Field Army

Standard map symbol for a field army. The XXXX is the generic symbol of a field army and do not represent

An Army, also known as a Field Army, is a large military unit formed of two or more Corps, which in themselves are made up of Divisions. Armies are commanded by Generals and are typically numbered to distinguish themselves from other armies in an Army Group. In English the numbering system for identifying armies uses word numbers, which start from "First" and increase sequentially, whereas Corps use Roman numerals (I, II, III, IV, V) and subordinate formations use ordinal numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). During the First World War the British Army comprised five armies:

First Army – commanded by

Lieutenant-General Sir Douglas Haig 1914–1915

General Sir Henry Rawlinson 1915–1916

General Sir Charles Monro 1916

General Sir Henry Horne 1916–1918

Second Army – commanded by

General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien 1914–1915

General Sir Herbert Plumer 1915–1917

General Sir Henry Rawlinson 1917–1918

Third Army – commanded by

General Sir Charles Monro 1915

General Edmund Allenby 1915–1917

General Sir Julian Byng 1917–1918

Fourth Army – commanded by

General Sir Henry Rawlinson 1916–1918

Fifth Army – commanded by

General Sir Hubert Gough 1916–1918

General Sir William Peyton 1918

General Sir William Birdwood 1918

See also

• Wikipedia:British Expeditionary Force (World War I)
• Wikipedia:Field army
• Military structures and ranks

The above term is listed in our Compendium of the Great War.

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