III Corps (United Kingdom)


III Corps was an army corps of the British Army formed in both the First World War and the Second World War.

Prior to the First World War

In 1876, a mobilisation scheme for eight army corps was published, with '3rd Corps' headquartered at Croydon and composed of the guards regiments. In 1880 its order of battle was:
This scheme had been dropped by 1881. The Stanhope Memorandum of 1891 laid down the policy that after providing for garrisons and India, the army should be able to mobilise three army corps for home defence, two of regular troops and one partly of militia, each of three divisions. The 1901 army estimates introduced by St John Brodrick allowed for six army corps based on the six regional commands. From 1 October 1901, the Duke of Connaught held the dual commands of CinC Ireland and GOCinC III Corps. Under Army Order No 38 of 1907, the title III Corps disappeared, but the Irish Command was constituted as a corps comprising 3rd Cavalry Brigade, 5th Infantry Division and 6th Infantry Division.

First World War

Pre-war planning for the British Expeditionary Force did not envisage any intermediate headquarters between GHQ and the six infantry divisions. However, on mobilisation the decision was made to conform to the two-division army corps organisation employed by the French armies alongside which the BEF was to operate and corps HQs therefore had to be improvised. III Corps HQ was formed in France on 31 August 1914 under Sir William Pulteney, taking over 4th Division, part of which had already fought at Le Cateau, and 6th Division, which arrived in early September. It was first engaged in the First Battle of the Marne, and remained on the Western Front throughout the Great War.

First World War composition

The composition of army corps changed frequently. Some representative orders of battle for III Corps are given here.
As initially constituted:
General Officer Commanding: Major-General William Pulteney
Order of Battle at start of the Battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916:
General Officer Commanding: Lieutenant-General Sir William Pulteney
Order of Battle during the final advance in Artois, 8 October 1918:
General Officer Commanding: Lieutenant-General Richard Butler
During the Second World War, III Corps was formed in France under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir Ronald Forbes Adam to control forces of the British Expeditionary Force, after the expansion of that force had rendered control by just two corps headquarters cumbersome. The Corps was withdrawn from Dunkirk after the defeat of British forces by the Germans in May 1940.

Second World War composition

Order of Battle at Dunkirk:
GOC: Lieutenant-General Sir Ronald Forbes Adam
After commanding forces in the United Kingdom during late 1940, from the Old Rectory in Whitchurch, Shropshire within Western Command, the corps was used for deception purposes. It eventually ended up being transferred to Persia and Iraq Command as part of the British Tenth Army, under General Sir Edward P. Quinan. It took command of a number of formations there, including the British 5th Infantry Division and the 56th Infantry Division.
On 16 October 1944 it became the headquarters for Lieutenant-General Ronald Scobie for operations in the Greek Civil War: at this point it received operational formations. Forces in Greece included 23rd Armoured Brigade. On 17 December 1944 it was redesignated HQ Land Forces and Military Liaison.

General Officers Commanding

Commanders have included:
From 1901 to 1905 the commander of the troops in Ireland was also commander 3rd Army Corps.