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The title is pretty much self-explanatory. I know you can say something like:

The 101st infantry division was deployed to Normandy in 1944.

But I feel like there is another way to express that. How would you have said the above sentence?

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  • Have you checked a synonym finder?
    – Naomi
    May 1, 2020 at 15:33
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    I would say "sent" - "deployed" is correct but a little formal.
    – Greybeard
    May 1, 2020 at 15:34
  • I would use "deployed" (or something more specific) rather than "sent," since the 101st Airborne Division was dropped behind enemy lines in Normandy. "Sent" is technically correct but carries less detail about the engagement. May 1, 2020 at 15:40
  • @TaliesinMerlin: It seems to me that Boyan Kushiev is looking for an alternative.(It is not the Airborne - it is the infantry.)
    – Greybeard
    May 1, 2020 at 15:44
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    @Greybeard (i) there is no "101st infantry division." There is a 101st infantry regiment, but in WWII it was attached to the 26th infantry division. There is also a 101st airborne division. Maybe Boyan was speaking of a hypothetical, which is (yet again) why we need more explanation from him. (ii) the Ngram illustrates that both are options, but not much beyond that. A basic Google news search shows that deploy has entered sources for general audiences, and refinements for "was deployed" show the same. May 1, 2020 at 16:54

1 Answer 1

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One might say:

"The 101st infantry division was dispatched to Normandy in 1944." or

"The 101st infantry division was stationed in Normandy in 1944." or

"The 101st infantry division was sent to Normandy in 1944." or even

"The 101st infantry division was positioned in Normandy in 1944."

You would however, have to be careful to make the verb tenses convey the meaning you want.

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  • @ Rattler To station is transitive - "The Captain stationed his men in the trenches."-> "The men were stationed in the trenches."
    – Greybeard
    May 1, 2020 at 17:06
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    @Greybeard Please note what KanneE said in a comment..."Stationed means you're staying there (or actually occupying it...for a long, long time). " Both of us are ex-military. For people like us, to say "stationed in Iraq" for example, means you ain't leaving for a while, and that definitely was not the idea behind the Normandy invasion. May 1, 2020 at 18:31
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    The specific word used would depend strongly upon the context.
    – Naomi
    May 1, 2020 at 19:38
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    I think "station" was the verb I was looking for. May 2, 2020 at 19:52
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    @KannE, stationed is indeed the wrong word for the invasion of Normandy in 1944, but it is, under different circumstances, one of the possible words for describing the fact that the military forces have been sent to a particular place. The question appeared to have been what words to use for such facts in general.
    – jsw29
    May 3, 2020 at 17:23

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