n 1943, the 5th and 8th King's (Liverpool Irish) received specialist training at Ayrshire in preparation for a planned invasion of France. They had been selected to form the nucleus of the 5th and 7th Beach Groups, which would have the objectives of maintaining beach organisation, securing positions, and providing defence against counter-attack.
As invasion neared in mid-1944, the two battalions moved from their camps to ports in southern England and embarked aboard troopships and landing ship tanks. Much of the Liverpool Irish embarked aboard the Ulster Monarch, a passenger ship that had served on the Belfast-Liverpool line before the war.[150] Having been delayed, the invasion fleet proceeded to Normandy on 5 June. Both King's battalions landed on D-Day, the 5th at Sword with the 3rd British Infantry Division and the Liverpool Irish at Juno with the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division.
Two companies of the Liverpool Irish landed in the assault wave with the Royal Winnipeg Rifles. Under intense machine gun and mortar fire, the landing of Major Max Morrison's "A" Company proceeded well, allowing some to establish a command-post upon reaching the sand dunes. In contrast, in "B" Company's sector, the late arrival of the reconnaissance party and DD tanks exposed the landing infantry to heavy machine gun fire. The company's officer commanding, Major O'Brien, and the second-in-command were among those wounded. At Sword, as the 3rd Division moved inland, the 5th King's attempted to neutralise hostile positions and snipers. Casualties included Lieutenant-Colonel D. H. V. Board, killed by a sniper, and the OC of 9 Platoon, Lieutenant Scarfe, mortally wounded in an attack on a German position that captured 16 soldiers.
Under fire, the beach groups collected the wounded and dead, located and marked minefields, attempted to maintain organisation, and directed vehicles and troops inland. The two battalions operated with the beach groups for a further six weeks. While the depleted Liverpool Irish disbanded in August, much of its strength having been transferred to other units as reinforcements,[153] the 5th King's survived as a reduced cadre. Disbandment had only been avoided through the determination of Lieutenant Colonel G.D. Wreford-Brown, who argued that the 5th Battalion was nearly the most senior unit active in the Territorial Army.
Before the Allies advanced into Nazi Germany in February 1945, the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) began to form dedicated units to secure important objectives—equipment, installations, intelligence, and personnel.[154][155] The 5th King's provided the nucleus for No. 2 T (Target) Force. Elements of the 5th reached the naval port of Kiel in May 1945, securing the cruiser Admiral Hipper and taking 7,000 sailors prisoner. The battalion continued to conduct intelligence operations until disbandment in July 1946 during the demoblisation process. Reconstitution into the Territorial Army followed in 1947 under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Stanley.
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