Concept
The II Corps was an army corps of the British Army formed in both the First World War and the Second World War. There had also been a short-lived II Corps during the Waterloo Campaign. Assembling an army in the Southern Netherlands to fight Napoleon's resurgent forces in the spring of 1815, the Duke of Wellington formed it into army corps, deliberately mixing units from the Anglo-Hanoverian, Dutch and German contingents so that the weaker elements would be stiffened by more experienced or reliable troops. As he put it: "It was necessary to organize these troops in brigades, divisions, and corps d’armee with those better disciplined and more accustomed to war". He placed II Corps under the command of Lord Hill. However, Wellington did not use the corps as tactical entities, and continued his accustomed practice of issuing orders directly to divisional and lower commanders. When he drew up his army on the ridge at Waterloo, elements of the various corps were mixed up, and although he gave Hill command of the left wing, this included elements of I Corps. Subsequent to the battle, the corps structure was re-established for the advance into France, and Wellington issued orders through Hill and the other corps commanders. Order of Battle of the Waterloo Campaign GOC: Lieut-Gen Lord Hill 2nd (British) Division (Anglo-Hanoverian) 4th (British) Division (Anglo-Hanoverian) 1st (Netherlands) Division (Dutch) Netherlands Indian Contingent After the Waterloo campaign the army corps structure disappeared from the British Army for a century, except for ad hoc corps assembled during annual manoeuvres (e.g. Army Manoeuvres of 1913). In 1876 a mobilization scheme for eight army corps was published, with 'Second Corps' based at Aldershot and composed of regular and militia troops. In 1880 its organization was: 1st Division (Aldershot) 1st Brigade (Aldershot) 2nd Bn. 19th Foot (Aldershot), 41st Foot (Aldershot), 45th Foot (Aldershot) 2nd Brigade (Aldershot) 75th Foot (Aldershot), 96th Foot (Aldershot), 109th Foot (Aldershot) Divisional Troops 2nd Bn.
