Fifth Army (United Kingdom)
Lieutenant General Hubert de la Poer Gough
|Role||Operations on the Western Front, 1916–1918|
|Engagements||First World War|
|Sir Hubert Gough|
The Fifth Army was a field army of the British Army during World War I that formed part of the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front between 1916 and 1918. The army originated as the Reserve Corps during the preparations for the British part of the Somme Offensive of 1916, was renamed Reserve Army when it was expanded and became the Fifth Army in October 1916.
The Fifth Army was created on 30 October 1916, by renaming the Reserve Army (General Hubert Gough). It participated in the Battle of the Ancre, which became the final British effort in the Battle of the Somme.
In 1917, the Fifth Army was involved in the Battle of Arras and then the Third Battle of Ypres. The following year, the Fifth Army took over a stretch of front-line previously occupied by the French south of the River Somme and on 21 March, bore the brunt of the opening phase of the German Spring Offensive, known as Operation Michael. The failure of the Fifth Army to withstand the German advance led to Gough's dismissal and the disbanding of the army. In April and May 1918, the Fifth Army was nominally commanded by General William Peyton, but when it was reformed as an army some months later, its command was given to General William Birdwood; it saw little action in the remainder of the war.
Although the Fifth Army was blamed for failing to hold the German advance, it was later "triumphantly vindicated"
- October 1916 – March 1918 General Sir Hubert Gough
- April–May 1918 General Sir William Peyton
- May–November 1918 General Sir William Birdwood
- James, E. A. (1990) . A Record of the Battles and Engagements of the British Armies in France and Flanders 1914–1918 (London Stamp Exchange ed.). Aldershot: Gale & Polden. ISBN 0-948130-18-0.
- The Eighth Army, September 1941 to January 1943: Prepared for the War Office by the Ministry of Information. London: HMSO. 1944. OCLC 461008574.