V Corps ( United Kingdom ) V Corps was an army corps of the British Army in both the First and Second World War . It was first organised in February 1915 and fought through World War I on the Western front . It was recreated in June 1940 and substantially reorganised in 1942 for participation in Operation Torch . Prior to the First World War . In 1876 a Mobilisation Scheme for the forces in Great Britain and Ireland , including eight army corps of the ' Active Army ' , was published . The ' 5th Corps ' was headquartered at Salisbury comprising the units of Southern Command . In 1880 , its order of battle was as follows : This scheme had been dropped by 1881 . 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 : V Corps was to be formed by Northern Command with headquarters in York . It was to comprise 27 artillery batteries ( 18 Regular , 6 Militia and 3 Volunteer ) and 25 infantry battalions ( 4 Regular , 13 Militia and 8 Volunteers ) . Under Army Order No 38 of 1907 the corps titles disappeared , but Northern Command continued to be a major administrative organisation . First World War . V Corps was organised within Second Army of the British Expeditionary Force on 18 February 1915 under the command of Sir Herbert Plumer , who had been commanding Northern Command in England . Initially , V Corps comprised 27th Division and 28th Division , both composed of Regular Army battalions brought back from various Imperial postings . 1915 fighting . The two infantry divisions had taken over French trenches in front of the Messines - Wytschaete Ridge , south of the Ypres Salient . These trenches were wet and poorly protected , and the Indian - issue boots worn by many of the men were inadequate . They had to endure shelling and occasional trench raids as well as bad weather . V Corps played a peripheral part in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle to the south , and then 27th Division took part in the action at St Eloi ( 14 – 15 March 1915 ) . In April 1915 V Corps shifted northwards , taking over the sector from St Eloi to St Julien from the French Army . Now , with three divisions under command ( first the 5th Division and then the newly arrived 1st Canadian Division were added ) , V Corps held the whole south - eastern and eastern part of the Ypres Salient . Between 17 and 22 April 5 Division succeeded in capturing Hill 60 after underground mines had been fired . On 22 April the Germans launched the Second Battle of Ypres with the first cloud gas attack , which virtually destroyed the French divisions in the north of the salient and drove in the flank of 1st Canadian Division . Over following days V Corps struggled to plug the gap and hold the line . On 28 April the BEF was subjected to renewed Germans attacks and Plumer was given an enlarged command – ‘ Plumer ’ s force ’ , comprising the Cavalry Corps , 3rd ( Lahore ) Division , 50th ( Northumbrian ) Division and brigades from 4th and 5th Division in addition to V Corps – and was ordered to organise a withdrawal to the ‘ Frezenberg Line ’ . As a result , Second Army was reduced to a single corps and its commander , Sir Horace Smith - Dorrien , resigned . Plumer was appointed to succeed Smith - Dorrien , and V Corps reverted to Second Army control , with Lt - Gen Edmund Allenby transferred from Cavalry Corps to take command . During the Battle of Frezenberg Ridge ( 8 – 13 May ) the Germans shelled 27th and 28th Divisions off the untenable ridge . V Corps lost 456 officers and 8935 other ranks during this battle . The following Battle of Bellewarde Ridge ( 24 – 25 May ) involved a renewed German gas attack on V Corps . V Corps lost a further 323 officers and 8936 other ranks during the period 21 – 30 May . In October 1915 Allenby was promoted to command Third Army and Lt - Gen Hew Dalrymple Fanshawe was transferred from Cavalry Corps ( 23 October ) to replace him at the head of V Corps . Early 1916 fighting . In February 1916 V Corps was still holding a sector of Second Army ’ s line from St Eloi to Hooge . On 14 February the Germans blew mines and attacked and captured The Bluff , held by 17th Division , which suffered casualties of 67 officers and 1227 men , including 311 missing , of whom around a hundred were captured and many others buried in mine craters . The ground was recaptured on 1 March using innovative artillery preparation techniques pioneered by V Corps ' artillery commander Brig - Gen H . C . C . Uniacke . Meanwhile on 28 February Fanshawe ordered 3rd Division to begin preparations for a surprise attack at St Eloi , preceded by mines but without the normal long preparatory bombardment . The attack was made on 27 March and was initially successful , but the weather and ground conditions were awful and 3rd Division was exhausted and unable to consolidate the position in the craters . After it was relieved by 2nd Canadian Division there were still weeks of bitter trench fighting . On 4 April Canadian Corps HQ , which had been responsible for the sector south of St Eloi , changed places with V Corps , the first time that a whole corps of the BEF relieved another . On 30 April V Corps was the victim of a gas attack by the Gerrmans on the line in front of the Messines - Wytschaete Ridge at Wulverghem , followed by an attack on the trenches , but the raiders were driven out . On 4 July H . D . Fanshawe was relieved from command of V Corps ( he reverted to the rank of major - general and later took command of a second - line Territorial division in Home Forces ) . He was replaced by his elder brother , Lt - Gen Edward Arthur Fanshawe , promoted from command of 11th ( Northern ) Division . Later fighting in 1916 . On 16 August 1916 V Corps HQ was transferred from Second Army to Reserve Army ( later renamed Fifth Army ) to take over the sector on the River Ancre , where fighting had bogged down during the Somme Offensive . When V Corps took over , the line was held by the Guards , 6th and 20th ( Light ) Divisions . These were replaced by the fresh 2nd , 39th and 48th ( South Midland ) Division for the renewed attacks on the Ancre Heights , which continued from September to November 1916 with regular rotation of divisions as they became exhausted . V Corps finally took some of the 1 July objectives such as Beaumont Hamel ( by the 51st ( Highland ) Division ) , but ended with a failure at Redan Ridge during the action known as the Battle of the Ancre . 1917 Fighting . Winter Operations on the Ancre included the capture of Ten Tree Alley by 32nd Division of V Corps on 10 – 13 February 1917 . When the Germans began their retreat to the Hindenburg Line ( 14 March – 5 April 1917 ) V Corps followed up slowly against rearguards . On 11 April Fifth Army attacked the new line at Bullecourt , with 62nd Division of V Corps in action alongside I Anzac Corps . The same forces met the German attack on Lagnicourt on 15 April 1917 . V Corps took part in the second attack on Bullecourt with 7th Division , 58th ( 2 / 1st London ) Division and 62nd ( West Riding ) Division . The Corps lost approximately 300 officers and 6500 other ranks between 3 and 17 May . After Bullecourt Fifth Army HQ and many of its divisions moved north to prepare for the Ypres Offensive and V Corps HQ was made available to command reserves . V Corps ' staff for the Ypres Offensive comprised : On 7 September V Corps relieved XIX Corps , taking command of 9th ( Scottish ) Division and 55th ( 1st West Lancashire ) Division in the line . On 20 September V Corps was assigned stiff objectives for the Battle of the Menin Road , and 55th Division took heavy casualties . For the succeeding Battle of Polygon Wood the frontline divisions were relieved , and V Corps attacked with 3rd Division and 59th ( 2nd North Midland ) Division . On 1 December V Corps HQ was transferred to Third Army and relieved IV Corps along part of the line that had been captured during the Battle of Cambrai . The very next day the Germans made a heavy counter - attack , and V Corps was forced to withdraw to the Flesquières Line . The German March 1918 Offensive . Although offering strong defences , the Flesquières position formed a dangerous salient in front of the British line , and when the Germans opened their spring offensive on 21 March 1918 one of their first objects was to pinch it out . Accordingly they did not attack frontally , but drenched the salient ' s defenders ( 2nd Division and 63rd ( Royal Naval ) Division ) with mustard gas , causing many casualties in the days before the attack . On the evening of 21 March , unaware of the depth of the German penetration against the neighbouring Fifth Army , Third Army ( Gen Sir Julian Byng ) only ordered V Corps to withdraw 4000 yards to its intermediate defence line in the salient . In the days following , as the situation on the flanks deteriorated , Byng had to issue hasty orders to extricate V Corps from the trap . The Official Historian , Sir James Edmonds , wrote in 1932 that ‘ Byng the bungler was mainly responsible for clinging to the salient . I will exonerate Fanshawe , who is merely stupid ’ . Regardless of who was responsible , the setback at the Flesquières salient was nearly disastrous , and led to a dangerous gap opening up between Third and Fifth Army . V Corps attempted to form a defensive flank to Third Army , but the Germans penetrated the gap , and the corps withdrew again on 24 March . During this period ( the First Battle of Bapaume ) V Corps ’ command structure descended into ‘ extraordinary confusion and lack of orders ’ , according to a battalion commander . The withdrawal entailed a retreat across the devastated zone in front of the Hindenburg Line and the old Somme battlefields , and by the end of 26 March V Corps was back on the Ancre Heights , where the troops held off fresh Germans attacks on 27 – 28 March ( First Battle of Arras ( 1918 ) ) and 5 April ( Battle of the Ancre ( 1918 ) ) . After the Flesquières fiasco , Byng insisted on Fanshawe being relieved of command . On 25 April he was replaced as GOC of V Corps by Lt - Gen Cameron Shute , promoted from command of 32nd Division . ( Fanshawe later commanded XXIII Corps in England . ) Later fighting in 1918 . During the Allied counter - offensive known as the Second Battle of the Somme ( 1918 ) , V Corps took part in the Battle of Albert ( 21 – 23 Aug ) and the Second Battle of Bapaume ( 31 Aug – 3 Sept ) . Then , during the Battles of the Hindenburg Line , V Corps participated in the Battles of Havrincourt ( 12 Sept ) , Epehy ( 18 Sept ) , St Quentin Canal ( 29 Sept - 2 Oct ) , Beaurevoir ( 3 – 5 Oct ) and Cambrai ( 8 – 9 Oct ) . In the Final Advance in Picardy , V Corps was in the pursuit to the River Selle ( 9 – 12 Oct ) , the Battle of the Selle ( 17 – 25 Oct ) and the Battle of the Sambre ( 4 Nov ) . V Corps crossed the Canal du Nord unopposed on 30 September and occupied the Hindenburg Main and Support Lines when the Germans withdrew to the Beaurevoir Line , which it overran on 8 October . For the follow - up on 9 October there were no trenches or wire in front , so Shute ’ s orders were for open warfare , and no barrages were fired , the artillery moving up behind the infantry in support . As a result V Corps gained more ground than formations that made conventional setpiece attacks behind a barrage . Reaching the River Selle German resistance stiffened , but V Corps got outposts over the river on 10 October . Third Army attacked and crossed the Selle 12 – 17 October . Between 8 and 19 October V Corps , which had done much of the fighting , suffered 5740 casualties . The advance was renewed on 20 October , V Corps seizing a series of ridges in four planned bounds . On 23 – 4 October it took a series of objectives , crossing the German Hermann II position . By now the Germans were showing little fight , and V Corps ' night attacks were able to take positions with few casualties . Even so , the British dug in for about a week , preparing for the next offensive beginning on 1 November . V Corps renewed its advance on 4 November with an attack into the Forest of Mormal . The advance was now in the nature of a pursuit , held up only by rearguards and the dreadful condition of the road . When the Armistice ended hostilities on 11 November 1918 , V Corps was within a mile or two of the Franco - Belgian border , with cavalry out in front . Second World War . In the early part of World War II V Corps formed part of Southern Command in the United Kingdom . Lieutenant - General Claude Auchinleck was briefly its commander from 14 June 1940 until he was promoted to take over Southern Command on 19 July 1940 . He was succeeded by Lt - Gen Bernard Montgomery from 22 July 1940 until 27 April 1941 , when he was transferred to command XII Corps . Order of Battle Autumn 1940 The Dorset County Division was under the corps ' command during 1941 . The Corps was then included as part of the Allied land forces , First Army , in Operation Torch ( 8 November 1942 ) , the amphibious landings in French - held Morocco and Algeria . The Army was commanded by Lieutenant General Sir Kenneth Anderson . First Army was formed on the 1 January 1943 , and was later redesignated as the Eastern Task Force . Campaigns . V Corps participated in the following campaign s and battle s during its Second World War existence . V Corps was assigned to Eighth Army for the rest of the war ( as part of the 15th Army Group ) 11 . 44 Orders of Battle for V Corps , Second World War . V Corps ( British 1st Army ) 20 April 1943 V Corps ( British 1st Army ) 4 May 1943 V Corps British Eighth Army ( 9 Apr 1945 ) General Officers Commanding . Commanders included :