List of Allied forces in the Normandy campaign

British infantry the 3rd Monmouthshire Regiment aboard Sherman tanks near Argentan, 21 August 1944
Men of the British 22nd Independent Parachute Company, 6th Airborne Division being briefed for the invasion, 4–5 June 1944
Canadian chaplain conducting a funeral service in the Normandy bridgehead, 16 July 1944
American troops on board a LCT, ready to ride across the English Channel to France. 12 June 1944.

This is a list of Allied forces in the Normandy campaign between 6 June and 25 August 1944. Primary ground combat divisions and brigades are listed here; unit articles may contain a complete order of battle.

United States

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Unit Arrival Beach Commander
1st Infantry Division June 6 Omaha Major General Clarence R. Huebner
2nd Infantry Division June 7 Omaha Major General Walter M. Robertson
4th Infantry Division June 6 Utah Major General Raymond O. Barton [a]
5th Infantry Division July 9 Utah Major General Stafford LeRoy Irwin
8th Infantry Division July 4 Utah Major General William C. McMahon
Major General Donald A. Stroh (from 12 July)
9th Infantry Division June 10 Utah Major General Manton S. Eddy
Major General Louis A. Craig (from 19 August)
28th Infantry Division July 22 Omaha ? Major General Lloyd D. Brown
Brigadier General James E. Wharton (12–13 August)
Major General Norman D. Cota (from 14 August)
29th Infantry Division June 6 Omaha Major General Charles H. Gerhardt
30th Infantry Division June 10 Omaha Major General Leland Hobbs
35th Infantry Division July 5 Omaha Major General Paul W. Baade
79th Infantry Division June 12 Utah Major General Ira T. Wyche
83rd Infantry Division June 18 Omaha Major General Robert C. Macon
90th Infantry Division June 6 Utah Brigadier General Jay W. MacKelvie (until early July)
Major General Eugene M. Landrum (July)
Brigadier General Raymond S. McLain (from 30 July)
2nd Armored Division June 9 Omaha Major General Edward H. Brooks
3rd Armored Division June 23 Omaha ? Major General Leroy H. Watson
Major General Maurice Rose (from 7 August)
4th Armored Division July 11 Utah Major General John S. Wood
5th Armored Division July 24 Utah Major General Lunsford E. Oliver
6th Armored Division July 19 Utah Major General Robert W. Grow
82nd Airborne Division June 6 Utah Major General Matthew Ridgway
101st Airborne Division June 6 Utah Major General Maxwell D. Taylor
2nd Ranger Battalion June 6 Omaha Lt. Colonel James E. Rudder
5th Ranger Battalion June 6 Omaha Lt. Colonel Max F. Schneider
320th Barrage Balloon Battalion June 6 Omaha and Utah Lt. Colonel Leon J. Reed

United Kingdom

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See also Hastings Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy

Independent and GHQ brigades included 30th Armoured; 1st Tank Brigade; 4th Armoured; 1st Assault Brigade Royal Engineers; 31st Tank; 34th Tank; 6th Guards Tank Brigade; 27th Armoured (to 9.1944); 33rd Armoured; 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade; the headquarters of 74th, 76th, 80th, 100th, 101st, 105th, 106th and 107th Anti-Aircraft Brigades; numerous light anti-aircraft (LAA) and HAA regiments; and 56th Infantry Brigade, which joined 49th Division from 20 August 1944.

Unit Arrival Beach Commander
Guards Armoured Division 28 June Juno? Major-General Allan H.S. Adair
7th Armoured Division 6/12 June Gold Major-General George W.E.J. Erskine
11th Armoured Division 13 June Juno Major-General George P.B. Roberts
8th Armoured Brigade 6 June Gold Brigadier Bernard Cracroft
27th Armoured Brigade 6 June Sword Brigadier G. E. Prior-Palmer
6th Airborne Division 6 June Orne Bridgehead Major-General Richard Gale
3rd Infantry Division 6 June Sword Major-General Thomas G. Rennie (WIA 13 June)
Major-General Lashmer G. Whistler
15th (Scottish) Infantry Division 14 June ? Major General G.H.A. MacMillan
43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division 24 June Juno Major General G.I. Thomas
49th (West Riding) Infantry Division 13 June Gold Major General E.H. Barker
50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division 6 June Gold Major General D.A.H. Graham
51st (Highland) Infantry Division 6-7 June Juno Major-General D.C. Bullen-Smith
Major-General T.G. Rennie (from 26 July)
53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division 27 June ? Major General R.K. Ross
59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division 27 June ? Major General Lewis Lyne
79th Armoured Division 6 June Supported Gold, Sword, and Juno Major-General Percy Hobart
1st Special Service Brigade 6 June Sword Brigadier Lord Lovat
4th Special Service Brigade 6 June Sword, Juno, Gold Brigadier Bernard W. Leicester

Canada

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Unit Arrival Beach Commander
4th Canadian (Armoured) Division 29 July Juno ? Major General George Kitching
Major General Harry W. Foster (from 22 August)
2nd Canadian Infantry Division 7 July Juno Major General C. Foulkes
3rd Canadian Infantry Division 6 June Juno Major General Rodney F.L. Keller
2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade 6 June Juno Brigadier Robert A. Wyman
Others
1st Canadian Parachute Battalion (attached to the British 6th Airborne Division) 6 June Orne Brighead Lieutenant-Colonel George Bradbrooke

Free French forces & Fusiliers Marins

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Unit Arrival Commander
2e Division Blindée 1 August General Philippe Leclerc
Others
Nos 1 and 8 Troop, No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando (attached to No. 4 Commando) 6 June Capitaine de frégate Philippe Kieffer
3ème Bataillon d'Infanterie de l'Air (3e BIA)
(3ème Régiment de Chasseurs Parachutistes (3e RCP) from 1 August) / (3rd SAS)
17 July Capitaine Pierre Château-Jobert [fr]
4ème Bataillon d'Infanterie de l'Air (4e BIA)
(2ème Régiment de Chasseurs Parachutistes (2e RCP) from 1 August) / (4th SAS)
6 June Capitaine Pierre-Louis Bourgoin [fr]

Free Polish forces

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Unit Arrival Commander
1st Armoured Division NLT 7 Aug Major-General Stanisław Maczek

Free Belgian forces

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Unit Arrival Commander
1st Belgian Infantry Brigade ( "Brigade Piron") Between 30 July – 8 August Colonel Jean-Baptiste Piron

Free Czechoslovak forces

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Unit Arrival Commander
1st Czechoslovak Independent Armoured Brigade Group 30 August Major General Alois Liška

Free Dutch forces

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Unit Arrival Commander
HNLMS Flores 6 Jun
HNLMS Soemba 6 Jun
No. 320 (Netherlands) Squadron RAF 6 Jun
Koninklijke Nederlandse Brigade "Prinses Irene" ("Princess Irene Brigade") 6 Aug Colonel A. C. de Ruyter van Steveninck [nl]

Free Norwegian forces

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Approximately 1,950 Norwegian military personnel took part in the Normandy campaign in separate Norwegian units or as part of other Allied units in addition to 45 civilian ships[3] with approximately 1,000 men from Nortraship. The Norwegian units operated under British command and were therefore primarily employed in the Gold, Sword and Juno sectors.

Some of the participating units:

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ There was panic at SHAEF HQ in Southwick House when Convoy U2 of 140 ships carrying Barton and the US 4th Infantry Division to Utah beach (which had furthest to go) failed to heed the radio message to turn back on 3 June and could not be located; with visions of the flotilla invading alone!. The destroyer USS Forrest went out. It took all day for a Walrus seaplane search aircraft to locate them, with cloud down to 100 feet (30 m). Two message canisters were dropped; the first fell into the sea, but the ship got the second one and turned round.[1][2]

Citations

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  1. ^ Caddick-Adams, Peter (2019). Sand & Steel: A New History of D-Day. London: Hutchinson. p. 345. ISBN 978-1-84794-8-281.
  2. ^ Tucker-Jones, Anthony (2019). D-Day 1944: The Making of Victory. Brimscombe, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press. p. 98. ISBN 978-0-7509-8803-2.
  3. ^ Berg 1997: 136

References

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