Operation Diadem order of battle

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 Wayne Clark

U.S. VI Corps (at Anzio)

Major-General Lucian K. Truscott

• U.S. 3rd Infantry Division (Brigadier 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 Walker) (from 18 May 1944)
• British 5th Infantry Division (Major-General Philip G.S. Gregson-Ellis)
• First Special Service Force (3 regiments)

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 John W. O'Daniel) (from 25 May)

French Expeditionary Corps (on the Winter Line)

General Alphonse Juin

• 3rd Algerian Infantry Division (Major-General de Goislard de Monsabert)
• 4th Moroccan Mountain Division (Major-General F. Sevez)
• 2nd Moroccan Infantry Division (Major-General A.W. Dody)
• 1st Motorised Infantry Division (1st Free French Division) (Major-General D. Brosset)
• Command of Moroccan Goumiers (Three Groups of Tabors) (Brigadier-General Augustin Guillaume)
• Corps Troops
  • 7th and 8th Anti-tank regiments (Chasseurs d'Afrique)
  • Levant Artillery Regiment
  • 64th African Artillery Regiment
  • Naval Gun battalion

Army Reserve

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

British 8th Army (on the Winter Line)

Commander:

Lieutenant-General Sir Oliver Leese

XIII Corps

Lieutenant-General Sidney Kirkman

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

Canadian I Corps

Lieutenant-General E. L. M. Burns

• Canadian 1st Infantry Division (Major-General Chris Vokes)
• Canadian 5th 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 McCreery

• New Zealand 2nd 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

• South African 6th 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

• Indian 4th Infantry Division (Major-General Arthur Holworthy)
• Indian 10th 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

• German 92nd Infantry Division (Major-General Werner Goeritz) (Tiber Coastal Command^[2])
• Hermann Göring Panzer Division (Brigadier-General Wilhelm Schmalz) (in OKW Reserve^[3])
• German 29th Panzergrenadier Division (Lieutenant-General Walter Fries)
• German 26th Panzer Division (Lieutenant-General Smilo Freiherr von Lüttwitz)
• German 90th Panzergrenadier Division (Major-General Ernst-Günther Baade)

German Fourteenth Army (at Anzio)

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

German I Parachute Corps

Lieutenant-General Alfred Schlemm

• German 4th Parachute Division (Major-General Heinrich Trettner)
• 65th Infantry Division (Major-General Hellmuth Pfeifer)
• 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)

German LXXVI Panzer Corps

Lieutenant-General Traugott Herr

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

German 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^[4])

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

LI Mountain Corps

Lieutenant-General Valentin Feurstein

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

Korpsgruppe Hauck (on Adriatic front in holding role)

Major-General Friedrich-Wilhelm Hauck

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

Armeegruppe von Zangen (in northern Italy)

Commander: Lieutenant-General Gustav von Zangen

LXXV 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)

References

1. ^ Molony, pp. 14, 247 & 248
2. ^ Molony, p. 69.
3. ^ Molony, p. 70.
4. ^ Molony, pp. 51 & 150.

Sources

• Carver, Field Marshal Lord (2001). The Imperial War Museum Book of the War in Italy 1943-1945. London: Sidgwick & Jackson. ISBN 0 330 48230 0. 
• Clark, LLoyd (2006). Anzio: The Friction of War. Italy and the Battle for Rome 1944. Headline Publishing Group, London. ISBN 978 0 7553 1420 1. 
• Houterman, Hans; Koppes, Jeroen. "World War II unit histories and officers". http://www.unithistories.com/default.asp. Retrieved 2007-08-06. 
• Joslen, H. F. (2003) [1st Pub. HMSO 1960]. Orders of battle : Second World War, 1939-1945. Uckfield: Naval & Military Press. ISBN 1-84342-474-6. 
• 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:1984]. Butler, Sir James. ed. The Mediterranean and Middle East, Volume VI: Victory in the Mediterranean, Part 1 - 1st April to 4th June 1944. History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series. Revised by Jackson, General Sir William. Uckfield, UK: Naval & Military Press. pp. 14–15. ISBN 1-845740-70-X. 
• "Orders of Battle.com". http://www.ordersofbattle.com/OOBDefault.aspx. Retrieved 2007-08-06. 
• Wendell, Marcus. "Axis History Factbook: German army order of battle". http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=30. Retrieved 2007-08-06.