Operation Diadem order of battle facts for kids

Operation Diadem order of battle is a listing of the significant formations that were involved in the fighting on the Winter Line and at the Anzio bridgehead south of Rome during Operation Diadem in May - June 1944 which resulted in the Allied breakthrough at Cassino and the breakout at Anzio leading to the capture of Rome.

Allied Armies in Italy

C-in-C: General Sir Harold Alexander

Chief of Staff: Lieutenant-General Sir John Harding

U.S. Fifth Army

Commander:

Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark

U.S. VI Corps (At Anzio)

Major General Lucian K. Truscott

• U.S. 3rd Infantry Division (Brigadier General John W. O'Daniel) until 25 May 1944
• British 1st Infantry Division (Major-General John Hawkesworth)
• U.S. 45th Infantry Division (Major General William W. Eagles)
• U.S. 1st Armored Division (Major General Ernest N. Harmon)
• U.S. 34th Infantry Division (Major General Charles W. Ryder)
• U.S. 36th Infantry Division (Major General Fred L. Walker) (from 18 May 1944)
• British 5th Infantry Division (Major-General Philip Gregson-Ellis)
• First Special Service Force (3 regiments of two battalions each, U.S. and Canadian) (Brigadier General Robert T. Frederick)

U.S. II Corps (on the Winter Line)

Major-General Geoffrey Keyes

• U.S. 88th Infantry Division (Major General John E. Sloan
• U.S. 85th Infantry Division (Major General John B. Coulter)
• 1st U.S. Armored Group (three tank battalions)
• U.S. 3rd Infantry Division (Brigadier General John W. O'Daniel) (from 25 May)

Corps Expéditionnaire Français (French Expeditionary Corps) (on the Winter Line)

Général d'armée (General) Alphonse Juin

• 3ème Division d'Infanterie Algérienne (3rd Algerian Infantry Division) (Général de division (Major-General) Joseph de Goislard de Monsabert)
• 4ème Division Marocaine de Montagne (4th Moroccan Mountain Division) (Général de division (Major-General) François Sevez)
• 2ème Division d'Infanterie Marocaine (2nd Moroccan Infantry Division) (Général de division(Major-General) André W. Dody)
• 1ère Division Française Libre/1ère Division Motorisée d'Infanterie (1st Motorised Infantry Division) (Général de division (Major-General) Diego Brosset)
• Commandement des Goums Marocains (Command of Moroccan Goumiers - Three Groups of Tabors each comprising three tabors of 500 to 800 men) (Général de brigade (Brigadier-General) Augustin Guillaume)
• Corps Troops
  • 7ème et 8ème Régiments de Chasseurs d'Afrique (7th and 8th African Light Cavalry Regiment) (M10 tank destroyers)
  • Régiment d'Artillerie Coloniale du Levant (Levant Colonial Artillery Regiment)
  • 64ème Régiment d'Artillerie d'Afrique (64th African Artillery Regiment)
  • Groupe de canonniers-marins (Navy Artillery Battalion - two batteries)

Army Reserve

• H.Q. U.S. IV Corps
• U.S. 36th Infantry Division (Major-General Fred L. Walker) (Till 18 May 1944)

British Eighth Army (on the Winter Line)

Commander:

Lieutenant-General Sir Oliver Leese

British XIII Corps

Lieutenant-General Sidney C. Kirkman

• British 4th Infantry Division (Major-General Dudley Ward)
• British 6th Armoured Division (Major-General Vyvyan Evelegh)
• 8th Indian Infantry Division (Major-General Dudley Russell)
• British 78th Infantry Division (Major-General Charles Keightley)
• 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade (Brigadier W. C. Murphy)

I Canadian Corps

Lieutenant-General E. L. M. Burns

• 1st Canadian Infantry Division (Major-General Chris Vokes)
• 5th Canadian Armoured Division (Major-General Bert Hoffmeister)
• British 25th Army Tank Brigade (Brigadier J.N. Tetley)

Polish II Corps

Lieutenant-General Władysław Anders

• Polish 3rd Carpathian Rifle Division (Major-General Bolesław Bronisław Duch)
• Polish 5th Kresowa Infantry Division (Major-General Nikodem Sulik)
• Polish 2nd Armoured Brigade (Brigadier-General Bronislaw Rakowski)

British X Corps

Lieutenant-General Sir Richard L. McCreery

• 2nd New Zealand Division (Lieutenant-General Sir Bernard Freyberg)
• British 24th Guards Brigade (Brigadier A.F.L. Clive)
• British 2nd Parachute Brigade (Brigadier C.H.V. Pritchard)
• 12th South African Motorised Brigade (Brigadier R.J. Palmer)
• Italian Corps of Liberation (Six battalions and a regiment of artillery) (General Umberto Utili)

Army Reserve

• 6th South African Armoured Division (Major-General Evered Poole)

British V Corps (On the Adriatic front in a holding role directly under A.A.I.)

Lieutenant-General Charles Allfrey

• 4th Indian Infantry Division (Major-General Arthur Holworthy)
• 10th Indian Infantry Division (Major-General Denys Reid)
• British 23rd Armoured Brigade (Brigadier R.H.E. Arkwright)

German Army Group C

Commander:

Field Marshal Albert Kesselring

Army Group Reserve

• 1st Paratroop Panzer Division (Brigadier-General Wilhelm Schmalz) (in OKW Reserve)
• 26th Panzer Division (Lieutenant-General Smilo Freiherr von Lüttwitz)
• 29th Panzergrenadier Division (Lieutenant-General Walter Fries)
• 90th Panzergrenadier Division (Major-General Ernst-Günther Baade)
• 92nd Infantry Division (Major-General Werner Goeritz) (Tiber Coastal Command)

Fourteenth Army (at Anzio)

Commander: Lieutenant-General Eberhard von Mackensen (until end May 1944, then under direct command of Kesselring)

I Parachute Corps

Lieutenant-General Alfred Schlemm

• 3rd Panzergrenadier Division (Brigadier-General Hans Hecker to 1 June then Major-General Hans-Günther von Rost to 25 June then Major-General Walter Denkert)
• 4th Parachute Division (Major-General Heinrich Trettner)
• 65th Infantry Division (Major-General Hellmuth Pfeifer)

LXXVI Panzer Corps

Lieutenant-General Traugott Herr

• 362nd Infantry Division (Major-General Heinz Greiner)
• 715th Infantry Division (Major-General Hans-Georg Hildebrandt)

Tenth Army (on the Winter Line)

Commander: General Heinrich von Vietinghoff

XIV Panzer Corps

Lieutenant-General Frido von Senger und Etterlin (on leave 17 April to 17 May during which time Lieutenant-General Otto Hartmann)

• 15th Panzergrenadier Division (Major-General Rudolf Sperl)
• 71st Infantry Division (Major-General Wilhelm Raapke)
• 94th Infantry Division (Major-General Bernhard Steinmetz)

LI Mountain Corps

Lieutenant-General Valentin Feurstein

• 1st Parachute Division (Lieutenant-General Richard Heidrich)
• 5th Mountain Division (Major-General Max-Günther Schrank)
• 44th Infantry Division (Major-General Bruno Ortner)
• 114th Jäger Division (Major-General Alexander Bourquin to 19 May 1944 then Major-General Hans Boelsen)

Korpsgruppe Hauck (on Adriatic front in holding role)

Major-General Friedrich-Wilhelm Hauck

• 305th Infantry Division (Lieutenant-General Friedrich-Wilhelm Hauck)
• 334th Infantry Division (Major-General Hellmuth Böhlke)

Armeegruppe von Zangen (in northern Italy)

Commander: Lieutenant-General Gustav von Zangen

LXXV Army Corps

Lieutenant-General Anton Dostler

• 356th Infantry Division (Major-General Egon von Neindorff until 15 May then Major-General Karl Faulenbach)
• 162nd Turkoman Division (Major-General Oskar von Niedermayer)

Corps Witthöft (Eastern sub-Alpine region)

Lieutenant-General Joachim Witthöft

• 188th Mountain Division (Major-General Hans von Hößlin)
• 278th Infantry Division (elements) (Major-General Harry Hoppe)

Corps Kübler (Adriatic coastal region)

Lieutenant-General Ludwig Kübler

• 278th Infantry Division (most of) (Major-General Harry Hoppe)

Sources

• Joslen, H. F. (2003). Orders of Battle: Second World War, 1939–1945. Uckfield: Naval and Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84342-474-1.