Southern Command (United Kingdom)

Southern Command
Active	1905-1972
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Command
Garrison/HQ	Wilton

Southern Command was a Command of the British Army.

History

In January 1876 a ‘Mobilization Scheme for the forces in Great Britain and Ireland’ was published, with the ‘Active Army’ divided into eight army corps based on the major Commands and Districts. This scheme disappeared in 1881, when the districts were retitled ‘District Commands’. Second Army Corps was an additional title given to the local district command at Salisbury Plain under Sir Evelyn Wood on 1 October 1901.^[1]

Southern Command was established in 1905 from the Second Army Corps and was initially based at Tidworth Camp^[2] but in 1949 moved to Erskine Barracks near Fugglestone St Peter in Wiltshire.^[3][4]

In 1939 regular troops reporting to Southern Command included 1st Armoured Division, based at Andover, and 3rd Infantry Division, based at Bulford.^[5] Other Regular Troops reporting to Southern Command at that time included:^[5]

• 8th Royal Tank Regiment
• 9th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery
• 6th/23rd Field Battery, 12th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery
• 3rd Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery
• 4th Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery
• 1st Survey Regiment, Royal Artillery
• 2nd Survey Regiment, Royal Artillery
• 2nd Searchlight Regiment, Royal Artillery

The Command was merged into HQ UK Land Forces (HQ UKLF) in 1972.

General Officers Commanding-in-Chief

General Officers Commanding-in-Chief have included:^[6][7][8]

• 1905 Lieutenant General Sir Evelyn Wood
• 1905 - 1909 Lieutenant General Sir Ian Hamilton
• 1909 - 1912 Lieutenant General Sir Charles Douglas
• 1912 - 1914 Lieutenant General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien
• 1914 - 1916 Lieutenant General Sir William Campbell
• 1916 - 1919 Lieutenant General Sir Henry Sclater
• 1919 - 1922 Lieutenant General Sir George Harper
• 1923 - 1924 Lieutenant General Sir Walter Congreve
• 1924 - 1928 Lieutenant General Sir Alexander Godley
• 1928 - 1931 Lieutenant General Sir Archibald Montgomery-Massingberd
• 1931 - 1933 Lieutenant General Sir Cecil Romer
• 1933 - 1934 Lieutenant General Sir Percy Radcliffe
• 1934 - 1938 Lieutenant General Sir John Burnett-Stuart
• 1938 - 1939 Lieutenant General Sir Archibald Wavell
• July 1939 - August 1939 Lieutenant General Sir Alan Brooke
• September 1939 - June 1940 Lieutenant General Sir Bertie Fisher
• June 1940 - July 1940 Lieutenant General Sir Alan Brooke
• July 1940 - November 1940 Lieutenant General Sir Claude Auchinleck
• December 1940 - February 1942 Lieutenant General Sir Harold Alexander
• March 1942 - February 1944 Lieutenant General Sir Charles Loyd
• February 1944 - February 1945 Lieutenant General Sir William Morgan
• March 1945 - June 1945 Lieutenant General Sir Sidney Kirkman
• 1945 - 1947 Lieutenant General Sir John Crocker
• 1947 - 1948 Lieutenant General Sir John Harding
• 1949 - 1952 Lieutenant General Sir Ouvry Roberts
• 1952 - 1955 Lieutenant General Sir Ernest Down
• 1955 - 1958 Lieutenant General Sir George Erskine
• 1958 - 1961 Lieutenant General Sir Nigel Poett
• 1961 - 1963 Lieutenant General Sir Robert Bray
• 1964 - 1966 Lieutenant General Sir Kenneth Darling
• 1966 - 1968 Lieutenant General Sir Geoffrey Baker
• 1968 Lieutenant General Sir John Mogg
• 1968 - 1969 Lieutenant General Sir David Peel Yates
• 1969 - 1971 Lieutenant General Sir Michael Carver
• 1971 - 1972 Lieutenant General Sir Basil Eugster

References