Active 1916–1918 Type Army Engagements First World War Branch British Army Engagement World War I | Country United Kingdom Size Varied Founded 1916 Notable commander Hubert Gough | |
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Role Operations on the Western Front, 1916–1918 Similar British Army, Second Army, I ANZAC Corps, Reserve Army, First Army | ||
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.
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History
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"