British Army of the Rhine

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy datesTemplate:Use British English Template:Infobox military unit

British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was the name given to British Army occupation forces in the Rhineland, West Germany, after the First and Second World Wars, and during the Cold War, becoming part of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) tasked with defending the North German Plain from the armies of the Warsaw Pact. The BAOR constituted the bulk of British forces in West Germany.

History

1919–1929

File:Army of Occupation commanders.jpg
Formal group photograph of British and French officers and commissioners outside the house of the Commander-in-Chief Allied Armies of Occupation, Marienberg.
File:The British Army of the Rhine, 1919-1929 Q7211.jpg
18th Hussars in Cologne, 6 December 1918.
File:The British Army of the Rhine, 1919-1929 Q7215.jpg
General Lord Plumer, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief the British Army of the Rhine, taking the salute from the 29th Division entering Cologne by the Hohenzollern Bridge.
File:The British Army of the Rhine, 1919-1929 Q7711.jpg
Two tanks passing through Cologne for inspection by the VI Corps commander, Lieutenant General Sir Aylmer Haldane, June 1919.

The first British Army of the Rhine was created in March 1919 to implement the occupation of the Rhineland. It was originally composed of five corps, composed of two divisions each, plus a cavalry division:<ref name=Rinaldi2006>Template:Cite web</ref>

II Corps: commanded by Sir Claud Jacob

IV Corps: commanded by Sir Alexander Godley

VI Corps: commanded by Sir Aylmer Haldane

IX Corps: commanded by Sir Walter Braithwaite and later by Ivor Maxse

X Corps: commanded by Sir Thomas Morland

Cavalry Division (formed from 1st Cavalry Division)

Most of these units were progressively dissolved, so that by February 1920, there were only regular battalions:

In August 1920, Winston Churchill, as Secretary of State for War, told Parliament that the BAOR was made up of approximately 13,360 troops, consisting of staff, cavalry, Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, infantry, machine gun corps, tanks, and the usual ancillary services. The troops were located principally in the vicinity of Cologne at an approximate cost per month of £300,000.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Cologne Post was a newspaper published for members of the BAOR during this period.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

From 1922 the BAOR was organised into two brigades:<ref name=Rinaldi2006/>

1st Rhine Brigade

2nd Rhine Brigade

Commanders-in-chief

The commanders were:<ref name=Commands>Template:Cite web</ref>

Cold War (1945–1991)

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File:Field Marshal the Viscount Montgomery of Alamein Kg Gcb Dso 1887-1976 BU10221.jpg
Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery recording a radio broadcast, to mark the change over of the British Liberation Army to the British Army of the Rhine.
File:The Warrior of British Forces in Germany.jpg
A Warrior tracked armoured vehicle, as used by the 13 mechanised infantry battalions of the 1st, 3rd and 4th Armoured Divisions of the British Army of the Rhine, during the period 1988–1994.

The second British Army of the Rhine was formed on 25 August 1945 from the British Liberation Army.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Its original function was to control the corps districts which were running the military government of the British zone of Allied-occupied Germany. After the assumption of government by civilians, it became the command formation for the troops in West Germany only, rather than being responsible for administration as well.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

As the potential threat of Soviet invasion across the North German Plain into West Germany increased, BAOR became more responsible for the defence of West Germany than its occupation. It became the primary formation controlling the British contribution to NATO, after the formation of the alliance in 1949. Its primary combat formation was British I Corps. From 1952, the Commander-in-Chief of the BAOR was also the commander of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) in the event of a general war with the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies. The BAOR's 50 Missile Regiment Royal Artillery was formerly armed with tactical nuclear weapons, including the MGM-52 Lance surface-to-surface tactical nuclear missile.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

There were significant reductions in the force in 1955-58. British financial difficulties grew in the autumn of 1957, with gold and dollar reserves falling significantly further.Template:Sfn As a result of continuing financial pressures, "Britain secured NATO's and [the] WEU's agreement to a second reduction in BAOR from 63,500 to 55,000 men (about 7 brigade groups) for FY1958/9."Template:Sfn In 1967, the force was reduced in strength to 53,000 soldiers, compared with 80,000, ten years earlier.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

There were a series of exercises in BAOR in 1975 under the code name "Wide Horizon" to test the new small-division organisation as thoroughly as possible in command post and field training exercises.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It culminated in a field exercise involving elements of two divisions. Following the exercises BAOR was reorganised from three to four divisions in January 1978.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Post 1994

With the end of the Cold War, the 1993 Options for Change defence cuts resulted in BAOR being reduced in size, and in 1994 it became British Forces Germany (BFG).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This force, roughly 25,000 strong, was divided between Headquarters Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps, 1st Armoured Division, other combat support and combat service support forces, and administrative elements headed by United Kingdom Support Command (Germany). Garrisons which closed at this time included Soest (home of the 6th Armoured Brigade),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Soltau (home of the 7th Armoured Brigade),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Minden (home of the 11th Armoured Brigade).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Following the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the permanent deployment of British Army units in Germany was reduced. The last military base was handed to the German Bundeswehr in February 2020.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Commanders-in-chief

The commanders were:<ref name=Commands/>

Garrisons

See also

Notes

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References

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