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IV Corps
Active	1914 - c1918 1940 - 1945
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Engagements	1st Battle of Ypres Battle of Neuve Chapelle 2nd Battle of Ypres Battle of Aubers Ridge Battle of Festubert Battle of Loos Operations on the Ancre The German retreat to the Hindenburg Line Battle of Cambrai 1st & 2nd Battles of the Somme 1918 Battles of the Hindenburg Line The Final Advance in Picardy Norwegian campaign Burma Campaign
Commanders
Notable commanders	Lieutenant General Sir Henry Rawlinson Lieutenant General Claude Auchinleck Lieutenant General Noel Irwin Lieutenant General Geoffrey Scoones Lieutenant General Frank Messervy

IV Corps was an army corps of the British Army formed in both the First World War and the Second World War. During World War I it served in Norway and Britain until Japan entered the war and India was threatened with attack, it was transferred to India.

Contents 1 Prior to World War I 2 World War I 2.1 Composition in World War I 3 World War II 3.1 India / Burma 4 Notes 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Prior to World War I

In 1876 a Mobilisation Scheme for eight army corps was published, with '4th Corps' headquartered at Dublin and comprising the units of Irish Command. This scheme had been dropped by 1881.^[1] The 1901 Army Estimates (introduced by St John Brodrick when Secretary of State for War) allowed for six army corps based on the six regional commands: IV Corps was to be formed by Eastern Command with headquarters in London. It was to comprise 27 artillery batteries (18 Regular, 6 Militia and 3 Volunteer) and 25 infantry battalions (8 Regular, 8 Militia and 9 Volunteers).^[2] Under Army Order No 38 of 1907 the corps titles disappeared, but Eastern Command continued to be a major administrative organisation, controlling two cavalry brigades and one infantry division (4th Division).^[3]

[edit] World War I

The Corps had its origin in a force operating independently in Belgium under the command of Lieut-Gen Sir Henry Rawlinson. It was transferred from War Office control to the BEF on 9 October 1914, and the BEF"s commander, Sir John French, constituted it as IV Corps.^[4] It bore the brunt of the defence at the First Battle of Ypres.^[5] Initially it comprised the 7th Infantry Division and 3rd Cavalry Division, but these were transferred in late October. IV Corps was reconstituted on 6 November.^[6] It then fought at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle and subsidiary actions, the Battle of Aubers Ridge, and The Battle of Festubert, the Battle of Loos and associated actions, took part in the Battle of the Ancre, the German Retreat to the Hindenburg Line, the Battle of Cambrai and associated actions, the First Battles of the Somme and associated actions , the Second Battle of the Somme, the Battle of St. Quentin Canal and associated actions, and the final advance in Picardy.

[edit] Composition in World War I

The composition of army corps changed frequently. Some representative orders of battle for IV Corps are given here.

Order of Battle at Ypres 10 November 1914:^[7]

GOC: Lieut-Gen Sir Henry Rawlinson

• Brigadier-General, General Staff: R.A.K. Montgomery
• Brigadier-General, Royal Artillery: A.H. Hussey
• Colonel, Royal Engineers: R.U.H. Buckland

• 7th Division
• 8th Division

By the time of the battles of Aubers Ridge and Festubert (May 1915), IV Corps still had 7th and 8th Divisions under command, but had been reinforced by 49th (West Riding) Division of the Territorial Force.^[8] Once the era of trench warfare had set in on the Western Front (1915–17), the BEF left its army corps in position for long periods, so that they became familiar with their sector, while rotating divisions as they required rest, training, or transfer to other sectors.^[9]

Order of Battle at the start of the final advance in Picardy (27 September 1918)^[10]

GOC: Lieut-Gen Sir Montagu Harper

• 5th Division
• 37th Division
• 42nd(East Lancashire) Division
• New Zealand Division.

[edit] World War II

The Corps was reformed in Scotland on 15 January 1940 in anticipation of operations in Norway, or perhaps Finland (part of a projected intervention in the Russo-Finnish Winter War). From March to May, 1940, parts of the corps fought at Narvik and Trondheim in the Norwegian campaign. Its commander was Lieutenant General Claude Auchinleck.^[11]

After the Norwegian campaign ended, the Corps first commanded most of the armoured reserves preparing to face the proposed German invasion of Britain (Operation Sealion), while the other corps headquarters which had been evacuated from Dunkirk in Operation Dynamo were reorganised. IV Corps was envisaged as a counter-attack force under Lieut-Gen Sir F. Nosworthy. ^[12] Once the danger of invasion was over, the corps was heavily involved in training and developing tactical doctrine.

In 1942, the Corps headquarters was dispatched to Iraq, as part of Middle East Command. Its commander was Lieutenant General T.W. Corbett. In 1942, Corbett was appointed Chief of Staff of Middle East Command and Lieutenant General Noel Irwin took over IV Corps.

[edit] India / Burma

Following the Japanese conquest of Burma, several British divisions from Britain and the Middle East, and IV Corps headquarters, were deployed to India. Once in India, the skeleton formation was filled out with Indian signals and line-of-communications units, and took over from the ad hoc Burma Corps headquarters, which was disbanded, at Imphal in Manipur in north-eastern India. It reported to Eastern Army. The Corps adopted a badge of a charging elephant, in black on a red background.

In July 1942, Irwin was promoted to command Eastern Army. His successor in command of IV Corps was Lieutenant General Geoffrey Scoones. It was engaged in patrol activity as far as the Chindwin River and construction of airfields and roads. From late 1943, the Corps formed part of the newly-created Fourteenth Army.

In 1944, the Japanese sought to disrupt Allied attacks into Burma by launching an attack of their own, codenamed U-Go, against Imphal. This resulted in the epic Battle of Imphal. At the start of the battle the Corps consisted of the Indian 17th, 20th and 23rd divisions, with the Indian 50th Parachute Brigade and 254th Indian Tank Brigade. During the early stages of the battle, the Indian 5th Division was flown into Imphal to join the corps.

The Corps was surrounded by Japanese forces but eventually defeated their attackers. Supplies and reinforcements were flown in to help the besieged troops, while casualties and non-combatants were flown out. The siege ended on 22 June, when troops from IV Corps met the relieving forces from XXXIII Corps north of Imphal. From then until the monsoon ended later in the year, formations from IV Corps (the 5th Indian Division and the newly-arrived 11th East African Division) cleared the Japanese from east of the Chindwin, and established several bridgeheads across the river.

In November 1944, as the rains ended, Fourteenth Army prepared to make a decisive attack into Central Burma. Lieutenant General Scoones was appointed to Central Command, an army-level headquarters in India, and replaced in charge of IV Corps by Lieutenant General Frank Messervy. In preparation for the offensive, several divisions were organised as motorised and air-portable formations.

The offensive began with IV Corps on the left of Fourteenth Army, led by the newly-arrived 19th Indian Division. It became apparent that the Japanese had fallen back behind the Irrawaddy River. The 19th Division was transferred to XXXIII Corps and IV Corps was switched to the right flank of the Army, advancing down the Gangaw valley west of the Chindwin, led by the East African 28th Infantry Brigade and an ad-hoc infantry formation, the Lushai Brigade. In late February, the 7th Indian Infantry Division won bridgeheads over the Irrawaddy. The motorised 17th Indian division, with the M4 Sherman tanks of the 255th Indian Tank Brigade, followed up through these bridgeheads and struck struck deep into Japanese occupied territory to capture the vital transportation and supply centre of Meiktila. Reinforced by troops landed at the airfields near the town, it defended against Japanese counter-attacks during March.

Following the Japanese defeat in Central Burma, Fourteenth Army was reorganised. IV Corps now commanded the motorised 5th and 17th Indian Divisions, the 19th Indian Division (which remained on a mixed animal and motor transport establishment), and the 255th Tank Brigade. During April, the 5th and 17th Divisions alternated in the lead of the final drive on Rangoon down the Sittang River valley, while the 19th Division secured the corps' line of communications. By the start of May, when the monsoon began, the Corps had been held up 40 miles (64 km) from Rangoon. However, Rangoon was captured by an amphibious landing Operation Dracula, having been abandoned by its garrison.

Shortly after the fall of Rangoon, IV Corps was withdrawn from the control of Fourteenth Army and placed under the newly-activated Twelfth Army. Temporarily commanded by Lieutenant General F. S. Tuker, it was responsible for mopping up the remaining Japanese forces in Burma until the end of the war. The Corps was deactivated shortly after the end of hostilities.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Army List 1876–1881.
2. ^ Dunlop.
3. ^ Dunlop.
4. ^ Official History: 1914 Volume II, p.65.
5. ^ http://www.1914-1918.net/bat7.htm
6. ^ Official History: 1914 Volume II, Appendix I.
7. ^ Official History: 1914, Volume II, Appendix I.
8. ^ Offcial History 1915, Volume II, Appendix 2.
9. ^ Sanders Marble, 'Offensive versus Subsidiary Attacks, 1916–1918: The British Expeditionary Force Balancing its Options', Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, Volume 87, No 351 (Autumn 2009).
10. ^ Official History: 1918, Volume V, Appendix 1.
11. ^ Official History: Norway
12. ^ Bryant: Alanbrooke diary 18 September 1940

[edit] References

• Bryant, Sir Arthur, The Turn of the Tide: Based on the War Diaries of Field Marshal Viscount Alanbrooke, London: Collins, 1957.
• Dunlop, Col John K., The Development of the British Army 1899–1914, London: Methuen, 1938.
• Latimer, Jon Burma: The Forgotten War, London: John Murray, 2004 (ISBN 0-7195-6576-6)
• Official History: 1914: Edmonds, Brigadier-General Sir James E., Military Operations France and Belgium, 1914 Volume II: Antwerp, La Bassee, Armentieres, Messines, and Ypres October–November 1914, London: HMSO, 1925 (reprint Imperial War Museum, nd) (ISBN-1-870423-55-0).
• Official History 1915: Edmonds, Brigadier-General Sir James E.,and Wynne, Capt G.C., Military Operations France and Belgium, 1915 Volume II: Battle of Aubers Ridge, Festubert, and Loos, London: Macmillan, 1928.
• Official History: 1918: Edmonds, Brigadier-General Sir James E., and Maxwell-Hyslop, Lieutenant-Colonel R., Military Operations France and Belgium, 1918, Volume V: 26th September-11th November: The Advance to Victory, London: HMSO, 1947 (reprint Imperial War Museum, 1993) (ISBN-1-87023-06-2).
• Official History: Norway: Derry, T.K., The Campaign in Norway, London: HMSO, 1952.

[edit] External links

• The Long Long Trail http://www.1914-1918.net/index.htm.
• globalsecurity.org
• IV Corps at Orders of Battle.com^?