The first chart on the US First Army shows the 3rd Armored Division in two places, under V Corps and under XIX Corps. Is that correct?
I've read elsewhere that to avoid confusion during transport, divisions were landed in the same order as they had been stationed in England, so Americans landed in the western part and British in the eastern part of Normandy. The western part was hedgerow country, unsuitable for tanks although the Americans had the stronger armored component and stronger growth potential, as you noted.
The unit under V Corps is the 3rd Armored Group. It contained one light and three medium tank battalions. For D-Day, the latter three were attached to the 1st Infantry Division. Two of them were partially equipped with the amphibious version of the M4 Sherman.
As I noted, the NEPTUNE plan underwent revisions, the most significant of which was its expansion from a three-division assault to a five-division assault. The American beaches were added to enlarge the bridgehead and also because the early capture of Cherbourg was made a key objective. For that reason, US forces were based in the southwestern UK.
The first chart on the US First Army shows the 3rd Armored Division in two places, under V Corps and under XIX Corps. Is that correct?
I've read elsewhere that to avoid confusion during transport, divisions were landed in the same order as they had been stationed in England, so Americans landed in the western part and British in the eastern part of Normandy. The western part was hedgerow country, unsuitable for tanks although the Americans had the stronger armored component and stronger growth potential, as you noted.
The unit under V Corps is the 3rd Armored Group. It contained one light and three medium tank battalions. For D-Day, the latter three were attached to the 1st Infantry Division. Two of them were partially equipped with the amphibious version of the M4 Sherman.
As I noted, the NEPTUNE plan underwent revisions, the most significant of which was its expansion from a three-division assault to a five-division assault. The American beaches were added to enlarge the bridgehead and also because the early capture of Cherbourg was made a key objective. For that reason, US forces were based in the southwestern UK.