The First Army was also part of the British Army during the
Second World War. It was formed to command the British and American land forces
which had landed as part of Operation Torch in Morocco and Algeria on 8
November 1942 and it was commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Kenneth Anderson.
First Army headquarters was formally activated on 9 November 1942 when Anderson
arrived in Algiers to assume command of the redesignated Eastern Task Force.
It initially consisted of British and American forces only.
After the surrender of French forces following the German abrogation of their
armistice agreement with Vichy France, French units were also added to its
order of battle. It eventually consisted of four corps, the U.S. II Corps, the
British V Corps, British IX Corps and French XIX Corps.
After the landings, Anderson's forces rushed east in a bid
to capture Tunis and Bizerte before German forces could reach there in large
numbers. They failed. After that failure, a period of consolidation was forced
upon them. The logistics support for the Army was greatly improved and
airfields for its supporting aircraft greatly multiplied. By the time the
British Eighth Army approached the Tunisian border from the east, following its
long pursuit of Erwin Rommel's forces after El Alamein, 1st Army was again
ready to strike.
Supported by elements of XII Tactical Air Command and No.
242 Group RAF, First Army carried the main weight of 18th Army Group's
offensive to conclude the Tunisia Campaign and finish off Axis forces in North
Africa. The victory was won in May 1943 in a surrender that, in numbers
captured at least, equalled Stalingrad. Shortly after the surrender, First Army
disbanded, having served its purpose.
No comments:
Post a Comment