NORTHAG wartime structure in 1989

1 NL
4 NL
5 NL
1 d'Inf.
16 Pantser
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.

There were two additional French corps (III Corps, Force d'action Rapide) associated with the Army Group. In 1966, France had withdrawn from the NATO Command Structure, but still wished to take part in the defence of Western Europe. A series of secret agreements made between NATOs Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) and the French Chief of the Defence Staff detailed how French forces would reintegrate into the NATO Command Structure in case of war.[1] At the outbreak of hostilities the French First Army would be placed directly under the command of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), which would employ the three corps of First Army as needed (see also: Structure of the French Army in 1989).

The complete wartime structure of NORTHAG in fall of 1989 at the end of the Cold War follows below:

BAOR - NORTHAG

British BAOR Support Units

During war time, the support units of BAOR would have formed the British Rear Combat Zone Command 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 Command, 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.[2]

Rear Area Security Units

The following infantry battalions, based in the United Kingdom, were tasked with Rear Area Security in BAOR's Communications Zone and Rear Combat Zone:

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.

I Netherlands Corps

Structure of the I Netherlands Corps in 1989
I NL Corps
4 Divisie
41 Pantser
42 Pantserinf.
43 Pantserinf.
7 PzGren.
8 Panzer
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
I Corps
2 Panzer
1 Artillery
19 PzGren.
20 Panzer
7 Artillery
31 PzGren.
11 Artillery
32 PzGren.
33 Panzer
27 FschJg
1 Aviation

1st Panzer Division

7th Panzer Division

11th Panzergrenadier Division

27th Airborne Brigade

I British Corps

Structure of the I British Corps in 1989

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. In case of war, the Corps first line of defense 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 defense along the Western bank of the Weser river.


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 would join 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
I (BE) Corps
16 Pantser
4 Pantserinf.
17e Blindée
10 Pantserinf.
Corps Recon
Corps Artillery
I (BE) Corps main units in Germany 1989

1er Division d'Infanterie

16de Pantserdivisie

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.

III US Corps

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

1st Cavalry Division

2nd Armored Division

5th Infantry Division

3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment

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. ↑
  2. ↑ Vieuxbill, Louis. "BAOR Order of Battle July 1989" (PDF). Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  3. ↑ Alter, Fritz. "Gliederung und Stationierung der niederländischen Streitkräfte in Deutschland im Jahre 1989" (PDF). Relikte.com. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  4. ↑ Boersma, Hans. "Corps Logistic Command • Legerkorps Logistiek Commando (LLC)". Orbat85.nl. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  5. ↑ Dragoner, O.W. "Die Bundeswehr 1989 - Teil 2.1 Heer". Relikte.com. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  6. ↑ Vieuxbill, Louis (2013), "BAOR Order of Battle July 1989" (pDF), Orbat85.nl, p. 130, retrieved 27 June 2017
  7. ↑ David Isby and Charles Kamps Jr, 'Armies of NATO's Central Front,' Jane's Publishing Company, 1985, ISBN 0-7106-0341-X, 59, 72
  8. ↑ "stationierung_deutschland.gif (2416x1400 pixels)". Archive.is. 14 April 2016. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  9. ↑ Alter, Fritz. "BSD/FBA 89" (PDF). Relikte.com. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  10. ↑ Dragoner, O.W. "Die Streitkräfte der U.S.A. in Europa 1989" (PDF). Relikte.com. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
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