Contents
CHAPTER 2 — FOUNDATIONS AND FIRST BATTLES 15
The Interwar Years and Doctrinal Development 15
The 50th (Northumbrian) Division—Tyne and Tees 18
With the B.E.F. in France, 1940 19
North Africa and Sicily, 1941-1943 22
CHAPTER 3 — LEARNING TO JUMP OUT OF A BOAT 28
Changes in Organizational Composition 30
Amphibious Assaults-Lessons Learned, 1942-1943 31
Invasion Training—An Assessment 39
“Colossal Cracks”—Montgomery’s Operational Technique 48
Cristot, Tilly-sur-Seulles, and Villers Bocage 51
The July Battles and the Breakout 58
The Other Veteran Divisions 62
The 50th Division in Normandy—An Assessment 66
Breakout, Market Garden, and Disbandment 68
The Bocage and Combined Arms Integration 71
APPENDIX A — 21st Army Group—June, 1944 76
APPENDIX B — Infantry Brigades of the 50th Division 77
APPENDIX C — Infantry Battalions of the 50th Division in Normandy—June, 1944 78
APPENDIX D — Victoria Cross Citation for WO2 Stanley E. Hollis, August 17, 1944 80
THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES, Kew, England (Formerly known as the Public Records Office) 81
THE COMBINED ARMS RESEARCH LIBRARY, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 81
DIRECTORATE OF HISTORY AND HERITAGE, Department of National Defense, Canada 81
UNITED STATES ARMY FIELD MANUALS 82
SECONDARY SOURCES: Journal Articles 85
SECONDARY SOURCES: Internet 86