| XXII Corps | |
|---|---|
 XXII Corps formation badge. | |
| Active | World War I |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Type | Field corps |
| Part of | First Army |
| Engagements | World War I |
The British XXII Corps was a British infantry corps during World War I.
| XXII Corps | |
|---|---|
| XXII Corps formation badge. | |
| Active | World War I |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | British Army |
| Type | Field corps |
| Part of | First Army |
| Engagements | World War I |
The British XXII Corps was a British infantry corps during World War I.
British XXII Corps was formed in France in December 1917, from what was left of II ANZAC, once the Australian divisions had left to form the Australian Corps. [1] In July 1918, significantly reconstituted as an inter-Allied reserve corps, by the addition of four first-line British Army divisions, the 15th (Scottish) Division, the 34th Division, the 51st (Highland) Division and the 62nd (West Riding) Division. It was placed under French command in July 1918 prior to the German "Friedensturm" (Peace Offensive). The Corps played an important role in the "pinching-off" of the Soissons–Rheims salient (which had been established by the German "Bluecher" Offensive in late May 1918) in the Second Battle of the Marne. [2] Two divisions (15th, 34th) went into action with the French Tenth Army (Mangin) against the Soissons "hinge", two (51st, 62nd) in the Ardre valley with the French Fifth Army (Berthelot) against the Rheims "hinge".
XXII Corps was returned to Haig’s command in early August 1918 to help him bring forward the start date for the Amiens offensive. [3]
Commanders included:
The Second Battle of the Marne was the last major German offensive on the Western Front during the First World War. The attack failed when an Allied counterattack, led by French forces and supported by several hundreds of Renault FT tanks, overwhelmed the Germans on their right flank, inflicting severe casualties. The German defeat marked the start of the relentless Allied advance which culminated in an armistice with Germany about 100 days later.
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The Battle of Soissons (1918) was fought on the Western Front during World War I. Waged from 18 to 22 July 1918 between the French and the German armies, the battle was part of the much larger Allied Aisne-Marne counter-offensive. It followed the final German Spring Offensive, Operation Marneschutz-Reims. The primary objective of the attack was to cut both the Soissons – Château-Thierry road and the railroad running south from Soissons to Château-Thierry. As these were the main supply routes for the German forces in the Marne salient, cutting them would severely impair the Germans' ability to supply its armies defending it. This would force them to retreat and give up their gains. This battle marked the turning point of the war as the Germans would be on the defensive for the remainder of the conflict.
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Henri Mathias Berthelot was a French general during World War I. He held an important staff position under Joseph Joffre, the French commander-in-chief, at the First Battle of the Marne, before later commanding a corps in the front line. In 1917 he helped to rebuild the Romanian Army following its disastrous defeat the previous autumn, then in summer 1918 he commanded French Fifth Army at the Second Battle of the Marne, with some British and Italian troops under his command. In the final days of the war he again returned to Romania, helping fight the Hungarians during the Hungarian–Romanian War and then briefly commanded French intervention forces in southern Russia in the Russian Civil War, fighting the Bolsheviks in Bessarabia (1918).
This is the order of battle for the Battle of the Somme. The Battle of the Somme was an offensive fought on the Western Front during World War I from 1 July to 18 November 1916 as one of the greatest engagements of the war. It was fought between French, British and Dominion forces and the German Empire in the Somme River valley and vicinity in northern France.
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