The Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) was a NATO military formation comprising five Army Corps from five NATO member nations. During the Cold War NORTHAG was NATO's forward defence in the Northern half of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). The Southern half of the Federal Republic of Germany was to be defended by the four Army Corps of NATO's Central Army Group (CENTAG). During wartime NORTHAG would command four frontline corps (I Dutch, I German, I British, I Belgian) and one reserve corps (III US). Air support was provided by Second Allied Tactical Air Force.
In 1966, France had withdrawn from the NATO Military Command Structure, but still wished to take part in the defence of Western Europe. A series of secret agreements made between NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe and the French Chief of the Defence Staff detailed how French forces would reintegrate into the NATO Command Structure in case of war. The first and most important was the Lemnitzer-Ailleret Agreements, made between General Lyman Lemnitzer and French CDS General Charles Ailleret in August 1966.
There were two additional French formations, the III Corps, and Rapid Action Force (FAR) associated with the Army Group. From 1983 to 1984, Isby and Kamps write that planning was underway to possibly use III Corps and FAR formations in NORTHAG "although they would, like all French forces, remain under national operational command."
Army Group Headquarters
What can be gathered publicly about the wartime structure of NORTHAG in the autumn of 1989 at the end of the Cold War follows below. It is not drawn from one single source, and may be inconsistent and/or incomplete.
NORTHAG Signal Company (Air Support), which consisted of soldiers from all four nations.
Northern Territorial Command
The German Northern Territorial Command (Territorialkommando Nord), headquartered in Mönchengladbach, was a corps-sized command responsible for NORTHAG's Rear Combat Zone, which extended from the Belgian and Dutch border to approximately the middle of Northern West Germany. The Command's tasks were to ensure an uninterrupted flow of war materiel to allied forces fighting in the Combat Zone and to provide hospital care for wounded troops.
British rear and communications zones
During the transition to war, the support units of the British Army of the Rhine would have formed the British Rear Combat Zone headquartered in Düsseldorf, which would have supplied the fighting forces and guarded the lines of communication within West Germany. Further West in Belgium was the British Communications Zone, which was headquartered in Emblem, outside Antwerp and tasked with receiving reinforcements and supplies from Great Britain and to co-ordinate their onward movement to 1 (BR) Corps.
The following infantry battalions, based in the United Kingdom, were tasked with Rear Area Security in BAOR's Communications Zone and Rear Combat Zone:[citation needed]
2nd Btn, Royal Green Jackets, Dover, (43× Saxon APC, 8× FV721 Fox, 8× 81mm Mortars)
54th Corps Support Battalion (Reserve) (supply, maintenance and medical support for corps' assets)
111th Corps Support Battalion (Reserve) (supply, maintenance and medical support for corps' assets)
114th Corps Support Battalion (Reserve) (supply, maintenance and medical support for corps' assets)
102nd Supply Point Battalion, Ermelo (operating Corps Supply Point Area 5)
103rd Supply Point Battalion, Stroe (operating Corps Supply Point Area 6)
258th Supply Point Battalion (Reserve) (operating Corps Supply Point Area 4)
501st Supply Point Battalion (Reserve) (operating Corps Supply Point Area 7)
101st Materiel Support Battalion, Nieuw-Milligen (equipment maintenance and spare parts distribution via field workshops and supply points)
109th Materiel Support Battalion, Naarden (equipment maintenance and spare parts distribution via field workshops and supply points)
124th Materiel Support Battalion (Reserve) (equipment maintenance and spare parts distribution via field workshops and supply points)
105th Transport Battalion, Vierhouten
101st Personnel Replacement Battalion (Reserve)
601st Materiel Support Platoon Leopard 1V, Vierhouten
602nd Materiel Support Platoon Leopard 1V (Reserve)
611th Materiel Support Platoon Leopard 2, Seedorf (supporting the forward deployed Leopard 2 tank battalions of 41 Pantserbrigade)
612th Materiel Support Platoon Leopard 2 (Reserve)
501st Materiel Support Platoon PRTL, Ede (supporting the armored air-defense battalions of 101st Anti-Aircraft Group)
502nd Materiel Support Platoon PRTL, 't Harde (supporting the armored air-defense battalions of 101st Anti-Aircraft Group)
503rd Materiel Support Platoon PRTL, Hohne (supporting the armored air-defense battalions of 101st Anti-Aircraft Group)
511th Materiel Support Platoon Light Antiaircraft Artillery (Reserve) (supporting the air-defense battalions of 101st Anti-Aircraft Group)
512th Materiel Support Platoon Light Antiaircraft Artillery (Reserve) (supporting the air-defense battalions of 101st Anti-Aircraft Group)
513th Materiel Support Platoon Light Antiaircraft Artillery (Reserve) (supporting the air-defense battalions of 101st Anti-Aircraft Group)
721st Materiel Support Team Artillery Survey Battalion, 't Harde (equipment maintenance for 101st Artillery Surveillance and Target Acquisition Battalion)
722nd Materiel Support Team Artillery Survey Battalion, Ede (electronic equipment maintenance for 101st Artillery Surveillance and Target Acquisition Battalion)
102nd Medical Group, Ermelo (medical battalions are staff units only, which would be assigned ambulance and corps medical companies, and field hospitals as needed)
Staff and Staff Detachment, Ermelo
101st Medical Battalion Staff, (Reserve)
103rd Medical Battalion Staff, Ermelo
201st Medical Battalion Staff, (Reserve)
143rd Medical Supply Point Company
3× Light Surgical Field Hospital Companies (with 2× platoons each and 3× operating rooms per platoon, treating wounded near the frontline)
3× Heavy Surgical Field Hospital Battalions (with 18× operating rooms each, treating wounded in the division's rear)
3× Transit Hospital Battalions, (with 8× operating rooms and 800 beds each, treating wounded destined to be transported back to the Netherlands)
4× Ambulance Companies (with 72× ambulances each)
5× Corps Medical Companies (providing first aid services to the corps' assets)
Screening Force (Corps Border Surveillance Force) - On TTW this brigade would be formed as a reconnaissance/screening force and placed under command of BAOR's Brigadier RAC.
1st Armoured Division Transport Regiment, Royal Corps of Transport, Bunde
1st Ordnance Battalion, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Verden
7th Armoured Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Fallingbostel
12th Armoured Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Osnabrück
1st Armoured Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, Bergen-Hohne
2nd Armoured Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, Osnabrück
220th (1st Home Counties) Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps (V), Maidstone, UK
111th Provost Company, Royal Military Police, Bergen-Hohne
2nd Infantry Division
2nd Infantry Division was based in the North East of the United Kingdom and was planned to have joined I British Corps in Germany within 72 hours of mobilization. The division was tasked with defending the Corps Rear Area and preparing a last line of defense along the west bank of the Weser River. Therefore, the 29th Engineer Brigade was added to the division and was tasked with route maintenance and preparation of defensive positions on the western bank of the Weser River in the Upper Weser Valley.
3rd Armoured Division Transport Regiment, Royal Corps of Transport, Duisburg
3rd Ordnance Battalion, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Soest
5th Armoured Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Soest
6th Armoured Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Münster
11th Armoured Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Soest
3rd Armoured Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, Sennelager
5th Armoured Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, Münster
221st (2nd Home Counties) Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps (V), Kingston-upon-Thames, UK
113th Provost Company, Royal Military Police, Werl
note 2: units in italics were based in the UK and would join 1st Armoured Division upon mobilization.
4th Armoured Division
4th Armoured Division was the Corps' Southern forward deployed division. As the division's area of operation was hilly and woody, 19th Infantry Brigade was added to it.
↑Major Michael H. Bryan, Public Affairs Officer 13th Corps Support Command (1991). "13th Corps Support Command". Retrieved 14 June 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
