Three American divisions formed the assault troops. 3rd Infantry Division landed on the left at Alpha Beach (Cavalaire-sur-Mer), 45th Infantry Division in the centre at Delta Beach (Saint-Tropez), and 36th Infantry Division on the right at Camel Beach (Saint-Raphaël). They were suported by French commando groups landing on both flanks, a parachute assault by the British 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade, an American parachute regimental combat team and an American glider regimental combat team; collectively known as 1st Airborne Task Force and US 1st Special Service Force which took two offshore islands to protect the beachhead.
Over ninety-four thousand troops and eleven thousand vehicles were landed on the first day. The quick success of this invasion, with a twenty-mile penetration in twenty-four hours, sparked a major uprising by resistance fighters in Paris.
Follow-up formations included US VI Corps HQ, US 7th Army HQ, French Arny B and French I and II Corps.
The rapid retreat of the German Nineteenth Army gave the resulting battle the flavor of a race up the Rhone Valley. Allied forces from Dragoon moving northward met up with southern thrusts from Normandy (Operation Overlord) near Dijon in mid-September.
Operation Dragoon included a glider landing (Operation Dove) and a deception (Operation Span).