11th Army Group
| 11th Army Group | |
|---|---|
| Active | November 1943 to November 1944 |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom |
| Type | Army group |
| Role | Army Group Headquarters |
| Size | 2 Field Armies |
| Part of | South East Asia Command |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
George Giffard |
The 11th Army Group was the main British Army force in Southeast Asia during the Second World War. Although a nominally British formation, it also included large numbers of troops and formations from the British Indian Army and from British African colonies, and also Nationalist Chinese and United States units.
The Army Group was activated in November 1943 to act as the land forces HQ for the newly formed South East Asia Command (SEAC). Its commander was General George Giffard, who had formerly been Commander-in-Chief West Africa Command and Commander of Eastern Army (part of GHQ India). The headquarters was first situated in New Delhi, eventually moving to Kandy, Ceylon. Its responsibilities were limited to the handling of operations against Japanese forces, while GHQ India was made responsible for the rear areas and the training of the British Indian Army, although there was often overlap between the headquarters' responsibilities and (in the first year of Eleventh Army Group's existence) conflicts between their planners.
Eleventh Army Group's main subordinate formations were British Fourteenth Army and the Ceylon Army. The Indian XXXIII Corps, training in Southern India for amphibious operations, also came under Eleventh Army Group for some purposes. It would have been logical for the Army Group to have the American-led Northern Combat Area Command, under General Joseph Stilwell, under its control also, so that the whole front in Burma would have been under a single commander. The initial idea was that as General Stilwell would be commanding several Chinese divisions which advancing from Ledo in India to Myitkyina in Burma to cover the construction of the Ledo Road and had loose control over the large but amorphous Chinese forces attacking out of Yunnan province from the East, he would be commanding a large army. If his command were placed under the Army Group at the same level as the Fourteenth Army, the attacks could then be co-ordinated at Army Group level.
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Wikipedia