XXX Corps (United Kingdom)

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Lieutenant General Sir Brian Horrocks (1895–1985) Commander of the XXX Corps 1944/45

The XXX Corps ( German  30th Corps ) was a major military unit of the British Army , which was used in Africa and Europe during the Second World War .

history

First in command of the XXX, activated in August 1941. Corps was Lieutenant General Vyvyan Pope . The corps was under the newly formed 8th Army used and participated during the African campaign in almost all military operations in North Africa .

1942

During the battle of Gazala (from May 26, 1942) the XXX. Corps under General Charles Norrie the following associations:

Under the command of Lieutenant General William H. Ramsden , the corps stood in the First Battle of El Alamein (September 1942) on the coast, subordinate to:

  • 7th British Armored Division
  • New Zealand 2nd Infantry Division
  • Indian 4th Division (Major-General Francis Tuker)
  • 1st Free French Brigade

Reserve: 50th British Infantry Division During the decisive battle of El Alamein ( Operation Lightfoot from October 23, 1942), the corps under the command of General Oliver Leese was again on the northern section at El Alamein with the following units:

  • Australian 9th Division (General Leslie James Morshead)
  • New Zealand 2nd Division (General Bernhard Freyberg)
  • 1st Armored Division (Major-General Raymond Briggs)
  • 51st (Highland) Division (Major-General Douglas N. Wimberley)

After the start of Operation Supercharge , the breakthrough of the German-Italian lines at Tel Aqqaqir was achieved by November 3rd and the withdrawal of the Africa Corps to Sollum was forced.

1943

In the spring of 1943 the Corps finally operated on the Mareth Line during the Tunisian campaign . During the ( Operation Husky ) landing in Sicily in July 1943 :

  • 1st Canadian Division (Major-General Guy Simonds )
  • 51st (Highland) Division (Major-General Douglas Wimberley)
  • 231st Brigade (Major-General Robert Urquhart )

1944

On the landing in Normandy (June 6, 1944) the corps of the 2nd Army , now led by General Bucknall, was subordinate to General Miles Dempsey . The first wave landed the 50th Infantry Division and the 27th Panzer Brigade. From June 8th to 19th, 1944, fighting broke out with the German Panzer-Lehr Division near Tilly-sur-Seulles . During the Battle of Caen (June 10th to July 7th) the following units were subordinate to the Corps:

After several changes, Lieutenant General Brian Horrocks took command on August 4, 1944 , when the Corps took part in Operation Garden, part of the overall Operation Market Garden (September 17/27, 1944). The detailed schedule that stipulated that the XXX. Corps should reach the British paratroopers in Arnhem after three days. In addition to the assigned 43rd and 53rd Divisions, the Guards Panzer Division (General Adair ) tried to bring help to the parachute units of the 1st Airborne Division (Major-General Urquhart), which were enclosed in Arnhem , through the intended advance on Nijmegen .

1945

Subordinated to the 1st Canadian Army during the battle in the Reichswald , the XXX. Corps on February 8, 1945 southeast of Nijmegen from the promontory between the Meuse and the Rhine against the Reichswald. On the first day 1,034 guns fired over half a million shells on a seven-mile front. General Horrocks deployed 5 infantry divisions and 3 tank brigades to break through the German positions. In Operation Plunder , the XXX. Corps crossed the Rhine on March 23 with the 43rd and 51st Divisions at Rees . Supported by floating tanks, all three brigades had crossed the Rhine by 9.45 a.m., but the fighting continued until the afternoon.

After the end of the war (May 1945) the XXX. Corps part of the occupation forces in the British occupation zone and was essentially responsible for what is now Lower Saxony .

Commanding generals

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ George F. Howe Northwest Africa: Seizing the Initiative In the West, publications in the project Hyperwar George F. Howe
  2. ↑ Reinhard Stumpf : The War in the Mediterranean Area 1942/43. Operations in North Africa and the Central Mediterranean. In: Horst Boog , Werner Rahn , Reinhard Stumpf, Bernd Wegner : The global war. The expansion to the world war and the change of initiative. 1941–1943 (= The German Reich and the Second World War. 6). Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-421-06233-1 , pp. 567-757, here p. 680.
  3. ^ Albert N. Garland & Howard McGaw Smyth Sicily and the Surrender of Italy, publications in the Hyperwar Garland & Smyth project
  4. ^ Publications of the British American Reenactment BAR project