Already after the first experiences of fighting in North Africa at the turn of 1942-1943, the US Army changed the position of the American infantry division. From 1943 onwards, each infantry division had three full-time infantry regiments, in turn composed of three infantry battalions. In addition, the infantry regiment also included other units, for example: an anti-tank company, an artillery company or a staff company. In total, the US Army's infantry regiment numbered approximately 3,100 soldiers. It should also be remembered that the division also included a strong artillery component consisting of four artillery battalions - 3 light and 1 medium, most often armed with 105 and 155 mm howitzers. There was also, among others, an engineering battalion, a repair company, a reconnaissance unit and a Military Police platoon. In total, the US Infantry Division numbered approximately 14,200 people from 1943. It quite clearly dominated the artillery over the German division and had much better and - above all - fully motorized means of transport, which made it a highly mobile tactical formation. It also had much richer "individual" anti-tank weapons in the form of a large number of bazooka launchers, of which there were over 500 in the entire division.
Fallschirmjäger is the collective term for German airborne units from the interwar period and World War II. The first parachute unit was organized in Nazi Germany in 1936 - perhaps as a result of observations made during the Soviet maneuvers of the previous year. The first paratroopers squad was created on the initiative of Herman Göring and was assigned to the Luftwaffe. A year later (1937), the first unit of this type was subordinated to the Wehrmacht, and more precisely to the land forces. In 1938, these units were combined and expanded to form the 7th Aviation Division under the command of General Kurt Student. It consisted of parachute infantry, troops trained to transport gliders and infantry transported to the battlefield by airplanes. In the course of World War II, more Fallschirmjäger units were created, incl. in 1943, on the basis of the 7th Aviation Division, the 1st and 2nd Parachute Divisions were established. In the period 1939-1941, the German Fallschirmjäger was used for its intended purpose (e.g. during the fighting in Western Europe in 1940), but after the heavy losses suffered in the course of the fighting in Crete in 1941, the German parachute troops began to be used primarily as elite infantry units, in which role they proved to be very successful, earning the nickname "Green Devils" among the Allies.
Operation Cobra was carried out on July 25-31, 1944 in what is now northern France. On the Allied side, the operation involved - directly or indirectly - 8 infantry divisions and 3 armored divisions. The German forces, on the other hand, consisted of 2 infantry divisions, 4 significantly weakened armored divisions, 1 parachute division and 1 armored grenadier division. On the Allied side, the command in the field was exercised primarily by Generals Omar Bradley and George Patton, on the German side - General Paul Hausser. Operation Cobra was a successful Allied attempt to break the operational stalemate in Normandy in June and July 1944. The main burden of the breakthrough operation rested with the US 1st Army under General Bradley. The operation began with a massive and powerful Allied bombing of German positions by strategic bombers. As a result, German defense was significantly weakened, and two days later the Americans managed to capture the city of Saint-Gilles. On July 27, the German defense collapsed completely, and the German troops retreated, which at times turned into an escape. In the final stage of the operation, the 3rd US Army, commanded by General Patton, was put into action, liberating a large part of northern France. It is assumed that Operation Cobra marks the beginning of the end of the fighting in Normandy, and in the longer and broader perspective - the beginning of a strategic retreat of German troops from northern France.