Countdown to D-Day

by Peter Margaritis

  Additionally, some eleven million enemy mines seized in 1940 have been located. They only need cases and fuses, and simple substitute fuses could be produced without too much effort.

  The report gives Rommel a renewed sense of determination.

  ***

  Generalfeldmarschall von Rundstedt enjoys a pleasant leisurely day at his Paris Hôtel. Perhaps he will take a nice walk in the afternoon, before a fine evening meal.

  ***

  GeneralOberst! Heinz Guderian, the main architect of the German panzer forces, is today with Hitler at the snowed-in Berghof in Bavaria.3 Sacked in December of 1941 for his failure to advance far enough in front of Moscow, Guderian had been reprieved and appointed Generalinspektur der Panzertruppen.4 Now, alarmed at the unorganized fashion in which the Army High Command has been dealing with the setbacks on the Eastern Front, he is ready to propose to the Führer a reorganization of the Supreme High Command. He waits for the right time when they are alone (and the Führer is in a good mood) to broach the subject. He will use the command situation in the West to support his idea.

  At mid-morning, the Führer, finally up and dressed, invites him to breakfast. “Somebody’s sent me a teal,”5 he says. “You know I’m a vegetarian.6 Would you like to have breakfast with me and eat the teal?”

  Guderian readily agrees, and they sit down together at a table in a somewhat darkened room, the morning daylight shining in from only one window. They are alone, except for the Führer’s German shepherd, Blondi. The table has already been prepared for them by Linge, 7 who now wordlessly serves them the food and then quickly, discreetly leaves.

  Despite his basic diet, one of Hitler’s few joys these days is the cuisine at the Berghof. His cook, 25-year-old Marlene von Exner, is a celebrated Viennese dietitian. She had been bragged about to Hitler by Romania’s Marshal Antonescu back in mid-1943, at a time when the Führer’s heart condition had been diagnosed as not improving. Hitler had turned to his own doctor, Theodor Morrell, and had instructed him to find an expert dietitian. Morell had gone straight to Fraulein von Exner herself and had coerced her into giving up her practice in Vienna and working exclusively for the Führer.

  This talented lady had not only turned out to be a whiz in the kitchen, but also good company, with her sunny, upbeat disposition. Because she too was from Austria, she often shared conversations with the Führer about their native country. She told him stories about her youth, growing up with several brothers and sisters. She occasionally conversed with him about improving the Viennese culture.

  On the whole, she is not too happy about his limited diet—vegetarian soup, carrots, potatoes, and on occasion, a couple soft-boiled eggs. Still, she accepts it good-naturedly and has managed to work her menus around this handicap. Her soups and stews are always rich, flavorful, and hearty, enhanced by secret ingredients (one special one, she confided to a close friend, is a bit of bone marrow). At any rate, because of her warm demeanor, she is always a bright spot in the Führer’s day, although, unknown to him, she secretly pines for one of the SS adjutants on the mountain.8

  Alone now at the small table, Hitler and Guderian begin breakfast. Hitler occasionally tears off a small chunk of freshly baked bread and feeds it to the German shepherd, who dutifully eats it out of his hand. Blondi is a vegetarian, too.

  The conversation at first is light. But Guderian is resolved to make a point and soon gets to it. He broaches the subject of the upcoming Allied invasion in the West. Guderian and OKW expect it to come in the spring. At present, the reserves there are totally inadequate to meet the threat. A firmer defense in the East is needed, he concludes, so that they can safely release units for the West. He goes on about the problems in Russia, citing a lack of defensive fortifications, but is finally cut off by an angry Hitler.

  “Believe me, general,” he snarls, “I am the greatest builder of fortifications of all time. I built the West Wall. I built the Atlantic Wall. I have used nineteen million tons of concrete. I know what the building of fortifications involves.” He goes on with his harangue about what he feels are the problems in the East, and concludes by telling Guderian that you can only successfully wage a war on two fronts if you can temporarily keep one of them inactive while you stabilize the other.

  Guderian suggests that since he has done so well building defenses in the West that he should be able to do so in the East as well.

  Hitler responds by lamenting one of his popular themes. His generals on the Eastern Front would simply love to retreat to a series of fortifications in their rear if they were to be constructed. The lack of such a defensive line forces them to stay on the offensive. He is resolute on that point.

  The conversation then changes to the High Command. Guderian tells him how incompetent it is and suggests that maybe he can turn over supreme control to a general to clear up chains of command. And his senior staff should be replaced by generals he can trust and who will work efficiently, not constantly bicker between themselves. And he should “get rid of the obscure confusion of command functions that now reign among the Wehrmacht Command Staff, the OKH, the Luftwaffe, the Kriegsmarine, and the Waffen SS…”

  Again Hitler cuts him off, bluntly refusing. He will not get rid of Keitel as his chief of staff. He glares at Guderian suspiciously, and asks if Guderian is trying to limit his powers. Guderian of course denies it, but Hitler does not seem to believe him. “Besides,” he grumbles, “is there any general that I can really trust?”

  Guderian, clearly on the losing side of this conversation, admits that there probably is not. Hitler finally concludes their conversation with a frequent remark of his: “I can’t understand why everything has gone wrong for the past two years.”

  Guderian’s answer, unwavering, is the same one he has given before. “Change your methods,” he replies curtly.

  1Oberst! Kurt Hesse was a friend of Rommel’s, having taught at the Potsdam Academy with him in the 1930s. The exact date of this visit is unknown; the phrase “early in January 1944” was given. [Auth.]

  2Rommel’s book, published in 1937, was well received, and is today considered a classic of German military literature. It deals with military tactics and is based on his experiences in World War I. After it was published, Rommel told Hesse, “It’s astounding, the money there is to be made from such books. I just don’t know what to do with all the cash that’s flooding in. I can’t possibly use it all, I’m happy enough with what I’ve got already. And I don’t like the idea of making money out of writing up how other good men lost their lives.”

  3The date for this conversation is not exact, and as Guderian’s biographer Kenneth Macksey writes, we only have Guderian’s account of this story.

  4Inspector-General of the Armored Forces.

  5A teal is a small, brightly-colored, freshwater duck with a short neck.

  6Hitler firmly believed that consuming meat made him sweat excessively, a trait he did not desire, especially when in public and giving speeches.

  7Thirty-year-old HauptStürmführer Heinz Linge, the Führer’s close personal valet. Personally chosen from Hitler’s LSSAH in 1935, he was a dedicated, intelligent but simple-minded orderly who as the Chef der persönlichten Diensts Beim Führer (Chief of the Führer’s Personal Service), oversaw all aspects of Hitler’s daily life. Linge would stay with the Führer until the very end and help burn Hitler’s corpse outside the bunker after his suicide.

  8Fraulein Helene Marie “Marlene” Exner would not be at the Berghof very long. Martin Bormann had flirted with her a few times, and she had committed the cardinal sin of spurning him. Soon, revenge in his heart, he decided to get rid of her. All he had to do was find some Jewish blood in her background. He eventually did (using the SD, the security branch of the SS), finding a trace in her great-grandmother, as it turns out.

  The story then gets interesting. Traudl Junge, one of Hitler’s personal secretaries, later recalled that she became horrified when the news of her friend Marlene’s leaving over this “genetic f
law” was broken to her; “not so much because she might lose her job with Hitler,” she wrote, “as because now she couldn’t possibly become the wife of an SS man.” In this case, he was a young Prussian officer named Fritz Darges (who was also admired by Eva Braun’s sister, Gretl). As expected, the Führer did fire Marlene over her tinge of Jewish ancestry, although he did so quite reluctantly. He sadly explained, “I cannot make one rule for myself and another for the rest.” Still, because of her sweet character and his fondness for her, he ordered Bormann to “Aryanize” her entire family. Bormann, resentful and upset, put this task off indefinitely, hoping the Führer might forget about it.

  However, a few weeks later, Fraulein Junge received a letter from the now-departed Marlene, stating that she and her sister had had to abandon their studies in Vienna, and that the careers of her brothers had been sabotaged in some way. Traudl recorded: “I was so angry and indignant that I sat down at the typewriter with the outsize characters [large font characters, used for speeches—Auth], typed the letter out on it word for word, and took it to the Führer. He went red in the face with fury and called for Bormann at once. The Reichsleiter was red-faced too when he came out of Hitler’s room, and he gave me a furious glance. All the same, in March, I received the cheering news that everything was all right again, the whole Exner family was extremely grateful to me, and their ‘Aryanization’ had finally gone through.”

  Monday, January 10

  Alfred Jodl, Chef der Generalstab, Wehrmachtführungsstab, OKW, 1 is touring positions in the Scheldt coastal area. His deputy Operations chief of staff, Warlimont, is currently in southern France, inspecting the defenses down there.

  ***

  In the evening around 6 p.m., a phone conversation occurs between Heeresgruppe B and OB West headquarters. At Fontainebleau, Hans-Georg von Tempelhoff, Rommel’s operations officer, talks to his counterpart in Paris, Generalleutnant Bodo Zimmermann.2

  Tempelhoff tells Zimmermann that the army group needs some sort of “combat direction” from von Rundstedt. Zimmermann replies by explaining that the standing orders on what the chain of command should be during a battle have been given to the field units time and time again. He points out that these orders are clear, have been gone over many times, and are to remain in effect just as they are. No other views are possible.

  Tempelhoff elucidates by pointing out that the directives need clarification for the lower units. Zimmermann replies, “It’s all in the standing orders—check the standing orders.”

  Tempelhoff hangs up, frustrated.

  In the meantime, a message comes in to Fontainebleau from Paris. Generalfeldmarschall von Rundstedt has turned down a request by Meise, Rommel’s chief engineer, that a wide set of coastal areas either be flooded now or be prepared for flooding in the event of a local amphibious landing. OB West has decided that such measures can only be allowed on a severely restricted level, and only so long as communication lines (wires, cables, telephone lines) are not in any way affected.

  At 9:45 p.m., General Gause gets on the phone with Walther Warlimont in southern France. Gause asks him whether or not the Führer has read Rommel’s report of December 31, and whether or not he agrees in principle with both Rommel’s assessment of the situation and the importance of defending the beaches.

  Warlimont’s reply is tactful. He reminds Gause that Rommel is subordinate to von Rundstedt, and so it might be inappropriate for OKW to give him direction outside of the chain of command.

  Warlimont continues. He states that Hitler believes without a doubt that an invasion must be thwarted on the beaches. The High Command, Warlimont adds, has never stated otherwise.

  Gause asks about the idea of coastal flooding.

  Warlimont replies that, in principle, areas that can be flooded to deny maneuvering space to the enemy should be. If some populaces have to be evacuated because of it, well that’s too bad.

  Warlimont concludes the conversation by trying to cover himself. He reminds Gause that General Jodl is currently touring positions out there too. He suggests that, if anyone on Rommel’s staff needs clarification about this issue of “combat direction,” and they can’t get it from OB West, that they get it from Jodl himself when he winds up his tour out there.

  Gause thanks him. After the phone conversation he talks to Rommel and updates him. The upshot of his phone call: Talk to Jodl.

  1Chief of staff, operations office, Armed Forces High Command.

  2At 56, Zimmermann, a veteran of World War I, had in the 1930s purchased and built up a popular military publication, Offene Worte (Frank Words). Recalled to active duty when the war broke out, he was appointed operations officer to von Witzleben’s First Army in the Saarbrucken area. He was later transferred along with Witzleben when the latter became OB West. When von Rundstedt took over in 1942, Zimmermann stayed on.

  Tuesday, January 11

  Jodl is continuing his inspection of the Atlantic Wall on orders from Hitler himself. During his travels along the Fifteenth Army sector, he has taken the opportunity to talk to a number of the area commanders. Many of them, re-echoing a main grievance of their Army commander General von Salmuth, complain that their men are so busy building defensive fortifications that they have little time or are too tired to undertake critical, required training.

  He continues to make notes again in his diary on what he finds. On the 9th, he noted that the once powerful 319th Division (the “Canada” Division) on the Channel Islands now has only about 30 percent of its original strength.

  Still concerned, today he writes:

  Transfer of officers to the East must cease. The regimental commanders are new and so are several battalion commanders.

  711 Division has only six battalions, including one Caucasian. It has no modern antitank equipment.

  General von Buttlar is touring another sector on the coast, and also has talked to a number of unit commanders. One has made a solid impression on him. This is General der Artillerie Erich Marcks, commanding the 84th Corps. He bluntly states that he has only two and a half divisions to cover hundreds of kilometers of coast, and that he would not be able to put up even a decent delaying action against an enemy landing, much less an adequate defense. Even if his strength were doubled, his forces would still only be a slim defensive crust that could be cracked open anywhere.

  Von Buttlar wryly notes Marcks’ comments and moves on. As the Heeres chief of staff, he is along on the inspection strictly as an advisor to OKW, which has operational control of this area, even though most of the units being inspected are army.1

  It is an affront that the army generals will never forgive.

  1Originally, all military operations had been overseen by OKW, but all army operations were conducted under them by OKH. In December of 1941, Hitler, frustrated by not having knocked Russia out of the war, was fuming over what he thought was a lack of motivation for victory on the part of his army generals. So, in a flash of what he considered brilliant expediency, he decided to split responsibilities for the two commands. Hereafter, the Supreme Command itself—OKW—would oversee all operations on the Western Front and Southern Fronts. The OKH, now directed personally by Hitler, would limit its operational command to the Eastern Front, while still being administratively subordinate to OKW.

  Wednesday, January 12

  GeneralOberst! Jodl’s inspection of the Atlantic Wall is winding down. Today he tours the units of the 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg, newly arrived from the East. Their first request is to be exempted from construction of defenses along the coast, so that the division can refit. It has taken quite a mauling on the Eastern Front, and has lost much of its equipment. Jodl notes that it is only “semi-mobile.”

  His deputy, Walther Warlimont, has concluded his part of the tour and is already back in Paris. Army Chief of Staff von Buttlar has joined up with Jodl for the last phase of his tour.

  ***

  Today, Rommel and his staff travel to Paris and meet with von Rundstedt and his staff. They ar
e there to reach some sort of agreement on this matter of “combat direction.”

  Word has it that Rommel’s Army Group B is to take over command of the Seventh and Fifteenth Armies in the north. If true, the timing would be good. Von Rundstedt was supposed to go on leave next month, and Rommel would thus be acting OB West. So it is critical that he knows what strategy von Rundstedt wants to implement. More importantly, Rommel needs to find out whether his strategy plans are “orders” or just “instructions.” (Actually, Rommel really wants to see if he can maybe push some of his own theories forth in the old man’s absence).

  This distinction is important. Tradition in the German Army since World War I held that an “order” was to be carried out without question. An “instruction” though, was not. Rather, it was a guideline issued by the superior officer or parent command. Thus, if von Rundstedt’s strategy plan is actually an instruction, Rommel could technically ignore it, and not be accountable. Of course, in the Reich today, if he did make such a decision, he had better be right. Any mistake could result in dismissal—or death. So Rommel has to find out von Rundstedt’s commitment to his defense policies and how much leeway he himself would have.

  At any rate, tomorrow General Jodl will end his tour and join him, and they will all have a conference.

  Thursday, January 13

  This morning, Generalfeldmarschall Rommel posts a letter to his wife that he wrote the night before about a gift he is getting: a dog. He has written:

  Just think of it, I am expecting to get a wire-hair Dachshund puppy. It’ll be given to me by the OT… They will buy it for me. I should like to housebreak it here.