| 17th Infantry Division | |
|---|---|
 17th Infantry Division shoulder sleeve insignia | |
| Active | 1917–19 |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Terry Allen [1] |
The 17th Division of the United States Army was formed twice during the First World War. It was then recreated a third time as a Second World War 'phantom division' as part of Fortitude South II. [2]
The 17th Division first appeared on the rolls of the U.S. Army as a National Guard division. After being activated as a National Guard division, it was quickly redesignated the 38th Division.
The 17th Division was reestablished in 1918 as a war service (National Army) division. The 17th Division included the 33rd Infantry Brigade (September 1918 – February 1919), with the 5th and 83rd Regiments, and the 34th Brigade with the 29th and 84th Regiments. [3] It also included the 17th Field Artillery Brigade. The 5th Infantry Regiment was assigned on 27 July 1918 to the 17th Division and relieved on 10 February 1919. The 17th Division was intended to be a replacement and school division. The 17th Division did not go overseas and demobilized in January 1919 at Camp Beauregard, Louisiana. [4]
In 1943-44 it was decided to 'reform' the 17th Infantry Division as a military deception. The division was depicted as arriving in England in June 1944, where it came under the control of US XXXVII Corps, US 14th Army, initially the division was located around Birmingham, Staffordshire prior to the division moving to Hatfield Peverel in Essex during July 1944. Depicted as one of the assault divisions in the Pas de Calais landings it would have landed to the left of the US 59th Infantry Division and been followed by the US 25th Armored Division of the US XXXIII Corps. [5]
In the aftermath of Fortitude South II was depicted as moving to the region around Brighton-Burgess Hill during August 1944 where it was notionally placed under the command of US XXXIII Corps. In October 1944 the division moved to South Wales and was disposed of by announcing that it had been disbanded to provide replacements for other units. [2]
In addition to the usual divisional support units the 17th Infantry Division was notionally composed of: [2]
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The 40th Division was an infantry division of the British Army active during the First World War, where it served on the Western Front. It was a division of Lord Kitchener's New Army volunteers, mostly "bantam" recruits of below regulation height. It was later briefly reformed as a fictional deception formation in the Second World War, and during the early years of the Cold War was recreated a third time to garrison Hong Kong.
The 61st Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army, raised in 1939 as part of the expansion of the Territorial Army in response to the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. The division was created as a duplicate of the 48th Infantry Division, and was assigned to home defence duties.
The 80th Infantry (Reserve) Division was an infantry division of the British Army formed at the beginning of 1943, during the Second World War. For the twenty months that the division existed, it was a training formation. It was made responsible for providing final tactical and field training to soldiers who had already passed their initial training. After five additional weeks of training, the soldiers would be posted to fighting formations overseas. Notably, the division was used as a source of reinforcements for the 21st Army Group, which was fighting in Normandy. After all available troops left the United Kingdom for France, the division was disbanded.
The 11th Division, an infantry division of the United States Army, was activated twice during the First World War. During the Second World War the division was notionally reactivated as part of Fortitude South II.
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The US 55th Infantry Division was a 'phantom division' created in October 1943 to cover the departure of the US 5th Infantry Division from Iceland. An entirely notional force, its existence was reported to the Germans only through controlled agents as Iceland was too far from Europe to make use of radio deception.
The 58th Division was an infantry division created in 1915 as part of the massive expansion of the British Army during World War I. It was a 2nd Line Territorial Force formation raised as a duplicate of the 56th Division. After training in Britain, the division joined the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front in 1917. It saw action at the battles of Arras and Passchedaele in 1917 and the German spring offensive in 1918. It then took part in the Battle of Amiens and the final Allied Hundred Days Offensive of the war. The division was recreated during World War II as an imaginary 'deception' formation.
XIV Corps was a British infantry corps during the First World War. During the Second World War the identity was recreated for deceptive purposes.
The US 59th Infantry Division was a 'Phantom Division' created in May 1944 as part of Fortitude South II. to cover the deployment of the US 35th Infantry Division to Normandy.
The 9th Airborne Division of the United States Army was a military deception created in 1944 as part of Fortitude South II
The US 25th Armored Division was a 'phantom division' created in 1944 as part of Fortitude South II to replace the real US 5th Armored Division when that unit was deployed to Normandy.
The US XXXIII Corps was a 'Phantom Unit' created in 1944 as part of Fortitude South II.
The US XXXVII Corps was a 'Phantom Unit' created in 1944 as part of Fortitude South II, a military deception by the Allied nations during the build-up to the 1944 Normandy landings.
The United States Army created a large number of notional deception formations that were used in a number of World War II deception operations. The most notable fictional US formation was the First U.S. Army Group (FUSAG); this field army was originally intended as the main invasion force for the Invasion of Normandy, however that was renamed to the 12th Army Group. FUSAG remained in existence on paper and was used during Operation Fortitude South to divert Axis attention to the Pas de Calais area.
Divisions of the United States Army | |
|---|---|
| Airborne | |
| Armored | |
| Cavalry | |
| Infantry |
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| Mountain | |
