User:Hungrydog55/sandbox/military/mediterranean/1943-09 AllInvofItal oob
Allied theatre and army group commanders
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Sir Harold AlexanderThe Allied invasion of Italy, a phase of the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, took place on 3 September at Reggio di Calabria (Operation Baytown), and on 9 September 1943 at Taranto and Salerno (Operation Slapstick and Operation Avalanche respectively). Allied naval forces landed American and Commonwealth troops on the beaches of southern Italy where they faced resistance from Axis forces.
Allied Forces
[edit]
Allied Forces Headquarters (AFHQ), Mediterranean
General Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Allied Naval Forces, Mediterranean
- Admiral Andrew Cunningham)
- Western Task Force (Operation Avalanche) (Vice Admiral H. Kent Hewitt, USN)
- Force H (Vice Admiral Sir Algernon Willis, RN)
- Naval Task Force, Operation Slapstick (Vice Admiral Arthur Power, RN)
- Mediterranean Air Command (Allied)
- Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder[a]
British Eighth army and XIII Corps commanders
Bernard L. Montgomery
Sir Miles Dempsey
Allied 15th Army Group
General Harold Alexander
Operation Baytown – 3 September
[edit]Landings across Strait of Messina
British Eighth Army
General Bernard Law Montgomery
British XIII Corps- Lieutenant-General Sir Miles Dempsey
British 5th Infantry Division[2]- Major-General Gerard Bucknall
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Operation Slapstick – 9 September
[edit]Landings at Taranto
British Eighth Army
General Bernard Law Montgomery
- British 1st Airborne Division[4]
- Major-General George F. Hopkinson (KIA 9 September)
- Major-General Ernest Down (from 10 September)
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Operation Avalanche – 9 September
[edit]US Fifth Army commander
Mark W. Clark as a major generalFifth Army corps commanders
Richard L. McCreery
Ernest J. DawleyLandings at Salerno
US Fifth Army
Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark
Northern landing beaches
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British X Corps
Lieutenant-General Richard L. McCreery
46th Infantry Division[5]- Major-General John Hawkesworth
- 128th (Hampshire) Infantry Brigade (Brigadier M.A. James)
- 2nd Battalion, Hampshire Regiment
- 1/4th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment
- 5th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment
- 138th Infantry Brigade (Brigadier G.P. Harding)
- 6th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment
- 2/4th Battalion, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry
- 6th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment
- 139th Infantry Brigade (Brigadier R.E.H. Stott)
- 2/5th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment
- 5th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters
- 16th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry
- Divisional troops
- 2nd Battalion, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers (Machine Gun Battalion)
- 46th Reconnaissance Regiment, Reconnaissance Corps
- 70th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery
- 71st Field Regiment, Royal Artillery
- 172nd Field Regiment, Royal Artillery
- 58th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery
- 5th Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery
- 115th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery
- 270th Field Company, Royal Engineers
- 271st Field Company, Royal Engineers
- 272nd Field Company, Royal Engineers
- 273rd Field Park Company, Royal Engineers
- 128th (Hampshire) Infantry Brigade (Brigadier M.A. James)
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- Corps troops
- Royal Scots Greys (Sherman tanks, attached to 56th Division)[8]
- 40th Royal Tank Regiment (attached to British 46th Infantry Division)[5]
- British Special Service Brigade (Brigadier Robert Laycock)
- U.S. Ranger Force (Lieutenant Colonel William O. Darby)[b]
Southern landing beaches
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US VI Corps
Major General Ernest J. Dawley
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Army Group Reserve
[edit]These units were available to Fifth Army
82nd Airborne ("All-American") Division- Major General Matthew B. Ridgway
1st Armored ("Old Ironsides") Division- Major General Ernest N. Harmon[e]
German Forces
[edit]
Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring[9]
- Generaloberst Heinrich von Vietinghoff
- XIV Panzer Corps
- General der Panzertruppen Hermann Balck
- Deployed along coast from north to south of Naples:
- 15th Panzergrenadier Division (Generalleutnant Eberhard Rodt)
- Kampfgruppe Stroh
- Panzer Division Hermann Göring (Generalmajor Wilhelm Schmalz)[f]
- Kampfgruppe Haas
- Kampfgruppe Becker
- 16th Panzer Division (Generalleutnant Rudolf Sieckenius)[g]
- Kampfgruppe Dörnemann
- Kampfgruppe Stempel
- Kampfgruppe von Holtey
- Kampfgruppe von Doering
- LXXVI Panzer Corps
- General der Panzertruppen Traugott Herr
- Deployed in Calabria and Apulia:
- 26th Panzer Division (Generalleutnant Smilo Freiherr von Lüttwitz)
- Kampfgruppe[h]
- 3rd Panzergrenadier Division (Generalleutnant Fritz-Hubert Gräser)
- Kampfgruppe Moldenhaur
- 29th Panzergrenadier Division (Generalleutnant Walter Fries)
- Kampfgruppe Ulich
- Kampfgruppe Krüger
Notes
[edit]- ^ Headquarters at Algiers, Algeria[1]
- ^ Under British X Corps for this operation.
- ^ Did not take part in initial landings
- ^ Did not take part in initial landings
- ^ 1st Armored Division was in Morocco being reorganized in the new "light armored division" organization. It began to arrive at Naples on 28 October 1943 and thus was not in the Army Group reserve for the landings in Italy.
- ^ CO Generalleutnant Paul Conrath was on leave at the time of the Salerno landings.[10]
- ^ Absorbed the initial Allied assault
- ^ CO unknown
Citations
[edit]- ^ Secret Document 161, Location of units in the Royal Air Force, 34th issue, July 1943, Royal Air Force Museum accession number PR02859.
- ^ a b Molony, p. 234n.
- ^ Molony, pp. 117 & 234.
- ^ Molony, pp. 242, 244 & 245.
- ^ a b Molony, p. 278n.
- ^ Molony, p. 277n.
- ^ Molony, p. 337n.
- ^ Molony, p. 276n.
- ^ Konstam 2013, p. 25
- ^ Konstam 2013, pp. 21-22
Bibliography
[edit]- Konstam, Angus (2013). Salerno 1943: The Allies invade southern Italy. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78096-249-8.
- Molony, Brigadier C.J.C.; with Flynn, Captain F.C. (R.N.); Davies, Major-General H.L. & Gleave, Group Captain T.P. (2004) [1st. pub. HMSO:1973]. Butler, Sir James (ed.). The Mediterranean and Middle East. History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series. Vol. V: The Campaign in Sicily 1943 and The Campaign in Italy 3rd September 1943 to 31st March 1944. Uckfield, UK: Naval & Military Press. ISBN 1-84574-069-6.
Web
[edit]- Houterman, Hans; Koppes, Jeroen. "World War II unit histories and officers". Archived from the original on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
- "Orders of Battle.com". Archived from the original on 17 July 2007. Retrieved 27 July 2010.