IV Corps (United Kingdom)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Indian IV Corps | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1914 - c1918 1940 - 1945 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | British Army |
| Engagements | Norwegian campaign Burma Campaign |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Lieutenant General Claude Auchinleck Lieutenant General Noel Irwin Lieutenant General Geoffrey Scoones Lieutenant General Frank Messervy |
The IV Corps has a long history. The Corps HQ was originally a British formation, created during World War I and served on the Western Front.
During World War II it also initially served on the Western Front, until Japan entered the war and India was threatened with attack, it was transferred to India.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] World War I
The Corps was originally formed in 1914, and was moved to Belgium in October 1914, under the command of General Sir Henry Rawlinson. It took the brunt of the defence at the First Battle of Ypres.[1] It then fought at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle and subsidiary actions, the Battle of Aubers Ridge, and The Battle of Festubert, the Battle of Loos and associated actions, took part in the Battle of the Ancre, the German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line, the Battle of Cambrai and associated actions, the First Battles of the Somme and associated actions , the Second Battle of the Somme, the Battle of St. Quentin Canal and associated actions, and the final advance in Picardy.
[edit] World War II
It was reformed in Scotland on January 15, 1940 in anticipation of operations in Norway, or perhaps Finland (part of a projected intervention in the Russo-Finnish Winter War). From March to May, 1940, parts of the corps fought at Narvik and Trondheim in the Norwegian campaign. Its commander was Lieutenant General Claude Auchinleck.
After the Norwegian campaign ended, the Corps first commanded most of the armoured reserves preparing to face the proposed German invasion of Britain, Operation Sealion, while the corps which had been evacuated from Dunkirk in Operation Dynamo were reorganised. Once the danger of invasion was over, the corps was heavily involved in training and developing tactical doctrine.
[edit] Fourteenth Army
When the Japanese entered the war, the IV Corps headquarters (now commanded by Lieutenant General Noel Irwin) was sent to India, along with several units from Britain and the Middle Eastern theatre. Once in India, the skeleton formation was filled out with Indian signals and line-of-communications units, and deployed to Assam in north-eastern India, under the Indian Eastern Army (which was now commanded by Irwin). The corps commander was Lieutenant General Geoffrey Scoones. The Corps adopted a badge of a charging elephant, in black on a red background.
From late 1943, the Corps formed part of Fourteenth Army. It fought the epic Battle of Imphal in 1944, in which the Corps was surrounded by Japanese forces but eventually defeated their attackers. During that period, supplies and reinforcements were flown in to help the besieged troops.
In 1945, the Corps was commanded by Lieutenant General Frank Messervy. Reorganised as a mechanised and airborne force, the Corps struck deep into Japanese occupied territory to capture the vital transportation and supply centre of Meiktila. Later, it spearheaded the final drive on Rangoon from the north, being supplied largely from the air again.
Shortly after the fall of Rangoon, IV Corps was withdrawn from the control of Fourteenth Army and placed under the newly activated Twelfth Army. Temporarily commanded by Lieutenant General F. S. Tuker, it was responsible for mopping up the remaining Japanese forces in Burma until the end of the war. The Corps was deactivated shortly after the end of hostilities.
[edit] Notes
- ^ The Long, Long Trail: The British Army in the First World War
[edit] Further reading
- Jon Latimer, Burma: The Forgotten War, London: John Murray, 2004 ISBN 0-7195-6576-6
[edit] External links
- globalsecurity.org
- IV Corps at Orders of Battle.com?
