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The following is a hierarchical outline for the structure of the British Army in 1989. [1] [2] The most authoritative source for this type of information available is Ministry of Defence (Army Department), Master Order of Battle, (ASD 6500-25 Ministry of Defence, 1991) [3] [4] [5] and United Kingdom Land Forces, HQ UKLF, UKLF ORBAT Review Action Plan, HQ UKLF, 1990.
At the top of the Army organisation is the Army Board of the Defence Council. The executive committee of the Army Board was responsible for the 'detailed management of the Army.' It included the four military members of the Army Board, including the Chief of the General Staff, General Sir John Chapple in 1989, the Second Permanent Under Secretary, and the Assistant Chief of the General Staff, a major general. [6] The Army Department consisted of four components: the General Staff, the Adjutant General's department, which dealt with recruiting, and also had the Provost Marshal (Army), a brigadier, reporting to him, though the RMP headquarters was at Roussillon Barracks, Chichester; [7] the Military Secretary's department, and the Quartermaster General's department.
Commander-in-Chief, UK Land Forces, General Sir Charles Huxtable
HQ: Wilton
HQ United Kingdom Land Forces commanded nine military districts until the spring of 1991. [8] These districts controlled the regular army brigades in the UK (inc 1st and 5th Brigades) and the predominantly TA regional brigades. In 1984–85, the nine districts were Eastern (19th and 54th Brigades), London, North-East (2nd Infantry Division, 15, 24, and 49 Brigades), North-West District (42 Brigade), Scotland (51 and 52 Brigades), South-Eastern District (2 and 5 Brigades), South-West District (UK Contingent, ACE Mobile Force, 1, and 43 Brigades) Headquarters Wales (160 Brigade), and Western District (143 Brigade). [9]
In December 1989, Headquarters UK Land Forces at Wilton directed field forces through a three-star's command, Commander UK Field Army, Lieutenant General Sir David Ramsbotham. [10] Many of the units stationed in the United Kingdom were to move immediately to Germany to reinforce British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) in case of war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. For administrative purposes these units were under command of brigade HQ based in the UK during peacetime. Such reinforcement units are indicated in the list below in italics followed by the higher command they were to reinforce in Germany in brackets.
Eastern District , Colchester, covering the counties of Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Leicestershire, Norfolk, Rutland, Northamptonshire, and Lincolnshire HQ Eastern District & 239 Signal Squadron, Royal Signals, Colchester
London District , Horse Guards, covering Greater London
The General Officer commanding Headquarters Northern Ireland reported directly, operationally, to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. During 1988 the disposition of brigades in Northern Ireland changed: On 1 July 1988 3rd Infantry Brigade reformed at Armagh and became responsible for the UK-Ireland border zone from Armagh to South Londonderry. [79] The brigade had been disbanded in September 1981 with its units and area initially having been taken over by 8th Infantry Brigade. [80] On 2 November 1988 107th (Ulster) Brigade (V) was raised and took command of all Territorial Army units in Northern Ireland, thus freeing 8th Infantry Brigade and 39th Infantry Brigade to focus on counterinsurgency operations. This structure was in force until the 1992 amalgamation of Royal Irish Rangers and Ulster Defence Regiment, after which 3rd Infantry Brigade returned to control its traditional area of County Armagh and County Down.
The British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was the United Kingdom's main contribution to NATO. Headquartered at JHQ Rheindahlen in West Germany and commanded by a General it consisted in peacetime of British I Corps and support troops. In the event of war with the Warsaw Pact the Commander-in-Chief of BAOR would have assumed command of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG), which was tasked with defending Northern Germany up to the river Elbe. BAOR was armed with tactical nuclear weapons and supported by Royal Air Force Germany.
During transition to war, the support units of BAOR would have formed the British Rear Combat Zone headquartered in Düsseldorf, which would have supplied the fighting forces and guarded the lines of communication within West Germany. Further West in Belgium was the British Communications Zone, which was headquartered in Emblem, outside Antwerp and tasked with receiving reinforcements and supplies from Great Britain and to co-ordinate their onward movement to 1 (BR) Corps.
On 27 November 1989 Peter Inge became the commander of NATO's Northern Army Group and Commander-in-Chief, British Army of the Rhine in Germany with the local rank of general; [114] he succeeded General Brian Kenny.
The area 1 BR Corps had to defend lay between Hanover to the North and Kassel to the South and extended from the Inner German Border to the Upper Weser Valley. In case of a war the Corps first line of defense would have been a screening force of 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards, 16th/5th Queen's Royal Lancers and 664 Squadron AAC, which would have become an ad-hoc brigade formation under command of BAOR's Brigadier Royal Armoured Corps. Behind the screening force 1st Armoured and 4th Armoured Division would form up. 3rd Armoured Division was to the rear of the two forward deployed division as reserve. 2nd Infantry Division was to defend the Corps Rear Area and prepare a last line of defense along the Western bank of the Weser river.
1st Armoured Division was the corps' Northern forward deployed division.
3rd Armoured Division was the corps' reserve formation.
4th Armoured Division was the corps' Southern forward deployed division. As the division's area of operation was hilly and woody 19th Infantry Brigade based in Colchester was added to it.
The Defence Operations Executive, led by the Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Commitments) and including the Assistant Chiefs of the Naval, General, and Air Staffs, supervised the Joint Operations Centre which in turn passed orders to the forces in Cyprus, Belize, the Falklands, and Hong Kong. These commands consisted of units of all three services and were commanded by one or 2-star rank flag officers. CBF Cyprus was a rotational post between the Army and RAF, at two-star level; CBF Belize was an Army brigadier; CBF Falklands was a rotational post between all three services at two-star level; and CBF Hong Kong was an Army major general.(Copied from the Structure of the British Armed Forces in 1989).
The inventory of the Army Air Corps in 1989 consisted of the following aircraft:
This is the Operation Telic order of battle, which lists the British forces that took part in Operation Telic, including
I Corps was an army corps in existence as an active formation in the British Army for most of the 80 years from its creation in the First World War until the end of the Cold War, longer than any other corps. It had a short-lived precursor during the Waterloo Campaign. It served as the operational component of the British Army of the Rhine during the Cold War, and was tasked with defending West Germany.
This is a list of British ground forces in the Falklands War. For a list of ground forces from Argentina, see Argentine ground forces in the Falklands War
The 24th Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army from the First World War. It was reraised during the Second World War, as the 24th Infantry Brigade (Guards). During various designations, the brigade was active throughout the Cold War and existed until 1999, when it was merged with the 5 Airborne Brigade to become 16 Air Assault Brigade.
The 8th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army during the Second World War. It was deployed to Egypt in June 1942 but never operated as a complete formation and was disbanded in January the following year.
The 20th Armoured Brigade Combat Team, previously the 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade, is an armoured infantry brigade formation of the British Army, currently headquartered at Wing Barracks, Bulford, Wiltshire, as part of the 3rd Division.
The 11th Security Force Assistance Brigade is a brigade of the British Army which is intended to train and assist foreign forces. In 2021, under the Future Army changes, the brigade was redesignated, formerly being the 11th Infantry Brigade & HQ South East. Prior to the Army 2020 changes in 2013, the brigade was temporarily activated for deployment to Afghanistan. Originally formed in the Second Boer War, the brigade was engaged during both World Wars.
The 5th Infantry Brigade was a regular infantry brigade of the British Army that was in existence since before the First World War, except for a short break in the late 1970s. It was an Airborne Brigade from the early 1980s until amalgamating with 24th Airmobile Brigade, in 1999, to form 16 Air Assault Brigade.
This is the Operation Herrick ground order of battle, which lists any British ground forces that have taken part in the duration of Operation Herrick between 2002 and 2014.
The Berlin Infantry Brigade was a British Army brigade-sized garrison based in West Berlin during the Cold War. After the end of World War II, under the conditions of the Yalta and Potsdam agreements, the Allied forces occupied West Berlin. This occupation lasted throughout the Cold War. The French Army also had units in Berlin, called the French Forces in Berlin and the US Army's unit in Berlin was the Berlin Brigade.
In September 1939, the British Army was in process of expanding their anti-aircraft and mobile assets. Among these new changes was the formation of Anti-Aircraft Command which was formed on 1 April 1939, and the 1st Armoured Division formed in 1937. The list below will include the British Army units, colonial units, and those units which were in the process of formation.
The Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) was a NATO military formation comprising five Army Corps from five NATO member nations. During the Cold War NORTHAG was NATO's forward defence in the Northern half of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). The Southern half of the Federal Republic of Germany was to be defended by the four Army Corps of NATO's Central Army Group (CENTAG). During wartime NORTHAG would command four frontline corps and one reserve corps. Air support was provided by Second Allied Tactical Air Force.
Bergen-Hohne Garrison was a major British garrison in the post-Cold War period, with facilities located close to Bergen at Lager Hohne, at Lager Oerbke near Fallingbostel and at Celle in Lower Saxony, Germany. It was home to 7th Armoured Brigade and most of its subordinate units. It formed a major part of British Forces Germany.
The 1st Artillery Brigade was a support formation of the British Army from 1961-77 and from 1997. Part of the 3rd Division, it oversaw all army close support artillery and deep fires units. Under the Future Soldier programme, the brigade merged with 1st Armoured Infantry Brigade to form 1st Deep Reconnaissance Strike Brigade Combat Team.
This is the order of battle for Operation Granby, the name given to the British Armed Forces deployment to the Middle East after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990 and subsequent operations during the 1991 Gulf War.
The page contains the current structure of the British Army. The British Army is currently being reorganised to the Future Soldier structure.
Barker Barracks was a military installation in Paderborn, Germany.
The following is a hierarchical outline for the British Armed Forces at the end of the Cold War. It is intended to convey the connections and relationships between units and formations.
The 2nd Division Transport Regiment was a military support unit of the British Army, forming part of the Royal Corps of Transport. Initially formed in 1953, the regiment would serve the 2nd Infantry Division until its first disbandment in 1984 following a reorganisation of the British Army of the Rhine. Reformed one year later, it would finally be disbanded in 1993 following the End of the Cold War.
Future Soldier is a reform of the British Army resulting from the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy published in March 2021. The aim of the reform is to create a more lethal, agile and expeditionary force, able to fight and win wars and to operate in the grey-zone between peace and war. Future Soldier was published on 25 November 2021 and deals with the organizational changes of the British Army, with changes to personnel and equipment were set out in the Defence in a Competitive Age paper published on 22 March 2021.
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