Third Army (UK)

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The Third Army ( German  3rd Army ) was a large unit of the British Army in the First World War .

history

Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby
Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy

1915

The British 3rd Army was formed on July 15, 1915 under the leadership of General Charles Monro and commanded by General Allenby from October 23, 1915 . The 3rd Army took over the northern French 10th Army in the Arras area on both sides of the Scarpe , the section north from Albert via Maricourt to the Somme , where the French 6th Army joined. The 3rd Army were in the autumn of 1915 the VII., X. and XII. Corps assigned, the Indian Corps was made available as a reserve, the headquarters were in Beauquesne .

1916

After the formation of the 4th Army , the 3rd Army took over the section of the French 10th Army in the Arras area. The previous section of the front in the Albert area was transferred to the 4th arm. With the withdrawal of the French from the Artois , the front from the Yser to the Somme was continuously under British control.

During the first phase of attack in the Battle of the Somme (July 1916), the southern wing of the 3rd Army, the VII. Corps under General Thomas O'Snow with the 46th and 56th Divisions in the Hébuterne - Gommecourt area covered the main attack of the 4th Army . Army. On July 4, the command structure changed on the right wing of the 3rd Army, the deployed reserve army under General Gough took over the section between Beaumont and Thiepval .

1917

During the Battle of Arras (April 1917) the 3rd Army attacked in the eastern apron of Arras. While the 1st Army led the main thrust against the heights of Vimy to the north , General Allenby operated with the XVII. Corps north, and the VI and VII Corps south of the Scarpe . On the first day of the attack (April 9th), about fifteen divisions were assigned from north to south with the reserve:

XVII. Corps ( Charles Fergusson )

Cavalry Corps (Charles Kavanagh)

  • 2nd Cavalry Division
  • 1st Cavalry Division

VI. Corps ( Aylmer Haldane )

VII Corps ( Thomas D'Oyly Snow )

  • 14th (Light) Division (Victor A. Couper)
  • 56th (1st London) Division (Amyatt Hull)
  • 30th Division (John Stuart Mackenzie Shea)
  • 21st Division (David Campbell)

As an army reserve of the 2nd line, the XIII. Corps under General Walter Congreve with the 17th (Philip Robertson) and 63rd Division (Charles E. Lawrie) north of the Scarpe, as well as the XVIII. Corps under General Ivor Maxse with the 29th ( Beauvoir de Lisle ), 50th (Percival Wilkinson) and 18th divisions (Richard Phillips Lee) set south of the river.

On November 20, 1917 , the 3rd Army under General Julian Byng prepared over half of its 19 divisions for the attack at the Battle of Cambrai . The intended breakthrough through the front of the German 2nd Army ( Marwitz ) was to be enforced by the first concentrated use of 378 tanks.

  • In the north, on the first day, the IV Corps (56th, 36th, 62nd and 51st Divisions) under General Charles Woollcombe was to advance between Moeuvres and Havrincourt in the direction of Flesquières.
  • The V. Corps (initially only 40th, at the end of November also 2nd and 47th Divisions) under General Edward Fanshawe , which was in the second line, was to attack later.
  • In the south the III. Corps (6th, 20th, and 12th Divisions) under General William Pulteney lead the main thrust in the direction of Marcoing , Crèvecoeur and Bonavis. This corps was to be preceded by the Royal Tank Corps .
  • The following Cavalry Corps (1st, 2nd and 5th Cavalry Divisions) should then try to quickly expand the bridgehead over the Scheldt Canal aimed at Masnieres.

1918

After the start of the German spring offensive (March 1918), the 5th Army standing in the area on either side of St. Quentin was overrun. By the end of March, General Byng managed to stop the enemy by counter-attacks from the Villers-Bretonneux area and to stabilize the front in the eastern apron of Amiens after drawing in Australian troops . The 3rd Army carried out the first successful operations in the Hundred Days Offensive from August 1918 together with the 4th Army (Amiens area) and the French 1st Army .

British 3rd Army attacked Cambrai on the Canal du Nord, September 1918

On the day of the armistice (November 11, 1918), the 3rd Army reached the Sambre and the section between Thuin and Maubeuge as follows:

XVII. Corps (Lieutenant General Charles Fergusson )

  • 19th Western Division (Major General George Darrell Jeffreys)
  • 24th Division (Major General Arthur Crawford Daly)
  • 61st South Midland Division (Major General Francis John Duncan) in reserve
  • 63rd Royal Naval Division (Major General Cyril Aubrey Blacklock) in reserve

VI. Corps (Lieutenant General Aylmer Haldane )

  • Guards Division (Major General Torquhil Matheson)
  • 62nd West Riding Division (Major General Brigham)
  • 2nd Cavalry Division (Major General Thomas Tait Pitman)
  • 2nd Division (Major General Cecil Edward Pereira) in reserve
  • 3rd Division (Major General Cyril Deverell ) in reserve
  • 5th Division (Major General John Ponsonby ) in reserve

IV Corps (Lieutenant General Montagu Harper)

  • 37th Division (Major General Hugh Bruce Williams)
  • 42nd East Lancashire Division (Major General Arthur Solly-Flood)
  • New Zealand Division (Major General Andrew Hamilton Russell)

V. Corps (Lieutenant General Cameron Shute)

  • 17th Northern Division (Major General Philip Rynd Robertson)
  • 21st Division (Major General David Graham Muschet Campbell) in reserve
  • 33rd Division (Major General Reginald John Pinney) in reserve
  • 38th Welsh Division (Major General Thomas Astley Cubitt)

Commander

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