Exercise Spartan was a

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

exercise that took place from 4 to 12 March 1943 in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It was a test of the structures, components, and organization of the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), 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 re ...

at that time. The exercise was the largest field force ever commanded by a Canadian officer up until that time. It was described by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' as “the greatest offensive exercise ever staged in the military history of these islands.”C.P. Stacey
''CMHQ Report 94'', ''Exercise Spartan, March 1943''.
12 May 1943.

Background

Exercise Spartan was a follow-up to Exercise Bumper conducted in October 1941. This one however, was an offensive exercise where the Allied Army under the command of a Canadian General was expected to advance across a bridgehead and take the capital city of the fictional enemy country of Eastland which was located at

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver C ...

.Rickard, John Nelso
"The Test of Command: McNaughton and Exercise “Spartan,” 4–12 March 1943."
Canadian Military History 8, 3 (1999)

Purpose of the Exercise

The exercise was part of series of exercises intended to prepare allied forces for the eventual invasion of North Western Europe. It was meant to trial the formations, commanders and support functions. Many newer capabilities were also tried for the first time including the coordination between air and land forces during offensive operations. General McNaughton described the purpose of the exercise as follows in an after action report:

''This large scale exercise was designed as a strict test of the physical condition and endurance of the troops, their proficiency in movement and tactics and of the ability of commanders and staffs to administer, handle and fight their formations and units.''

Order of Battle

The exercise had the

First Canadian Army The First Canadian Army () 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 until May 1945. It was Cana ...

face off against

British troops The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Gurkhas, 25,742 volunteer reserve personnel and 4,697 "other personnel", for a total of 108,4 ...

who were fulfilling the role of the

German army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

First Canadian Army

German Forces, or Eastland

Results of the Exercise

While many lessons were learned throughout the exercise, the main result was that LGen McNaughton performance in command of the

1st Canadian Army The First Canadian Army () 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 campaign, North-West Europe were assigned. It served on the Western Front (World War II), ...

was deemed unsatisfactory and he was relieved of command. Command was eventually given to General Crerar (1 Canadian Corps Commander during the Exercise). While it was clear since at least 1941 General Sir Alan Brooke had had issue with McNaughton, it seems that Brooke was able to use McNaughton’s performance during Ex Spartan to relieve him.

References

{{reflist

External links

World War II Today, ''British exercise tests Canadian Command''

Exercise Bumper
United Kingdom in World War II