This page provides general details of the organization of the British 8th Army during the Italian Campaign, including the other nationalities of the British Commonwealth.   The intent of my website limits a full review of all the units and organization during the entire period.

Commanding Generals:
      Gen Bernard "Monty" Montgomery commanded during Sicily and landings in Italy.
      Lt.-Gen Sir Oliver Leese-   31 Dec 1943 -  1 Oct 1944.
      Gen Sir Richard L. McCreery-  from 1 Oct 1944 - end of war.
Desert Air Force was a British Royal Air Force command for all the air forces located in N. Africa and Italy.

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   13th Corps - Operation BAYTOWN landing on 3 Sept 1943 on southern tip of Italy.
   5th Corps - Operation SLAPSTICK landing on 1 Sept 1943 at Taranto.

 

British 10th Corps Gen. Richard McCreery
46th North Midland Infantry Division Gen. John L. I. Hawkesworth 128th Infantry Brigade Gen. M. A. James 1/4 The Hampshire Regt    5 The Hampshire Regt    2 The Hampshire Regt 138th Infantry Brigade Gen. JG. P. Harding    6  Lincolnshire Regt    2/4 King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry    6 The Yorks and Lancashire Regiment 139th Infantry Brigade Gen. R. E. H. Stott    2/5  Leicestershire Regt     5   Sherwood Foresters    16  Durham Light Infantry	56th London Division Gen. G. W. R. Templer  (or?) Douglas A. H. Graham 201st Guards Motor Brigade Gen. J. A. Gascoigne    3 Coldstream Guards    6 Grenadier Guards    2 Scots Guards 167th Infantry Brigade Gen. C. E. A. Firth     8 Royal Fusiliers    9 Royal Fusiliers    7 Oxforshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry 169th Infantry Brigade Gen. L. O. Lyne    2/5 West Surrey    2/6 West Surrey    2/7 West Surrey	7th Armored Division (a.k.a. 'Desert Rats') Gen. George W. E. J. Erskine 22nd Armored Brigade Gen. W. R. N. Hinde   4 County of London Yeomanry    1 Royal Tank Regiment    5 Royal Tank Regiment    1 Berkshire 23rd Armored Brigade    (reported directly to 10th Corps)   Gen. R. H. B. Arkwright    40 Royal Tank Regiment    Royal Scots Greys    King's Dragoon Guards 131st Lorried Infantry Brigade Gen. L. C. Whislter    1/5 West Surrey    1/6 West Surrey    1/7 West Surrey
Divisional Troops  Royal Artillery    70, 71 & 172 Field Regiments     58 Anti-tank Regiment     115 Light Anti-tank Regiment  Royal Engineers      270, 271 & 272 Field               Companies     273 Field Pack Company  46 Division Royal Signals  46 Reconnaissance Regiment  Machine-Gun Company, 2 Northumberland Regiment	Divisional Troops  Royal Artillery    64, 65 & 113 Field Regiments    67 Anti-tank Regiment    100 Light Anti-tank Regiment    Royal Engineers     42, 220, 221 & 501 Companies     563 Field Pack Company  56 Royal Signals  44 Reconnaissance Regiment   4 Machine-gun Company, 6 The Cheshire Regiment	Divisional Troops  Royal Armored Corps,       11 Hussars  Royal Artillery     3 & 5 Royal Horse Artillery     146 Field Regiment     65 Anti-Tank Regiment     15 Light Anti-Tank Regiment Royal Engineers       41 & 621 Field Squadrons       143 Field Pack Squadron Royal Signals, 7th Armored Div.     Machine-gun Company 'C', 1 The Chesire Regiment

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British 8^th Army
Order of Battle
Gothic Line
25th August 1944

After the fall of Rome, the Germans retreated back across the Arno River and into the natural defenses of the Appenine Mountains.  Several experienced Allied divisions were pulled out of Italy and sent to southern France.  The Allied Army launched an attack against the well-prepared GOTHIC Line defenses without a man-power superiority required for victory.
The Germans were able to hold the Allied advance and prevent them from entering the Po Valley before the fall rains and winter came.  This is the organization of the Corps and Divisions during the fall of 1944.  The commanders names are listed in (paranthesis).
 
 

EIGHTH BRITISH ARMY (Leese)
V CORPS           (Keightley)   1ST ARMOURED DIVISION   (Hull)   4TH INFANTRY DIVISION     (Ward)   4TH (INDIAN) INFANTRY DIVISION    (Holworthy)   46TH INFANTRY 'NORTH MIDLAND' DIVISION          (Hawkesworth)   56TH INFANTRY 'LONDON' DIVISION    (Whitfield)   7TH ARMOURED DIVISION -   25TH TANK BRIGADE	II POLISH CORPS           (Anders)   3RD CARPATHIAN RIFLE DIVISION  (Duch)   5TH KRESOWA INFANTRY DIVISION  (Sulik)   2ND ARMOURED BRIGADE
I CANADIAN CORPS     (Burns)   1ST INFANTRY DIVISION     (Vokes)   2ND NEW ZEALAND DIVISION  (Freyberg)   5TH ARMOURED DIVISION  (Hoffmeister)   21ST TANK BRIGADE   3RD GREEK MOUNTAIN BRIGADE	X BRITISH CORPS              (McCreery)   10TH (INDIAN) INFANTRY DIVISION  (Reid)   9TH ARMOURED BRIGADE

 

Spring Offensive 1945

5th Army consisted of IV Corps in the west, under Maj. Gen. Willis D. Crittenberger,
and the U.S. II Corps in the east, under Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Keyes
    34th Infantry Division
    85th  Infantry Division
    88th Infantry Division
    91st  Infantry Division
    92nd  Infantry Division
    10th Mountain
    1st Armored Divisions,
     442d Regiment
    1st Brazilian Infantry Division
     Italian Legnano Combat Group
     6th South African Armored Division

British Eighth Army, commanded by General Sir Richard L. McCreery, included the 2nd Polish  Corps and the British 5th, 10th, and 13th Corps, and it included eight divisions from four different nations, as well as four Italian battle groups and a Jewish brigade.
 

Designations of British units:  Each British Regiment contained 4 or 5 Battalions, or even as many as 12. Unlike the US divisions, the British Reigment was identified only by its name-- not a number-- and the battalions of a regiment did not serve in the same division.  Therefore, one battalion of one regiment might be sent to Italy, another to Pacific and another to France.  I presume the purpose was ensure each division had diversified units so as to utilize combined arms.  Another reason is that regiments generally raised troops from one local area and if that regiment received heavy casualties, then that would have a devastating impact on the local community.  This was a lesson that was learned in World War 1.
    Prior to WW2, a regiment would consist of 3 battalions: one used for home defense, one deployed overseas and one 'home' unit that provided a a flow of trained replacements.  Regiments that existed before 1939, generally consisted of 1 or 2 regular battalions and 2 or 3 Territorial Army battalions for training and replenishment.  As the requirement for more divisions grew, the TA battalions duplicated themselves, thus creating a 1/6 and 2/6 battalion designation.  These new battalions were group together to form new TA brigades and new divisions and fought together.  Towards the end of the war, the British converted to a system similar to the Americans that trained all replacments and assigned them to units as needed.
     Each Regiment was identified by their name.  However, most references will have a number preceeding the name that identifies the specific battalion of that regiment.
Examples:
   6 Grenadier Guards stands for the 6th Battalion of the Grenadier Guards.
  40 Royal Tank Regiment is the 40th Regiment, as there were many tank regiments.
  1/6 West Surrey is the 1st Battalion of the territorial West Surrey Regiment.  The second battalion of the Territorial Army was designated as 2/6th West Surrey.

Examples of shoulder patches of the British Army:

 British 8th Army ,  X Corps(resembles a "10" on its side) & XXX Corps.

British Divisions: 4th, 5th, 51st 'Highlander', 46th 'Midland' & 56th 'North London' .
 

Shoulder unit titles:

These cloth flashes were worn on top of sleeve.  Some titles were brass.
No. 6 Commando is an example from my collection; this unit did not serve in Italy.

EXAMPLES FROM MY COLLECTION

Casualty Count

British 1st Division at Anzio over 6 months
  Officers             100 KIA   295 WIA
  Enlisted Men   1,030 KIA   4,653 WIA

For more statistics, go to:  Statistics

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