# Allied invasion of Italy order of battle

The Allied invasion of Italy, a phase of the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, took place on 3 September at Reggio di Calabria (Operation Baytown), and on 9 September 1943 at Taranto and Salerno (Operation Slapstick and Operation Avalanche respectively). Allied naval forces landed American and Commonwealth troops on the beaches of southern Italy where they faced resistance from Axis forces.

## Allied Forces

Allied Forces Headquarters (AFHQ), Mediterranean General Dwight D. Eisenhower
Ground forces
    Allied 15th Army Group
    General Harold Alexander
Naval forces
    Allied Naval Forces, Mediterranean (Admiral Andrew Cunningham)
       Western Task Force (Operation Avalanche) (Vice Admiral H. Kent Hewitt, USN)
       Force H (Vice Admiral Sir Algernon Willis, RN)
       Naval Task Force, Operation Slapstick (Vice Admiral Arthur Power, RN)
Air forces
    Mediterranean Air Command (Allied) (Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder)

### Operation Baytown – 3 September

Landings across Strait of Messina

#### British Eighth Army

General Bernard Law Montgomery

##### British XIII Corps

Lieutenant-General Sir Miles Dempsey
    Corps troops
       1st Special Reconnaissance Squadron
       No. 3 Commando
       No. 40 (Royal Marine) Commando
    Corps artillery
       6th Army Group, Royal Artillery
       2nd Anti-Aircraft Brigade
    Also supporting XIII Corps
       5th Army Group, Royal Artillery
       XXX Corps Artillery

### Operation Slapstick – 9 September

Landings at Taranto

#### British Eighth Army

General Sir Bernard Law Montgomery
    British 1st Airborne Division
       Major-General George F. Hopkinson killed in action 9 Sep, then Major-General Ernest Down
          1st Parachute Brigade (Brigadier G.W. Lathbury)
             1st Parachute Battalion
             2nd Parachute Battalion
             3rd Parachute Battalion
             16th (Parachute) Field Ambulance
          2nd Parachute Brigade (Brigadier Ernest Down)
             4th Parachute Battalion
             5th Parachute Battalion
             6th Parachute Battalion
             127th (Parachute) Field Ambulance
          4th Parachute Brigade (Brigadier J.W. Hackett)
             10th Parachute Battalion
             11th Parachute Battalion
             156th Parachute Battalion
             133rd (Parachute) Field Ambulance
          1st Airlanding Brigade (Brigadier Pip Hicks)
             1st Battalion Border Regiment
             2nd Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment
             181st (Airlanding) Field Ambulance
          Glider Pilot Regiment

### Operation Avalanche – 9 September

Landings at Salerno

#### US Fifth Army

Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark
Army Group Reserve
    US 82nd Airborne ("All-American") Division
    Major General Matthew B. Ridgway
       504th Parachute Infantry Regiment
       505th Parachute Infantry Regiment
       325th Glider Infantry Regiment
    US 1st Armored ("Old Ironsides") Division
    Major General Ernest N. Harmon

##### British X Corps

Lieutenant-General Richard L. McCreery
Northern landing beaches
    Corps troops
       Royal Scots Greys (Sherman tanks, attached to 56th Division)
       40th Royal Tank Regiment (attached to British 46th Infantry Division)
    British Special Service Brigade (Brigadier Robert Laycock)
       No. 2 (Army) Commando
       No. 41 (Royal Marine) Commando
    US Ranger Force (Lieutenant Colonel William O. Darby)
       1st Ranger Battalion
       3rd Ranger Battalion
       4th Ranger Battalion

##### US VI Corps

Major General Ernest J. Dawley
Southern landing beaches
    US 3rd Infantry ("Rock of the Marne") Division
    Major General Lucian K. Truscott
       7th Infantry Regiment
       15th Infantry Regiment
       30th Infantry Regiment
       HHB 3rd DIVARTY
          9th Field Artillery Battalion
          10th Field Artillery Battalion
          39th Field Artillery Battalion
          41st Field Artillery Battalion
       3rd Reconnaissance Troop
       10th Engineer Combat Battalion
       3rd Medical Battalion
       Headquarters, 3rd Special Troops
          HHC, 3rd Infantry Division
          703rd Ordnance Light Maintenance Company
          3rd Signal Company
          3rd Quartermaster Company
    US 34th Infantry ("Red Bull") Division
    Major General Charles W. Ryder
       133rd Infantry Regiment
       135th Infantry Regiment
       168th Infantry Regiment
    US 36th Infantry ("Arrowhead") Division
    Major General Fred L. Walker
       141st Infantry Regiment
       142nd Infantry Regiment
       143rd Infantry Regiment
    US 45th Infantry ("Thunderbird") Division
    Major General Troy H. Middleton
       157th Infantry Regiment
       179th Infantry Regiment
       180th Infantry Regiment

## Axis Forces
### Army Command South

Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring

#### Armeeoberkommando (AOK) 10

Generaloberst Heinrich von Vietinghoff
    XIV Panzer Corps
    General der Panzertruppen Hermann Balck
       Deployed along coast from north to south of Naples:
       15th Panzergrenadier Division (Generalleutnant Eberhard Rodt)
          Kampfgruppe Stroh
       Panzer Division Hermann Göring (Generalmajor Wilhelm Schmalz)
          Kampfgruppe Haas
          Kampfgruppe Becker
       16th Panzer Division (Generalleutnant Rudolf Sieckenius)
          Kampfgruppe Dörnemann
          Kampfgruppe Stempel
          Kampfgruppe von Holtey
          Kampfgruppe von Doering
    LXXVI Panzer Corps
    General der Panzertruppen Traugott Herr
       Deployed in Calabria and Apulia:
       26th Panzer Division (Generalleutnant Smilo Freiherr von Lüttwitz)
          Kampfgruppe
       3rd Panzergrenadier Division (Generalleutnant Fritz-Hubert Gräser)
          Kampfgruppe Moldenhaur
       29th Panzergrenadier Division (Generalleutnant Walter Fries)
          Kampfgruppe Ulich
          Kampfgruppe Krüger

#### Italian 7th Army

    Generale d'Armata Mario Arisio
    XXXI Army Corps
    Tenente Generale Camillo Mercalli
       211th Coastal Division (Generale d'Brigata Felice Gonnella)
          185th Paratroopers Regiment 'Nembo'