The British XI Corps in France and Flanders

XI Corps was formed on 29 August 1915.

Headquarters locations

  • Formation: Saint-Omer
  • 7 September 1915: Tilques
  • 22 September 1915: Allouagne
  • 25 September 1915: Noeux-les-Mines
  • 3 October 1915: Vaudricourt
  • 10 November 1915: Merville
  • 5 March 1916: Hinges
  • 22 November 1917: Béthune
  • 24 November 1917: Busnes
  • 28 November 1917: Lillers
  • December 1917 to March 1918: in theatre of war in Italy
  • By 1 April 1918: Hinges
  • 9 April 1918: Robecq
  • 10 April 1918: Norrent-Fontes
  • 20 April 1918: Roquetoire
  • 7 September 1918: Busnes
  • 18 October 1918: Fromelles
  • 19-20 October 1918: La Madeleine
  • 29 November 1918: Labuissière (until at least the end of April 1919)

For more details about Labuissière see the page on I Corps headquarters

This wonderful sketch map of the corps headquarters is contained in the late 1918 war diary of the adjutant of XI Corps. Crown Copyright. National Archives WO95/887. It details every builing and hut in Labuissière that was used to accomodate the various functions of the HQ. A separate page lists the occupants of each building and revleals what a sizeable and complex operation it was.

Commanding Officers

Lieutenant-General Richard C. B. Haking throughout hostilities (then appointed to International Armistice Commission at Spa)

Imperial War Museum photograph Q11423 with my thanks. Official entry into Lille. The Mayor, the Bishop, prominent citizens of the city; Fifth Army, XI Corps, and 47th Divisional commanders; and a large gathering of officers and civilians, (including the British Secretary of State for War, Winston Churchill) on the grand stand at the march past of the 47th Division, 28 October 1918.

12 November 1918: Major-General George F. Gorringe

Battles and Engagements

The Battles Nomenclature Committee of 1921 defined XI Corps as participating in the following:

First Army

The Battle of Loos (25 September – 8 October 1915)

The Actions of the Hohenzollern Redoubt (13-19 October 1915)

First Army

The Attack at Fromelles (19 July 1916)

First Army

The Battles of the Lys:

The Battle of Estaires (9-11 April 1918)

The Battle of Hazebrouck (12-15 April 1918)

The Battle of Béthune (18 April 1918)

First Army

The Action of La Becque (28 June 1918)

The Advance in Flanders (18 August – 6 September 1918)

Fifth Army

The Final Advance in Artois (2 October – 11 November 1918)

After the capture of Lille and a ceremonial march through the city in late October 1918, the XI Corps flag used was sent to the Governor of Paris to display at the Lille monument there.

Links

The British Corps headquarters in France and Flanders