21st Army Group

The 21st Army Group was the senior British formation in Northwest Europe in 1944-45. All ground forces landing on D-Day in Normandy on 6 June 1944 were under the command of 21st Army Group.

Senior Allied Formations in Northwest Europe

Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF)
General Dwight D. Eisenhower
(General of the Army from 20 Dec 1944)

Twenty-First Army Group, like all army groups, was composed of General Headquarters (GHQ) Troops, its component Armies, Lines of Communication (LofC) Troops, and base installations. After the German surrender, 21st Army Group was converted into the headquarters for the British zone of occupation in West Germany, being redesignated the British Army of the Rhine on 25 August 1945.

Insignia

The Army Group adopted its insignia in September 1943, a blue cross on a red background with two gold crusader's swords “in saltire” (diagonally crossed). A shield without swords was used as the insignia of 21st Army Group General Headquarters and Line of Communication Troops. Headquarters, Line of Communication, 21st Army Group used a yellow shield with blue cross as its formation insignia, as did some units directly assigned such as the Chief Engineers (Works). The crusader's cross insignia was a common theme in British military insignia, consistent with the notion that the invasion of Europe was, in General Eisenhower's word, a “crusade” of liberation.

Composition

The 21st Army Group did not have a fixed composition. Initially it included the British 2nd Army and the United States 1st Army. The 1st Canadian Army came under command in Normandy while 1st U.S. Army reverted to U.S. control when their own army group headquarters was formed
under General Bradley. The U.S. 9th Army was also added to the operational control of 21 Army Group during the Ardennes fighting and retained until after the Rhine crossing.

Britain formed seven armies in all theatres during the war, only one operated in Northwest Europe. (The others were the 1st, 8th, 9th, 10th, 12th and 14th, which served respectively in North Africa, the Mediterranean, Middle East, Iraq, Burma, and the Far East). Like army groups, armies did not have fixed compositions and were composed of two or more corps, plus “army troops” such as artillery and engineer assets. A corps was likewise a grouping of divisions, as well as “corps troops”. Army and corps troops could also include infantry and armoured brigades independent of divisional attachments.

Additionally, other elements variously came under direct command, including units of the 1st Allied Airborne Army during Operation MARKET-GARDEN for example, or the units besieging the German coastal garrisons after the front passed into Belgium.

German prisoners of war do a double-take as the famous commander of 21st Army Group, General Bernard L. Montgomery, passes them on a narrow road in Normandy. The 1/4 ton truck ("Jeep") bears a red plate with four silver stars, the U.S. insignia for a General. The 21st Army Group formation patch has been applied to a metal plate attached to the left bumperette.