17th Infantry Division (United States)
- This article is about the WWII 'Phantom Division'. For the WWI division, see 38th Infantry Division (United States).
| 17th Infantry Division | |
|---|---|
 17th Infantry Division shoulder sleeve insignia | |
| Active | Operation Quicksilver (WWII) |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch | United States Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Role | diversion phantom formation |
The US 17th Infantry Divison was a 'Phantom Division' created created in 1944 as part of Fortitude South II.[1]
World War II
The division was depicted as arriving in England in June 1944, where it came under the control of US XXXVII Corps, 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 Divison of the US XXXIII Corps.[2]
In the aftermath of Fortitude South II was depicted as moving to the region around Brighton-Burgess Hill during August of 1944 where it was notionally placed under the command of US XXXIII Corps. In October of 1944 the division moved to South Wales and was disposed of by announcing that it had been dispanded to provide replacements for other units.[1]
Composition
In addition to the usual divisional support units the 17th Infantry Divison was composed of:[1]
2933rd Infantry Regiment 336th Infantry Regiment 375th Infantry Regiment
References
Bibliography
- Holt, Thaddeus. The Deceivers: Allied Military Deception in the Second World War. Phoenix. 2005. ISBN 0-75381-917-1
- Hesketh, Roger. Fortitude: The D-Day Deception Campaign. St Ermin's Press. 1999 ISBN 0-316-85172-8