The II Corps was an

army corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

formed in both the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. There had also been a short-lived II Corps during the

Waterloo Campaign The Waterloo campaign (15 June – 8 July 1815) was fought between the French Army of the North (France), Army of the North and two Seventh Coalition armies, an Anglo-allied army and a Prussian army. Initially the French army was commanded by ...

Napoleonic precursor

Assembling an army in the Southern Netherlands to fight Napoleon's resurgent forces in the spring of 1815, the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

formed it into army corps, deliberately mixing units from the Anglo-Hanoverian, Dutch and German contingents so that the weaker elements would be stiffened by more experienced or reliable troops. As he put it: ‘It was necessary to organize these troops in brigades, divisions, and corps d’armee with those better disciplined and more accustomed to war’. He placed II Corps under the command of Lord Hill. However, Wellington did not use the corps as tactical entities, and continued his accustomed practice of issuing orders directly to divisional and lower commanders. When he drew up his army on the ridge at Waterloo, elements of the various corps were mixed up, and although he gave Hill command of the left wing, this included elements of I Corps. Subsequent to the battle, the corps structure was re-established for the advance into France, and Wellington issued orders through Hill and the other corps commanders.

Order of battle

GOC: Lieut-Gen Lord Hill * 2nd (British) Division (Anglo-Hanoverian) * 4th (British) Division (Anglo-Hanoverian) *1st (Netherlands) Division (Dutch) *Netherlands Indian Contingent

Before the First World War

After the Waterloo campaign the army corps structure disappeared from the British Army for a century, except for ad hoc corps assembled during annual manoeuvres (e.g. Army Manoeuvres of 1913). In 1876 a mobilization scheme for eight army corps was published, with 'Second Corps' based at Aldershot and composed of regular and militia troops. In 1880 its organization was: *1st Division (Aldershot) **1st Brigade (Aldershot) ***2nd Bn. 19th Foot (Aldershot), 41st Foot (Aldershot), 45th Foot (Aldershot) **2nd Brigade (Aldershot) *** 75th Foot (Aldershot), 96th Foot (Aldershot), 109th Foot (Aldershot) **Divisional Troops ***2nd Bn. 18th Foot (Aldershot),

Berkshire Yeomanry The Berkshire Yeomanry was a part time regiment of the British Army formed in 1794 to counter the threat of invasion during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was the Royal County of Berkshire's senior volunteer unit with over 200 years of volunta ...

(Hungerford), 17th Comp.

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

(Aldershot) **Artillery ***K/3rd Brigade RA (Woolwich), H/4th Brigade RA (Aldershot), M/2nd Brigade RA (Aldershot) *2nd Division (Guildford) **1st Brigade (Guildford) *** 26th Foot (Aldershot), 53rd Foot (Aldershot), 1st Bn. Rifle Brigade (Aldershot) **2nd Brigade (Guildford) *** 32nd Foot (Jersey), 108th Foot (Portsmouth) **Divisional Troops ***

52nd Foot The 52nd (Oxfordshire) Regiment of Foot was a light infantry regiment of the British Army throughout much of the 18th and 19th centuries. The regiment first saw active service during the American War of Independence, and were posted to India du ...

(Aldershot), Oxfordshire Yeomanry (Woodstock) **Artillery ***L/2nd Brigade RA (Aldershot), E/1st Brigade RA (Aldershot), K/4th Brigade RA (Aldershot) *3rd Division (Dorking) **1st Brigade (Dorking) ***Ayr and Wigtown Militia (Ayr), Renfrew Militia (Paisley), Perth Militia (Perth) **2nd Brigade (Dorking) ***Galway Militia (Longbrea), North Cork Militia (Mallow), South Cork Militia (Bandon) **Divisional Troops ***Armagh Militia (Armagh), Middlesex Militia (Uxbridge) **Artillery ***E/5th Brigade RA (Bristol), P/5th Brigade RA (Trowbridge), L/3rd Brigade RA (Woolwich) *Cavalry Brigade (Lewes) **

11th Hussars The 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army established in 1715. It saw service for three centuries including the First World War and Second World War but then amalgamated with the 10th Royal Hussars (Pri ...

(Aldershot),

5th Dragoon Guards The 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Dragoon Guards was a British army cavalry regiment, officially formed in January 1686 as Shrewsbury's Regiment of Horse. Following a number of name changes, it became the 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) ...

(Aldershot), 16th Lancers (Brighton),

Hampshire Yeomanry The Hampshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry cavalry regiment formed by amalgamating older units raised between 1794 and 1803 during the French Revolutionary Wars. It served in a mounted role in the Second Boer War and World War I, and in the air defenc ...

(Winchester), A Battery A Brigade RHA (Aldershot) *Corps Artillery (Artillery) **C Battery A Brigade RHA (Aldershot), G Battery C Brigade RHA (Christchurch), D Battery C Brigade RHA (Dorchester) **A/1st Brigade RA (Devonport), A/6th Brigade RA (Woolwich) *Corps Engineers (Aldershot) **15th Company Royal Engineers and Field Park (Kensington) This scheme had been dropped by 1881. The Stanhope Memorandum of 1891 (drawn up by

Edward Stanhope Edward Stanhope PC (24 September 1840 – 21 December 1893) was a British Conservative Party politician who was Secretary of State for War from 1887 to 1892. Background and education Born in London, Stanhope was the second son of Philip Sta ...

when secretary of state for war) laid down the policy that after providing for garrisons and India, the army should be able to mobilise three army corps for home defence, two of regular troops and one partly of militia, of three divisions each. Only after those commitments, it was hoped, two army corps might be organised for the unlikely eventuality of deployment abroad. The 1901 Army Estimates introduced by

St John Brodrick William St John Fremantle Brodrick, 1st Earl of Midleton, KP, PC, DL (14 December 185613 February 1942), styled as St John Brodrick until 1907 and as Viscount Midleton between 1907 and 1920, was a British Conservative and Irish Unionist Alli ...

allowed for six army corps based on the six regional commands, of which only I Corps ( Aldershot Command and II Corps ( Southern Command on Salisbury Plain) would be entirely formed of regular troops. However, these arrangements remained theoretical. The

Haldane Reforms The Haldane Reforms were a series of far-ranging reforms of the British Army made from 1906 to 1912, and named after the Secretary of State for War, Richard Burdon Haldane. They were the first major reforms since the " Childers Reforms" of the ...

of 1907 established a six-division British Expeditionary Force (BEF) for deployment overseas, which did not envisage any intermediate headquarters between GHQ and the infantry divisions.

First World War

On mobilisation in August 1914 it was decided that the BEF would have two-division army corps like the French armies with which the BEF was to operate but only one corps HQ existed, two were improvised. II Corps proceeded to France in August 1914 under the command of Sir James Grierson but Grierson died suddenly on the train to the front on 17 August. Sir John French ( GOCinC BEF) wanted Sir

Herbert Plumer Field Marshal Herbert Charles Onslow Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer, (13 March 1857 – 16 July 1932) was a senior British Army officer of the First World War. After commanding V Corps at the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915, he took command o ...

to succeed Grierson, but the secretary of state for war, Earl Kitchener, instead chose Sir

Horace Smith-Dorrien General Sir Horace Lockwood Smith-Dorrien, (26 May 1858 – 12 August 1930) was a British Army General. One of the few British survivors of the Battle of Isandlwana as a young officer, he also distinguished himself in the Second Boer War. Smith ...

, transferred from Southern Command. Smith-Dorrien caught up with his HQ at Bavai on 21 August. II Corps was first engaged two days later at the

Battle of Mons A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

and forced into the

Great Retreat The Great Retreat (), also known as the retreat from Mons, was the long withdrawal to the River Marne in August and September 1914 by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French Fifth Army. The Franco-British forces on the Western Fr ...

with the rest of the BEF. It later fought a delaying action against

Alexander von Kluck Alexander Heinrich Rudolph von Kluck (20 May 1846 – 19 October 1934) was a German general during World War I. Early life Kluck was born in Münster, Westphalia on 20 May 1846. He was the son of architect Karl von Kluck and his wife Elisabeth ...

German First Army The 1st Army (german: 1. Armee) was a World War II field army. Combat chronicle 1939 The 1st Army was activated on 26 August 1939, in Wehrkreis XII with General Erwin von Witzleben in command. Its primary mission was to take defensive positions ...

in the

Battle of Le Cateau The Battle of Le Cateau was fought on the Western Front during the First World War on 26 August 1914. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French Fifth Army had retreated after their defeats at the Battle of Charleroi (21–23 A ...

which allowed most of its surviving forces to escape. It remained on the Western Front throughout the war. It was forced into retreat, with the soldiers exhaust

Order of battle

The composition of army corps changed frequently. Some representative orders of battle for II Corps are given here. Order of Battle at Mons 23 August 1914: GOC:

Lieut-Gen Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and main ...

Sir

(Took command 21 August 1914) *

Brigadier-General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

, General Staff: G. T. Forestier-Walker *Brigadier-General,

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

: A. H. Short *

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

: Brig-Gen E. A. Sandbach * 3rd Division * 5th Division *Army Troops attached (20 August 1914) **2nd Army HQ Signal Company,

***E (Air Line) Section ***M, O & P (Cable) Sections **No 2 Bridging Train, Royal Engineers **C Squadron,

North Irish Horse The North Irish Horse was a yeomanry unit of the British Territorial Army raised in the northern counties of Ireland in the aftermath of the Second Boer War. Raised and patronised by the nobility from its inception to the present day, it was on ...

**Company, 1st Bn Cameron Highlanders **A Section, No 19 Field Ambulance,

RAMC The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

Order of Battle on the Somme (Battle of Bazentin Ridge 14–17 July 1916) GOC: Maj-Gen

Claud Jacob Field Marshal Sir Claud William Jacob, (21 November 1863 – 2 June 1948) was a British Indian Army officer. He served in the First World War as commander of the Dehra Dun Brigade, as General Officer Commanding 21st Division and as General Offi ...

* 1st Division * 23rd Division * 34th Division From 12 May 1916 to October 1917, 1/1st Yorkshire Dragoons constituted

II Corps Cavalry Regiment II is the Roman numeral for 2. II may also refer to: Biology and medicine *Image intensifier, medical imaging equipment *Invariant chain, a polypeptide involved in the formation and transport of MHC class II protein *Optic nerve, the second c ...

. The regiment returned in March 1918 as II Corps Cyclist Battalion. Order of Battle at the start of the final advance in Flanders (27 September 1918) GOC:

Sir

9th (Scottish) Division The 9th (Scottish) Division, was an infantry division of the British Army during the First World War, one of the Kitchener's Army divisions raised from volunteers by Lord Kitchener to serve on the Western Front during the First World War. A ...

* 29th Division * 36th (Ulster) Division.

Second World War

On the outbreak of the

, II Corps was mobilised at

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

with two unprepared infantry divisions, under the command of Lieut-General

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

Alan Brooke Field Marshal Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, (23 July 1883 – 17 June 1963), 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 Sec ...

from Southern Command. II Corps' insignia, designed by its Chief of Staff,

Vyvyan Pope Lieutenant-General Vyvyan Vavasour Pope CBE DSO MC & Bar (30 September 1891 – 5 October 1941) was a senior British Army officer who was prominent in developing ideas about the use of armour in battle in the interwar years, and who briefly ...

, was a visual pun on the name of its commander, who was also a keen fisherman: it depicted a red leaping salmon upon three wavy blue bands against a white background, all in an oblong red border. The corps crossed to France to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) at the end of September 1939 and at once moved up to the

Belgium–France border The Belgium–France border, or more commonly the Franco-Belgian border, separates France and Belgium and is long. Part of it is defined by the Lys river. The western end is at the North Sea ( near De Panne and Bray-Dunes). The eastern end is a ...

. It took part in the advance into

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

to resist the

German invasion German invasion may refer to: Pre-1900s * German invasion of Hungary (1063) World War I * German invasion of Belgium (1914) * German invasion of Luxembourg (1914) World War II * Invasion of Poland * German invasion of Belgium (1940) * G ...

, and was then pushed back with the rest of the BEF to

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

. During the retreat, II Corps covered the vulnerable left flank of the BEF. On 29 May 1940, Brooke was ordered back to Britain to form a new force, and he handed over temporary command of II Corps to Maj-Gen

Bernard Montgomery Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and t ...

of 3rd Division. Under Montgomery, II Corps was evacuated from Dunkirk in June 1940.

Order of battle

Order of Battle at Dunkirk
GOC:

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

(until 30 May 1940)
Maj-General

(acting from 30 May 1940) * 3rd Infantry Division * 4th Infantry Division * 5th Infantry Division (in GHQ Reserve on 10 May) * 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division *

** 60th (North Midland) Army Field Regiment ** 88th (2nd West Lancashire) Army Field Regiment (attached to 1st Division 28 May) ** 53rd (London) Medium Regiment, ** 59th (4th West Lancashire) Medium Regiment ** 53rd (King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment ** 2nd Survey Regiment * II Corps Troops, Royal Engineers ** 222nd, 234th, 240th Army Field Companies ** 108th Corps Field Park Company ** 14th Corps Field Survey Company * 2nd (London) Corps Signals,

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communi ...

* Infantry—Machine Guns ** 2nd Battalion,

Royal Northumberland Fusiliers The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Raised in 1674 as one of three 'English' units in the Dutch Anglo-Scots Brigade, it accompanied William III to England in the November 1688 Glorious Revolution an ...

** 2nd and 1st/7th Battalions,

Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Re ...

Deception plans

After commanding forces in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, from Lower Hare Park near Newmarket within Eastern Command, II Corps was being disbanded in early 1944 when selected to be one of the two corps comprising the notional

British Fourth Army The Fourth Army was a field army that formed part of the British Expeditionary Force during the First World War. The Fourth Army was formed on 5 February 1916 under the command of General Sir Henry Rawlinson to carry out the main British contribu ...

, which under the deception plan Fortitude North was supposed to attack

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. For this operation II Corps was supposedly headquartered at

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, and notionally consisted of the genuine 3rd Infantry Division (shortly replaced by the notional 58th Infantry Division), the genuine 55th (West Lancashire) Infantry Division in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, and the genuine 113th Independent Infantry Brigade in

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

. Under Fortitude North II Corps was supposedly to attack

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

, with the 3rd Division (later the 58th) and supporting commandos and paratroops seizing the airfields, the 55th (West Lancashire) Division joining as followup; the genuine

U.S. XV Corps The XV Corps of the US Army was initially constituted on 1 October 1933 as part of the Organized Reserves, and was activated on 15 February 1943 at Camp Beauregard, Louisiana. During the Second World War, XV Corps fought for 307 days in the Euro ...

from Northern Ireland would augment the force, which would advance on

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. The corps was transferred to

First United States Army Group First United States Army Group (often abbreviated FUSAG) was a fictitious (paper command) Allied Army Group in World War II prior to D-Day, part of Operation Quicksilver, created to deceive the Germans about where the Allies would land in Fr ...

(FUSAG) in early June 1944 and moved to

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

; restored to Fourth Army when that formation joined FUSAG for Fortitude South II, headquarters now at

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, with under command the British 55th and 58th divisions and the British 35th Armoured Brigade. It was notionally transferred to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in late September, consisting of the essentially notional 55th Division, the genuine

79th Armoured Division The 79th Armoured Division was a specialist armoured division of the British Army created during the Second World War. The division was created as part of the preparations for the Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944, D-Day. Major-General Percy ...

, and the notional 76th Infantry Division; also apparently at times the genuine 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division, disbanded but notionally kept alive. It was notionally part of

First Canadian Army The First Canadian Army (french: 1reArmée canadienne) was a field army and a formation of the Canadian Army in World War II in which most Canadian elements serving in North-West Europe were assigned. It served on the Western Front from July 1944 ...

in the deception Operation Trolleycar II (threatening an attack on the Germans in the Netherlands) in November 1944.

Post Second World War

After the Second World War, as a genuine corps it was based in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

, controlling British forces around the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

. Following the British withdrawal from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

, II Corps was also the controlling force for the invasion of the country during the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

, seemingly controlling 3rd Infantry Division, under Major-General J.B. (Jack) Churcher, and 16th Parachute Brigade as well as 10th Armoured Division and

3 Commando Brigade 3 Commando Brigade (3 Cdo Bde), previously called the 3rd Special Service Brigade, is a commando formation of the British Armed Forces. It is composed of the Royal Marine Commandos, alongside commando qualified sailors, soldiers and airmen f ...

. Lieutenant-General

Hugh Stockwell General Sir Hugh Charles Stockwell, (16 June 1903 – 27 November 1986) was a senior British Army officer most remembered for commanding the Anglo-French ground forces during the Suez Crisis and his service as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander ...

commanded the corps during 'Musketeer.' On 31 July 1956 Stockwell, then commanding I Corps in Germany, received a message from the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

telling him to meet General Sir William Oliver, Vice-Chief of the Imperial General Staff, who flew to Germany to collect Stockwell so that he could be briefed by General Sir

Gerald Templer Field Marshal Sir Gerald Walter Robert Templer, (11 September 1898 – 25 October 1979) was a senior British Army officer. He fought in both the world wars and took part in the crushing of the Arab Revolt in Palestine. As Chief of the Imperia ...

Chief of the Imperial General 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. Prior to 1964, the title was Chief of the Imperial G ...

, back in London. Briefing Stockwell personally, Templer told him to hand over command of I Corps, but to take sufficient men from the corps staff as he would need to create another headquarters, II Corps, which was to "establish a planning cell in London as quickly as possible." Led by Kenneth Darling as Brigader, General Staff, this group was dispatched to London from

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

on 4 August to begin setting up the corps headquarters and begin the initial planning. They were installed the next day, Bank Holiday Monday, in the old underground wartime HQ under the Thames, the Montagu House Annex of the War Office. But as the planning continued Stockwell and his new headquarters were not controlling the formations which were to be involved: those in the Middle East and Cyprus were under GHQ

Middle East Land Forces Middle East Command, later Middle East Land Forces, was a British Army Command established prior to the Second World War in Egypt. Its primary role was to command British land forces and co-ordinate with the relevant naval and air commands to ...

, while those in the UK and Germany were directed for these purposes by the War Office through either Home commands or the

British Army of the Rhine There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. Both formations had areas of responsibility located a ...

. After the invasion had ended and the

United Nations Emergency Force The United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) was a military and peacekeeping operation established by the United Nations General Assembly to secure an end to the Suez Crisis of 1956 through the establishment of international peacekeepers on the bor ...

was arriving under the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...

general E. L. M. Burns, Stockwell returned to the UK, where II Corps was disbanded by being reintegrated back into I Corps.

General Officers Commanding

Commanders have included: * 1 October 1901 – 31 December 1904 General Sir Evelyn Wood * Aug 1914 Lieutenant-General James Grierson * Aug–Dec 1914 Lieutenant-General

* Jan 1915 – May 1916 Lieutenant-General

Charles Fergusson Sir Charles Fergusson, 7th Baronet, (17 January 1865 – 20 February 1951), was a British Army officer and the third Governor-General of New Zealand. Early life and military career Fergusson was the son of Sir James Fergusson, 6th Baronet, ...

* Sep 1916 – Sep 1919 Lieutenant-General

Claud Jacob at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
/ref> * Sep 1919 - Nov 1919 Lieutenant-General Sir

Alexander Godley General Sir Alexander John Godley, (4 February 1867 – 6 March 1957) was a senior British Army officer. He is best known for his role as commander of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force and II Anzac Corps during the First World War. Born in ...

* 1939–1940 Lieutenant-General Sir Alan Brooke * May–Jun 1940 Lieutenant-General

* 1940–1941 Lieutenant-General Edmund Osborne * 1941–1942 Lieutenant-General Kenneth Anderson * Apr–Sep 1942 Lieutenant-General James Steele * 1942–1943 Lieutenant-General

* Jul–Oct 1943 Lieutenant-General

Herbert Lumsden Lieutenant-General Herbert William Lumsden, & Bar, MC (8 April 1897 – 6 January 1945) was a senior British Army officer who fought in both the First and Second World Wars. He commanded the 1st Armoured Division in the Western Desert camp ...

* 1943–1944 Lieutenant-General Sir Desmond Anderson

Notes

References

* Sir Arthur Bryant, ''The Turn of the Tide, based on the War Diaries of Field Marshal Viscount Alanbrooke'', (London, 1959). * Lt-Col Ewan Butler & Maj J. S. Bradford, ''The Story of Dunkirk'', (London, nd). * * Colonel John K., Dunlop, ‘’The Development of the British Army 1899–1914’’, London, Methuen (1938). * J. B. M. Frederick, ''Lineage Book of British Land Forces 1660–1978'', Vol I, Wakefield: Microform Academic, 1984, ISBN 1-85117-007-3. * Peter Hofschroer, ‘’1815: The Waterloo Campaign: Wellington, his German Allies and the Battles of Ligny and Quatre Bras’’, London: Greenhill Books (1998) (). * Peter Hofschroer, ‘’1815: The Waterloo Campaign: The German Victory’’, London: Greenhill Books (1999) (). * Brig E. A. James, ''British Regiments 1914–18'', London: Samson Books, 1978, ISBN 0-906304-03-2/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2001, ISBN 978-1-84342-197-9. * JPS Cigarette card series, ''Army, Corps and Divisional Signs 1914–1918'', John Player and sons, 1920s. * Viscount Montgomery,''The Memoirs of Field-Marshal Montgomery'', (London, 1958). * * Official History 1914: Brigadier-General Sir James E. Edmonds, ''History of the Great War: Military Operations, France and Belgium, 1914'', Vol I, 3rd Edn, London: Macmillan,1933/Woking: Shearer, 1986, ISBN 0-946998-01-9/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2021, ISBN 978-1-78331-611-3. * Official History 1918: Brigadier-General Sir James E. Edmonds and Lieutenant-Colonel R. Maxwell-Hyslop, ''History of the Great War: Military Operations, France and Belgium 1918'', Vol V, ''26th September–11th November, The Advance to Victory'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1947/Imperial War Museum and Battery Press, 1993, ISBN 1-870423-06-2/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2021, ISBN 978-1-78331-624-3. *Official History 1939-40: Major L. F. Ellis
''History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: The War in France and Flanders 1939–1940'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1954/Uckfield: Naval & Military, 2004, 978-1-85457-056-6.

External sources

''The Long Long Trail''''Official History 1939-40''
* National Archives
II Corps and other files from Operation Musketeer
1956–58 {{DEFAULTSORT:02 Corps British field corps Corps of the British Army in World War I Corps of the British Army in World War II Military units and formations of the British Empire in World War II