Countdown to D-Day

by Peter Margaritis

  First of all, whoever commanded the invasion would still not be given a chair on the Allied Combined Chiefs of Staff (insisted on by the British), and that would be an insult to Marshall.

  Second, Roosevelt felt that he could not spare Marshall from his present duties to direct Overlord, because he would have to do so overseas and he would probably have to continue in that capacity as theater commander for the rest of the war. He would thus not be in charge of the military in Washington, something that Roosevelt felt the general had done well up until now. Besides, with Marshall in Europe, Eisenhower, his subordinate, would have to take over as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs in Washington. That would thereby technically make Eisenhower Marshall’s superior.

  Third, Eisenhower, who currently commanded all the American forces in the Mediterranean, had not hesitated to relieve Patton of his command for slapping a soldier in Sicily. To Roosevelt, this showed that Eisenhower would not hesitate to relieve any subordinate if he felt that it was necessary. That was something that would certainly be needed (especially to preserve Allied détente) as the war progressed.

  As much as anything though, both Roosevelt and the British High Command felt that there was a good chance the invasion of Europe might end up a disaster. If that were to happen, the war effort would be much better served if the theater commander was sacrificed and relieved. Roosevelt felt that the country would be much better off if that were Eisenhower instead of Marshall.

  So after careful consideration, Roosevelt has reluctantly decided to give the job of supreme commander for the invasion to Eisenhower}1

  Now Eisenhower stares intently back at his leader and replies, “Mr. President, I realize that such an appointment involved difficult decisions.” He pauses and adds, “I hope you will not be disappointed.”2

  1Churchill was surprised when Roosevelt told him on December 5 that he still had not decided between Marshall and Eisenhower. Churchill had until then assumed that Marshall would get the appointment.

  2It would not be until February 12, 1944, that the Allied Combined Chiefs of Staff would issue a directive making his appointment official.

  Wednesday, December 8

  Feldmarschall Rommel and his staff stay on the move all day as they travel along the Danish seashore, frequently writing observations as they assess what they can see of the coastal positions or areas where they are under construction or lacking.

  Finally that evening, their train pulls in for the night at Aalborg, and they set up a makeshift command post. After all, they are at this time strictly a mobile command center and nothing more. They have been told though, that they have been scheduled to get a permanent headquarters location around December 20.

  While auxiliaries prepare their meal, they set up their communications and message traffic begins to come in. The senior staff members clean up a bit before sitting down to an excellent dinner. As they eat they discuss the day’s activities and summarize their findings. After dinner, they retire to the lounge car and continue their discussions. Rommel gives them pointers for tomorrow, and they offer suggestions on certain points.

  That day, Rommel writes his wife:

  Dearest Lu:

  We’re off again to-day up to the northernmost point. The round trip will be over in a couple of days and then paper work will begin. Hard fighting still in the east and south. I need not tell you with what feelings I look on from a distance.

  I hear that the call-up is going to be extended to the 14-year-olds. The lads will be sent to labor service or defense according to their size and physique…

  Rommel has good reason to be worried. His own son, Manfred, is fifteen, and now qualifies for conscription into the war.

  Thursday, December 9

  This morning, Rommel gets a full report from the nearby airbase’s Luftwaffe field division commander, followed by that of the local reserve panzer division.1

  From there, the senior staff members are flown to the Grove airport, and then on to the historic city of Copenhagen. Even after several years of occupation, the Danish capital remains unlike most of the other capitals in Europe, because it is amply stocked and the people well fed. Obviously, the Danes have not suffered nearly as heavily in this war as other Europeans. Most still earn a fair wage, and the country, because of the German affinity to their close racial cousins, has not been forced to pay the Reich any reparations.2

  Rommel gazes at the people on the streets and in their shops. He senses a spirit of normalcy in their lives. He watches them go about what are probably the same routines they had before the war, ignoring their occupiers for the most part. And why not? The war has had little impact here. Even better is the fact that underlying this sense of normal routine is the fact that Denmark is an unlikely location for an Allied invasion.

  Rommel and his staff are amazed at the Danish lifestyles, and stop at a promising, nearby restaurant. They are rewarded by seeing and smelling the culinary delights inside. Delicacies abound, even after four years of occupation. After the tasty meal, the staff members leave the restaurant and spread out, bent on shopping for some personal items. After all, Christmas is close, and the capital seems well-stocked with goods for sale. Rommel takes advantage of this to do some shopping of his own, and this is an excellent opportunity to pick up a nice, unusual present. He chooses a number of scarce, top-quality items, although making the purchases turns out to be somewhat difficult. Being a German, he has a few problems getting the vendors to sell to him, his rank notwithstanding, In the end though, they let him buy, even though he is German.

  When they all return from shopping, they are somewhat dismayed to find out that SS intelligence has intercepted a covert plan to attack his train. Some security will have to be provided by the Gestapo, something he is definitely against, but powerless to refuse. Still, Rommel will make sure that their presence is very limited at best once he gets his own headquarters location.

  That afternoon, Rommel calls on the local commander, General von Hannecken, 3 and they discuss both the military and the political situation in Denmark over tea. They then talk about defense matters. Later that evening, they feast on a bountiful dinner with the Danish commissioner, 41-year-old SS Obergruppenführer Dr. Werner Best.4

  The doctor’s conversation reinforces for them what they have seen all day long: conditions in Denmark are relatively relaxed. Dr. Best tells them that he wants to ensure that Germany maintains good relations with the Danes, in hopes that those in other occupied countries (and the rest of the world) see what life in the Reich can be like. And that includes fair treatment of the Danish Jews. The visitors assure him that he is doing a fine job.

  The ironic part is that Best was once a key Gestapo leader who helped developing the RSHA5 as the executor of the Nazi party’s Jewish policy.

  1The 233rd Panzer Reserve Division. It would remain in Denmark until the end of the war.

  2Denmark had never actually declared war on Germany, though this was mostly because the swift German advance did not give them time to do so. Germany had little interest in the resources of the country, and from the king down to the citizens, the Danes never offered any resistance to occupation. Because of these factors and that Denmark was considered a ‘Germanic cousin’, the country was allowed to function as it had. Even after Germany declared martial law for Denmark in the fall of 1943 (because of increased resistance and government resistance), the Danes were for the most part left alone, although a few thousand did die as a result of the occupation.

  3Fifty-four-year-old General der Infanterie Hermann von Hannecken, the Wehrmacht Supreme Commander in Denmark.

  4The Reich Commissioner for Denmark, appointed in November 1942. His actual title was that of Plenipotentiary (Reichsbevollmächtigter).

  5The Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Security Main Office).

  Friday, December 10

  Generalfeldmarschall Rommel and his staff continue to tour the Danish coast in their special train, which has by now caught up with them. Leaving Copenhage
n on the main island of Seeland, they proceed with the next leg of their tour. They drive northward along the eastern shore of the country, dubbed the “Danish Riviera,” admiring the lovely harbor views. They travel up to the tip of Seeland, to Helsing∅r, and briefly stop to gaze across the Strait of Øresund, here only 5km wide, to view the town of Helgeborg in neutral Sweden.

  Rommel is discovering that the defense line along the Danish shore up here is woefully inadequate. Fortunately, an enemy invasion of Denmark is very unlikely, especially at this point. Farther from England than Calais, there simply are too few beaches to support a successful amphibious landing. And several key German air bases are far too close. Still, the preparedness of the troops is terrible. To them life seems like one big holiday.

  No, he is not satisfied at all. And if this is any indication of what he will find in France…

  Saturday, December 11

  Today, because of critical developments with Heeresgruppe Süd in the Crimea, OKW orders the 60th Panzergrenadier Division reforming in Southern France to the Eastern Front. France is going to be shorted another mobile division.

  ***

  After a splendid breakfast, Generalfeldmarschall Rommel and his staff conclude their tour of the Danish coast, with their special train ending up back in the Silkeborg railroad station. They have been at it for over a week now, inspecting coastal positions.

  The army group staff, based on their discussions with the field marshal and the many notes that they have compiled, begin to draft the official report that Rommel will send to the Führer. The status and placement of the coastal positions have been very unimpressive. If most of the mighty Atlantic Wall is like this, there are serious problems on this front.

  First of all, they have found that the control structures here are weak. The chains of command are both disorganized and decentralized. And area defenses have been set up by the local commanders as they see fit, although at least they all get along—for the most part.

  If a unit is transferred (usually east), the next one coming to the area has to take over their defensive plan. Usually, this boils down to just a matter of “Hold on for dear life, and pray that the reinforcements come soon.”

  This is of course, a futile prayer. There is no real mobile reserve in Denmark, and most of the units (as Rommel records) have little transportation and not nearly enough equipment. Many formations are close to capacity in personnel, but the men are usually too green or too old to be very effective. There is a definite lack of combat experience in most of the units there.

  Although the vital, strategic major ports each have a well-rounded defense plan, he has found that a good deal of the positions are either incomplete or in some cases, not even started. And viable ports will be critical targets, because the Allies would need at least one as soon as possible, if their landing was to have any hope of success.

  That day, Rommel writes to his wife:

  Dearest Lu:

  We’re now back from the capital. A few days’ written work and then the job will continue.

  You can still buy everything you want here in Denmark. Of course, the Danes will only sell to their own compatriots. I’ve bought a few things for Christmas, so far as the money went.

  Even a field marshal who comes from a modest upbringing is not lavished with an extraordinary income.

  Sunday, December 12

  Generalfeldmarschall Rommel, still in Silkeborg, Denmark, continues his report on his findings along the Danish coast. For a successful defense there, he recommends reorganizing all of the units and reinforcements of men and matériel.

  He also adds that they must establish some overall master plan to simultaneously strengthen and yet still effectively defend this so-called Atlantic Wall—either that, or they should just give up France now.

  ***

  Over 1,200 kilometers away to the southwest, the commander-in-chief of all Wehrmacht forces in Western Europe is finishing up a number of administrative details before the holidays.

  And today is his birthday. Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt, today turning 69 years old, is the oldest man in the Wehrmacht to hold the privileged rank of field marshal—a good reason that he also carries the weighty title of Oberbefehlshaber West.

  The theater commander is working in his study. He has, along with his country, gone through some stressful times, including being at the center of two world wars. The crusty elderly man is a product of the old-school Prussian corps, with his family going back through Prussian military history for well over 800 years. His war experiences have been paralleled in modern history by only a few. Nearly everyone would concede that he is still a competent theater commander. In his career, despite his aristocratic rigidity in old-style war doctrine, he has adapted to and excelled in conducting mobile, open warfare. This is perhaps one reason he despises espionage and subterfuge of any type. So it is small wonder to those who are close to him that he usually does not seriously take into account information acquired by spies.

  A curmudgeon, the strains of his career have left their mark upon his physique. Although he looks grand in his uniform, his frame is frail, and his thin face seems accentuated by the serious expression he nearly always wears. Looking at him, he gives the impression of an old guardsman who had seen too much of war and what it has done to mankind.

  Although he now lives in lavish quarters in the Hôtel Georges V just off the Champs-Élysées, he would prefer instead the quiet surroundings of his summer residence in nearby St.-Germain-en-Laye to Paris itself. There he has secured for himself a comfortable villa, uphill from his strategic headquarters, which is a new massive block structure that lies partly underground, dug into the side of a hill.

  These days, because of his age, prestige, background, and senior status in the Reich, he is a man used to expensive tastes and fine living. On a personal level, he is a patrician, relishing the finer luxuries in life—an affluent taste no doubt acquired during his earlier, aristocratic life.

  Today, even though it is his birthday, Der Rundstedt (as Rommel calls him) is in a foul mood. He is upset at Rommel’s recent intrusion into his command. “Marshal Laddie,” he sarcastically calls him. When the old Prussian had learned that Rommel was coming west to inspect his shorelines, he had grumbled, “Once more, the relative tranquility of the high command in France is being ruined.”

  He thinks back now to when he had first been appointed OB West, back in early 1941. At that time, he had hoped for a nice, pleasurable tour in France and six months or so of building his Western forces. Hitler of course, had ruined that idea in short order (as he had so many other grand schemes). The Führer had recalled him for the planning and execution of “Barbarossa,” an invasion of Russia that von Rundstedt had been dead set against from the start. Despite his grumblings though, he had been told to commit his resources to the project, and grudgingly he and Feldmarschall von Manstein had developed a brilliant plan.

  When the operation had begun, von Rundstedt played a key role in breaking through the enemy lines, commanding Army Group South. Yes, he had commanded admirably well that summer of 1941 against the Russians. However, late fall had found his tired men deep in enemy country, their vehicles worn and neglected, their supply lines overextended and shaky, their enemy recovering and regrouping before them, and suffering surprisingly cold weather. The fortunes of war had started to turn against them.

  In late November, after he had taken Rostov in a bitter engagement, the Russians had gathered their remaining forces in the area and had counterattacked with surprising ferocity. His weary First Panzer Army had been forced to retreat and abandon the city. Assessing the strength of the Russian units facing him and the need for his own forces to take time to recover, he had, with Generalfeldmarschall von Brauchitsch’s agreement, started to fall back behind the Mius River and had insisted on permission to move back further west to regroup.

  Unfortunately, a countermanding order came from the Führer, which forbade any such withdrawal. Instead, Hitler
had angrily ordered him instead to immediately halt the retreat, to dig in, and to stay where he was, no matter what. The stubborn old Prussian, aware through intelligence reports of the large Russian units starting to mass against him, had concluded that Hitler did not understand the situation at all. So he had refused to obey him. Indeed, it had been quite a communiqué that he had sent:

  IT IS MADNESS TO ATTEMPT TO HOLD. IN THE FIRST PLACE THE TROOPS CANNOT DO IT AND IN THE SECOND PLACE IF THEY DO NOT RETREAT THEY WILL BE DESTROYED. I REPEAT THAT THIS ORDER BE RESCINDED OR THAT YOU FIND SOMEONE ELSE TO COMMAND.

  Hitler, by now frustrated with the entire campaign, had become furious at this open defiance and outright insubordination. That same night, Hitler sent a message telling him that he was accepting von Rundstedt’s resignation.

  Von Rundstedt angrily left the Eastern Front on December 1, swearing at the time that he would never forgive the insult and would never return to the Eastern Front.1 The Führer replaced him with Generalfeldmarschall Walther von Reichenau. However, he also almost immediately afterwards flew down to that sector; after seeing the situation, he changed his mind and sanctioned the step-back.

  Hitler slowly realized that the old man had had a valid point, and that they were now losing a valuable command asset: von Rundstedt, the hero of the Polish campaign, the master strategist who had defeated the French. So Hitler had recanted and suggested that instead, von Rundstedt go on sick leave. The old man had, after all, actually suffered a minor heart attack earlier that very month.2

  Four months later, in March of 1942, the old Prussian had been ordered back to France again, to resume his old command title there. And things had been relatively good since then, with France being a sort of rest-and-relaxation back area. It became a good balm for those shattered divisions coming across from the East, badly needing a break and reorganization. But with the Allies now gathering themselves in England, it looked today as though the war would soon be coming back to France. And Rommel’s irritating presence was perhaps the most ominous sign of that.