Second Army (United Kingdom)

Second Army
British Second Army emblem during the Second World War
Active	First World War 1914–1918 Second World War 1943–45
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Field army
Engagements	First World War Second World War
Commanders
Notable commanders	Horace Smith-Dorrien Herbert Plumer Miles Dempsey

The British Second Army was a field army of the British Army active during both World War I and World War II. During the First World War the army was active on the Western Front throughout most of the war and later active in Italy. During the Second World War the army was the core element in the British contribution in the D-Day landings in Normandy and subsequent advance across Europe.

The Second Army was part of the British Army formed on 26 December 1914, when the British Expeditionary Force was split in two due to becoming too big to control its subordinate formations. The army controlled both III Corps and IV Corps. Second Army spent most of the war positioned around the Ypres salient, but was redeployed to Italy as part of the Italian Expeditionary Force between November 1917 and March 1918.

In 1919 it was reconstituted as the British Army of the Rhine.

The formation was commanded by Lieutenant-General Miles Dempsey and served under the 21st Army Group. Two of its formations, I Corps (also containing Canadian units) and XXX Corps took part in the D-Day landings of Operation Overlord, with its remaining units coming ashore during the remainder of the Normandy Campaign. The third corps to land, VIII Corps, entered the line during late June to add its weight to the assault; in particular for the launching of Operation Epsom. The main British objective during the early stages of the campaign was to capture the French city of Caen, the so-called Battle for Caen. However, due to various factors the city was not captured until mid-July during Operation Atlantic, conducted by Canadian troops under the command of Second Army.