XIII Corps (United Kingdom)

XIII Corps
Active	1915–18 1940–45
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Corps
Part of	British Expeditionary Force British Eighth Army United States Fifth Army
Engagements	First World War Battle of the Somme 1916 Operations on the Ancre Arras Offensive Battle of the Somme 1918 Advance in Flanders Battles of the Hindenburg Line Final Advance in Picardy Second World War Western Desert Campaign Tunisia Campaign Allied invasion of Sicily Italian Campaign
Commanders
Notable commanders	Brian Horrocks Miles C. Dempsey Sidney Kirkman

XIII Corps was a corps-sized formation of the British Army that fought on the Western Front during the First World War and was reformed for service during the Second World War, serving in the Mediterranean and Middle East throughout its service.

XIII Corps was formed in France on 15 November 1915 under Lieutenant-General Walter Congreve to be part of Fourth Army. It was first seriously engaged during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. On the first day on the Somme, 1 July 1916, the corps held the southern flank of the British line. The corps objective was the village of Montauban. The two assault divisions — the 18th (Eastern) and 30th Division, both New Army formations — seized all their objectives.

On 1 January 1941, while the Western Desert Force was fighting the Italian Tenth Army during Operation Compass, it was redesignated "XIII Corps". It then included British 7th Armoured Division, Australian 6th Infantry Division and 4th Indian Infantry Division. During the initial attack, Matilda infantry tanks of the 7th Royal Tank Regiment along with the 11th Indian Brigade of the 4th Indian Division, exploited a hole in the Italian defensive positions and attacked the Nibiewa camp from the rear. The Maletti Group was destroyed and General Pietro Maletti was killed in action while trying to stop the sudden attack.