Countdown to D-Day

by Peter Margaritis

Saturday, January 1

  On New Year’s Day, Generalfeldmarschall Rommel takes a couple of staff members with him and leaves for another inspection tour, this time to the coasts of Belgium and Holland. Up there he will spend the next four days appraising the defenses.

  The Wehrmacht units in these two occupied countries, while under the overall control of OB West, still have their own individual commands. Belgium, which will become attachéd to Heeresgruppe B if it is indeed created, is currently under the rule of the military governor there, General der Infanterie Alexander von Falkenhausen.1 Holland has its own separate command, the Wehrmachtbefehlshaber Niederlande.2 Rommel will soon call on its commander, General der Flieger “Krischen” Christiansen, 3 at The Hague. Like Generalfeldmarschall Kesselring (OB Süd), Christiansen is a pilot in charge of ground forces. He has held the post for over four years now. And like Rommel, he won the distinguished Blue Max in World War I.

  In Belgium, Rommel once again marvels at the many delicacies that are readily at hand. Food is plentiful here, even in winter. And as in Denmark, the war does not seem to have touched this small country.

  He and his staff stay at a nice Hôtel in Antwerp. Life for now seems good.

  ***

  A message arrives today at OB West from Jodl’s staff. Based upon a formal request made by Generalfeldmarschall von Rundstedt two days ago, OKW reports that it will integrate Rommel’s new army group into von Rundstedt’s command. Heeresgruppe B will comprise the Netherlands command, von Salmuth’s Fifteenth Army, and Dollmann’s Seventh Army. Rommel will now no longer report directly to the Führer, but to von Rundstedt.

  There are also other instructions from OKW. It was revealed in a conference last week that a buildup of enemy units appeared to be taking place in southern England. It was estimated that the upsurge would be finished by the middle of February. So based on Jodl’s recommendations, the Führer decreed on December 27 that starting in January, all available reserves should be moved up to the most likely areas: the entire Fifteenth Army coastline and the right flank of the Seventh Army, including the Cotentin peninsula. To make sure this concentration was not hindered by any attrition to the Eastern Front, the Führer had also decreed in a separate order that it will now be forbidden to withdraw any men or units from either OB West or the Denmark Command without his permission—with a few exceptions, of course, which have been noted in the order.4

  A nice gesture, but as soon as hell breaks out in Russia again, von Rundstedt is sure that the migration of units to the East will begin once more.

  1Sixty-five-year-old General der Infanterie Alexander Ernst Alfred Hermann von Falkenhausen, the military governor of Belgium during most World War II, had led a colorful life. Commissioned in 1897, he served during World War I as an attaché to the Turks. He was assigned to the Turkish 2nd Army, and then later as chief of staff to the Turkish 7th Army. He actually fought with that unit against General Allenby in Palestine until the 7th Army was destroyed in the fall of 1918.Von Falkenhausen retired from the German Army at the end of January 1930, and four years later, took on the duties of military advisor to General Chiang Kai-Shek in China. Unfortunately for him, the Nazi regime by then in power decided to politically ally themselves with Japan in 1937, and in the spirit of that friendship alliance, withdrew all political and economic support to China, at war with Japan. Von Falkenhausen was forced to resign his post as military advisor after the Nazis threatened to take action against his family if he did not. Falkenhausen sadly bid his Chinese friends goodbye and promised to do what he could to help their cause, though shortly afterwards he was appointed military attaché in Japan.

  Von Falkenhausen was recalled back to active duty in 1938, by now nearly 60. An infantry general now, he was appointed military governor to Belgium in 1940. (Interestingly, he was directly related to Ludwig von Falkenhausen, who had been the German governor-general in Belgium in the last year of World War I.) By now an anti-Hitler conspirator, he would become a close friend of two other conspirators, Carl Friedrich Goerdeler and Feldmarschall Erwin von Witzleben.

  2Armed Forces High Command, Netherlands.

  3Sixty-four-year-old Luftwaffe General der Flieger Friedrich Christiansen came from a nautical family. A trading vessel captain before the war, he joined the navy in 1913 and trained on torpedo boats, before switching to naval aviation. He became a war ace and was awarded the Pour le Mérite—the Blue ax—in 1917 for shooting down 21 enemy aircraft (and helping to sink a submarine in the Thames estuary). He went back to trading vessels after the war before later teaching naval aviation. Under Hitler, Christiansen became the first Korpsführer of the NSFK (Nationalsozialistisches Fliegerkorps, Germany’s pre-Luftwaffe National Socialist Flying Corps). Although not considered a very capable leader, as a close friend of Herman GŌring, his rise in the Luftwaffe was assured.After the French campaign in 1940, he was appointed on May 28 as commander of all Wehrmacht forces in the Netherlands. Imprisoned at the end of the war, he was found guilty by a Dutch court the years later of war crimes. He was released early in 1951 because of bad health.

  4In that same order, Hitler stated that besides the major landing in the West, the Allies might also make a secondary landing in Norway because if German resistance collapsed in Western Europe, the British would not want to see the Russians take advantage of that and suddenly appear in Norway to take over there.

  Sunday, January 2

  With the holidays over now, Generalfeldmarschall Rommel continues his inspection tour of the Dutch and Belgian coasts. There is not much fear that the enemy will land up here, because there are too many waterways near the coast. It would be too easy to flood them and impede the enemy’s advance.

  Word comes down that the Führer has just appointed Rommel to be the Inspector- General in the Western Theater. Although subordinate to von Rundstedt he will report his findings directly to the Führer. His position is now official.

  ***

  Up in the north, it is a trying time in Denmark, despite the ample evidence of plenty of food and sundry supplies. Because the Danish forces had been disarmed last August in the light of mounting terrorist activities, the Reich’s “close relatives” in this small country are now responding with an increasing number of small acts of sabotage or defiance. Well, the Danes will soon pay the price for their impudence. They will be subject to harsher policies in answer to this willful disobedience. The Führer has ordered a crackdown by the Gestapo and the SS. Possible terrorist leaders are now being regularly tailed and in some cases, assassinated, although usually discreetly. These new actions drive home the message of the no-nonsense policy that has been initiated.

  The German High Command realizes that it will now be forced to defend Denmark’s borders more vigorously, from both without and within. The Danish honeymoon is over.

  ***

  At the Wolf’s Lair in East Prussia, a final assessment on the loss of the battlecruiser Scharnhorst a week ago is completed. Clearly the ship had been outwitted and outmaneuvered because its radar had been quite inferior to the enemy’s. Thus while the Scharnhorst was mostly in the dark about the whereabouts of the British warships, they had successfully tracked its course and had been able to shadow it until superior forces could arrive to sink it. Clearly, German radar development, currently overseen by the Luftwaffe, needs to be improved.

  Pressured by Armaments Minister Albert Speer and Groβadmiral Dönitz, and with Reichsmarschall Göring in disrepute right now, Hitler decides to turn over control of radar development to Speer.

  Monday, January 3

  Rommel continues inspecting the Dutch and Belgian coasts. He notes that von Rundstedt’s policy of defeating the enemy inland has caused the construction of coastal defenses to remain minimal. So Rommel has started planning a complex series of multi-layered defense patterns to compensate for this.

  Minefields, consisting of a wide variety of different types of mines, are to be interwoven with variously sized and shaped obstacles, resistance points, barbed w
ire, artillery positions, natural barriers, and anything else that can be put on the beaches to thwart the enemy. Behind the lines, anti-airborne obstacles will be set.

  Current estimates show some 1.7 million mines have been laid. To the astonishment of his staff, Rommel declares that he plans to increase this number at the rate of 2 million mines a month. Phase I of his scheme will eventually require some 20 million mines of all types. Phase II will require double that number. It is a staggering figure.

  He plans on having enough panzer divisions deployed near the coast so that, wherever the landing takes place, at least two will be nearby and ready to immediately respond.

  Anti-tank weapons will be critical to victory as well. In the absence of panzers at any location, a plethora of small, mobile anti-tank weapons is the next best thing. They do not have the stopping power of a Panther or enjoy its armored protection; but they are easier to hide and better able to be moved around without being spotted by naval support vessels offshore. Always in short supply, they are to be gathered, made, or stolen by the thousands for use against the enemy. But that will not be enough for him. The coastal units will need large numbers of these portable gems if they are going to repulse enemy armored units coming ashore.

  His vision though, will be hard to realise. Administrative bottlenecks abound, shortages exist in nearly every category. Outdated defense policies will complicate matters.

  On top of that, he is finding out that he is not too popular with some of the unit commanders. They look on him as a newcomer with no real authority, a desert has- been, one who is starting to be a pain in their well-adjusted-to-French-life backsides.

  Tuesday, January 4

  Adolf Hitler is not thinking much about the West today. Berlin was bombed by the British again last night, although fortunately, not much more damage had been inflicted.

  When briefed about progress being made on the new U-boats and jet weapons being designed, Hitler confesses to Albert Speer and to Luftwaffe Air Inspector- General Milch, 1 in charge of aircraft production, that he is heavily relying on their deployment. “If I get the jets in time,” he adds, “I can fight off the invasion with them.” What he does not realize is that, despite the clear instructions he gave to Göring back on December 20, the Me-262 jet is not being developed as a fighter-bomber as he wants, but instead strictly as a fighter.

  His lunch conference mostly centers on the Reich’s struggle with the Soviet Union. That afternoon, he gets into a deep argument with Generalfeldmarschall von Manstein about the Eastern Front. The angry field marshal insists that his army group in the south be allowed to pull back and regroup. In explaining the situation, he severely criticizes Hitler’s recent command decisions, demanding that a military leader be put in overall charge of the entire front.

  Hitler glares at him. No one, he retorts, has as much authority over the military as he has. He adds with a growl, “And even I am not obeyed by my field marshals. Do you think they would obey you any better?”

  No, von Manstein’s units must hold out for time; time for the invasion of the West to be defeated; time for the new model U-boats to take over the offensive in the Atlantic; time for relations between Russia and the Western Allies to break down. Where there is a will, he finished, there is a way.

  Later that afternoon, he chairs a meeting on the war industry. In the presence of Generalfeldmarschall Keitel, Hitler directs Fritz Sauckel2 to obtain four million new workers from occupied territories for the war industry.

  ***

  Far away in Belgium, Generalfeldmarschall Rommel continues his tour of the coast. Today he starts out from Antwerp and inspects the strategically important Walcheren Island at the base of the Scheldt estuary. There, defensive construction has lagged for months, mostly because of concrete shortages. Only about a third of the concrete structures needed have been made operational. He notes the impressive 4-gun 150mm battery near Westkapelle, and observes the defensive positions of part of the Fifteenth Army’s reserve and the 19th Luftwaffe Field Division, commanded by Generalleutnant Erich Bässler.3 Rommel makes a point of openly congratulating him on his recent promotion.

  He then stops to confer with the island’s senior Kriegsmarine officer, the area Sea Defense Commander, Kapitän-zur-see Frank Aschmann.4 Together, they go over the island’s inventory of artillery pieces.

  To save time, Rommel then travels across the Scheldt in a small patrol boat to Breskens, a pretty seaport that provides the surrounding area with a hearty supply of good fishing. Because of the low tide, the small boat gets stuck on a bar, but the crew, embarrassed in front of their VIP, manages to free the craft and eventually tie up to the dock.

  From there, the inspection group goes on to Oostburg and looks over some positions of the 89th Corps.5 They then call on Generalmajor Friedrich-Wilhelm Neumann, commanding the 712 Grenadier Division, and inspect its positions, which extend to the town of Blankenberge along the coast. This includes three huge, imposing railway batteries.

  Rommel then goes inland into the Brügge6 urban complex, where he stops for the night. An inland city founded by the Vikings in the 9th century, Brügge is rich in medieval history. Rommel and his staff marvel at the old architecture in the layout of the city. On a decidedly less artistic and more practical note, they shop for and enjoy the rich abundance of the variety of products in the town’s apparently well-stocked marketplaces.

  Rommel has noted this economic profusion in a letter written to Lucie the night before:

  The French, Belgians, have not suffered much from the war… Everywhere the deepest peace. They are well paid, they don’t have the crippling taxation that we do, pay no war reparations, and they just can’t wait to be liberated from us. Moreover, their towns are beautiful and are spared by the enemy.

  It makes you sick, especially when you think how hard our people are having to fight to defend our existence against all comers.

  1Fifty-two-year-old Generalfeldmarschall Erhard Milch. An early air veteran of World War I, he commanded an air wing during the invasion of Norway, and was promoted to field marshal after leading Luftflötte V in the 1940 invasion of France. He was assigned the title of Air Inspector General to oversee aircraft production, a job he was barely adequate at, and in which he was to make several critical production planning errors.

  2Forty-nine-year-old Fritz Sauckel was one of the first members of the Nazi party. In 1921, Sauckel was appointed the Gauleiter of Thuringia, and in 1933 when Hitler first rose to power, and later in March of 1942, he took charge of the Reich’s manpower procurement program, which included slave labor. Captured in 1945, he was tried at Nuremberg and found guilty of crimes against humanity. He was executed on October 11, 1946.

  3Fifty-three-year-old Generalleutnant Erich Baessler took over command of the division on November 12, 1943 and was promoted to Generalleutnant on New Year’s Day 1944. Later, in December 1944, Baessler was transferred to Norway where he became the Stadtkommandant Oslo. He was captured in 1945. He died in May 1957.

  4Aschmann, the senior naval officer on Walcheren, carried the title of Sea Defense Commander for South Holland. Under his command, all naval batteries along the southern Dutch coast were responsible for engaging all enemy sea targets. There was an administrative snag, though. If the targets got close enough to the land that the divisional artillery of General Wilhelm Daser’s 165th Reserve Infantry Division could engage them, operational control of the naval batteries would switch to Daser.

  5General der Infanterie Baron Werner von und zu Gilsa, commanding.

  6From the Scandinavian word bryggia, meaning “harbor.”

  Wednesday, January 5

  Today, Rommel completes his tour of the Dutch and Belgian coastline. Starting out in the morning from his luxurious Hôtel in picturesque Brügge, he takes a brief detour from his inspection schedule, and for the first time since he began his tour back in December, he takes a couple of hours to do a little bit of sightseeing.

  He visits the town’s historic cathedra
l and its city hall. Rommel views with utter fascination the marble Madonna that was sculptured by the famous Michelangelo, and solemnly stares at the sarcophagus of Charles the Bold, before moving on to that of Mary of Burgundy.

  He finally gets in his car and leaves Brügge.1 The inspection party moves southward, down to Tourcoing, where Rommel again calls on GeneralOberst! von Salmuth, commanding the Fifteenth Army. His headquarters complex is located around a picturesque château just outside the town. It is along his sector that Supreme Headquarters believes the enemy invasion is expected to hit.

  Rommel, having talked to von Salmuth on the 20th of last month, 2 now reiterates his expectations of these troops. He once again outlines his plans for a fortified network along the coast. The general seems resistant to his ideas. Von Salmuth frankly dislikes this upstart who happens to currently have favor with the Führer.

  After meeting with von Salmuth, the inspection group travels on. They stop to have lunch with a group of the Schlageter fighter wing, near Lille.3 The wing is commanded by an animated, expressive veteran pilot, Oberst! Josef “Pips” Priller. This fighter ace has a remarkable score of 96 aircraft to his credit. The pleasant conversation with this Oak Leaves cluster recipient is animated, and the Desert Fox finds the squadron CO “colorful.”4

  In the afternoon, the entourage has a hectic 110km ride south to Saint-Quentin. Rommel drives his Horch and Admiral Ruge rides next to Leading Seaman Hatzinger in the follow-up Mercury. Always in a hurry, the field marshal today has a lead foot, particularly on the straightaways. Hatzinger just behind him has trouble keeping up, although he manages to close the distance some when they go up a slope. The two vehicles roar on through the rolling hills to Compiègne, and the men finally arrive back at their Fontainebleau headquarters around 8 p.m., exhausted.