The First Army was a formation 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 ...

that existed during the First and

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 opposi ...

s. The First Army included Indian and

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

forces during the First World War and American and French units during the Second World War.

First World War

The First Army was part of the

British Army during the First World War The British Army during the First World War fought the largest and most costly war in its long history. Unlike the French and German Armies, the British Army was made up exclusively of volunteers—as opposed to conscripts—at the beginning ...

and was formed on 26 December 1914 when the

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 Expeditionary Force were divided into the First Army under Lieutenant-General Sir Douglas Haig and the Second Army under Horace Smith-Dorrien. First Army had the Ist, IVth and the

Indian Corps The I Indian Corps was an army corps of the British Indian Army in the World War I. It was formed at the outbreak of war under the title Indian Corps from troops sent to the Western Front. The British Indian Army did not have a pre-war corps stru ...

under command. It made advances of 1,200 yards at the beginning of the

Battle of Neuve Chapelle The Battle of Neuve Chapelle (10–13 March 1915) took place in the First World War in the Artois region of France. The attack was intended to cause a rupture in the German lines, which would then be exploited with a rush to the Aubers Ridge a ...

in March 1915 before the momentum died out. The First Army suffered reverses at Vimy Ridge in May 1916 and at Fromelles the following month. From 1917, the First Army also included the

Portuguese Expeditionary Corps The Portuguese Expeditionary Corps (CEP, Portuguese: ''Corpo Expedicionário Português'') was the main military force from Portugal that fought in the Western Front, during World War I. Portuguese neutrality ended in 1916 after the Portuguese ...

. The First Army took part in the 1918 offensive that drove the Germans back and virtually ended the war.

Commanders

* 26 December 1914 – 22 December 1915 General Sir Douglas Haig * 22 December 1915 – 4 February 1916 General Sir Henry Rawlinson * 4 February – 7 August 1916 General Sir Charles Monro * 7 August – 30 September 1916 Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Haking (temporary) * 30 September 1916 – 1918 General Sir Henry Horne

Second World War

The British First Army was reformed during the

. It was formed to command the American and British land forces which had landed as part of Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of

French North Africa French North Africa (french: Afrique du Nord française, sometimes abbreviated to ANF) is the term often applied to the territories controlled by France in the North African Maghreb during the colonial era, namely Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. I ...

, in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

and

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

on 8 November 1942. It was commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Kenneth Anderson. The First Army headquarters was formally activated on 9 November 1942 when Anderson arrived in Algiers to assume command of the redesignated Eastern Task Force. The First Army initially consisted of American and British formations only. After the surrender of French forces following the German abrogation of their armistice agreement with

Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its te ...

, French units were also added to the First Army's order of battle. It eventually consisted of four corps, the US II Corps, the British V Corps, British IX Corps and

French XIX Corps The 19th Army Corps (:fr:19e corps d'armée (France), 19e Corps d'Armée) was a corps of the French army. In December 1870, the Government of National Defense, Tours delegation created the 19th Army Corps which was formed in Alençon. It was recre ...

. After the landings, Anderson's forces rushed east in a bid to capture

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

and Bizerte before German forces could reach the two cities in large numbers. They failed. Following that lack of success, a period of consolidation was forced upon them. The logistics support for the First Army was greatly improved and bases for its accompanying aircraft greatly multiplied. By the time

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Sir Bernard Montgomery's British Eighth Army approached the

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

n border from the east, following its long pursuit of ''

Generalfeldmarschall ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (from Old High German ''marahscalc'', "marshal, stable master, groom"; en, general field marshal, field marshal general, or field marshal; ; often abbreviated to ''Feldmarschall'') was a rank in the armies of several ...

'' Erwin Rommel's forces after El Alamein, the First Army was again ready to strike. Supported by elements of XII Tactical Air Command and No. 242 Group RAF, the First Army carried the main weight of General Sir Harold Alexander's 18th Army Group's offensive to conclude the

Tunisian Campaign The Tunisian campaign (also known as the Battle of Tunisia) was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African campaign of the Second World War, between Axis and Allied forces from 17 November 1942 to 13 May 1943. Th ...

and finish

Axis forces The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

in North Africa off. The victory was won in May 1943 in a surrender that, in numbers captured at least, equalled Stalingrad. Shortly after the surrender, the First Army was disbanded, having served its purpose.

Commanders

*July 1942 – August 1942 Lieutenant-General Edmond Schreiber *August 1942 – July 1943 Lieutenant-General Kenneth AndersonOrders of Battle
/ref>

Notes

References

* * {{British armies, commands, and corps during the Second World War Military units and formations established in 1914 Military units and formations disestablished in 1943 1914 establishments in the United Kingdom 01 01 01 Military units and formations of the British Empire in World War II

First World War

Commanders

Second World War

Commanders

See also

Notes

References