Countdown to D-Day

by Peter Margaritis

  This four-day tour has taken Rommel some 480 kilometers.

  ***

  Today, as enemy bombers continue to raid Germany, the OKW Operations staff discuss at length plans for air defenses.

  1Rommel’s vehicle of choice was a shiny black Horch 770K Tourenwagen convertible.

  2See entry for December 20, 1943.

  3Jagdgeschwader 26. It was named after Albert Leo Schlageter, a veteran of World War I. Arrested for sabotage against the French after they seized the Ruhr Valley in 1923, he was court martialed and shot. The Allies referred to the wing as “The Abbéville Kids,” and their aircraft were easily recognizable, because part or all the forward part of their fuselage was usually painted bright yellow.

  4The outspoken Pips Priller and his wingman, Sgt. Heinz Wodarczyk, will be the only two Luftwaffe fighter pilots that manage to strafe the beaches at Normandy on D-Day. This daring exploit will later be dramatized in Daryl F. Zanuck’s classic movie, The Longest Day, and the aerial scene of that run will contribute to the movie winning two Academy Awards for best cinematography and best special effects.

  Thursday, January 6

  Generalfeldmarschall von Rundstedt takes advantage of the winter weather to stay indoors at the Hôtel Georges V. Not much to do today, so he relaxes.

  ***

  General der Artillerie Erich Marcks, commander of the 84th Corps in Normandy, writes home to his son. Whereas a few months ago he was relatively sure the invasion, when it came, would strike along the coast to the northeast—perhaps around Boulogne—the general is getting more and more certain the blow will fall in his area.

  He has a wicked instinct for knowing these things. It kept him a good staff officer for the invasion of the East, and a great opponent in the Kriegspiel that they played in the months before and after the attack. He had realized how risky the campaign against Russia would be, and had been proven right time and time again. Now the alarms were once again going off in the back of his head. More and more it seemed to him that Normandy would be the target... Possibly along the Calvados coast itself, 1 between the Orne and the Vire rivers…

  ***

  GeneralOberst! Alfred Jodl has arrived on the English Channel coastline and has begun touring the coastal defenses on orders from Hitler himself. The Führer, as Jodl had predicted, had not been at all satisfied with von Rundstedt’s October 30 scathing summary regarding the deplorable state of the Atlantic Wall—that had been one of the reasons Rommel had been appointed Inspector-General and sent. However, when Rommel’s report of December 31 presented similar distressing results, a real concern had arisen at OKW. Could it be true about the poor status of the Atlantic Wall?

  It is a terrible thought to consider. Hitler knows what is riding on the success or failure of the upcoming invasion, and he clearly does not want to believe that his backside shield is in fact a charade. Perhaps Rommel merely wants to be in concurrence with the old Prussian. Or worse, he may still not be cured of his defeatist misgivings—his Afrikanische Krankheit.

  Still doubting, the Führer finally turned to Jodl. He told him to go out himself to the damned coast and find out once and for all if things were as bad as the two field marshals said. Ironically, Jodl, who had initially thought of sending Rommel to inspect the Atlantic Wall in his stead, has still ended up having to make a trip west. So to back up whatever conclusions he makes, Jodl has decided to take his deputy Walther Warlimont, and Army chief Baron von Buttlar, 2 with him.

  For expediency, the three of them have divided the coastal area up into equal sections. Jodl will inspect the Fifteenth Army sector in the northeast. Von Buttlar f France and make his observations of the defenses along there.

  The trio had then dutifully made their trip to France and split up. Now they will assess for themselves the state of the Atlantic Wall, and whether the claims of the two field marshals are true or not.

  ***

  Generalfeldmarschall Rommel stays at his headquarters today, going over the results of his recent tour. He has some worry that the Allies might hit up the coast around the Scheldt estuary. Although the geography of that area made it an unlikely target, it would nevertheless yield the rich port of Antwerp, and Rommel knows that the enemy is going to have to capture a port quickly to sustain their massive supply line to the landing area. Besides, landing near the Scheldt would give the enemy close access to the Ruhr Valley.

  Still, there are a lot of units up there defending that section of coast, despite the fact that their readiness is incomplete and their planning is half-baked. Even the weakened Luftwaffe would be able to intervene somewhat from nearby air bases set up to defend the German cities from enemy air raids.

  There is something else bothering him though, something personal. It is the 6th. Today, Manfred reports to his anti-aircraft battery in Stuttgart. The thought is depressing for Rommel. Not that the boy is going to serve Germany in uniform, but that he has grown so much already. His father has been gone for most of that time, having warred over a good part of Europe and then half of North Africa. He has personally seen hundreds of Germany’s finest sons fight and die, far from home, often in blazing heat and under a blistering sun.

  Sometimes life isn’t fair.

  1The popular apple brandy of that name comes from this area.

  2Generalmajor Freiherr Horst Trusch von Buttlar-Brandenfels was chief of staff to the Army High Command, OKH (Oberkommando der Heeres).

  Friday, January 7

  GeneralOberst! Alfred Jodl continues touring the Atlantic coastal defenses on orders from Hitler himself. Today, he writes in his diary about the problems he has observed:

  The best people have been removed. The officers are good and the men are good, but they cannot act. Re-equipment is producing chaos. The (87th) Corps has 21 different types of batteries.

  ***

  Rommel is at Fontainebleau again today, dealing with several problems.

  His tour of Holland and Belgium has shown him that most of the army coastal batteries lack armor plating. Luckily, most of the naval batteries have some such protection, at least to a certain degree. Armored turrets seem to be the best type of design for survivability. Unfortunately, with metal in great demand, this is out of the question for the army units. Oh, to be sure, camouflage helps some; but armor or some type of protection is a critical component.

  He finds that the next best thing to armor is reinforced concrete. Many of the batteries in Denmark had been designed with it, and it does help protect the battery. The drawback is that, to be effective, it must be installed in thick layers, decreasing the traversing angle of the guns—down from 360 degrees to 120, or even 80 degrees, depending on the design. And instead of a moving, narrow gun slit, the firing port must be wide open—exposing the crew to incoming fire.

  A second problem is operational control. The naval batteries are run by older members of the Kriegsmarine, and not younger, fresher men. Average age for the gun crews is 40—45, with some gunners over 55 years old. On the other hand, the average American soldier coming ashore will be only about 25 years old. The batteries are told they must destroy all enemy units “at sea.” The army batteries are under the command of the Heeres. They are to destroy all enemy units “on land.” So where is the transition point? Do naval units disregard landed troops? Must army units withhold fire until the enemy reaches the beaches? Opinions (and policies) varied widely. Cohesion and cooperation are decidedly lacking, not just between services, but often between units in an area. Someone has to take charge, someone who also needs high-powered authority to back them up. And right now, he is just the Inspector-General for the Atlantic Wall.

  Then there is the Luftwaffe to consider. Will they provide aerial support when the invasion starts? Again there is the question of coordination. And of course, the air units are not his to command or control.

  On top of everything else, he must contend with Jodl’s Wehrmachtführungsstab, 1 Chief of Staff Keitel, von Rundstedt, and of course, the Führer himself. Day and nigh
t they advise, caution, order, warn, and in general interfere with many details, both large and small.

  Another problem is smaller but more immediate in nature. He needs to find another location for his headquarters. For one thing, his staff has grown in numbers, and he cannot find quarters in Madame de Pompadour’s Fontainebleau palace for all of them. The huge mansion is both beautiful and luxurious. And yet, with all its rooms (which are now mostly for show), it is still too small to billet his entire headquarters garrison. Besides, he feels (true to form) that it is too far from the probable invasion front—wherever that is going to be. He wants to be closer to the coast.

  It is a shame, too, because Fontainebleau is a beautiful estate to work in. The ample grounds offer great opportunities for walks in the surrounding woods, complete with small ravines, rocky patches, and fresh springs. An occasional wild boar provides for an infrequent sporting hunt. Still, he is starting to see signs of headquarters opulence, which often leads to relaxed routines and drains one’s determination to fight or defend.

  He has tentatively picked out a forest camp near Laon, some 130km northeast of Paris. But the location is not closer to the Channel—it is just closer to the Somme River, closer to (although still inland from) its mouth, where he feels the invasion might come. However, it is well away from the “Paris crowd.” But today he is informed by Hitler’s army adjutant, General Schmundt, that his request to use the forest camp is denied. So the army group staff must now try somewhere else.

  He has also become interested in an already-existing headquarters close to Soissons, northeast of Paris. It had been built for Operation Sealion back in 1940. But he probably will not get that one either.

  As a general area to search, they all decide on looking northwest of Paris, maybe along the path of the Seine River, for a location that would have nearby natural structural cover to protect them from air raids. The caves in the chalk and gypsum cliffs along the Seine offer just such cover.

  There is a naval underground torpedo arsenal that Rommel has his eye on.2 He has inspected it, and he feels it could serve his needs.

  He won’t get that one either.

  1Jodl’s OKW operations staff.

  2This might possibly have been the beautiful château that overlooked the Torpedo Arsenal West at Châteaudun, Kapitän-zur-See Erich Heymann, commanding. That location though, was much farther inland that Rommel wanted. More likely, he was looking at the underground torpedo arsenal at Houilles, just northwest of Paris, and some 65km from La Roche Guyon.

  Saturday, January 8

  Today, Rommel remains at his Fontainebleau headquarters. As the appointed Inspector- General for Northern Europe, his advice is being sought by several units on a number of defensive ideas. The teletypes have been clattering, and the number of incoming communiqués is increasing. He and his staff are busy evaluating and answering them.

  He has been formalizing his status reports from his last tour. One big concern is that there are a number of problems with the batteries in Holland and Belgium.

  In the Brügge-Blankenbourg sector, for instance, there are three railroad batteries. Two batteries consist of 170mm guns, with a range of 13km to 26.5km. The third is a huge 203mm gun with a range of over 36 kilometers—not enough to reach England, but enough to cover most of the Channel there. The guns look imposing, and to the observing eye, quite awesome in their power and construction. But their fire control system is a jury-rigged setup, quite liable to break down under the intensive stress of combat. The sights are old-fashioned and crude. Because of this, the guns can only fire at a moving target if it keeps the same course and speed. Not likely for any naval target.

  At Walcheren Island, strategically located at the entrance to the Scheldt estuary, the largest caliber battery is a 12-gun 150mm naval unit. Heavier guns are not available at this time; just a mixed lot of smaller caliber pieces.

  General der Infanterie von Gilsa’s 89th Corps further down the coast is better off. They have three naval batteries, five army coastal batteries, and six divisional artillery batteries—a total of some 55 guns.

  Again, Rommel has been finding out (to his immense satisfaction) that the naval units had insisted on being located right on the coast, because their primary mission was to engage enemy vessels. Rommel knows though, that there is also a drawback. They are too exposed. Experience has taught him that positioning guns not on the shoreline, but behind the coast and well concealed, gives them a much better chance of surviving the initial bombardment. The navy though, would have none of that. Rommel had noted as far back as December 5:

  Antipathy against the artillery’s indirect firing methods seems to be universal in the navy.

  It is still true a month later. On the other hand, the naval units have much better sighting equipment (and experience) than their army counterparts.1

  Today, he is visited for the first time by General der Panzertruppen Freiherr Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg. At 57, “Geyr,” as he is called, is yet another fine product of the German General Staff and has been with the army for almost forty years. A Prussian military aristocrat and excellent horseman, he is intelligent, educated, well read, and sophisticated. He has served as a military attaché to London, Brussels, and The Hague. A close friend of GeneralOberst! Heinz Guderian, the pioneer of the blitzkrieg, he transferred to the Panzer Corps in 1937, and commanded the 3rd Panzer Division and subsequently several panzer corps in the East.

  In June 1943, he had been transferred to OB West. His duties had initially been limited to supervising training of panzer units in the West and to act as personal advisor to von Rundstedt on all matters pertaining to panzer warfare. Then in the fall, von Rundstedt decided on creating a new command. Designated Panzergruppe West, it was to become a command staff to lead a mighty armored strike force that would undertake a counterattack against the invasion, whenever it came, smashing into any Allied columns from inland. Ostensibly, it would also be in charge of training, supply, and disposition for all the reserve panzer divisions in the West. More importantly, though, it had a voice in determining their positioning. Geyr had been the perfect choice to lead the new command, so in November 1943, he had thus been appointed to this new post.

  Rommel talks to Geyr, and tells him in detail of his plans to meet the enemy on the beach. Geyr, no doubt unimpressed by Rommel’s reputation, his lack of General Staff training, and absence of any combat experience on the Eastern Front, reacts skeptically. He instead suggests that the panzers be placed inland, away from direct enemy naval gunfire, so that they can move freely and maneuver against the enemy when the landing comes. Panzer units lacking backup transportation could protect the capital from a massive airborne invasion. Rommel disagrees, and they part on that note.

  But their disagreement is far from over. In fact, it is just beginning.

  1Rommel would find out later that the navy’s theory was the best. Inland batteries would prove to be effective only against infantry that had just hit the beach.

  Sunday, January 9

  Rommel continues summarizing his assessment of the Dutch and Belgian coastline. At noontime, he and his staff receive today’s first official visitor: Oberst! Kurt Hesse, an old friend from the Potsdam Academy.1 A respected author of a number of military writings, he is now the field commander at St.-Germain. They talk about several books on World War I including Hesse’s popular Feldherr Psychologos (Military Psychology), and the influences on the German youth of today. Rommel’s own book, Infanterie grieft an (Infantry Attacks) is brought up.2

  The conversation switches to sculptors, and art collections at the Louvre. Some pieces are missing—special presents for the Reichsmarshal, no doubt.

  But they talk about command problems, too. The men present are all friends and trust each other, so the conversation is forthright and open. Rommel in a serious tone tells his friend that he plans on asking to make a number of officer changes in some of the lower commands that he has inspected. Shaking his head, he complains somewhat bitterly tha
t in all the time they have been here so far, their units have done almost nothing for their defenses. And the first couple days would be crucial.

  He pauses and stares at Hesse. “If we don’t succeed in pushing the enemy back into the sea by the fourth day at the latest, then their invasion will have succeeded.”

  ***

  Elsewhere at Rommel’s headquarters, Generalmajor Meise, his chief engineer, writes a report regarding the mine situation. Rommel has learned from experience that a key factor in a successful defense line is the mine. Placed properly, a minefield can considerably bog down even the most determined enemy offensive. He had successfully done this against Montgomery at Alamein. Now Rommel has boldly conceived of an Atlantic Wall carpeted with 50—100 million mines; a formidable undertaking, to say the least. Unfortunately though, his bold design is a far cry from the harsh reality he has to face. Only 1.7 million have been laid so far, and only 40,000 are coming in every month. Requisitions for higher amounts take months to process, and demands on other fronts make them even more difficult to get. And to make matters worse, most of them have a finite time period in which they will work effectively. No, somehow, the minefields have to be augmented, either by other means, or by other sources.

  One possible answer is the idea of adapting old enemy munitions into mine-type devices. Stockpiles of captured and obsolete artillery shells, upon initial inquiry, had been reported to have been either destroyed or scrapped. But further investigation outside normal, official channels had yielded some success. A number of caches had been located. Now they must be put to good use.

  So today, Meise happily writes that thousands of enemy artillery shells have indeed been found. Some were old French naval shells, stockpiled in ports along the Atlantic and Mediterranean; Russian, Czech, French, British, Belgian, and even Polish design. Others are varieties of old French and German artillery shells sitting in neglect along the old Maginot Line. Burying these shells with attachéd jury-rig detonators around key defensive points would help considerably.