| Unit Name: | British Army of the Rhine |
| Dates: | 1919–1929 1945–1994 |
| Country: |  United Kingdom |
| Command Structure: | British ArmyBritish Forces GermanyNorthern Army Group |
| Garrison: | JHQ Rheindahlen, Germany |
British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was the name given to two British Army formations of the same name. Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, the first after the First World War and the other, active after the Second World War and during the Cold War, eventually becoming part of NATO's contribution to allied forces there. Both formations had areas of responsibility located around the German section of the River Rhine.
During the Cold War, the second formation was attached to NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) and tasked with defending the North German Plain, in the northern part of West Germany, from the armies of the Warsaw Pact. The BAOR by then constituted the bulk of British forces in West Germany, and was a part of British Forces Germany (BFG). The BFG was made up of elements of the three services based in West Germany, and the BAOR controlled the elements of the Army stationed there.
The first British Army of the Rhine was set up in March 1919 to implement the occupation of the Rhineland. It was originally composed of five corps, composed of two divisions each, plus a cavalry division:[1]
Commanded by Sir Claud Jacob
Commanded by Sir Alexander Godley
Commanded by Sir Aylmer Haldane
Commanded by Sir Walter Braithwaite and later by Ivor Maxse
Commanded by Sir Thomas Morland
Cavalry Division (formed from 1st Cavalry Division)
Most of these units were progressively dissolved, so that by February 1920 there were only regular battalions:
In August 1920 Winston Churchill, as Secretary of State for War, told Parliament that the BAOR was made up of approximately 13,360 troops, consisting of staff, cavalry, Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers, infantry, machine gun corps, tanks and the usual ancillary services. The troops were located principally in the vicinity of Cologne at an approximate cost per month of £300,000.[2] The Cologne Post was a newspaper published for members of the BAOR during this period.[3]
From 1922 the BAOR was organised into two brigades:[1]
1st Rhine Brigade
2nd Rhine Brigade
The commanders were:[4]
See main article: British Occupation zone in Germany and NORTHAG wartime structure in 1989.
The second British Army of the Rhine was formed on 25 August 1945 from the British Liberation Army.[5] Its original function was to control the corps districts which were running the military government of the British zone of Allied-occupied Germany. After the assumption of government by civilians, it became the command formation for the troops in West Germany only, rather than being responsible for administration as well.[6]
As the potential threat of Soviet invasion across the North German Plain into West Germany increased, BAOR became more responsible for the defence of West Germany than its occupation. It became the primary formation controlling the British contribution to NATO, after the formation of the alliance in 1949. Its primary combat formation was British I Corps. From 1952, the commander-in-chief of the BAOR was also the commander of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) in the event of a general war with the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies. The BAOR's 50 Missile Regiment Royal Artillery was formerly armed with tactical nuclear weapons, including the MGM-52 Lance surface-to-surface tactical nuclear missile.[7] In 1967, the force was reduced in strength to 53,000 soldiers, compared with 80,000, ten years earlier.[8]
With the end of the Cold War, the 1993 Options for Change defence cuts resulted in BAOR being reduced in size, and in 1994 it became British Forces Germany.[9] This force, roughly 25,000 strong, was divided between Headquarters Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps, 1st Armoured Division, other combat support and combat service support forces, and administrative elements headed by United Kingdom Support Command (Germany). Garrisons which closed at this time included Soest (home of the 6th Armoured Brigade),[10] Soltau (home of the 7th Armoured Brigade)[11] and Minden (home of the 11th Armoured Brigade).[12]
Following the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the permanent deployment of British Army units in Germany was reduced. The last military base was handed to the German Bundeswehr in February 2020.[13]
The commanders were:[4]