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 World War I . 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 ( drawn up by Edward Stanhope when Secretary of State for War ) 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 ( Aldershot , Southern , Irish , Eastern , Northern and Scottish ) . 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 . World War I . Pre - war planning for the British Expeditionary Force ( BEF ) 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 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 war . Composition of III Corps in World War I . The composition of army corps changed frequently . Some representative orders of battle for III Corps are given here . As initially constituted : GOC : Maj - Gen William Pulteney Order of Battle at start of the Battle of the Somme , 1 July 1916 : GOC : Lieut - Gen Sir William Pulteney Order of Battle during the final advance in Artois , 8 October 1918 : GOC : Lieut - Gen Richard Butler World War II . During World War II III Corps was formed in France under the command of Lieut - Gen Sir Ronald 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 . Composition of III Corps in World War II . Order of Battle at Dunkirk : GOC : Lieut - Gen Sir Ronald Adam After commanding forces in the United Kingdom during late 1940 , the corps was used for deception purposes . It eventually ended up being transferred to Persia as part of Tenth Army . It took command of a number of formations there , including the British 5th Infantry Division . On 16 October 1944 it became the H . Q . for Lieut . Gen . Ronald Scobie for operations in the Greek Civil War : at this point it received operational formations . On 17 December 1944 it was redesignated HQ Land Forces and Military Liaison ( Greece ) . General Officers Commanding . Commanders have included :