The VIII Corps fell under Patton's Third Army, and trained in England from March to late May 1944. Two weeks before the invasion, the corps was pulled out of the Third Army and placed in Omar Bradley's First Army. First Army was responsible for the D-Day landings in Normandy, and once the Allies were established on shore, Middleton was to bring his VIII Corps across. Shortly before the invasion, Middleton took his corps to Southampton where they awaited their channel crossing time.