operation dragoon order of battle
The German garrison surrendered on the morning of 17August. Despite being outgunned, Endicott, commanded by Medal of Honor recipient Lieutenant Commander John D. Bulkeley, emerged the victor. He intended to establish a new defense line at Dijon in central France. Posts: 0 Threads: 0 Joined: Mar 2007 #1. World War II in Europe began with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany in September 1939. 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 landings went well for the Allies. Moreover, initial optimism that the 22 January landings at Anzio (Operation Shingle) would alleviate the situation of the Allied forces bogged down south of Rome was misplaced. Fighting continued through 16August. [32], To ensure the success of Dragoon and support the initial landings, preliminary commando operations had to be carried out. In order to form the 1ABTF airborne units were withdrawn from combat in Italy. The main reason for the failure to capture or destroy Army GroupG was the Allied shortage of fuel, which began soon after the landing. Directly facing the brunt of the Allied landings was the German LXII Corps at Draguignan, commanded by Ferdinand Neuling. In October, 524,894 tons of supplies were unloaded, which was more than one-third of the Allied cargo shipped to the Western front. 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). Stunned by this move, the German commander rushed the 11th Panzer Division to the area. [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. On 27August, most of the city was liberated, with only a few small strongpoints remaining, and on 28August, German troops issued the official surrender. Meanwhile, the Germans also struggled to bring the 11thPanzer Division through the chaos of the evacuation into position in the town. While Operation Anvil/Dragoon did not have the titanic struggles present in Operation Overlord or the Battle of the Bulge, it has many valuable lessons and fascinating stories for those interested in the war to evaluate. By 29 August, the city was in Allied hands. This beach was defended by several well-emplaced coastal guns, as well as flak batteries. operation dragoon autopsy of a battle the allied. Churchill argued that the invading force would get marooned on the beach, much like Mark Clarks 5th Army at Anzio during Operation Shingle (an operation Churchill ironically championed.) Fighting the Allies during the North African campaign of 1942-1943, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommels Afrika Korps (DAK) was resupplied by a concerted air and sea lift effort. The pursuit of Blaskowitz ended shortly thereafter when the remnants of Army Group G assumed a position in the Vosges Mountains. It is an operation that almost did not happen. The Allied mobile forces of the 45thDivision went out against the German forces themselves. However, at sector Red of the Camel Beach landing zone, the Allies were not able to succeed. 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 In fact, when Dragoon occurred, its effects were the opposite of its original intention. 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 discussions with Franklin D. Roosevelt, Stalin advocated for the operation as an inherent part of Overlord, preferring to have the Allies in the far west instead of at an alternative landing in the Balkans, which he considered to be in his zone of influence. Following Operation Neptune and Operation Dragoon, the U.S. Navy assisted in other invasions. The task force also includeda number of French and Polish combatants. Clarke, Jeffrey J., and Robert Ross Smith. As part of a general air offensiveagainst southern France, Allied air forces had already begun bombing port facilities, coastal fortifications, bridges, and communications nodes in proximity to the landing areas at the end of April. The Allies struck back and retook the hills north of Montlimar, and were able to establish a temporary roadblock on the German escape route. Envisioned as a direct supporting operation of Overlord, Anvil soon ran into troubles. 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. [23][31] The German defense was aided by extensive coastal artillery placements which had been constructed in the years before the landing. Early on August 15, Allied forces began moving towards the invasion beaches. The First French Army quickly surrounded Marseille and Toulon. 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. In the meantime, the Germans tried to continue with the evacuation through Lyon. These units were volunteers from Eastern Europe, mainly the Soviet Union, and had a generally low fighting morale. Shortly after their capture, work began to repair the port facilities at Toulon and Marseille. Wendy Wendy. The division surrounded the town of LesArcs, recently reoccupied by vonSchwerin's troops, and attempted to isolate the German forces there. In 2017, Zinsou's dissertation, "Occupied: The Civilian Experience in Montelimar, 1939-1945," won the Allan R. Millett Research Dissertation Fellowship Award from the Society for Military History. Troops from the FFI supported the Americans, harassing German troops through the entire battle. To seize this opportunity, Taskforce Butler was ordered to advance in this direction, paralleling the German evacuation effort and ultimately cutting them off further north. (Numerous supporting units were also involved in the . Rent or Buy Operation Dragoon : Operation Dragoon Order of Battle, Operation Dragoon, Days of Glory, Operation Romeo, 1st Airborne Task Force, Task Force 88 - 9781155831497 by for as low as $8.15 at eCampus.com. Toulon was protected by a complex of heavy 340 millimetres (13in) gun artillery batteries in mounted turrets. The Wehrmacht was not able to defend on a broad front and soon crumbled into numerous isolated strongpoints. Assembling a mobile force dubbed Task Force Butler, they pushed it and the 36th Infantry Division through the opening with the goal of cutting off Blaskowitz at Montlimar. This is the order of battle for the invasion of Iraq during the Iraq War between coalition forces [1] and Iraqi forces supported by Fedayeen Saddam irregulars and others between March 19 and May 1, 2003. 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. Cameron Zinsou is an Instructor of History at High Point University and a PhD Candidate at Mississippi State University. The Britishreceived theAmerican agreement that Dragoon would be carried out without impact on manpower and material resources required in Italy. [26] Ships of the Western Naval Task Force approached under cover of darkness and were in position at dawn. HMS Ramillies took aim at the fort where the Germans were barricaded. [12], Operation Dragoon was controversial from the time it was first proposed. Blaskowitz was quite aware that with his scattered forces, any serious Allied landing attempt would be impossible to ward off. After securing the town, the airborne was tasked with preventing German counterattacks against the beaches. 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. USS Samuel Chase (APA-26) off the southern France invasion beaches after discharging her embarked troops, 15 August 1944. Wiese, as commander of the 19th Army, was also unable to contact Blaskowitz's Army GroupG headquarters, but implemented a plan to push the Allied forces in the LeMuy Saint-Raphal region back into the sea unilaterally. Army GroupG was finally able to establish a stable defense line at the Vosges Mountains, thwarting further Allied advances. 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. [36], French sabotage by the FFI, together with the Allied bombing, severed German communication lines, causing initial confusion among the troops. The special operations group then continued its original mission. Courtesy Naval History and Heritage Command. On 15 August 1944, Allied forces carried out Operation Dragoon, a set of simultaneous amphibious landings by three US infantry divisions followed by four Free French divisions along the Mediterranean coast of France. Although nominally an army group, Army Group G had at the time of the invasion only one army under its command: the 19th Army, led by Friedrich Wiese. After heavy fighting around Hyres, which temporarily stopped the advance, French forces approached Toulon on 19August. Amazingly, despite the expectation of some air attacks by the weakened German Luftwaffe, the huge assemblies of shipping remained unmolested. [33][34], On Port-Cros, the 1st Regiment drove the German garrison to the western side of the island to an old fort. While vonSchwerin assembled all the men he could find, the 148th Infantry Division near Draguignan encountered heavy resistance from the FFI, which had been reinforced by British paratroopers, upsetting the plan for a swift counterattack toward the beaches. Subsequently, both plans were renamed. For the opposite reasons, Russian leader Joseph Stalin supported Operation Dragoon and endorsed it at the 1943 Tehran Conference. Sledgehammer became Operation Overlord, and Anvil became Operation Dragoon. Operation Dragoon order of battle. To support the landings, Major General Robert T. Frederick's 1st Airborne Task Force was to drop around Le Muy, approximately halfway between Draguignan and Saint-Raphal. This attack was, however, also a big failure. These missions were conducted with steadily increasing intensity as of mid-May, with care taken not to give the Germans any indications of linkage between specific targets and impending landing operations. The main landings were assigned respectively to the 3rd, 45th, and 36th Infantry Divisions from Major General Lucian Truscott's VI Corps with assistance from the 1st French Armoured Division. Finally, the division-size 1st Airborne Task Force was to be dropped behind German lines between Camel and Delta sectors. The guns of the German garrisons on both islands could reach the proposed Allied landing area and the sea lanes that the troops would follow. Near Saint-Raphal, elements of the 148th Infantry Division also attacked but were beaten back. French Army B, soon renamed the First Free French Army, under the command of General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny landed shortly after the American divisions. During the next few days, more Allied men and supplies trickled in. Albin Dearing2 Regimental S-3 : Maj. Forest S. Paxton3 Over the course of the summer, Oberbefehlshaber West(OB West) commander Field Marshal Gnther von Kluge had steadily withdrawn forces from Blaskowitzs command to support the German forces in Normandy attempting to keep the allies at bay there. To fight the uprising, German units committed numerous atrocities and war crimes against French fighters, as well as civilians, in retaliatory acts. Gus Widhelm of Scouting Eight. Operation Dragoon [ edit] The Allied invasion of Southern France during the Second World War was given the code name Operation Dragoon. Advancing inland, Allied troops relieved the airborne at Le Muy the next day. At sea, Task Force 88, led by Rear Admiral T.H. Mounting a large-scale assault the next day, the Germans were unable to dislodge the Americans from the area. Many of the German forces in the area were Osttruppen, drawn from German-occupied territories, who quickly surrendered. 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. Overwhelming the garrisons on Port-Cros and Levant, they secured both islands. [13][14][15], When first planned, the landings were to take place simultaneously Overlord in Normandy and Anvil in the south of France. operation dragoon autopsy of a battle the liberation of the french riviera. Again, this Allied success also did not last long, as another attack led by Wietersheim reopened the passage at midnight. All of these resulted in the postponing of Anvil by the Allies. [29], The troops were positioned thinly along the French coast, with an average of 90km (56mi) per division. Modern mechanized armies need a robust logistics chain to provide fuel, ammunition, and other sinews of war to sustain combat operations. Though its value was debated, Operation Dragoon saw Devers and Patch clear southern France in faster than expected time while effectively gutting Army Group G. By clicking Accept All Cookies, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. The Germans suffered 2,100 battle casualties plus 8,000 POWs, while the Americans had 1,575 casualties. The next day, Lyon was liberated and 2,000 Germans were captured, but the rest had already continued their retreat north. Further delays ensued after the difficult amphibious landings at Anzio in January 1944. Main article: Operation Dragoon order of battle The Western Naval Task Force was formed under the command of Vice Admiral Henry Kent Hewitt to carry the U.S. 6th Army Group, also known as the Southern Group and as Dragoon Force, and created to carry out the Operation under the command of Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers. Stalin also promised a summer operation against the Germans on the Eastern Front (Operation Bagration.) guns need for gliders, it went in first. After protracted fights, both cities were liberated on August 27. During the Second World War, Operation Clipper was an Allied offensive by the British XXX Corps (which included the American 84th Infantry Division) to reduce the Geilenkirchen salient in mid-November 1944. [23] In early August, the 11th Panzer Division had sent one of its two panzer battalions to Normandy shortly before the landing. Operation Dragoon was the Allied invasion of southern France on August . Still, the American general in charge of planning for Anvil, General Jacob Devers, continued preparations despite the operations cancellation. The subsequent German counter-attack gained some ground against the hills occupied by the Allies. Churchill worked to cancel the operation. Hickman, Kennedy. It called for an American and French army to land just east of Marseille and Toulon and capture them. Great Britain relied heavily on American manpower and material. The commanding officers on August 15, 1944 are mentioned below their unit. . American strategists and leaders carried the day. These divisions raced north along the Atlantic coast and then swung towards the east at the Loire to link up with the rest of Army GroupG at Burgundy. The first of 1,300 Allied bombers from Italy, Sardinia, and Corsica began aerial bombardment shortly before 06:00. Johannes Blaskowitz's Army GroupG headquarters discussed a general withdrawal from southern France in July and August with the German High Command, but the 20 July plot led to an atmosphere in which any withdrawal was out of the question. It would take place in the South of France, between Cannes and Toulon in August 1944. Since the 442nd became available while the 552nd was in training and took very little time to train on the British 6lb. The 3rd Infantry Division landed on the left at Alpha Beach (Cavalaire-sur-Mer), the 45th Infantry Division landed in the centre at Delta Beach (Le Muy, Saint-Tropez) and the 36th Infantry Division landed on the right at Camel Beach (Saint-Raphal). [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. Continuing his retreat, Blaskowitz attempted to use the Rhone River to screen his movements. Operation Dragoon took place on August 15, 1944 just two months after the Allied invasion of Normandy. Members of the Sicherheitsdienst stormed French government institutions and moved French officials, including Philippe Ptain, to Belfort in Eastern France. [50][51], At the same time, Monsabert's attempt to liberate Marseille commenced. Vice Admiral Hewitt was a staunch advocate of pre-invasion bombardment support, rightly rejecting the view of some Allied commanders that pre-landing bombardments undermined the assault forces theoretical element of surprise (disproved in Operation Avalanche at Salerno). The stretch of coast provided good sea approaches, had not been mined extensively, was not heavily defended (many German formations were understrength and of mediocre quality), and was a suitable bridgehead for attacks on the strategic ports of Toulon and Marseilles farther to the southwest. [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. On 18August Neuling's surrounded LXII Corps headquarters attempted an unsuccessful breakout and was finally captured with the rest of the city after some fighting.