Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces was a senior officer in the British Army during the First and Second World Wars. The role of the appointment was firstly to oversee the training and equipment of formations in preparation for their deployment overseas, and secondly, to command the forces required to defend the United Kingdom against an enemy incursion or invasion.
The post was created for Field Marshal Sir John French in December 1915, after his enforced resignation as the Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force in the aftermath of the Battle of Loos. Bitterly disappointed, Lord French regarded the appointment as a demotion. Despite this, he energetically restructured the system of military training, drew up plans to defend the country against a German invasion and devised the first British air defence system, so that incoming Zeppelins and bombers could be tracked and countered by fighters and anti-aircraft artillery. [1]
The post of Commander-in-Chief, Home Forces was resurrected for Sir Walter Kirke on 3 September 1939. [4] He devised the first anti-invasion plan of the war in October, known as Operation Julius Caesar. [5] His successor, Sir Edmund Ironside was replaced by Sir Alan Brooke in July 1940. The headquarters was established at Kneller Hall in late 1939 but moved out to St Paul's School in July 1940. [6]
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein,, nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and the Second World War.
Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck,, , was a British Indian Army commander who saw active service during the world wars. A career soldier who spent much of his military career in India, he rose to become commander-in-chief of the Indian Army by early 1941 during the Second World War. In July 1941 he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Middle East Theatre, but after initial successes, the war in North Africa turned against the British-led forces under his command, and he was relieved of the post in August 1942 during the North African campaign.
Field Marshal Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke,, was a senior officer of the British Army. He was Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), the professional head of the British Army, during the Second World War, and was promoted to field marshal on 1 January 1944. As chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, Brooke was the foremost military advisor to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and had the role of co-ordinator of the British military efforts in the Allies' victory in 1945. After retiring from the British Army, he served as Lord High Constable of England during the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. His war diaries attracted attention for their criticism of Churchill and for Brooke's forthright views on other leading figures of the war.
The 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that served during the Second World War. It was raised on 2 September 1939, the day before war was declared, as part of the Territorial Army (TA) and served in the United Kingdom and later North-West Europe from June 1944 to May 1945.
Field Marshal Sir John Greer Dill, was a senior British Army officer with service in both the First World War and the Second World War. From May 1940 to December 1941 he was the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, the professional head of the British Army, and subsequently served in Washington, D.C., as Chief of the British Joint Staff Mission and then Senior British Representative on the Combined Chiefs of Staff.
The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) has been the title of the professional head of the British Army since 1964. The CGS is a member of both the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Army Board; he is also the Chair of the Executive Committee of the Army Board. Prior to 1964, the title was Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS). Since 1959, the post has been immediately subordinate to the Chief of the Defence Staff, the post held by the professional head of the British Armed Forces.
Field Marshal William Edmund Ironside, 1st Baron Ironside, was a senior officer of the British Army who served as Chief of the Imperial General Staff during the first year of the Second World War.
The II Corps was an army corps of the British Army formed in both the First World War and the Second World War. There had also been a short-lived II Corps during the Waterloo Campaign.
The Devon and Cornwall County Division was a County Division of the British Army created during the Second World War. It was formed on 28 February 1941, from recently recruited soldiers, in response to the renewed threat of a German invasion. The 10,000-strong division was a static formation, lacking transport, intended to defend possible landing sites along the southern Cornish and Devon coastlines from invading German troops. The creation of the division also helped to free up the more experienced troops, who were then held back from the coastline to be able to launch a counterattack against any potential German landings.
The 55th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army's Territorial Army (TA) that was formed in 1920 and existed through the Second World War, although it did not see combat. The division had originally been raised in 1908 as the West Lancashire Division, part of the British Army's Territorial Force (TF). It fought in the First World War, as the 55th Division, and demobilised following the fighting. In 1920, the 55th Division started to reform. It was stationed in the county of Lancashire throughout the 1920s and 1930s, and was under-funded and under-staffed. In the late 1930s, the division was reduced from three to two infantry brigades and gave up some artillery and other support units to become a motorised formation, the 55th Motor Division. This was part of a British Army doctrine change that was intended to increase battlefield mobility.
The 9th (Highland) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army, formed just prior to the start of the Second World War. In March 1939, after the re-emergence of Germany as a significant military power and its occupation of Czechoslovakia, the British Army increased the number of divisions in the Territorial Army (TA) by duplicating existing units. The 9th (Highland) was formed in August 1939, as a second-line duplicate of the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division. The division's battalions were all raised in the Scottish Highlands.
The 66th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army, which was active between September 1939 and June 1940 during the Second World War. In March 1939, after the re-emergence of Germany as a European power and its occupation of Czechoslovakia, the British Army increased the number of divisions within the Territorial Army by duplicating existing units. The 66th Infantry Division was formed in September 1939, as a second-line duplicate of the 42nd Infantry Division. The division's battalions were all raised in the Lancashire and Cumbria area.
British anti-invasion preparations of the Second World War entailed a large-scale division of military and civilian mobilisation in response to the threat of invasion by German armed forces in 1940 and 1941. The British Army needed to recover from the defeat of the British Expeditionary Force in France, and 1.5 million men were enrolled as part-time soldiers in the Home Guard. The rapid construction of field fortifications transformed much of the United Kingdom, especially southern England, into a prepared battlefield. Sea Lion was never taken beyond the preliminary assembly of forces. Today, little remains of Britain's anti-invasion preparations, although reinforced concrete structures such as pillboxes and anti-tank cubes can still be commonly found, particularly in the coastal counties.
The 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was formed during the Second World War and fought in the Battle of Normandy. In March 1939, after Germany re-emerged as a significant military power and invaded Czechoslovakia, the British Army increased the number of divisions in the Territorial Army (TA) by duplicating existing units. The 59th (Staffordshire) Motor Division was formed in September 1939, as a second-line duplicate of the 55th Motor Division. The division's battalions were all, initially, raised in Staffordshire.
The 45th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army, formed just prior to the start of the Second World War. In March 1939, after the re-emergence of Germany as a significant military power and its occupation of Czechoslovakia, the British Army increased the number of divisions in the Territorial Army (TA) by duplicating existing units. The 45th started forming in August 1939 and became active the following month, as a second-line duplicate of the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division. The division's battalions were all raised in the West Country.
The 47th (London) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was formed during the Second World War and remained in the United Kingdom until the end of the war. In March 1939, after the re-emergence of Germany as a significant military power and its occupation of Czechoslovakia, the British Army increased the number of divisions in the Territorial Army (TA) by duplicating existing units. The 2nd London Division was formed in August 1939 as a second-line duplicate of the 1st London Division; its battalions were all initially London-based.
X Corps was a corps of the British Army that served in the First World War on the Western Front before being disbanded in 1919. The corps was re-formed in 1942 during the Second World War and saw service in the North African Campaign and the Italian Campaign where it came under command of the US Fifth Army and the British Eighth Army.
The Allied leaders of World War II listed below comprise the important political and military figures who fought for or supported the Allies during World War II. Engaged in total war, they had to adapt to new types of modern warfare, on the military, psychological and economic fronts.
The 12th (Eastern) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army, which fought briefly in the Battle of France during the Second World War. In March 1939, after the re-emergence of Germany as a European power and its occupation of Czechoslovakia, the British Army increased the number of divisions within the Territorial Army by duplicating existing units. The 12th (Eastern) Infantry Division was formed in October 1939, as a second-line duplicate of the 44th Infantry Division.
Inspector-General of the Forces was a British Army appointment. There were also Inspectors-General for the different arms.
