equipment. A division generally had three workshop companies, and a recovery company from the REME.

There were very few variations on this standard establishment. For example, the52nd (Lowland) Infantry Divisionwas converted to a Mountain Division, with lighter equipment and transport. Other differences were generally the result of local exigencies. (A "Lower Establishment" existed for divisions stationed in Britain or inactive theatres, which were not intended to take part in active operations.)

With all cavalry and armoured regiments committed to armoured formations in the early part of the war, there were no units left for divisional reconnaissance, so theReconnaissance Corpswas formed in January 1941. Ten infantry battalions were reformed as reconnaissance battalions.The Reconnaissance Corps was merged into theRoyal Armoured Corpsin 1944.

The Infantry brigade typically had a HQ company and three infantry battalions. Fire support was provided by the allocation of an MMG company, anti tank battery, Royal Engineer company and/or field artillery regiment as required.Brigade Groups,which operated independently, had Royal Engineer, Royal Army Service Corps, Royal Army Medical Corps and Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers units permanently assigned. Brigade groups were also formed on anad-hocbasis and were given whatever resources was needed to complete an objective. However, it was intended before the war that the division was the lowest formation at which support (particularly artillery fire) could be properly concentrated and coordinated. Lieutenant-General Montgomery reimposed and reinforced this principle when he assumed command of the Eighth Army in North Africa in 1942, halting a tendency to split divisions into uncoordinated brigades and "penny packets".

The infantry battalion consisted of the battalion Headquarters (HQ), HQ company (signals and administration platoons), four rifle companies (HQ and three rifle platoons), a support company with acarrier platoon,mortar platoon,anti tank platoon and pioneer platoon.The rifle platoon had a HQ, which included a2-inch mortarand an anti tank weapon team, and three rifle sections, each containing seven riflemen and a three-manBren gunteam.

Armoured division

Main articles:British Armoured formations of World War IIandList of British mobile brigades during the Second World War

Armoured Division Structure 1940.

At the start of the war, the British Army possessed only two armoured divisions: the Mobile Division, formed in Britain in October 1937, and the Mobile Division (Egypt), formed in the autumn of 1938 following theMunich Crisis,These two divisions were later redesignated the 1st Armoured Division, in April 1939,and 7th Armoured Division, in January 1940, respectively.

During the war, the army raised a further nine armoured divisions, some of which were training formations and saw no action. Three were formed from first-line territorial or Yeomanry units. Six more were raised from various sources. As with the infantry divisions, not all existed at the same time, as several armoured divisions were disbanded or reduced to skeleton establishments during the course of the war, as a result of battle casualties or to provide reinforcements to bring other formations up to full strength.

The structure of British armoured divisions changed several times before and during the war. In 1937, the Mobile Division had two cavalry brigades each with three light tank regiments, a tank brigade with three medium tank regiments, and a "Pivot Group" (later called the "Support Group" ) containing two motorised infantry battalions and two artillery regiments.The Mobile Division (Egypt) had a light armoured brigade, a cavalry brigade, a heavy armoured group of two regiments and a pivot group.

By 1939, the intention was for an Armoured Division to consist of two armoured brigades, a support group and divisional troops. The armoured brigades would each be composed of three armoured regiments with a mixture of light and medium tanks, with a total complement of 220 tanks, while the support group would be composed of twomotorised infantrybattalions,two field artillery regiments, one anti–tank regiment and one light anti–aircraft regiment.

Valentine tankin the desert, carrying an infantry section.

In late 1940, following the campaign in France and Belgium in the spring, it was realised that there were insufficient infantry and support units, and mixing light andcruiser tanksin the same brigade had been a mistake. The armoured divisions' organisation was changed so that each armoured brigade now incorporated a motorised infantry battalion, and a third battalion was present within the Support Group.

In the winter of 1940–41, new armoured regiments were formed by converting the remaining mountedcavalryand yeomanry regiments. A year later, 33 infantry battalions were also converted to armoured regiments.By theSecond Battle of El Alamein,in late 1942, the British Army had realised that an entire infantry brigade was needed within each division, but until mid 1944, the idea that the armoured and motorised infantry brigades should fight separate albeit coordinated battles persisted.By the Battle of Normandy in 1944, the divisions consisted of an armoured brigade of three armoured regiments and a motorised infantry battalion, and an infantry brigade containing three motorised infantry battalions. The division's support troops included an armoured car regiment, an armoured reconnaissance regiment, two field artillery regiments (one of which was equipped with 24Sextonself-propelled 25-pounder guns), one anti–tank regiment (with one or more batteries equipped withArcherorAchillestank destroyers in place of towed anti–tank guns) and one light anti–aircraft regiment, with the usual assortment of engineers, mechanics, signals, transport, medical, and other support services.

The armoured reconnaissance regiment was equipped with medium tanks, bringing the armoured divisions to a strength of 246 medium tanks(roughly 340 tanks in total)and by the end of the Battle of Normandy the divisions started to operate as two brigade groups, each of twocombined armsteams, each in turn of one tank regiment and one infantry battalion (The armoured reconnaissance regiment was matched with the armoured brigade's motor battalion to provide the fourth group).

Armoured Division Structure 1944.

In 1944, the division's armoured regiments comprised 78 tanks.The regimental headquarters was equipped with four medium tanks, an anti–aircraft troop with eightCrusader Anti–Aircraft tanks,and the regiment's reconnaissance troop with elevenStuart tanks.Each regiment also had threeSabre squadrons;generally comprising fourtroopseach of four tanks, and a squadron headquarters of three tanks. The Sabre Squadrons contained three close support tanks, 12 medium tanks, and fourSherman Fireflys.Additionally, 18 tanks were allocated to the armoured brigade's headquarters and a further ten to the division's headquarters.

Artillery

Further information:List of British anti-aircraft brigades of the Second World War

25-pounders firing in support of theGuards Armoured DivisionSeptember 1944

The Royal Artillery was a large corps, responsible for the provision of field, medium, heavy, mountain, anti-tank and anti-aircraft units. (Some field regiments, particularly self-propelled regiments in the later part of the war, belonged to the prestigiousRoyal Horse Artillery,but were organised similarly to those of the RA.)

The main field artillery weapon throughout the war was the 25-pounder, with a range of 13,400 yards (12,300 m) for the Mk II model, Employed in adirect firerole it was also the most effective anti–tank weapon until the6-Pounderanti–tank gun became available. One shortcoming of using the 25-pounder in this role was it effectiveness above 1,200 yards (1,100 m) was limited and it deprived the army ofindirect firesupport.Only 78 25-pounders had been delivered when the war began, so old18-pounders,many of which had been converted to using 25-pounder ammunition as 18/25-pounders, were also employed.

Each field artillery regiment was originally organised as two batteries, each of two troops of six guns.This was changed late in 1940 to three batteries each of eight guns.Perhaps the most important element of a battery was theForward Observation Officer(FOO), who directed fire. Unlike most armies of the period, in which artillery observers could only request fire support, a British Army FOO (who was supposedly a captain but could even be a subaltern) could demand it, not merely from his own battery, but from the full regiment, or even the entire field artillery of a division if required. The artillery's organisation became very flexible and effective at rapidly providing and switching fire.

The medium artillery relied on the First World War vintage guns until the arrival, in 1941, of the4.5-inch Medium gun,which had a range of 20,500 yards (18,700 m) for a 55 pounds (25 kg) shell. This was followed in 1942 by the5.5-inch Medium gun,which had a range of 18,600 yards (17,000 m) for an 80 pounds (36 kg) shell.The heavy artillery was equipped with the7.2-inch Howitzer,a modified First World War weapon that nevertheless remained effective. During the war, brigade–sized formations of artillery, referred to asArmy Group Royal Artillery(AGRA), were formed.These allowed control of medium and heavy artillery to be centralised. Each AGRA was normally allocated to provide support to a corps,but could be assigned as needed by an Army HQ.

Although infantry units each had an anti-tank platoon, divisions also had a Royal Artillery anti-tank regiment. This had four batteries, each of twelve guns. At the start of the war, they were equipped with the2-pounder.Although this was perhaps the most effective weapon of its type at the time, it soon became obsolete as tanks became heavier with thicker armour.Its replacement, the 6-pounder, nevertheless did not enter service until early 1942. Even before the 6-pounder was introduced, it was felt that even heavier weapons would be needed, so the17-pounderwas designed, first seeing service in theNorth African Campaignin late 1942.

Each division also had a light anti-aircraft regiment. Initially, batteries were organised in troops of four guns, but combat experience showed that a three-gun troop was as effective, shooting in a triangular formation, so the batteries were reorganised as four troops of three guns.The troops were subsequently increased in size to six guns, so the regiment then had three batteries each with eighteen Bofors 40 mm guns. This equipment and organisation remained unchanged throughout the war.

The Royal Artillery also formed twelve Anti–aircraft divisions, equipped with heavier weapons. These were mainly the3-inchand3.7-inchanti–aircraft guns, but also the4.5-inchand5.25-inchguns where convenient. These divisions were organised intoAnti-Aircraft Command,which was commanded throughout the war by Lieutenant-General SirFrederick Alfred Pile.Each Anti-aircraft division was also responsible for searchlight and barrage balloon units within its assigned area.

Special Forces

Further information:List of British special service brigades of the Second World WarandList of British airborne brigades of the Second World War

Special Air Service North Africa 1943

The first raiding forces formed during the war were the tenIndependent Companies,which were raised from volunteers from Second-Line TA divisions.They were intended for raiding and reconnaissance behind German lines in theNorwegian Campaign,but were disbanded after the campaign was abandoned. The remaining personnel carried outOperation Collaragainst German-occupied France, before being merged into the Commandos.

Later in 1940, theBritish Commandoswere formed following Winston Churchill's call for "specially trained troops of the hunter class, who can develop a reign of terror down the enemy coast."By 1941, the Commandos were carrying out raids on the German-occupied Norwegian coast inOperation ClaymoreandOperation Archeryand in 1942, they formed the assault troops for theSt Nazaire Raid.They eventually formed 30 battalion-sized commando units (including 8Royal Marinesunits), some of which were organised within four brigades;1st,2nd,3rd,and4thCommando brigades.

Impressed by the GermanFallschirmjäger,Winston Churchill called for the formation of a similar elite corps of troops.The Parachute Regimentwas created and by the end of the war it possessed 17 battalions.Their first action was theBruneval Raidin 1942. The Parachute battalions formed the core of the1stand6thairborne divisions and the2nd Independent Parachute Brigade.In 1945, they also supplied battalions for the50thand77thIndian Parachute brigades.

Units that operated as smaller bodies included theLong Range Desert Group,which was formed in North Africa to report on movements and activities behind the German and Italian lines.TheSpecial Air Servicewas formed in 1941 for raiding missions behind the lines,and later theSpecial Air Service Brigadewas formed to support theNormandy landings.Popski's Private Army,formed in August 1942, was also tasked with missions behind the lines to gather intelligence, blow up installations and ambush small patrols.TheSpecial Interrogation Groupwas a unit formed from anti-NaziGermans and Palestinian Jews of German origin under British officers, they wore German equipment, spoke German and lived everyday life as members of theAfrica Corps.TheSpecial Boat Servicewas formed from theFolboat Sectionlater theSpecial Boat Sectionof No 8 Commando.

A little known force that never saw combat were theAuxiliary Units,a specially trained and secret organisation that, in the event of an invasion, would provide resistance behind the lines.Auxiliary Units were well equipped and supplied with food for 14 days, which was their expected lifespan.Selected for aptitude and local knowledge, men were mostly recruited from the Home Guard, which also provided a cover for their existence.In addition, the Special Duties Section was recruited to provide an intelligence gathering service, spying on enemy formations and troop movements. Reports were to be collected fromdead letter dropsand relayed by radio operators of theRoyal Corps of Signalsfrom secret locations.

Auxiliary Territorial Service Searchlight Unit

Auxiliary Territorial Service

TheAuxiliary Territorial Service(ATS) was the women's branch of the British Army during the Second World War. Formed in September 1938, enlistment was open to women aged 18 upwards who could enlist for general or local service (Local service they served in their own local area, General service they could be sent where they were needed and could be anywhere in the country).The ATS served in non-combat roles as cooks, clerks and storewoman.Large numbers of ATS also served with the artillery divisions as crews for the guns, searchlights and barrage balloons.One notable ATS member was No. 230873 SecondSubalternElizabeth Windsor,who trained as a driver and mechanic, drove a military lorry, and rose to the rank of Junior Commander.She was the last serving head of state who served in uniform during the Second World War.

Queen Elizabeth inAuxiliary Territorial Service,April 1945

Home Guard (formerly Local Defence Volunteers)

Home Guard post central London June 1940

The Local Defence Volunteers (LDV) was formed in May 1940 and renamed theHome Guardin July 1940. Civilians aged between 17 and 65, who were not in military service, were asked to enlist in the LDV.The response was 250,000 volunteers attempting to sign up in the first seven days and reached 1.5 million volunteers by July.The LDV had achieved official legal status on 17 May when thePrivy Councilissued theDefence (Local Defence Volunteers) Order in Council,and orders were issued from the War Office to regular Army Headquarters throughout Britain explaining the status of LDV units. Volunteers would be divided into sections, platoons and companies but would not be paid and leaders of units would not hold commissions or have the power to command regular forces.The issue of weapons to LDV and then Home Guard units was solved when emergency orders were placed for First World War vintageRoss Riflesfrom Canada andPattern 1914 EnfieldandM1917 Enfield riflesfrom the United States.The Home Guard was stood down on 3 December 1944 and disbanded on 31 December 1945.

Comparison of equipment

TheLight Tank Mk VI.When theBattle of Francebegan, the majority of the tanks possessed by the BEF were Mark VI variants.

The British tank force consisted of the slow and heavily armedinfantry tank,together with the faster and lighter cruiser tank. The cruiser tanks were intended to operate independently of the slow-moving infantry and their heavier infantry tanks.The British doctrine at the time did not foresee the armoured division having a role in its own right and was assigned the traditional cavalry role. They would then deploy independent tank brigades equipped with the infantry tanks to operate with the infantry.German panzer and light divisions were equipped with the latestPanzer IIIandPanzer IVtanks, which could outgun all British tanks.By 1942, AmericanGrantandLend-Lease Sherman tanksentered British service. These tanks, with a 75mm gun, and the ability to fire high explosive and anti-tank rounds, were better than any other tank then in British service.A British development of the Sherman led to the Sherman Firefly, which was the only tank able to defeat GermanPanther,Tiger IandTiger IItanks at range, until theComet tankentered service in late 1944.

The British divisional anti-tank weapon was theOrdnance QF 2-pounder,which had three times the range of the German3.7 cm PaK 36.After its introduction in May 1942 the more powerful 6-pounder replaced the 2-pounder during the second part of the war. Its small size and light weight provided excellent mobility and at the same time it was also capable of defeating most German tanks. But only with the development of the17-pounderanti-tank gun in 1943, did the artillery have the ability to knock out the heavily armoured Tiger and Panther tanks at a maximum range of 1 mile (1.6 km). The other British artillery guns in 1939 were the6-inch howitzerleft over from the First World War, and the 25-pounder.

In the evacuation from France, the artillery left behind 1,000 field and 600 anti-tank guns. Much of what was lost was obsolete and the re-equipment programme produced the mass of artillery that proved decisive from 1942 onwards.Self propelled artilleryguns used were the GermanWespeandHummelagainst the AlliedBishop,Deacon,Priestand Sexton.

For the infantry the GermanMP 38/40submachine guntook the British by surprise, and the army issued an urgent requirement for its own submachine gun. TheThompson submachine gunwas effective, but heavy, and initially hard to obtain because of its American patent.The crude but simple to manufactureSten gunwas accepted and between 1941 and 1945, some 3,750,000 were produced. The BritishBren light machine gunwith arate of fireof 500 rounds a minute and 30 roundmagazine,came up against the GermanMG 42which had a rate of fire of 1,500 rounds per minute andammunition beltsof 200 rounds.The standard British rifle was thebolt actionLee–Enfield Rifle, No. 4 Mk Ithat outmatched the standard German rifle of the war, theKarabiner 98k;later German rifles included theSemi-automatic riflesGewehr 41,Gewehr 43and the firstassault rifle,theStG 44.

The British medical services had better staffing, equipment and medicines; it enabled the British Army to keep a higher proportion of troops in the field than its opponents.

In April 1940 a standardised system ofmarkings for British vehicleswas introduced to take account of the mass mechanisation of the army.

Wartime training

The Military Training Pamphlet (MTP) contained most of the theory by which the army operated, the series covering most of the trades and specialisms of the army. In 1941, the intended audience was stipulated with codes under which higher operations were distributed to unit commanders and above and manuals on minor tactics to corporals and above, lower ranks not being included. Pre-war manuals were produced by committees and published by the Army Council but this was a slow, bureaucratic process. In late 1939 writing was transferred to officers chosen by the Directorate of Military Training, under the CIGS, rather than the Army Council but this was still slow; a manual for the infantry division in defence published in March 1943 had taken 15 months to write.Quickly to circulate new tactics and revised thinking derived from experience, Army Training Memoranda (ATM) were produced by the War Office to circulate to officers, with short pieces on tactics, administration and training. In the first year of the warATMappeared monthly, then intermittently with 29 issues being published by the end of the war. ATM 33 was published on 2 July 1940, only eleven days after the report contained the findings of the Bartholomew Committee on the lessons of the debacle in France was written.

The Army Training Instruction (ATI) was used by the War Office to issue new or revised thinking without the delays of editorial review required for MTPs. The first ATI was published in January 1941 and on 19 May ATI 3Handling of an Armoured Divisionappeared, based on work in January and March. ATIs were provisional and superseded by an MTP, except for ATI 2The Employment of Army Tanks in Co-operation with Infantry,which was an addition to MTP 22. ATI 2 covered occasions when infantry tank units had to be used as substitutes for armoured brigades as well as support infantry advances. The pamphlet endorsed a more ambitious form of infantry support but this proved disastrous in practice and in May 1943 a revised version was published. ATI 3 reflected experience in France against German tanks and of theWestern Desert Forceagainst the Italian army. The swift increase in the number of British tank formations created great demand for information and in 1943, MTP 41 replaced ATI 3 but technological and tactical change rapidly made written instructions obsolete, which rebounded on forces being trained in Britain.

In 1942,Notes from Theatres of War(NTW) andCurrent Reports from Overseas(CRO) began, to communicate experience of recent operations, NTW 1 of 19 February contained lessons fromOperation Crusaderand NTW 1 and 2 (7 March) covered events in Cyrenaica from November to December 1941 and operations in Russia in January. Later issues took longer and covered longer periods, NTW 6 covered Cyrenaica from November 1941 to January 1942 and was published in July 1942. NTWs became the official line on lessons learned and were issues to the level of the company and its equivalents; by mid-1945, the series had reached NTW 21.Lessons from overseas were sometimes peculiar to the environment and NTWs carried a warning to bear this in mind. The CRO series contained findings before they had been endorsed by the War Office to give unit commanders and training school Commandants quick access to information with the proviso that if the details contradicted accepted theory, this would usually take precedence. CROs were not circulated below brigade headquarters until April 1944, when battalion HQs were included and after May 1943 appeared weekly until June 1945.

The MTPs, ATM, ATI, NTW and CRO provide a picture of military theory as it evolved before D Day. Reports after 6 June show changes in theory and show the flaws in Home Forces and 21st Army Group training. There is little evidence in the documents of a frank acknowledgement of the failings of British tanks in North Africa and material criticising equipment is absent perhaps because the War Office and higher commands thought that admitting inadequacies would affect morale.On 25 June 1944, Montgomery stopped the circulation of after-action reports because they were "unduly influenced by local conditions", a euphemism for accurate reports on the challenges faced by the British in Normandy. A report by Lieutenant-Colonel A. H. Pepys of 19 June, included comment that German Tiger and Panther tanks outclassed Cromwell and Sherman tanks as badly as Panzer III and IV tanks against Crusaders and Honeys in 1941. The passage was suppressed before the report was passed to the War Office and SHAEF. The effect of the censorship was limited because word of mouth was unstoppable; when the107th RAC,part of the34th Tank Brigadereached Normandy, visitors from the11th Armoured Divisionsaid that even their Churchills were outclassed by German tanks and CROs resumed in late July.

Armies

Main article:List of British armies in World War II

First Army

TheFirst Armywas formed to command the British and American forces that were part of theOperation Torchassault landings inMoroccoandAlgeriaon 8 November 1942. It was commanded byLieutenant-GeneralSir Kenneth Anderson.It eventually consisted of four corps, theV Corps(Charles Allfrey),IX Corps(John Crocker,laterBrian Horrocks),U.S. II Corps(Lloyd Fredendall,laterGeorge PattonandOmar Bradley) andFrench XIX Corps(Marie-Lous Koeltz).

Second Army

TheSecond Armywas commanded by Lieutenant-GeneralSir Miles Dempseyand served under the 21st Army Group.It was responsible for the Anglo-Canadian assault beach landings inNormandyonD-Day.Two of its formations,I Corps(John Crocker) andXXX Corps(Gerard Bucknall,later Brian Horrocks) took part in the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944 atSword BeachandGold Beach,during Operation Overlord.VIII Corps(Richard O'Connor,laterEvelyn Barker) entered the line during mid-June to add its weight to the assault, followed byXII Corps(Neil Ritchie)andII Canadian CorpsOn 23 July 1944 I Corps was transferred to the newly activatedCanadian First Army,where it would remain until March 1945,followed by the II Canadian Corps at noon on 31 July.

Eighth Army

The Eighth Army was formed from theWestern Desert Forcein September 1941,under the command of Lieutenant-GeneralSir Alan Cunningham.Over time the Eighth Army would be commanded by Neil Ritchie,Claude Auchinleck,Bernard Montgomery,Oliver LeeseandRichard McCreery.In the early years of the war Eighth Army suffered from poor leadership and repeated reversals of fortune until the Second Battle of El Alamein when it advanced acrossLibyaintoTunisiaand joined the First Army in the18th Army Group.The Eighth Army, under15th Army Groupcommand, later took part in the Allied invasion of Sicily, theAllied invasion of Italyand the Italian Campaign, where progress was slow and casualties were heavy.

Ninth Army

TheNinth Armywas formed on 1 November 1941 with the re designation of the Headquarters of the British Troops inPalestineandTransjordan.It controlled British and Commonwealth land forces stationed in the easternMediterranean.Its commanders wereGeneralSir Henry Maitland Wilsonand Lieutenant-GeneralSir William George Holmes.

Tenth Army

TheTenth Armywas formed inIraqand from the major part ofPaiforceafter theAnglo-Iraqi War.It was active in 1942 and 1943, under the command of Lieutenant-GeneralSir Edward Quinanand consisted ofIII Corps(Desmond Anderson) and theIndian XXI Corps(Mosley Mayne).Its main task was the maintenance of thelines of communicationto theSoviet Unionfrom thePersian Gulfto theCaspianand the protection of the South Persian and Iraqi oilfields which supplied Britain with all its non-American sourced oil.

Twelfth Army

TheTwelfth Armywas originally formed for Operation Husky, codename for the Allied invasion of Sicily but was never used.It was reformed in May 1945, to take control of operations in Burma from the Fourteenth Army. The army Headquarters was created by re designating the Headquarters of theIndian XXXIII Corps,under Lieutenant-GeneralSir Montagu Stopford.

Fourteenth Army

TheFourteenth Armywas a multinational force comprising units fromCommonwealthcountries. As well as British units, many of its units were from theIndian Armyand there were also significant contributions from81st,82ndand11thAfrican Divisions. It was often referred to as the "Forgotten Army" because its operations in the Burma Campaign were overlooked by the contemporary press, and remained more obscure than those of the corresponding formations in Europe for long after the war.It was formed in 1943, under the command of Lieutenant-GeneralSir William Slim.The Fourteenth Army was the largest Commonwealth Army during the war, with nearly a million men by late 1944. It was composed of four corps:IV Corps(Geoffry Scoones,laterFrank MesservyandFrancis Tuker),Indian XV Corps(Philip Christison),Indian XXXIII Corps(Philip Christison, later Montagu Stopford) and theIndian XXXIV Corps(Ouvry Roberts).The only complete British formations were the2ndand36th Infantry Divisions.However, the number of British infantry battalions serving in the theatre was the equivalent of eight infantry divisions.

Army Groups

Main article:List of British Commands and Army groups

Eleventh Army Group

The11th Army Groupwas activated in November 1943 to act as the land forces HQ for the newly formed South East Asia Command. Its commander was GeneralGeorge Giffard,who had formerly been Commander-in-Chief West Africa Command and Commander ofEastern Armyin India.In November 1944, 11th Army Group was redesignatedAllied Land Forces South East Asia,under command of Lieutenant-General SirOliver Leese.

Fifteenth Army Group

The15th Army Groupwas activated in May 1943, after the surrender of all Axis forces in Tunisia.The commander was Field MarshalHarold Alexanderand was responsible for mounting the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943. It had control of two armies: Eighth Army under command of Montgomery andU.S. Seventh Armyunder commandLieutenant GeneralGeorge S. Patton.After Sicily, and in preparation for the allied invasion of Italy, the Seventh Army headquarters were replaced by those of theU.S. Fifth Army,underMark Clark.

Eighteenth Army Group

The18th Army Groupwas activated in early 1943, when the Eighth Army advancing from the east and First Army from the west came close enough to require coordinated command during theTunisia Campaign.It was commanded by General Sir Harold Alexander.

Twenty First Army Group

The 21st Army Group initially controlled all ground forces in Operation Overlord.The 21st Army Group main components were the British 2nd Army and theFirst Canadian Army.Also included were Polish units and from Normandy onwards and small Dutch, Belgian, and Czech units. However theLines of Communicationsunits were predominantly British. Other Armies that came under command of 21st Army Group were theFirst Allied Airborne Army,theU.S. First Armyfor Overlord,and theU.S. Ninth Army;as a result of the disruption to the chain of command during theBattle of the Bulgeand as reinforcement for the drive to the Rhine, OperationsVeritableandGrenade.The U.S. Ninth Army again and theU.S. XVIII Airborne Corpswere under command for theRhine rivercrossings OperationsPlunderandVarsity.

After the German surrender, 21st Army Group was converted into the headquarters for the British zone of occupation in Germany. It was renamed theBritish Army of the Rhine(BAOR) on 25 August 1945, and eventually formed the nucleus of the British forces stationed in Germany throughout theCold War.

Campaigns

1939–1940

See also:British Expeditionary Force order of battle (1940)

On the outbreak of war theChief of the Imperial General Staff(CIGS),John Gort,was given command of theBritish Expeditionary Force(BEF),and was succeeded as CIGS byEdmund Ironside.

The BEF that was sent to France after the declaration of war consisted, initially, of 160,000 men in two army corps each of two infantrydivisions.I Corps,commanded byLieutenant-GeneralJohn Dill,consisted of the1stand2nd Infantry Divisionsand theII Corps,commanded by Lieutenant-GeneralAlan Brooke,of the3rdand4th Infantry Divisions.The5th Infantry Divisionarrived in France in December 1939, and was assigned to Lieutenant-General Brooke's II Corps. The first TA formations arrived in January 1940. These were the48th (South Midland),50th (Northumbrian) and the51st (Highland) Infantry Divisions.Due to the new arrivals some exchanging of Regular and Territorial units was considered necessary and took place, in an attempt to strengthen the Territorial divisions. The 51st Division was sent to theSaarto assist theFrench Armygarrison on theMaginot Linewhile the rest of the BEF deployed along the French—Belgian border.

Men of 'B' Company of the 1st Battalion,Royal Irish Fusiliersdigging trenches inNomain,France,29 February 1940.

In April, more reinforcements arrived of two further Territorial divisions. These were the42nd (East Lancashire)and44th (Home Counties) Infantry Divisions.A further three Territorial divisions, all 2nd Line and poorly trained and without their supporting artillery, engineer and signals units, arrived later in the same month. They were the12th (Eastern),23rd (Northumbrian)and46th Infantry Divisionsand had been sent to France on labour duties. In May, elements of the 1st Armoured Division also arrived.

The German Army invaded in the West on 10 May 1940, by that time BEF consisted of 10 divisions, a tank brigade and a detachment of 500 aircraft from the RAF.During theBattle of Francethe speed of the German advance pushed them back,and after a brief armouredcounterattackby the 5th and 50th Divisions, plus 74 tanks from the1st Army Tank BrigadeatArrason 21 May, most of the BEFwithdrew to Dunkirk.The evacuation began on 26 May, and over 330,000 British and French troops were withdrawn by 4 June. A further 220,000 were evacuated from other French ports.The majority of the BEF was saved, but had to leave much of its equipment behind. The BEF sustained around 68,000 casualties. This included around 40,000 who were taken prisoner, including most of the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division.

However, the British Army's first encounter with the Germans during the Second World War had been in the Norwegian Campaign, following the German invasion on 9 April 1940.The British had responded by sending troops, consisting mainly of Territorials of the146thand148th Infantry Brigadesof the49th (West Riding) Infantry Division(originally intended to be sent to France), along with regulars of the15th Infantry Brigade(detached from the 5th Division in France) and the24th Guards Brigade,toÅndalsnes,Namsos,andNarvik.After the German invasion of the Low Countries the following month, the British government's attention was diverted and the British force had to be evacuated on 8 June.

The occupation of Norway led to a possible German presence in Iceland, this along with the island's strategic importance, alarmed the British.On 10 May 1940, British troops carried out theinvasion of Iceland"to insure the security of Iceland against a German invasion".The initial force ofRoyal Marineswas replaced on 17 May, by the147th Infantry Brigade,followed by most of the rest of the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division.

After Italy declared war in June 1940, the British forces inSomalilandwere put under the command ofArthur Reginald Chater,of theSomaliland Camel Corps.At the start of August, Chater had about 4,000 soldiers from the Somaliland Camel Corps, 2nd (Nyasaland) Battalion,King's African Rifles(KAR), 1st Battalion,Northern Rhodesia Regiment,3rd Battalion,15th Punjab Regiment,1st Battalion,2nd Punjab Regiment,1st Battalion,2nd Punjab Regimentand 2nd Battalion,Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment). TheEast African campaignstarted in August 1940, when the Italians attackedBritish Somaliland.The British were defeated after a brief campaign when faced with the Italian force of 23 colonial battalions in five brigades.The British Official History of events, records the total British casualties were 260 and Italian losses were estimated at 2,052.

Battle Area of theWestern DesertLibya and Egypt.

In the North African Campaign, theItalian invasion of Egypt,started in September 1940.TheWestern Desert Forcecommanded by Lieutenant-GeneralRichard O'Connorhad 36,000 men under command based within Egypt. TheCommander-in-Chief(C-in-C),Middle East CommandwasGeneralArchibald Wavell.Units available were: one brigade of the2nd New Zealand Division,two brigades of the4th Indian Infantry Division,the understrength 7th Armoured Division, a weakened cavalry regiment, a machine gun battalion and 14 infantry battalions, all short of equipment and artillery.These troops had to defend both Egypt and theSuez Canalagainst an estimated 215,000 Italian troops in Libya, and an estimated 200,000 troops inItalian East Africa. The British responded to the invasion of Egypt by launchingOperation Compassin December, with the 4th Indian Infantry Division, 7th Armoured Division and from 14 December, troops of the6th Australian Infantry Division,replaced the 4th Indian Division.

1941

Matilda tankhidden near the front in the Western Desert June 1941.

Operation Compass was a success and the Western Desert Force advanced acrossLibyacapturingCyrenaica,115,000 Italian soldiers, hundreds of tanks and artillery pieces and more than 1,100 aircraft with very few casualties of their own.Following the operation the Western Desert Force, now renamedXIII Corpsand reorganised under HQ Cyrenaica Command, adopted a defensive posture.Over the next few months O'Connor became commander of British Troops Egypt while Lieutenant-GeneralHenry Maitland Wilsonbecame military governor ofCyrenaica.Two experienced divisions wereredeployed to Greeceand the 7th Armoured Division was withdrawn to theNile Deltafor refitting.XIII Corps was left with the newly arrived2nd Armoured Divisionand the9th Australian Division;both formations were inexperienced, ill-equipped, and in the case of the 2nd Armoured, under strength.In Egypt theBritish 6th Infantry Divisionwas being formed from various battalions, but had no artillery or support arms.

After Operation Compass the Italians despatched theArieteandTrento Divisionsto North Africa,and from February to early May,Operation Sonnenblumesaw the GermanAfrika Korpsarrive in Tripoli to reinforce the Italians. Commanded byGeneralleutnantErwin Rommel,the5th Lightand15th Panzer Divisionswent on the offensive.The offensive destroyed the 2nd Armoured Division and forced the British and Commonwealth forces into retreat.During the offensive, Lieutenant-GeneralPhilip Neameand Lieutenant-General Richard O'Connor were captured, and the British command structure had to be reorganised. HQ Cyrenaica was dissolved on 14 April and its command functions taken over by the reactivated HQWestern Desert Force,under Lieutenant-GeneralNoel Beresford-Peirse.The Australian 9th Division fell back to the port ofTobruk,and the remaining British and Commonwealth forces withdrew a further 100 miles (160 km) east toSollumon the Libyan–Egyptian border.

In May, the22nd Guards Brigadeand elements of the British 7th Armoured Division launchedOperation Brevity.It was conceived as a rapid blow in the Sollum area, and intended to create advantageous conditions from which to launchOperation Battleaxe,the main offensive that was planned for June. Its objectives were to recapture the Halfaya Pass, drive the enemy from the Sollum and Capuzzo areas, and deplete Rommel's forces. A secondary objective was to advance towards Tobruk, although only as far as supplies would allow, and without risking the force committed to the operation. However the operation was inconclusive and only succeeded in retaking the Halfaya Pass.

ACrusader tankpasses a burning GermanPanzer IV.

The followup to Brevity was Operation Battleaxe, involving the 7th Armoured Division, 22nd Guards Brigade and 4th Indian Infantry Division from XIII Corps commanded by Lieutenant-General Noel Beresford-Peirse. Battleaxe was also a failure, and with the British forces defeated, Churchill wanted a change in command, so Wavell exchanged places with General Claude Auchinleck, asCommander-in-Chief, India.

The desert force was now reorganized intoXXX Corpsand XIII Corps and renamed the Eighth Army under the command of Lieutenant-GeneralAlan Cunningham.Their next attack,Operation Crusader,was a success, and Rommel withdrew to the defensive line atGazala,and then all the way back toEl Agheila.Crusader was the first victory over the Germans by British-led forces in the war.

On 11 December, General Wavell ordered the 4th Indian Infantry Division to withdraw from Operation Compass to take part in anoffensive against Italian forcesinItalian East Africaalongside the5th Indian Infantry Division.Both divisions faced vastly superior Italian forces (ten divisions in total) that threatened theRed Seasupply routes to Egypt as well as Egypt and the Suez Canal itself.The East African campaign culminated in March 1941 with a British victory in theBattle of Keren.

Having guaranteed to come to the aid of Greece in the event of war, Britain became involved in theBattle of Greece,and on 2 MarchOperation Lustrebegan which sent 62,000 troops to Greece.The Commonwealth force comprised the Australian and New Zealand Divisions withdrawn from the desert, and theBritish 1st Armoured Brigade.'W' Force, as they became known after their commander, Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson,was too small and could not stop the Axis advance and was ordered to evacuate. The evacuation began on 24 April and by 30 April about 50,000 troops had been evacuated. The remaining 7–8,000 troops were captured by the Germans.

A group of British soldiers in a trench with fixed bayonets, Crete, May 1941.

TheBattle of Cretefollowed. The force consisted of the original 14,000 British garrison and another 25,000 Commonwealth troops evacuated from Greece.The units involved were theBritish 14th Infantry Brigade,2nd New Zealand Division (less the6th Brigadeand division headquarters), and the19th Australian Brigade Group.In total, about 15,000 British and Commonwealth infantrymen, reinforced by about 5,000 non-infantry personnel, and one composite Australianartillery batterywere involved.After a brief campaign 15,000 men were evacuated by the Royal Navy, leaving some 12,000 Allied troops behind, most taken asprisoners of war.

The British in theAnglo-Iraqi Warhad to contend with the four infantry divisions of theRoyal Iraqi Army(RIrA).The war lasted from 2–31 May, with the British forces grouped together inIraqforce.

British troops looking atBaghdad,11 June 1941.

TheSyria-Lebanon Campaignwas the invasion ofVichy Frenchcontrolled Syria and Lebanon in June–July 1941.The British and Commonwealth forces involved were theBritish 1st Cavalry Division,British 6th Infantry Division,7th Australian Division,1st Free French Divisionand the10th Indian Infantry Division.

TheAnglo-Soviet invasion of Iranin August–September by British, Dominion andSoviet Unionforces was to secure the Iranianoil fieldsand ensuresupply linesin thePersian Corridor.The invasion from the South was known asIraqforce,under the command ofGeneralEdward Quinan.Iraqforce was made up of the8thand 10th Indian Infantry Divisions,Indian 2nd Armoured Brigade Group,British 4th Cavalry Brigadeand the21st Indian Infantry Brigade.

In theSouth-East Asian theatre,theBattle of Hong Kongbegan on 8 December 1941, a day after the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor,which brought theUnited Statesinto the conflict.The British defenders were from the 2nd Battalion,Royal Scotsand the 1st Battalion,Middlesex Regiment,with supporting artillery and engineer units.The garrison also includedBritish Indian Armybattalions, twoCanadian Armybattalions and the locally raisedHong Kong Chinese Regimentand theHong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps.By the afternoon of 25 December 1941, it was clear that further resistance would be futile and after holding out for 17 days Hong Kong surrendered to theImperial Japanese Army.

On theMalay PeninsulatheJapanese invasion of Malayaalso started on 8 December 1941. Lieutenant-GeneralArthur Percival,General Officer Commanding(GOC)Malaya Command,had nearly 90,000 troops from Britain, India, and Australia.During theMalayan Campaignthe Japanese advanced 600 miles (970 km) in 70 days and forced Singapore to surrender in the new year.

1942

Lieutenant-GeneralArthur Ernest Percival,GOCMalaya,surrenders Singapore to the Japanese, February 1942.

In the Far East,Malaya Commanddefended stubbornly but was gradually pushed back, until thebattle of Singapore,whichsurrenderedon 15 February 1942.About 100,000 British and Commonwealth troops became prisoners of war during theBattle of Malaya.Winston Churchill called the fall of Singapore the "worst disaster" and "largest capitulation" in British history.TheJapanese conquest of Burmastarted in January.It was soon apparent that the British and Indian troops in the Burma Campaign were too few in number, wrongly equipped and inadequately trained for the terrain and conditions. The force of about 60,000 troops retreated 1,000 miles (1,600 km), and reachedAssaminIndiain May.In spite of their difficulties, the British mounted a small scale offensive into the coastalArakanregion of Burma, in December.The offensive under GeneralNoel Irwinwas intended to reoccupy the Mayu peninsula andAkyab Island.The14th Indian Infantry Divisionhad advanced to Donbaik, only a few miles from the end of the peninsula, when they were halted by a smaller Japanese force and the offensive was a total failure.

Crusader tanksmove forward at El Alamein, 1942.

In North Africa the Axis forces attacked in May, defeating the Allies in theBattle of Gazalain June and capturing Tobruk and 35,000 prisoners.The Eighth Army retreated over the Egyptian border, where the German advance was stopped in theFirst Battle of El Alamein.Claude Auchinleck,who had assumed command of the Eighth Army following the defeat at Gazala,was sacked and replaced byGeneralSir Harold Alexander,who became C-in-C Middle East, at the same time Lieutenant-GeneralBernard Montgomerywas given command of the Eighth Army.The Axis forces made a new attempt to break through to Cairo in August, in theBattle of Alam el Halfabut were stopped after the British fought a purely defensive battle.The much-reinforced Eighth Army launched a new offensive in October the Second Battle of El Alamein, decisively defeating the Axis forces.Eighth Army then advanced westward, capturing 10,000 German and 20,000 Italian prisoners, 450 tanks and 1,000 guns.

In France theDieppe Raidwas carried out in August, the main assault was by the2nd Canadian Infantry Division,supported byBritish Commandos.The landing failed to capture any German strong points and resulted in heavy casualties.The raid was justified by arguing that lessons learned at Dieppe, were put to good use later in the war.TheChief of Combined OperationsLouis Mountbattenlater claimed, "I have no doubt that the Battle of Normandy was won on the beaches of Dieppe. For every man who died in Dieppe at least ten more must have been spared in Normandy in 1944."

Following their experiences at Dieppe, the British developed a whole range of specialist vehicles nicknamedHobart's Funnies.These vehicles were used successfully by the79th Armoured Divisionin the British and Canadian landings in Normandy in 1944.

Infantrymenof the 2nd Battalion,Coldstream Guardsadvance on Longstop Hill, 25 December 1942.

On 8 November inFrench North Africa,Operation Torch was launched.The British part of the Eastern Task force, landed atAlgiers.The task force, commanded by Lieutenant-GeneralKenneth Anderson,consisted of two brigades from theBritish 78th Infantry Division,theU.S. 34th Infantry Divisionand the1stand6th Commando Battalions.The Tunisian Campaign started with the Eastern Task Force, now redesignatedFirst Army,and composed of the British 78th Infantry Division,6th Armoured Division,British 1st Parachute Brigade,No. 6 Commando and elements of theU.S. 1st Armored Division.However, the advance was stopped by the reinforced Axis forces,and forced back having failed in theRun for Tunis.

British troops land fromLCAsatTamatave,Madagascar, May 1942.

In May to prevent Japanese naval forces capturing Vichy French controlledMadagascar,theBattle of Madagascarwas launched.

TheBritish 5th Infantry Division(minus the15th Infantry Brigade), as well as the29th Independent Infantry Brigade Group,and commandos were landed at Courrier Bay and Ambararata Bay, west of the major port ofDiego Suarez,on the northern tip of Madagascar.The Allies eventually captured the capital,Tananarive,without much opposition, and then the town ofAmbalavao.The last major action was atAndramanalinaon 18 October, and theVichy Frenchforces surrendered nearIhosyon 8 November.

1943

January 1943, in North Africa German and Italian troops retreating westwards reached Tunisia. The Eighth Army stopped aroundTripolifor reinforcements to catch up.In the West, the First Army had received three more British divisions, the1st,4thand46th Infantry Divisions,joined the 6th Armoured and 78th Infantry Divisions. By late March a second Corps headquarters,IX Corps,under Lieutenant-GeneralJohn Crocker,had arrived to joinV Corps,under Lieutenant-GeneralCharles Walter Allfrey,in controlling the expanded army.During the first half of January the First Army kept up the pressure on the Axis forces, with limited attacks and by reconnaissance in strength.The First Army came under attack at Faïd Pass on 14 January and theU.S. II Corps,underMajor GeneralLloyd Fredendall,atKasserine Passon 19 January, with the1st Guards Brigadeof the British 6th Armoured Division, engaging the21st Panzer Division.The Americans retreated in disarray until heavy Allied reinforcements blunted the Axis advance on 22 January.

General Sir Harold Alexander arrived in Tunisia in late February to take charge of the18th Army Group,created to control both the First and Eighth Armies and the Allied forces already fighting in Tunisia.The Axis forces attacked again on 6 March, (Operation Capri), but were easily repulsed by the Eighth Army.

A3.7-inch anti-aircraft gunin use in thefield artilleryrole in the Medjez-el-Bab sector, Tunisia, 27 April 1943.

The First and the Eighth Armies attacked in March (Operation Pugilist) and April (Operation Vulcan).Hard fighting followed, and the Axis supply line was cut between Tunisia and Sicily. On 6 May, duringOperation Vulcan,the British took Tunis, and American forces reachedBizerte.By 13 May the Axis forces in Tunisia had surrendered, leaving 230,000 prisoners behind.

British troops pass bomb damaged buildings in Syracuse, Sicily. The port had fallen to the British on 10 July.

The Italian Campaign followed the Axis surrender in North Africa, first the Allied invasion of Sicily in July, followed by theAllied invasion of Italyin September.The Eighth Army, along with theAmerican Seventh Army,underLieutenant GeneralGeorge S. Patton,landed in Sicily in what was the largest amphibious landings of the war, with 150,000 troops landed on the first day, and 500,000 by the end of the campaign.The Eighth Army landed almost unopposed on the South Eastern coast of Sicily, but became bogged down after a few days.The original plan had called for the Eighth Army to advance onMessina,but because they could not make any headway being stuck on the slopes ofMount Etna,the U.S. Seventh Army were released. They advanced West then along the North coast to reach Messina first.One consequence of the British failure to break out was the escape of most of the Axis forces and their equipment to mainland Italy.

British troops from the5th Infantry Divisiongo aboard landing craft at Catania, Sicily, in preparation for the invasion of the Italian mainland, 2 September 1943.

On 3 September Montgomery's Eighth Armylanded on the toe of Italydirectly opposite Messina, and Italy surrendered on 8 September.The main landing of Lieutenant GeneralMark W. Clark'sU.S. Fifth Army,with theBritish X Corpsunder Lieutenant-GeneralRichard McCreeryunder command,took place at Salernoon 9 September.The landings were fiercely opposed by the Germans who had brought up six divisions during the delay between the capture of Sicily and the invasion of in Italy, and at one point consideration was given to an evacuation.A third landing,Operation SlapstickatTarantoon the heel of Italy, was carried out by the British 1st Airborne Division, landing not by air but by sea.One consequence of the Eighth Army's landing on the toe of Italy was that they were now 300 miles (480 km) away from the main landings at Salerno, and in no position to offer any assistance.It was not until 16 September that forward patrols from the Eighth Army made contact with theU.S. 36th Infantry Division.16 September is also notable for theSalerno Mutinyby about 600 men of the 50th (Northumbrian) and51st (Highland) Infantry Divisions.They had sailed from Tripoli, on the understanding that they were to join the rest of their units, which were then based in Sicily. Instead, once aboard ship, they were told that they were being taken to Salerno, to join the British 46th Infantry Division.Napleswas reached on 1 October 1943 by the1st King's Dragoon Guards,and the U.S. Fifth Army, which now consisted of five American and three British divisions, reached theline of the Volturno Riveron 6 October. This provided a natural defensive barrier, which secured Naples, the Campanian Plain and the vital airfields on it from a German counterattack. Meanwhile, on the Adriatic coast, the Eighth Army had advanced to a line fromCampobassotoLarinoandTermolion the Biferno river, but by the end of the year were still 80 miles (130 km) short of the Italian capital ofRome.

British troops crossing a pontoon bridge over the Volturno river, 15 October 1943.

TheDodecanese Campaignwas an attempt by the British to liberate the Italian heldDodecaneseislands in theAegean Seafollowing the surrender of Italy, and use them as bases against the German controlledBalkans.The effort failed, with the whole of the Dodecanese falling to the Germans within two months, and the Allies suffering heavy losses in men and ships.(seeBattle of KosandBattle of Lerosfor further details).

A Chindit column crosses a Burmese river during Operation Longcloth.

In Burma,BrigadierOrde Wingate,and the77th Indian Infantry Brigade,or theChinditsas they were better known, infiltrated the Japanese lines in February, marched deep into Burma in Operation Longcloth. The initial aim was to cut the main North–South railway in Burma. Some 3,000 men entered Burma in columns and caused some damage Japanese communications, and cut the railway.But by the end of April, the surviving Chindits had crossed back over the Chindwin river, having marched between 750 and 1000 miles.Of the 3,000 men that had begun the operation, 818 men had been killed, taken prisoner or died of disease, and of the 2,182 men who returned, about 600 were too debilitated from their wounds or disease to return to active service.

1944

The Allied invasion of Normandy took place on 6 June 1944: the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division landed atGold Beach,and theBritish 3rd Infantry DivisionatSword Beach;the3rd Canadian Infantry Division,with some British units, atJuno Beach.TheBritish 6th Airborne Divisionwas, duringOperation Tonga,inserted prior to the landings to cover the left flank. During this theycaptured the Caen canal and Orne river bridges,and attacked theMerville Gun Battery.The British were involved in theBattle for Caen,but did not capture the city until 9 July, in the process suffering heavy losses on a scale alike to those sustained during the First World War.In mid-JulyOperation Goodwoodwas launched by Lieutenant-GeneralRichard O'Connor'sVIII Corps,with the intention of forcing the Germans to commit their armoured reserves to the British on the eastern flank of the Normandybeachhead,while the Americans inOperation Cobrabroke out from theCotentin Peninsulaon the western flank.

British Commandosof the 1st Special Service Brigade landing onSword Beach.

The 21st Army Group, underGeneralBernard Montgomeryand comprising theCanadian First Army,underLieutenant-GeneralHarry Crerar,andBritish Second Army,under Lieutenant-GeneralMiles Dempsey,followed up the American break out, trapping the German7th Armyand5th Panzer Armyin theBattle of the Falaise Pocket,capturing some 50,000 German prisoners of war.TheRiver Seinewas reached on 19 August, bringing the Battle of Normandy to an end.

Just before that the Alliedinvasion of the South of France,had taken place on 15 August.The British contribution was comparatively small, coming from the2nd Parachute Brigade,which was parachuted into Southern France (see2nd Parachute Brigade in Southern France), as part of the1st Allied Airborne Task Force,before being withdrawn to Italy.

After the almost entire destruction of the two German armies at Falaise, in theAllied advance from Paris to the RhinetheBritish Guards Armoured Divisionliberated the Belgian city ofBrusselson 3 September.The Belgian port ofAntwerpwas liberated by theBritish 11th Armoured Divisionthe following day.Unfortunately Montgomery (despite warnings) left the estuary of theRiver Scheldtin German hands, making the port of Antwerp unusable.

German prisoners of war being paraded through the street of Antwerp, Belgium, 5 September 1944.

On 17 September,Operation Market Gardenbegan.British XXX Corps,under Lieutenant-GeneralBrian Horrocks,provided the ground forces and the British 1st Airborne Division was part of a major airborne assault to take place in theNetherlands.The plan was for three airborne divisions (the British 1st and American82ndand101st,all underBritish I Airborne Corpscommand, under Lieutenant-GeneralFrederick Browning) of theFirst Allied Airborne Armyto take the bridges atEindhoven(U.S. 101st Airborne Division),Nijmegen(U.S. 82nd Airborne Division), andArnhem(British 1st Airborne Division) and for XXX Corps to use them to cross theRhineand on into Germany.XXX Corps was constantly delayed by German opposition while travelling up just one single road, managing to reach all but the 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem who had been dropped 8 miles (13 km) from their bridge, and during theBattle of Arnhemwere prevented from advancing into the town,The 1st Airborne Division was effectively destroyed, with three-quarters of the unit missing when it returned to England, including two of the three brigade commanders, eight of the nine battalion commanders and 26 of the 30 infantrycompany commanders.Just over 2,000 troops out of 10,000 returning to friendly territory.

The thin Nijmegen salient was however exposed to German attacks. In early October a largecounter offensive to retake the 'island',as it became known, was repelled by an ad hoc force consisting of elements of43rd Wessex,50th Northumbrian divisions and8th Armoured brigade.Soon after the Market Garden salient was expanded westwards and Eastwards respectively withOperations PheasantandAintree,which saw the liberation of most ofNorth Brabantincluding the city of's-Hertogenbosch.

Infantrymenof the 6th Battalion,Royal Inniskilling Fusiliersand aSherman tankadvance throughPucciarelli,Italy, 25 June 1944.

In an effort to use the port of Antwerp, the Canadian First Army including Lieutenant-GeneralJohn Crocker'sI Corps,began theBattle of the Scheldtand theBattle of Walcheren Causewayin October and November.After clearing the southern bank of the Scheldt, British and Canadian forces took the island ofWalcherenafter an amphibious assault.

The final battle in North West Europe during 1944, was theBattle of the Bulge.The Germans planned to attack through the Ardennes, splitting the American–British armies and capturing Antwerp.The Battle of the Bulge was ostensibly an American battle, but XXX Corps, under Lieutenant-GeneralBrian Horrocks,provided Britain's contribution, and Montgomery was the overall commander of the Northern sector.

A Bren gun team of the 4th Battalion,Welch Regiment,53rd (Welsh) Division,keep watch on the west bank of the Maas river, 30 November 1944.

During the Allied campaign in Italy, some of the hardest fighting of the entire war now took place.This was not helped by the withdrawal of forces for the Allied landings in Northern France.Operations carried out included: the long stalemate on theWinter Line(also known as the Gustav Line), and the hard-foughtBattle of Monte Cassino.In January, theAnzio landings,codenamed Operation Shingle, were an attempt to bypass the Gustav Line by sea. (seeAnzio order of battlefor British forces involved).Landing almost unopposed, with the road to the Italian capital of Rome open, theU.S. VI Corpscommander,Major GeneralJohn P. Lucas,felt that he needed to consolidate the beachhead before breaking out.This gave the Germans time to concentrate their forces against him. Another stalemate ensued, with the combined Anglo-American force facing stiff resistance, suffering severe losses and almost being driven back into the sea.When the stalemate was finally broken in the spring of 1944, with the launching ofOperation Diadem,they advanced towards Rome, instead of heading north east to block the line of the German retreat from Cassino, thus prolonging the campaign in Italy.Progress was rapid, however, and, in August, the Allies came up against theGothic Lineand, by December, had reachedRavenna.

An infantry section on patrol in Burma, 1944.

The1944 campaign in Burmastarted withOperation Thursday,a Chindit force now designated3rd Indian Infantry Division,were tasked with disrupting the Japanese lines of supply to the northern front.Further South theBattle of the Admin Boxstarted in February, in preparation for when the JapaneseOperation U-Gooffensive.Although total Allied casualties were higher than the Japanese, the Japanese were forced to abandon many of their wounded.This was the first time that British and Indian troops had held and defeated a major Japanese attack.This victory was repeated on a larger scale in theBattle of Imphal(March–July) and theBattle of Kohima(April–June), giving the Japanese their largest defeat on land during the war.From August to November, theFourteenth Army,under Lieutenant-GeneralWilliam Slim,pushed the Japanese back to the Chindwin River.

1945

CommandoVickers machine gunson the outskirts of Wesel, Germany, April 1945.

Prime MinisterWinston Churchill withField MarshalSir Alan Brookeand Field MarshalBernard Montgomeryon the German-held east bank of the Rhine, 25 March 1945.

In Germany the 21st Army Group offensive towards theRhinebegan in February. The Second Army pinned down the Germans, while the Canadian First and theU.S. Ninth Armymade pincer movements piercing theSiegfried Line.On 23 March, the Second Army crossed the Rhine, supported by a large airborne assault (Operation Varsity) the following day.The British advanced onto theNorth German Plain,heading towards theBaltic Sea.TheElbewas crossed by VIII Corps, under Lieutenant-GeneralEvelyn Barker,and the Elbe bridgehead expanded, Bremen fell on 26 April, Luebeck and Wismar on 2 May and Hamburg 3 May.On 4 May, all German forces inDenmark,Netherlands, and north west Germany surrendered to Montgomery.

Infantry ride on Sherman tanks of the British 6th Armoured Division as they head towards the Austrian border, 4 May 1945.

In the Italian campaign, the poor winter weather and the massive losses in its ranks, sustained during the autumn fighting, halted any advance until the spring.TheSpring 1945 offensive in Italycommenced after a heavy artillery bombardment on 9 April.By 18 April, the Eighth Army, now commanded by Lieutenant-GeneralSir Richard McCreery,had broken through the Argenta Gap and capturedBolognaon 21 April.The8th Indian Infantry Division,reached thePo Riveron 23 April.The British V Corps, under Lieutenant-GeneralCharles Keightley,traversed the Venetian Line and enteredPaduain the early hours of 29 April, to find that partisans had locked up the German garrison of 5,000 men.The Axis forces, retreating on all fronts and having lost most of its fighting power, was left with little option but surrender. GeneralHeinrich von Vietinghoff,signed the surrender on behalf of the German armies in Italy on 29 April formally bringing hostilities to an end on 2 May 1945.

The British victory parade in Berlin, 21 July 1945.

In Burma theBattle of Meiktila and Mandalaystarted in January, despite logistical difficulties, the British were able to deploy large armoured forces in Central Burma. Most of the Japanese forces in Burma were destroyed during the battles, allowing the Allies to capture the capital, Rangoon on 2 May.The British Army fought its last pitched land battle of the war when the remaining Japaneseattempted to break out eastwardsin July, to join other troops retreating from the British. The breakout however ending in early August, resulted with a crushing defeat for the Japanese, with some formations being wiped out. The Japanese were still in control of Malaya but they surrendered on 14 August along with Hong Kong.

Casualties

Private Phillip Johnson of the 2/6th Battalion,Queen's Royal Regimentinspects British graves atAnzio,Italy,1 March 1944.

On 29 November 1945, the British Government stated that for the period of 3 September 1939 – 14 August 1945, the empire suffered a total of 1,246,025 casualties, with 755,257 of these casualties being from the United Kingdom. Of these, the British military suffered 244,723 killed, 53,039 reported missing, 277,090 wounded, and 180,405 men were taken as prisoners of war. This report included men from Newfoundland and Southern Rhodesia within the British figure, but did not break down the losses by service branch.In 1961, the House of Lords reported that the British Army (including men from Newfoundland and Southern Rhodesia) suffered a total of 569,501 casualties between 3 September 1939 and 14 August 1946, and as reported up to 28 February 1946. This figure included 144,079 killed, 33,771 missing, 239,575 wounded, and 152,076 captured.

See also

• British Army during the First World War
• Demobilization of the British Armed Forces after World War II
• Indian Army during World War II
• List of British brigades of the Second World War
• List of British Commonwealth divisions in the Second World War
• Military production during World War II

Notes

Footnotes

Citations

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Further reading

• Barker, Rachel.Conscience, Government, and War: Conscientious objection in Great Britain 1939–1945(1982).
• Churchill, Winston. The Hinge of Fate. Published 1950.
• Field, Geoffrey G.Blood, Sweat, and Toil: Remaking the British Working Class, 1939-1945(2011) ch 7 "A Citizens' Army" DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199604111.003.0008 online
• Goulty, James.The Second World War Through Soldiers' Eyes: British Army Life 1939-1945Casemate Publishers, 2016).
• Hughes, David and James Broshot.The British Armies in World War II: An Organisational History, Volume One: British Armoured and Cavalry Divisions(1999).
• Hughes, David and David A. Ryan.The British Armies in World War Two: An Organizational History, Volume Three: British Infantry, mountain, Reserve and County Divisions(2001).
• Smalley, Edward.The British Expeditionary Force, 1939-40(Springer, 2015).
• Smith, Greg. "British Strategic Culture And General Sir Alan Brooke During World War II"Canadian Military Journal(2017) 1: 32–44.Online free
• Snape, Michael.God and the British soldier: Religion and the British army in the First and Second World Wars(Routledge, 2007).
• Vernon, P. and J. B. Parry.Personnel Selection in the British Forces(HMSO, 1949), official history.
• Williams, Philip Hamlyn.War on Wheels: The Mechanisation of the British Army in the Second World War(2016).
• Wylie, Neville.Barbed Wire Diplomacy: Britain, Germany, and the Politics of Prisoners of War 1939-1945(Oxford UP, 2010).