Operation Diadem order of battle

Contents

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

U.S. Fifth Army

Commander:

U.S. VI Corps (At Anzio)

  • 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)

  • 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)

  • 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) (Until 18 May 1944)

British Eighth Army (on the Winter Line)

Commander:

British XIII Corps

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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)[1]

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.)

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

German Army Group C

Commander:

Army Group Reserve

  • 1st Paratroop Panzer Division (Brigadier-General Wilhelm Schmalz) (in OKW Reserve[2])
  • 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[3])

Fourteenth Army (at Anzio)

I Parachute Corps

  • 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

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

Tenth Army (on the Winter Line)

XIV Panzer Corps

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

LI Mountain Corps

  • 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)

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

Armeegruppe von Zangen (in northern Italy)

LXXV Army Corps

  • 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)

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

Corps Kübler (Adriatic coastal region)

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

References

  1. 1.Molony, pp. 14, 247 & 248
  2. 2.Molony, p. 70.
  3. 3.Molony, p. 69.