Eighth Army (United Kingdom)
Western Army Army of the Nile Eighth Army | |
---|---|
Active | 10 September 1941–29 July 1945 |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | British Army |
Type | Field army |
Engagements | North African campaign Italian campaign |
The Eighth Army was a
It later directed Allied forces through the remaining engagements of the
Throughout its campaigns, it was a multi-national force and its units came from Australia, British India, Canada, Czechoslovakia, the Free French Forces, Greece, New Zealand, Poland, Rhodesia, South Africa, Mauritius, as well as the United Kingdom. Significant formations that the army controlled included the British V, X, XIII, and XXX Corps, as well as the I Canadian Corps and the II Polish Corps.
Background
The
On 10 June 1940, Italy entered the
History
Formation
During 1941, XIII Corps was the primary British formation in Egypt. The process of forming a second, initially known as the Armoured Corps before being renamed XXX Corps (this corps would not become active until October 1941), had also started. Due to the increased size of the British forces in Egypt and the forming second corps, it was decided in September 1941, that a field army headquarters was needed to direct these formations. On 10 September, the Western Army headquarters was established in Cairo. The name was subsequently changed to the Army of the Nile, before being changed to the Eighth Army on 26 September.[12][13] Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, sometimes referred to the army as the Western Desert Force.[14][15]
Churchill suggested General
The
Crusader to Gazala
One of the first tasks undertaken by the Eighth Army, with X Corps (Lieutenant-General William Holmes) that had recently arrived in Egypt, was to conduct preliminary work on defensive positions at El Alamein. This lasted until late October, when the corps moved to Syria and British Troops in Egypt took over responsibility.[18] From his appointment, Cunningham closely worked with Auchinleck to formulate the Crusader plan, which was to retake Cyrenaica and lift the siege of Tobruk. The Eighth Army established forward supply bases, field maintenance centres and constructed a 160 mi (260 km) pipeline to provide water.[21] On 18 November, the battle commenced. It saw the 118,000 men and 738 tanks of the Eighth Army, the main force coming from Egypt and also including the Tobruk garrison, engage the Italian-German force of 119,000 men and 552 tanks. The fighting started on 18 November and Crusader achieved its objectives by the end of the year.[22]
On 25 November, after a German counterattack into Egypt during Crusader had been repulsed, Cunningham was dismissed by Auchinleck. His replacement was Auchinleck's deputy chief of the general staff, Major-General Neil Ritchie, who was chosen due to his familiarity with the Crusader plan. The official history of the campaign recorded that the decision was made due to Auchinleck perceiving Cunningham as being too defensive minded. This resulted in a loss of confidence over his "ability to press to the bitter end the offensive he had been ordered to continue".[23] Evan McGilvray and Philip Warner, historians who have written about Auchinleck, added additional factors such as Auchinleck's concern that Cunningham was stressed, exhausted and had problems with his sight that would require time away from command.[24][25] Michael Carver, who fought in the battle and was later a field marshal and historian, concurred with the health assessment. He also noted that while Cunningham was "an imaginative choice", it was later clear his "appointment was a mistake" due to his lack of experience and confidence in the mobile requirements of the fighting in North Africa.[26] Neillands highlighted that Ritchie was thrust into a position where he, a major-general, was now charged with overseeing those who outranked him. This was compounded by a lack of experience in controlling formations or desert fighting and that for the ten-day period after his appointment, Auchinleck remained at Eighth Army headquarters and was effectively in command.[27]
Following Crusader, Ritchie and Auchinleck planned Operation Acrobat, an attack to capture the remainder of Italian Libya, Tripolitania (potentially in conjunction with an Allied landing in French Morocco). In late January 1942, the Axis forces counterattacked. Ritchie initially dismissed the seriousness of the Axis move and Auchinleck deemed it wiser to yield some territory while the Eighth Army continued to build its logistical base for Acrobat. The 1st Armoured Division bore the brunt of the attack and was pushed back, while it covered the retreat of the remainder of the Eighth Army to Gazala where it established a defensive line. In February, Lieutenant-General Reade Godwin-Austen, the commander XIII Corps, tendered his resignation as he believed Ritchie had ignored his advice during the retreat.[28][29] At Gazala, Ritchie planned a new offensive while supply bases were established and work was conducted to lengthen the supporting railroads into Libya. Auchinleck informed his superiors in the UK, that there was no timetable for such an attack, it would have to wait until sufficient tank strength had been established. A policy was also adopted that if forced to retreat, there would be no repeat of the siege of Tobruk. The same month, due to the Japanese entry into the war in December 1941, the 70th Infantry Division was withdrawn from the Eighth Army and sent to Asia. A warning that additional troops could be removed loomed over the army. Political pressure mounted for the Eighth Army to launch an offensive, which would support Malta and defeat the Axis powers in Africa prior to development of any potential Japanese threat to the Middle East and the army's supply lines; supply convoys ran from the UK, around the Cape of Good Hope, and then through the Indian Ocean to the Middle East.[30]
In May, an Axis attack on the Eighth Army was expected although an optimistic attitude was held that it would be repulsed, and the Italian-German defeat would allow for the capture of the remainder of Cyrenaica. The Battle of Gazala started on 26 May and resulted in a defeat for the Eighth Army. This included the Axis capture of Tobruk and 32,000 men (following a last-minute change in plans and the establishment of a garrison that included the 2nd South African Infantry Division) and the Eighth Army was forced to retreat.[31] Carver argued that Ritchie was not responsible for the loss of the battle, that was shouldered by his subordinates "for the dilatory fashion in which they exercised command".[32] Niall Barr, who wrote about the desert fighting in 1942, stated that Richie was too slow to react at key moments and that his "passivity doomed Bir Hakeim to slow strangulation and capture", which contributed to the defeat.[33] The official history explained this was the result of Auchinleck's influence over the Eighth Army and Ritchie. The latter, with no experience in desert warfare or command, retained the mentality of his prior positions rather than asserting his own authority and consulted with Auchinleck before taking action.[34] This position is echoed by David French, who noted that Richie's subordinates believed Auchinleck held sway, that their orders came directly from Auchinleck without Richie making changes based on local conditions; Ritchie held lengthy conferences that did not deliver precise instructions.[35] The Eighth Army retreated into Egypt with the intent to rebuild. Barr noted that this could have worked, had the Italian-German forces maintained their strategy of Operation Herkules, the capture of Malta. Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel, commander of the Panzer Army Africa, made the decision to pursue the Eighth Army, which turned the retreat into a rout and made any attempt to fight a delaying battle on the frontier impossible. As the army retreated further, Ritchie was determined to fight the final battle of the campaign at Mersa Matruh.[33]
Retreat into Egypt
On 25 June, Auchinleck decided to take direct control of the Eighth Army; a move that was supported by Churchill, who had called for such a change before Gazala. This also saw the rise in prominence of Major-General Eric Dorman-Smith, Auchinleck's Middle East Command chief of staff.[36][a] While Auchinleck and Dorman-Smith had a close working relationship and understood one another, the latter held an unofficial position within the Eighth Army. He produced battle plans that Auchinleck used but was under no responsibility to inform other members of the headquarters of these ideas. Auchinleck froze out members of the army's headquarters in favour of Dorman-Smith, resulting in confusion and animosity within the headquarters and with other officers.[37]
Auchinleck decided that a final battle would not take place at Mersa Matruh and ordered the reorganisation of the Eighth Army's divisions. He wanted them split between forward and rear elements. The former would contain one infantry brigade and all of the divisional artillery. They were to be mobile enough to allow independent operations back and forth across the desert, while the rear element would contain the remainder of the infantry that could not be motorised and would take up static positions. This was initially intended to be along the Libyan–Egyptian frontier, before they were directed to El Alamein to dig-in. Ian Playfair, the author of the official history, highlighted that British doctrine stated that during a retreat, a running battle was to be avoided and thus Auchinleck's changes – in the midst of a retreat and fighting – went against establish practice. Lieutenant-General Bernard Freyberg, commander of the 2nd New Zealand Division, was able to resist Auchinleck's desired changes as his division was politically protected; any change required the consent of the New Zealand government.[38][b]
On 14 June, X Corps was ordered from Syria to reinforce the Eighth Army. It assembled near Mersa Matruh on 22 June and handed over the tanks of the 8th Armoured Brigade to the 1st Armoured Division; the brigade was sent to the canal area to rebuild. Four days later, the Battle of Mersa Matruh began. While there were some tactical successes, by the evening of the next day, the Eighth Army started to withdraw. Due to communication breakdowns and tactical changes, the New Zealand Division was surrounded and had to fight its way out. X Corps was out of radio contact and were not informed of the withdrawal until 28 June, when they were able to escape although due to the loss of equipment and unit cohesion its divisions were in need of rest and refitting following the battle.[36][40]
The battles of El Alamein
By 30 June, the vanguard of the Axis forces made contact with the Eighth Army at El Alamein. This new position offered a stronger defensive position, with its northern flank protected by the Mediterranean coast and by the
The fighting in North Africa had caused concern with the British public and in the United States where Churchill had just visited to conduct the
Barr highlighted that the "fortnight of confusion" has generally been overstated and the Eighth Army was rather unscathed by the command changes. While it was a political necessity for Montgomery to distance himself from his predecessors, planning that Auchinleck, Dorman-Smith, Gott and de Guingand (who retained his position) had developed for defensive and offensive operations were retained and laid the groundwork for the following two battles at el Alamein.[42] To address morale, Montgomery made a determined and deliberate effort to appeal to the troops. He delivered pep talks to groups of soldiers, was open to discuss policy with the rank and file and used these opportunities to disperse the Rommel myth.[44] In August, the Eighth Army established its first medical center for soldiers suffering from battle exhaustion, where they could rest for short periods.[45] Churchill returned to Egypt in late August, following the Moscow conference and spent two days with the Eighth Army culminating with his report that there had been "a complete change of atmosphere" within the army.[46] At the end of August and stretching into September, the Eighth Army defeated the next Axis offensive, the Battle of Alam el Halfa. This was followed, in November, by the Eighth Army's offensive, the Second Battle of El Alamein that resulted in the Axis defeat and a pursuit across Libya to Tunisia.[47]
Tunisian campaign
After the chase across Libya, the Eighth Army engaged in the Battle of the Mareth Line on the Tunisian border in February 1943, where it then came under the control of 18th Army Group. The army outflanked the Mareth defences in March 1943 and after further fighting alongside the First Army, the other 18th Army Group component, which had been conducting the Tunisian campaign since November 1942, the Axis forces in North Africa surrendered in May 1943.[48]
Italian Campaign
The Eighth Army then participated in the Italian Campaign which began with the Allied invasion of the island of Sicily, code-named Operation Husky. When the Allies subsequently invaded mainland Italy, elements of the Eighth Army landed in the 'toe' of Italy in Operation Baytown and at Taranto in Operation Slapstick. After linking its left flank with the U.S. Fifth Army, led by General Mark W. Clark, which had landed at Salerno on the west coast of Italy south of Naples, the Eighth Army continued fighting its way up Italy on the eastern flank of the Allied forces. Together these two armies made up the Allied Armies in Italy (later redesigned 15th Army Group, under General Sir Harold Alexander.[49]
At the end of 1943, General Montgomery was transferred to Britain to begin preparations for Operation Overlord. Command of the Eighth Army was given to Lieutenant-General Oliver Leese, previously the commander of XXX Corps, which was being returned to England.[52]
Following three unsuccessful attempts in early 1944 by the U.S. Fifth Army to break through the German defensive positions known to the Allies as the Winter Line, the Eighth Army was covertly switched from the Adriatic coast in April 1944 to concentrate all forces, except the V Corps, on the western side of the Apennine Mountains alongside the U.S. Fifth Army in order to mount a major offensive with them. This fourth Battle of Monte Cassino was successful with the Eighth Army breaking into central Italy and the Fifth Army entering Rome in early June.[53]
After the Allied capture of Rome, the Eighth Army continued the fight northwards through central Italy to capture Florence. The end of the summer campaign found Allied forces butting up against the Gothic Line. The Eighth Army returned to the Adriatic coast and succeeded in forcing the Gothic line defences, but ultimately the Allied forces could not break into the Po valley before the onset of winter forced an end to serious offensive operations. During October, Leese was reassigned to South East Asia Command, and Lieutenant-General Sir Richard L. McCreery, who had previously commanded X Corps, replaced him.[54]
The
Aftermath
At the end of the war, the army moved into Austria and became part of the Allied-occupation force. On 29 July 1945, the army was disbanded and its forces were used to form the command British Troops Austria. The new command maintained the gold crusader cross insignia of the Eighth Army.[14][56]
General officer commanding
No. | Appointment date | Rank | General officer commanding | Source(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 24 September 1941 | Lieutenant-General
|
Alan Cunningham | [57] |
2 | 26 November 1941 | Lieutenant-General (Acting)
|
Neil Ritchie | [58] |
3 | 25 June 1942 | General | Sir Claude Auchinleck
|
[34] |
4 | 15 August 1942 | Lieutenant-General
|
Bernard Montgomery | [59] |
5 | 30 December 1943 | Lieutenant-General
|
Oliver Leese | [60] |
6 | 1 October 1944 | Lieutenant-General
|
Richard McCreery | [61] |
Veterans
After the war, veterans from the Eighth Army organized Annual Reunions at the Royal Albert Hall. Then, in the late 1970s, the Eighth Army Veterans Association was formed. At the height of its membership, there were over 35 branches, with a particular strength in the North West of the UK.[62]
Order of battle
- Crusader
- Gazala
- Alam el Halfa
- Second Battle of El Alamein
- Mareth Line
- Wadi Akarit
- Invasion of Sicily
- Invasion of Italy
- Second Battle of Monte Cassino
- Diadem
- Moro River Campaign
- Gothic Line
- 1945 Spring offensive
See also
- British military history of World War II
- Jewish Brigade
- John Whiteley
- William Ramsden
- The Third Man
Notes
Footnotes
- ^ On assuming control of the army, Auchinleck suggested that General Harold Alexander replace him as commander-in-chief of Middle East Command. This suggestion was rejected to avoid further political turmoil stemming from the defeat of the Eighth Army.[36]
- ^ The division had its transport deficiencies made up by removing vehicles from the 10th Indian Infantry Division. This allowed two brigades to be moved to the front, after the division's transfer from Syria. The third brigade, as the result of a lack of transport, was left at El Alamein.[39]
Citations
- ^ Jeffery 1984, p. 110.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 1–3.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 6–8.
- ^ Gibbs 1976, pp. 484–486.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 100, 208–211.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 362–366, 371–376, 289.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 19–41.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 159–162.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 163, 167–173.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 253–254.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 24–25.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 1, 403.
- ^ Warner 2006, p. 99.
- ^ a b "Badge, Formation, 8th Army". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 97, 104; Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 97, 104, 162, 170–173, 365; Warner 2006, p. 99.
- ^ a b Playfair et al. 2004, p. 1.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 303–304, 316, 365.
- ^ a b Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 1–2.
- ^ Forty 2014, p. 15.
- ^ Neillands 2005, p. 13.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 5–6, 10.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 29–30, 33, 38, 97.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 59–61.
- ^ Warner 2006, p. 109.
- ^ McGilvray 2020, pp. 101–102.
- ^ Carver 2005, p. 271.
- ^ Neillands 2005, p. 86.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 140–147, 151–152.
- ^ Mackenzie 1951, pp. 554–555.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 197–204, 215.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 216, 223, 274.
- ^ Carver 2002, p. 104.
- ^ a b Barr 2004, Chapter 1: War in the Desert.
- ^ a b Playfair et al. 2004, p. 285.
- ^ French 2001, pp. 229–230.
- ^ a b c Barr 2004, Chapter 2: The Swing of the Pendulum.
- ^ Barr 2004, Chapter 3: The Armies at El Alamein.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 285–287.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, p. 287.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 281, 288–295.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 333–335.
- ^ a b c Barr 2004, Chapter 11: Interregnum.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 361–365, 367–370.
- ^ French 2001, p. 150.
- ^ French 2001, p. 140.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, p. 370.
- ^ Green, Major Dennis C. (1984). Historical Battle Analysis, El Alamein and the Principles of War (PDF). p. 20. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 October 2021.
{{cite book}}
:|website=
ignored (help) - ^ Walker 2006, p. 193
- ^ Mead p. 44
- ^ "THE BRITISH ARMY IN SICILY, AUGUST 1943". Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
- ^ "Quei bambini sul carro armato – la Repubblica.it". Archivio – la Repubblica.it (in Italian). 11 June 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
- ^ "The Commander of the 8th Army in Italy, Lieutenant-General Oliver Leese, Italy, 30 April 1944". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
- ^ "1944: Celebrations as Rome is liberated". BBC. 5 June 1944. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
- ^ "McCreery, Sir Richard Loudon (1898-1967), General". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. Archived from the original on 31 July 2007. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
- ISBN 978-1841762371.
- ^ "The Eighth Army Disbanded: From Alamein to the Alps". The Times. No. 50207. 30 July 1945.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 316, 365.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, pp. 60–61.
- ^ Playfair et al. 2004, p. 396.
- ^ Molony et al. 2004, p. 510.
- ^ Jackson & Gleave 2004, p. 355.
- ^ Eighth Army Veterans (City of Manchester) Archived 21 June 2006 at the Wayback Machine, accessed October 2012.
References
- Barr, Niall (2004). Pendulum of War: The Three Battles of El Alamein. London: Jonathan Cape. ISBN 978-0-22406-195-7.
- ISBN 978-1-47380-042-7.
- ISBN 978-1-86227-153-1.
- Forty, George (2014). Desert Rats at War: North Africa, Italy, Northwest Europe. Not identified: Air Sea Media. ISBN 978-0-95769-155-1.
- French, David (2001) [2000]. Raising Churchill's Army: The British Army and the War Against Germany 1919–1945. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-199-24630-4.
- ISBN 978-0-116-30181-9.
- ISBN 978-1-84574-071-9.
- ISBN 978-0-71901-717-9.
- OCLC 59637091.
- McGilvray, Evan (2020). Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 978-1-52671-610-1.
- Mead, Richard (2007). Churchill's Lions: a biographical guide to the key British generals of World War II. Stroud (UK): Spellmount. ISBN 978-1-86227-431-0.
- Molony, C.J.C.; et al. (2004) [1973]. The Mediterranean and Middle East: The Campaign in Sicily 1943 and The Campaign in Italy 3rd September 1943 to 31st March 1944. History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series. Vol. V. London: Naval & Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84574-069-6.
- Moorehead, Alan (1967). The March to Tunis: The North African War 1940–1943. New York: Harper and Row.
- ISBN 978-1-58567-689-7.
- ISBN 978-1-84574-065-8.
- Playfair, I. S. O.; et al. (2004) [1956]. Butler, J. R. M. (ed.). The Mediterranean and Middle East: The Germans Come to the Help of their Ally (1941). History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series. Vol. II. London: Naval & Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84574-066-5.
- Playfair, I. S. O.; et al. (2004) [1960]. Butler, J. R. M. (ed.). The Mediterranean and Middle East: British Fortunes Reach their Lowest Ebb (September 1941 to September 1942). History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series. Vol. III. London: Naval & Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84574-067-2.
- Playfair, I. S. O.; et al. (2004) [1966]. Butler, J. R. M. (ed.). The Mediterranean and Middle East: The Destruction of Axis Forces in Africa. History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series. Vol. IV. London: Naval & Military Press. ISBN 978-184574-068-9.
- Stewart, Adrian (2002). Early Battles of the Eighth Army: Crusader to the Alamein Line. Barnsley, England: Pen & Sword. ISBN 978-0850528510.
- Walker, Ian (2006). Iron Hulls, Iron Hearts: Mussolini's Elite Armoured Divisions in North Africa. Ramsbury: Crowood. ISBN 1-86126-839-4.
- Warner, Philip (2006) [1981]. Auchinleck: The Lonely Soldier. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 978-1-844-15384-8.
External links
- A personal account of the 8th Army Archived 7 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- Eighth Army Deeds