operation dragoon order of battle

He intended to establish a new defense line at Dijon in central France. German intelligence was aware of the impending Allied landing, and on 13August, Blaskowitz ordered the 11th Panzer Division to move east of the Rhne, where the landing was expected. Despite Churchill's objections, the operation was authorized by the Allied Combined Chiefs of Staff on 14July, then renamed Dragoon on 1August. Gus Widhelm of Scouting Eight. Home; Blog/News. Following consolidation of the beachhead, the French forces headed southwest to capture Toulon and Marseille. The Luftwaffe, with 200 aircraft, and the Kriegsmarine, with 45 small ships, played a negligible role in the operation. A veteran and skilled combat commander, Truscott had played a key role in rescuing Allied fortunes at Anzio earlier in the year. Much has been made in the historical record of the capture of the Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine River at Remagen, Germany in early March of 1945. In October, 524,894 tons of supplies were unloaded, which was more than one-third of the Allied cargo shipped to the Western front. In Marseille, German forces were harried by the French Resistance, which undercut the enemys command and control. Noted Hollywood actor before and after war, HQ and four batteries of four 75mm pack howitzers. The American units then retired to Marboz. Army GroupG was finally able to establish a stable defense line at the Vosges Mountains, thwarting further Allied advances. Opposing the Allies was the weakened Army Group G under General Johannes Blaskowitz. The southern invasion (now "Operation Dragoon") was planned for August 1944, and all airborne forces were allocated to a new unit formed on 11 July 1944 as the Seventh Army Airborne Division (Provisional). ThoughtCo. Thus, premised on the Germans sighting the invasion force by 14 August, a heavy naval bombardment, particularly of several coastal fortification complexes, was carried on for an hour prior to the first landings at 0800. Soldiers and equipment disembark from a landing craft on the coast of southern France in August 1944. After the Allies established a successful lodgment in Normandy following Overlord in June 1944, the Allies had enough shipping capacity to undertake another amphibious operation. This led to a stalemate which allowed the bulk of Army Group G to escape north by August 28. [33][34], Meanwhile, at Cap Ngre to the west of the main invasion, a large group of French commandos destroyed German artillery emplacements as part of Operation Romeo. The Germans were already demoralized and disorganized by aerial and naval bombardment and, except for a strongpoint in the Camel sector that was eventually neutralized by a B-24 Liberator air strike, put up little resistance. [71], Atrocities continued during the German retreat from southern France as German soldiers plundered and burned down towns. [55], Through the decryption of German radio communications, the Allied headquarters became aware of the German withdrawal plan. The 2nd (Independent) Brigade parachuted into Southern France in August 1944 as part of Operation DRAGOON and occupied Athens in the autumn and winter of 1944-5, before returning to Italy. The Allies were privy to the German plan through Ultra interception. DANFS - Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Permitting Policy and Resource Management, The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks: 20 Years Later, "Ex Scientia Tridens": The U.S. This is the order of battle of Allied and German forces during the Operation Dragoon in 1944. MARKET GARDEN -ORDER OF BATTLE 52nd TROOP CARRIER WING Brigadier General Harold L. Clark HQ at COTTESMORE (Station 489) 61st TROOP CARRIER GROUP BARKSTONE HEATH (Station 483) 14th Squadron (3I) 15th Squadron (Y9) 53rd Squadron (3A) 59th Squadron (X5) 313th TROOP CARRIER GROUP FOLKINGHAM (Station 484) 29th Squadron (Z7) 47th Squadron (N3) It was the first time English Prime Minister Winston Churchill, American President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin met. Seeking to slow the Allied advance, the 11th Panzer Division attacked toward Aix-en-Provence. They recognized the open German flank to the east of the Rhne at Grenoble due to the retreat of the 157th Infantry Division towards the Alps. The choice for the disembarkation site was an area on the Var coast east of Toulon. The Germans were not able to hold Dijon and ordered a complete withdrawal from Southern France. operation dragoon the . From documents from the National Archives. While these operations moved forward, commando teams were tasked with liberating several islands along the coast. [23] In early August, the 11th Panzer Division had sent one of its two panzer battalions to Normandy shortly before the landing. Overwhelming the garrisons on Port-Cros and Levant, they secured both islands. [52] In both harbours, German engineers had demolished port facilities to deny their use to the Allies. On August 18, Allied troops reached Digne while three days later the German 157th Infantry Division abandoned Grenoble, opening a gap on the German left flank. Choosing the Var coast east of Toulon, they designated three primary landing beaches: Alpha (Cavalaire-sur-Mer), Delta (Saint-Tropez), and Camel (Saint-Raphal). (Torch, the 1942 invasion of French North Africa, with Dragoon were the only two operations in the European and Mediterranean theaters that included the employment of U.S. Navy carrier forces.) Hindered by Allied air supremacy and a large-scale uprising by the French Resistance, the weak German forces were swiftly defeated. Operation Dragoon was the successful Allied invasion of southern France that also highlighted the intense Allied disagreements over strategy. [13][14][15], When first planned, the landings were to take place simultaneously Overlord in Normandy and Anvil in the south of France. The first of 1,300 Allied bombers from Italy, Sardinia, and Corsica began aerial bombardment shortly before 06:00. Shortly after their capture, work began to repair the port facilities at Toulon and Marseille. The bulk of the American force then had to advance quickly to the north along the Rhne, to take Lyon and Dijon and make contact with the Allied forces in northern France. Their efforts were aided by the work of the French Resistance which had damaged communications and transportation networks in the interior. operation dragoon autopsy of a battle the liberation of the french riviera. Unlike other venerated and popular operations of that year, namely operations Overlord and Market Garden, historians have relegated Dragoon to passing mentions in most histories of the war. They continued until H-hour (0800) on 15 August, latterly in conjunction with the naval shore bombardment. Learning from experiences in Normandy, planners selected landing areas that were devoid of enemy-controlled high ground. Given the advancing Allied forces in northern France, the Germans deemed a realistic defense in the south impossible. Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France, began. As a result, second and third-rate soldiers contested the Allied landing. 945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130info@nationalww2museum.org 1736 [36] Battle Summary No. 53, 1 August 1944 [36th Infantry Division] Originally titled Operation Anvil and then re-designated to Operation Dragoon, this is a collection of reports, annexes, maps and overlays used by the 36th Infantry Division for planning purposes. [78], Statistical and accounting branch office of the adjutant general" p. 93, Provisional Government of the French Republic, "Chapter 10: Overlord Versus the Mediterranean at the Cairo-Tehran Conferences", United States Army Center of Military History, US Army Campaigns of World War II Southern France, The Big Picture Command Decision: The Invasion of Southern France (1963), The Unknown Soldier: The Children of the Resistance, Video showing the recovery of several German soldiers killed shortly after Operation Dragoon in 2006, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Dragoon&oldid=1149017562, This page was last edited on 9 April 2023, at 17:58. Operation Dragoon order of battle. On the eve of invasion, the German defense was in a pitiful state. After heavy fighting throughout the day, vonSchwerin ordered his troops to retreat under cover of night. Morison, Samuel Eliot. Listed Order of Battle are: Late 1939 , June 1940, November 1940 , May-June 1941, (Battleaxe), November 1941 (Crusader), April 1942 (Gazala), October 1942 (El Alamein) , February 1943 (Tunisia), September 1943 (Italy), June 1944 (Normandy) and January 1945 (Germany). They failed to encircle the retreating Germans, but the ensuing battle left the 19th Army badly damaged and in full flight towards the Franco-German border. The Germans had a significant force stationed in both cities, but they lacked the time to prepare for a determined defense. Ordre de bataille / Order of battle Les Units engages / Units engaged Les officiers commandants au 15 Aot 1944 sont mentionns en dessous de leur unit. Their flanks were to be protected by French, American and Canadian commando units. These views were also shared by some in the American high command, such as Lieutenant General Mark Clark, who advocated for striking across the Adriatic Sea into the Balkans. History. Another Allied amphibious landing, in Italy at Anzio, had gone badly. As a result, the operation was finally approved in July to be executed in August. Both cities fell to the French on August 28, a full month earlier than anticipated. [38], By the night of 16/17 August, Army Group G headquarters realized that it could not drive the Allies back into the sea. About 88,000 men moved north, leaving 20,000 in southwestern France behind. After landing at Anzio on 1 February 1944, their aggressive night patrols earned them the nickname the 'Devils Brigade.' On 4 June 1944, the FSSF spearheaded the Allied entry into Rome, securing key bridges for the major U.S. II Corps assault. Clarke, Jeffrey J., and Robert Ross Smith. [62][63] Whilst the 36thDivision had surrounded the 19thArmy, they themselves were almost surrounded, too, during the chaotic fighting, with only a thin supply route to the east open, resulting in their having to fight to the front and the rear. Numbering four regiments, this force attacked from Les Arcs towards Le Muy on the morning of August 16. [59][63] Total POW losses of the 19thArmy now amounted to 57,000. XI: The Invasion of France and Germany. They were two important port cities that would increase Allied supply capacity on the French mainland. [13] Churchill reasoned that by attacking the Balkans, the Allies could deny Germany petroleum, forestall the advance of the Red Army, and achieve a superior negotiating position in postwar Europe, all at a stroke. The French Expeditionary Corps and the US VI Corps began to be withdrawn from the front lines in Italy to prepare for the invasion of Southern France. Anvil was viewed skepticallyby the British, who maintained a cautious attitude toward any landing operations in German-occupied France and also felt that any Allied effort in the Mediterranean theater should be applied to operations in Italy or the Balkans as advocated by Winston Churchill. For the full order of battle for Operation Dragoon, see Steven T. Ross, eds., U.S. Army War Plans 1938-1945 (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc., 2002), 239. He has appeared on The History Channel as a featured expert. The Allied units in this sector were able to secure a beachhead and quickly linked up with the paratroopers, capturing Saint-Tropez and LeMuy. These divisions represented the real striking force in the German order of battle, but authority over their deployment and use had become a major bone of contention. Allied land forces Seventh Army Lieutenant General Alexander Patch Detachment, Army HQ & HQ Company & Special Troops Detachment, HQ Seventh Army (For Beach Control HQ) SPECIAL FORCES 1st Airborne Task Force Note boarding nets and LCVP alongside (NH 100077-KN). Arriving, they stopped the American advance on August 24. [45] The Kriegsmarine also had a U-boat force based at Toulon operating in the Western Mediterranean; By the summer of 1944 this had been reduced to eight U-boats, and in air-raids prior to Dragoon five were destroyed. The German garrison surrendered on the morning of 17August. Read full overview. At the same time, Monsabert swung around the city, enveloped it, and cut off the highway between Toulon and Marseille. After meeting with the Allied units from the American Third Army, the Allied forces were in need of reorganizing and, facing stiffened German resistance, the offensive was halted on 14September. The first, Operation Overlord, in Normandy, was the D-Day so familiar to the world. The FFI would tie down German troops by sabotaging bridges and communication lines, seizing important traffic hubs and directly attacking isolated German forces. Pushing forward, the final plan for Operation Dragoon was approved on July 14, 1944. [50][51], At the same time, Monsabert's attempt to liberate Marseille commenced. A large airborne landing was also planned in the center of the landing zone to quickly seize the high ground overlooking the beaches. The American component being the largest, consisted of the air dropped Mission Albatross, followed by the Glider born Mission Dove. The landings on Camel Beach proved more difficult with severe fighting on Camel Red near Saint-Raphal. Originally called Operation Anvil, these landings had been intended to take place at the same time as the Normandy landings of Operation Overlord, commonly called D-Day, but were postponed because the necessary shipping was committed to the Normandy operation. Finally, a projected European theaterwide shortage of amphibious shipping due to the extended maintenance of the Anzio beachhead and the resources required by Overlord served to push the date for Anvil back to July at the earliest. The invasion sought to secure the vital ports on the French Mediterranean coast and increase pressure on the German forces by opening another front. operation dragoon opration dragoon the liberation of. In conducting Operation Dragoon, the Allies sustained around 17,000 killed and wounded while inflicting losses numbering approximately 7,000 killed, 10,000 wounded, and 130,000 captured on the Germans. Finally, during 2628August, the majority of the German forces were able to escape, leaving behind 4,000 burnt-out vehicles and 1,500 dead horses. The strategic bombing started well before the landing, and targeted airports, traffic hubs, railroads, coastal defenses, and communication lines. "[77], Despite these successes, criticism of Dragoon was made by some Allied generals and contemporary commentators such as Bernard Montgomery, Arthur R. Wilson and Chester Wilmot in the aftermath, mostly because of its geostrategic implications. Looking ahead to the postwar world, Churchill wished to conduct offensives that would slow the progress of the Soviet Red Army while also hurting the German war effort. Since the 442nd became available while the 552nd was in training and took very little time to train on the British 6lb. HMS Ramillies took aim at the fort where the Germans were barricaded. After securing the town, the airborne was tasked with preventing German counterattacks against the beaches. "If Tinian in the Pacific was the 'perfect amphibious operation' on a small scale, Dragoon was the nearly faultless one on a large scale.". Both were open to shipping by September 20. In the meantime, the Germans tried to continue with the evacuation through Lyon. As southern France had never been important to German planning, their forces there had been stripped of nearly all their valuable units and equipment over the course of the war. It was part of the Allied campaigns that occupied 1944. Behind their flight, the Germans destroyed bridges, hoping this would slow down the Allied advance. The resulting fighting with FFI troops further weakened the German units, which were exhausted from partisan fighting. The Naval Forces detailed order of battle for operation Anvil Dragoon, the southern France landings. To further aid the troops coming ashore, plans called for a large airborne force to land inland to secure the high ground behind the beaches. Later in the morning little opposition was encountered as troops came ashore on Alpha and Delta Beaches. Both were open to shipping by September 20. They chose a location with no high ground controlled by the Wehrmacht, conditions that had led to heavy casualties after the initial landings on Omaha Beach at Normandy. The Cavalaire-Agay area, extending southwest from Antibes to Cap Benat along the French Cte dAzur, was chosen for the landings. [4] Churchill finally relented only five days before the date set for the landings. Instead, it was the draw of units from Army Group G to the Normandy front that allowed for the quick Allied exploitation of the landings in southern France. Anvil planning was again raised during the Allied Cairo and Teheran conferences, held 22 November through 1 December 1943, at which time the first viable date for the operation was set for May 1944. Operation Dragoon: Senior Allied officers on the bridge of USSCatoctin, the flagship of Operation Dragoon, while en route to the invasion area on August 14, 1944. [26] Accompanying the operation was a fully mobilized separate detachment called "Task Force Butler", consisting of the bulk of the Allied tanks, tank destroyers, and mechanized infantry. The initial plan was to capture the ports in succession, but the unexpected Allied advance allowed the French commander de Lattre de Tassigny to attack both ports almost simultaneously. Operation Dragoon took place on August 15, 1944 just two months after the Allied invasion of Normandy. Formed in July, 1944, in Rome, specifically for this operation. Each thread of the story about Anvil/Dragoon unravels the neat, straightforward narrative that the Allies advanced harmoniously straight from the beaches of Normandy into the heart of Germany in nine months. In fact, when Dragoon occurred, its effects were the opposite of its original intention. Operation Dragoon was conducted from August 15 to September 14, 1944, during World War II (1939-1945). Operation Dragoon (initially Operation Anvil) was the code name for the landing operation of the Allied invasion of Provence (Southern France) on 15August 1944. Dragoon, therefore, had consequences reaching into the Cold War. Robert B. Pearce Regimental S-2 : Capt. However, two German patrol vessels engaged and were sunk by USS Somers (DD-381) on 15 August off the island of Port Cros. As a result, Wiese planned a major attack for 25August by the 11thPanzer Division and the 198th Infantry Division, together with some ad hoc Luftwaffe battlegroups. [33][34], The preceding bombing missions, together with resistance sabotage acts, hit the Germans heavily, interrupting railroads, damaging bridges, and disrupting the communication network. German Units; La rsistance dans le Var . The Origins of Operation Dragoon. The next day, that division murdered 642 civilians in Oradour-sur-Glane during the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre and then proceeded to plunder and burn the town. [46][47] On the night of 17 August one boat attempted to sortie; she ran aground leaving harbour and was scuttled by her crew. Long a rear area, the defense of southern France was tasked to Colonel General Johannes Blaskowitz's Army Group G. Largely stripped of its frontline forces and better equipment over the previous years, Army Group G possessed eleven divisions, four of which were dubbed "static" and lacked transportation to respond to an emergency. The airborne landings would concentrate in an area near Draguignan and Le Muy, with the aim of taking these towns to prevent German counterattacks against the beaches. [23][30], The German chain of command was overly complex, with parallel chains for the occupation forces, the land forces, the Luftwaffe and the Kriegsmarine. U.S. Army in World War II: European Theater of OperationsRiviera to the Rhine. 8. [27], The Allied ground and naval forces were supported by a large aerial fleet of 3470 planes. [18], The chief objectives of Operation Dragoon were the important French ports of Marseille and Toulon, considered essential to supply the growing Allied forces in France.

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