VIII Corps was a

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 Gurkha ...

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 ...

formation that existed during the First and

Second World Wars 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 opposing ...

. In the latter, it took part in the Normandy Campaign in 1944, where it was involved in

Operation Epsom Operation Epsom, also known as the First Battle of the Odon, was a British offensive in the Second World War between 26 and 30 June 1944, during the Battle of Normandy. The offensive was intended to outflank and seize the German-occupied city ...

and

Operation Goodwood Operation Goodwood was a British offensive during the Second World War, which took place between 18 and 20 July 1944 as part of the larger battle for Caen in Normandy, France. The objective of the operation was a limited attack to the south, ...

. It would later play a supporting role in

Operation Market Garden Operation Market Garden was an Allies of World War II, Allied military operation during the World War II, Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a Salient (military), salient into G ...

and finish the war by advancing from the Rhine to the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

Prior to the First World War

In 1876, a Mobilisation Scheme was published for the forces in Great Britain and Ireland, which included eight army corps of the 'Active Army'. The '8th Corps' was to be headquartered at

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

and was primarily militia formation. In 1880, its order of battle was as follows: *1st Division (Edinburgh) **1st Brigade (Edinburgh) ***Kerry Militia (Tralee),

Northumberland Militia The Militia and Volunteers of Northumberland are those military units raised in the County independent of the regular Army. The "modern" militia dates from legislation enacted during the Seven Years' War. The volunteers had several forms and separa ...

(Alnwick), Fermanagh Militia (Enniskillen) **2nd Brigade ***Antrim Militia (Belfast), Cavan Militia (Cavan), Donegal Militia (Lifford) **Divisional Troops ***50th Foot (Edinburgh),

Ayrshire Yeomanry The Ayrshire (Earl of Carrick's Own) Yeomanry was a Regiment of the British Yeomanry and is now an armoured Squadron of the Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry (SNIY), part of the British Army Reserve. It is the Lowlands of Scotland's only Royal ...

(Ayr) **Artillery ***O/2nd Brigade RA (Glasgow) *2nd Division (Glasgow) **1st Brigade (Glasgow) ***Highland Borderers Militia (Stirling), Highland Rifles Militia (Dingwall), Scottish Borderers Militia (Dumfries) **2nd Brigade (Hamilton) ***Cumberland Militia (Carlisle), 1st Durham Militia (Barnard Castle), 2nd Durham Militia (Durham) **Divisional Troops ***Queen's Own

Lanarkshire Yeomanry The Lanarkshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1819, which served as a dismounted infantry regiment in the First World War and provided two field artillery regiments in the Second World War, before being am ...

(Glasgow) *3rd Division (Melrose) **1st Brigade (Melrose) ***

East York Militia The East York Militia was a part time home defence force in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The Militia and its predecessors had always been important in Yorkshire, and from its formal creation in 1759 the regiment served in home defence in all Brit ...

(Beverley), North York Militia (Richmond), Westmoreland Militia (Carlisle) **2nd Brigade *** 5th Royal Lancashire Militia (Burnley), 6th Royal Lancashire Militia (Richmond), 7th Royal Lancashire Militia (Bury) **Divisional Troops *** Northumberland and Newcastle Yeomanry (Newcastle) *Cavalry Brigade **

Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry The Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry was a Yeomanry Cavalry regiment of the British Army with its origins in 1798. The regiment provided troops for the Imperial Yeomanry during the Second Boer War and served on the Western Front in World War I ...

(Penrith), Lanark Yeomanry (Lanark), East Lothian Yeomanry (Dunbar) This scheme had been dropped by 1881.

First World War

Gallipoli

VIII Corps was first formed at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

during the First World War. The main British battle front was at Cape Helles on the tip of the Gallipoli peninsula. As the battle became protracted, more British divisions arrived as reinforcements. In May 1915, these divisions were arranged as the ''British Army Corps'', which was then redesignated as VIII Corps in June. The corps commander was Lieutenant-General

Aylmer Hunter-Weston Lieutenant General Sir Aylmer Gould Hunter-Weston (23 September 1864 – 18 March 1940) was a British Army officer who served in World War I at Gallipoli in 1915 and in the very early stages of the Somme Offensive in 1916. He was also a Scottis ...

. When Hunter-Weston relinquished command due to illness, the corps was commanded on a temporary basis by General Francis Davies. During the Gallipoli campaign, the corps contained the following units: * 29th Division - (moved to

IX Corps 9 Corps, 9th Corps, Ninth Corps, or IX Corps may refer to: France * 9th Army Corps (France) * IX Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars Germany * IX Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial Germ ...

at Suvla in August) *

42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division The 42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division was an infantry Division (military), division of the British Army. The division was raised in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force (TF), originally as the East Lancashire Division, and was redesignat ...

52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division The 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was originally formed as the Lowland Division, in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force. It later became the 52nd (Lowland) Division in 1915. The 52nd (Lowland ...

Royal Naval Division The 63rd (Royal Naval) Division was a United Kingdom infantry division of the First World War. It was originally formed as the Royal Naval Division at the outbreak of the war, from Royal Navy and Royal Marine reservists and volunteers, who wer ...

*29th Indian Infantry Brigade - (moved to

Australian and New Zealand Army Corps The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was a First World War army corps of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the Gallipoli campaign. General William Birdwood comma ...

in August) *

Corps of 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 ...

- 13th Base Park Company,

254th Tunnelling Company The 254th Tunnelling Company was one of the tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers created by the British Army during World War I. The tunnelling units were occupied in offensive and defensive mining involving the placing and maintaining of ...

and a Postal unit

Western Front

After the evacuation of Gallipoli, the corps was reformed in France in March 1916, once again under the command of Hunter-Weston, and participated in the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

. VIII Corps was disbanded in June 1918 when Hunter-Weston moved to the XVIII Corps; however, this corps was then redesignated as VIII Corps in July 1918.

Second World War

Home Defence

VIII Corps formed part of Home Forces in the UK during the early part of the Second World War. During the Autumn of 1940, it presided over the

3rd Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

and 48th (South Midland) Divisions. Later, it would also command the

77th Infantry Division 77th Division or 75th Infantry Division may refer to: * 77th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht), Germany * 77th Infantry Division of Khurasan, Iran * 77th Division (Imperial Japanese Army) * 77th Division (People's Republic of China) * 77th Division ( ...

. It was based at

Pyrland Hall Pyrland Hall is a country house near Cheddon Fitzpaine in the English county of Somerset. It is a Grade II* listed building. History Pyrland Hall was built around 1760 for Sir William Yea of the Yea baronets. It is a brick building with Bath st ...

near

Cheddon Fitzpaine Cheddon Fitzpaine is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the Quantock Hills north of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The village is situated near the Bristol and Exeter Railway, the Bridgwater and Taun ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

and its mission was to command the defence of Somerset,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

and

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

North West Europe

VIII Corps fought on the western front in 1944 and 1945 as part of the Second Army. From 21 January to 27 November 1944, it was commanded by Lieutenant-General

Richard O'Connor General Sir Richard Nugent O'Connor, (21 August 1889 – 17 June 1981) was a senior British Army officer who fought in both the First and Second World Wars, and commanded the Western Desert Force in the early years of the Second World War. ...

. At the start of the

Normandy Campaign Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norma ...

, it comprised: *

Guards Armoured Division The Guards Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army during the Second World War. The division was created in the United Kingdom on 17 June 1941 during the Second World War from elements of the Guards units, the Grenadier G ...

(later transferred to XXX Corps) * 11th Armoured Division (later transferred to XXX Corps) *

15th (Scottish) Infantry Division The 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that served during the Second World War. It was raised on 2 September 1939, the day before war was declared, as part of the Territorial Army (TA) and served in ...

(later transferred to

XII Corps 12th Corps, Twelfth Corps, or XII Corps may refer to: * 12th Army Corps (France) * XII Corps (Grande Armée), a corps of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * XII (1st Royal Saxon) Corps, a unit of the Imperial German Army * XII ...

) * 6th Guards Tank Brigade *

8th Army Group Royal Artillery 8th Army Group Royal Artillery (8 AGRA) was a brigade-sized formation organised by Britain's Royal Artillery (RA) during World War II to command medium and heavy guns. It served in the campaign in North West Europe, participating in the battles ...

** 61st (Caernarvon & Denbigh Yeomanry) Medium Regiment, RA ** 63rd (Midland) Medium Regiment, RA ** 77th (Duke of Lancaster's Own Yeomanry) Medium Regiment, RA ** 146th (Pembroke & Cardiganshire Yeomanry) Medium Regiment, RA **53rd Heavy Regiment, RA *Corps Troops: ** 2nd Household Cavalry Regiment **91st (

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

) Anti-Tank Regiment, RA ** 121st (Leicestershire Regiment) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA **10th Survey Regiment, RA **

VIII Corps Troops, Royal Engineers VIII Corps Troops, Royal Engineers (VIII CTRE) was a Battalion, battalion-sized unit of Royal Engineers (RE) attached to the British Army's VIII Corps (United Kingdom), VIII Corps Headquarters in World War II. It served with 21st Army Group during ...

**VIII Corps Signals It played a major role in Operations

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...

, Goodwood and Bluecoat, before being reduced in size and moved to the reserve prior to the breakout from Normandy. The Corps fought in a supporting role during

on the east flank of XXX Corps with

to the west of XXX Corps, capturing the Dutch towns of Deurne and

Helmond Helmond (; called ''Héllemond'' in the local dialect) is a city and municipality in the Metropoolregio Eindhoven of the province of North Brabant in the Southern Netherlands. Helmond is home to several textile and metal companies. The Vlisco fa ...

, and took part in the advance on

Venray Venray or Venraij (; li, Venroj) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg, the Netherlands. The municipality of Venray consists of 14 towns over an area of , with 43,494 inhabitants as o ...

and

Venlo Venlo () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany. It is situated in the province of Limburg (Netherland ...

. Then in

Operation Constellation ''Operation Constellation'' was the name of one of a number of missions proposed by Vice Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten in 1943 to take back the Channel Islands from German occupation during World War II. It was never mounted. The other missions w ...

beginning on 12 October 1944. VIII Corps, now commanded by Lieutenant-General

Evelyn Barker General Sir Evelyn Hugh Barker (22 May 1894 – 23 November 1983) was a British Army officer who saw service in both the First World War and the Second World War. During the latter, he commanded the 10th Brigade during the Battle of France in ...

, later took part in

Operation Plunder Operation Plunder was a military operation to cross the Rhine on the night of 23 March 1945, launched by the 21st Army Group under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. The crossing of the river was at Rees, Wesel, and south of the river Li ...

, crossed the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...

and occupied

Plön Plön (; Holsatian: ''Plöön'') is the district seat of the Plön district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and has about 8,700 inhabitants. It lies right on the shores of Schleswig-Holstein's biggest lake, the Great Plön Lake, as well as on ...

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...

Post-war

In the immediate post-war period, the corps formed VIII Corps District in

before being disbanded in 1946. Its final composition was: * 4th Armoured Brigade *

Jewish Infantry Brigade The Jewish Infantry Brigade Group, more commonly known as the Jewish Brigade Group or Jewish Brigade, was a military formation of the British Army in the World War II, Second World War. It was formed in late 1944 and was recruited among Yishuv, Y ...

* 7th Armoured Division ** 22nd Armoured Brigade ** 131st Infantry Brigade (detached to Berlin) ** 13th Infantry Brigade (attached from 5th Division) *

** 46th Infantry Brigade

General Officers Commanding

Commanders included: * 24 May – 17 Jul 1915 Lieutenant-General Sir Aylmer Hunter-Weston * 17 Jul – 24 Jul 1915 Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Stopford (temporary) * 24 Jul – 8 Aug 1915 Major-General William Douglas (acting) * 8 Aug 1915 – 27 Jan 1916 Lieutenant-General Sir Francis Davies :– * 18 Mar 1916 – 22 Jun 1918 Lieutenant-General Sir Aylmer Hunter-Weston :– * 2 Jul 1918 Lieutenant-General Sir Aylmer Hunter-Weston :– * Jul 1940 – May 1941 Lieutenant-General

Harold Franklyn General Sir Harold Edmund Franklyn, (28 November 1885 − 31 March 1963) was a British Army officer who fought in both the First and the Second World Wars. He is most notable for his command of the 5th Infantry Division during the Battle of F ...

* May–Nov 1941 Lieutenant-General Kenneth Anderson * Nov 1941 – Jan 1943 Lieutenant-General

Arthur Edward Grasett Lieutenant General Sir Arthur Edward Grasett (20 October 1888 – 4 December 1971) was a British-Canadian soldier who served with the British Army in Canada, England, India and China. Education Grasett was born in 1888 in Plymouth, the eldes ...

* Jan–Jul 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 ...

* Jul–Aug 1943 Lieutenant-General Sir Richard McCreery * Nov 1943 – Jan 1944 Lieutenant-General John Harding * Jan–Nov 1944 Lieutenant-General Sir Richard O'Connor * Dec 1944 – Apr 1946 Lieutenant-General

Notes

References

* Anon, ''British Army of the Rhine Battlefield Tour: Operation Bluecoat'', Germany: BAOR, 1947/Uckfield: Naval and Military Press, 2021, ISBN 978-1-78331-812-4. * *George Forty, ''British Army Handbook 1939-1945'', Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 1998 (). *Graham E. Watson & Richard A. Rinaldi, ''The British Army in Germany (BAOR and after): An organizational history 1947-2004'', Tiger Lily Publications, 2005. * Lt-Col H.F. Joslen, ''Orders of Battle, United Kingdom and Colonial Formations and Units in the Second World War, 1939–1945'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1960/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2003, ISBN 1-843424-74-6. * JPS Cigarette card series, ''Army, Corps and Divisional Signs 1914–1918'', John Player and sons, 1920s.

External sources

The Long, Long Trail
{{DEFAULTSORT:08 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