NORTHAG wartime structure in 1989 is located in Cold War Germany
3rd PzD
1 NL
1 NL
4 NL
4 NL
5 NL
5 NL
1 UK
3 UK
4 UK
1 d'Inf.
1 d'Inf.
16 Pantser
16 Pantser
1st PzD
7th PzD
11th PgD
5th ID
1st CD
2nd AD
2nd UK
NORTHAG major unit locations, 1989

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In 1966, France had withdrawn from the NATO Military Command Structure, but still wished to take part in the defence of Western Europe.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.[1] The first and most important was the Lemnitzer-Ailleret Agreements, made between General Lyman Lemnitzer and French CDS General Charles Ailleret in August 1966.[2]

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."[3]

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.

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.[4]

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]

Commander Engineers BAOR

Commander Postal & Courier Service BAOR

Commander Communications BAOR

Commander Transport & Movements BAOR

Commander Medical BAOR

Commander Supply BAOR

Commander Maintenance BAOR

Provost Marshal BAOR

HQ Intelligence & Security Group (Germany)

note 1: units in italics were based in the outside of BAOR's area of operation and would join BAOR upon mobilization.

HQ NORTHAG

I Netherlands Corps

Structure of the I Netherlands Corps in 1989
NORTHAG wartime structure in 1989 is located in FRG and West Berlin
I NL Corps
I NL Corps
4 Divisie
4 Divisie
1 Divisie
1 Divisie
41 Pantser
41 Pantser
42 Pantserinf.
42 Pantserinf.
43 Pantserinf.
43 Pantserinf.
3 Panzer
7 PzGren.
7 PzGren.
8 Panzer
8 Panzer
9 Panzer
3 Art.
3 Art.
I NL Corps and its assigned German units and Dutch units, based or earmarked for rapid deployment to Germany in 1989

1e Divisie

3rd Panzer Division

4e Divisie

5e Divisie

101e Infanteriebrigade

I (NL) Corps Artillery

I (NL) Corps Logistic Command

I German Corps

Structure of the I German Corps in 1989
NORTHAG wartime structure in 1989 is located in FRG and West Berlin
I Corps
I Corps
1 Panzer
1 PzGren.
2 Panzer
2 Panzer
3 Panzer
1 Artillery
1 Artillery
7 Panzer
19 PzGren.
19 PzGren.
20 Panzer
20 Panzer
21 Panzer
7 Artillery
7 Artillery
11 PzGren.
31 PzGren. 11 Artillery
31 PzGren.
11 Artillery
32 PzGren.
32 PzGren.
33 Panzer
33 Panzer
NORTHAG wartime structure in 1989
27 FschJg
27 FschJg
1 Aviation
1 Aviation

1st Panzer Division

7th Panzer Division

11th Panzergrenadier Division

27th Airborne Brigade

1 British Corps

Structure of the 1 British Corps in 1989

The 1 British Corps was a combat formation of the British Army of the Rhine. The area 1 BR Corps had to defend lay between Hanover to the north and Kassel to the south and extended from the Inner German Border to the Upper Weser Valley, all located on the North German Plain. In case of war, the Corps first line of defence would have been a screening force of 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards, 16th/5th The Queen's Royal Lancers and 664 Squadron Army Air Corps, which would have become an ad hoc brigade formation under command of BAOR's Brigadier Royal Armoured Corps. Behind the screening force 1st Armoured and 4th Armoured Division would form up. 3rd Armoured Division was to the rear of the two forward deployed division as reserve. 2nd Infantry Division was to defend the Corps Rear Area and prepare a last line of defence along the Western bank of the Weser river.

NORTHAG wartime structure in 1989 is located in FRG and West Berlin
1 British Corps
1 British Corps
1 Armoured
7 Armoured
12 Armoured
22 Armoured
3 Armoured
4 Armoured
6 Armoured
6 Armoured
33 Armoured
4 Armoured
11 Armoured
20 Armoured
1 Artillery
1 Artillery
1st British Corps units 1989

Units in italics were based in the UK and would join parent organization upon mobilization

note 1: December 1989.

1st Armoured Division

1st Armoured Division was the corps' Northern forward deployed division.

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 prepare a last line of defense along the Western 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

3rd Armoured Division was the corps' reserve formation.

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.

note 2: units in italics were based in the UK and would join 4th Armoured Division upon mobilization.

I Belgian Corps

Structure of the I Belgium Corps in 1989
NORTHAG wartime structure in 1989 is located in FRG and West Berlin
I (BE) Corps
I (BE) Corps
16 Pantser
16 Pantser
4 Pantserinf.
4 Pantserinf.
17e Blindée
17e Blindée
10 Pantserinf.
10 Pantserinf.
Corps Recon
Corps Recon
Corps Artillery
Corps Artillery
I (BE) Corps main units in Germany 1989

1er Division d'Infanterie

16de Pantserdivisie

III US Corps

Structure of the III US Corps in 1989 (click to enlarge)

1st Cavalry Division

1st Cavalry Division organization 1989 (click to enlarge)

2nd Armored Division

2nd Armored Division structure 1989 (click to enlarge)

5th Infantry Division (Mechanized)

3rd Armored Cavalry

III Corps Artillery

13th Corps Support Command

References

  1. ^ units in italics were based in the UK and would join I British Corps upon mobilization.
  2. ^ Chieftain was being phased out for its successor the Challenger, the process completing in the 1990s
  3. ^ units in italics were based in the UK and would join 1st Armoured Division upon mobilization
  1. ^ Cody, Edward (March 12, 2009). "After 43 Years, France to Rejoin NATO as Full Member". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  2. ^ "Exchange of Letters between SACEUR and the French Commander in Chief concerning cooperation with French Forces in Germany". 1966-08-26.
  3. ^ Isby & Kamps 1985, p. 107.
  4. ^ Vieuxbill 2021, pp. 5, 78.
  5. ^ Alter, Fritz. "Gliederung und Stationierung der niederländischen Streitkräfte in Deutschland im Jahre 1989" (PDF). Relikte.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 March 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  6. ^ Boersma, Hans. "Corps Logistic Command • Legerkorps Logistiek Commando (LLC)". Orbat85.nl. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  7. ^ Dragoner, O.W. "Die Bundeswehr 1989 - Teil 2.1 Heer". Relikte.com. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  8. ^ Vieuxbill 2021, p. 130.
  9. ^ Sinai, Tamir (8 December 2020). "Eyes on target: 'Stay-behind' forces during the Cold War". War in History. 28 (3): 681–700. doi:10.1177/0968344520914345. pp.12-13
  10. ^ "21st S.A.S. (Artists)".
  11. ^ Vieuxbill 2021, p. 9.
  12. ^ Isby & Kamps 1985, p. 59, 72.
  13. ^ "stationierung_deutschland.gif (2416x1400 pixels)". Archive.is. 14 April 2016. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  14. ^ Alter, Fritz. "BSD/FBA 89" (PDF). Relikte.com. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  15. ^ Dragoner, O.W. "Die Streitkräfte der U.S.A. in Europa 1989" (PDF). Relikte.com. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  16. ^ a b c d "Fifty Years of Excellence: Fort Hood 50th Anniversary, 1942-1992". US Army Fort Hood Command Group. 1992. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  17. ^ a b c d "Field Artillery - February 1990". US Army Field Artillery School. 1990. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  18. ^ 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)

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