Fall back! British remaining 20,000 troops begin withdrawal from Germany 65 years after defeating Hitler



Force was left in place to deter Soviet advance from the East

Hundreds to return home in January as part of defence review

Half of remaining 20,000-strong force to leave by 2015, the rest by 2020 - 15 years earlier than originally planned



All 20,000 British troops will be withdrawn from Germany by 2020, bringing to an end a continuous presence since 1945, it will be announced today.

Under the Strategic Defence and Security Review, hundreds of military personnel will return home in January.

The Ministry of Defence confirmed that an announcement will be made about the pull-out of UK forces, who have had a presence on the Rhine since the end of the Second World War.

Ready to move: A convoy of Challenger tanks on exercise in the British army training ground near the German town of Belsen in 2003. All British forces will be withdrawn from the country by 2020, it will be announced today Camaraderie: British soldiers pose with the British flag in front of two Challenger tanks of the King's Royal Hussars before leaving their base in Muenster on April 15, 1999 to assist with the humanitarian effort in Macedonia Timetable: Defence Secretary Philip Hammond is due to announce detailed plans for the withdrawal today The forces were initially tasked with ensuring the stability of Germany after the fall of the Nazis, but troops remained to deter the Russians from advancing from the East as Cold War tensions grew. According to the Daily Telegraph, 1,800 troops will leave by January and another 8,200 by 2015.

The rest will be back by the end of the decade - 15 years earlier than first proposed. RELATED ARTICLES Previous

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Proud: The Queen returns to inspect the Royal Tank Regiment in Sennelagar, near Paderborn, during a parade in July 1985 Surrendering German troops march past anti-tank gun after British forces press into Germany in 1945. Allied forces occupied the country after the fall of the Nazis to ensure stability in Europe

HOW BRITAIN HELPED STABILISE EUROPE FOR THE PAST 66 YEARS

At the end of the Second World War, Germany was divided by the Allies into four military zones. During the 1945 Potsdam Conference it was decided that the French should occupy the southwest, the British the northwest, the U.S would take the south, and the Soviets the east.

Thus began British troops' deployment int he country.

And while the aim was to stabilise Germany after the fall of the Nazis, a threat was emerging from the Soviets, who were pressing ahead with Communist expansionism in eastern Europe.

The growing tensions were outlined in the famous 'iron curtain' speech by Sir Winston Churchill, pictured, in 1946 which many consider to be the beginning of the Cold War.

He was referring to the ideological fighting and physical boundary that now split Europe into two separate areas - those occupied by the Allies in the west and Russia.

In the speech, the former British Prime Minister said: 'From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.'

The British Army very soon bolstered troop numbers in Germany over fears the country could become a battleground with Russia.

British Armed Forces personnel and civilians come under the banner British Forces Germany (BFG), which was fist established as the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Their presence was significantly reduced following the end of the Cold War in 1989.



Under the changes, 2nd Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment will reportedly go to former RAF base Cottesmore in Rutland, which closed earlier this year.

Personnel from 7 Regiment Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) will also go to Cottesmore.

The MoD is also expected to announce what will happen to main UK bases in Germany, with British facilities in Celle and Munster to be handed back to the German authorities.

The Rheindahlen Military Complex is to close, and Waterbeach Barracks in Cambridgeshire will be sold.

The MoD is also expected to outline a restructuring of the hierarchy of the Army's regional brigades and divisions.

This includes the closure of regional headquarters in Edinburgh and Shrewsbury, whose work is to be taken over by a new HQ in Aldershot.

British Forces Germany, as the Armed Forces in the country are known, are concentrated in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony.

The divisional HQ is located at Herford, near Bielefeld, with garrisons at Gütersloh, Hohne, and Paderborn.



British bases in Germany still represent the biggest deployment of UK forces overseas. With civilians, families and children, the British contingent in the country stands at more than 43,000.

Last year, it was claimed the UK will have to pay out tens of millions of pounds to Germany before pulling forces out of the country.

The bill will have to be settled to ‘make good’ land and property used by British forces, former Labour Defence Minister Kevan Jones insisted.

MoD sources conceded that the withdrawal would have ‘initial costs’ but insisted there would be long-term savings of more than £1billion from the withdrawal.