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The I Netherlands Corps was an army corps of the Royal Netherlands Army. It formed after the Second World War and after the fall of the Iron Curtain was disestablished.
The I Army Corps (Dutch: I. Legerkorps) was a prior, separate formation of the Royal Netherlands Army mobilized in April 1940 and served as one of the four principal corps of the Field Army (Veldleger) during the Battle of the Netherlands.
The Corps was tasked with the central defence of the Fortress Holland (Vesting Holland). It was commanded by Lieutenant General Baron D. H. van Doorninck. [1]
The structure of the I Army Corps on the eve of the German invasion was as follows: [2]
The Corps was disbanded following the surrender of the Dutch forces in May 1940 and was later reactivated for its Cold War role.
In January 1949, the government agreed to the establishment of an army corps. In the same year, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was established. In 1955, after joining West Germany to NATO, the 1st Army Corps was made responsible for the defense of a part of the North German Plain. The army corps was part of the Northern Army Group of NATO. From 1963 onwards, part of the army corps was actually stationed in Germany, namely in Seedorf.
The corps's war assignment, as formulated by Commander, Northern Army Group (COMNORTHAG), would be to: [3]
After the Second World War until July 18, 1995 [4] the Royal Netherlands Army had one army corps (1st Army Corps) of three divisions (1st Division "7 December", 4th, and 5th) and army corps troops.
First Division "7 December" was withdrawn from the East Indies in 1949–1950 and spent the remainder of the Cold War as part of NATO Northern Army Group's I (Netherlands) Corps as a deterrent against a Soviet attack on West Germany. In 1985, it had its headquarters at Schaarsbergen, and divisional troops included the 102nd Reconnaissance Battalion (maintained through the Dutch mobilisation system RIM) at Hoogland. [5]