Countdown to D-Day

by Peter Margaritis

6Rommel had once confided to his orderly, Hermann Aldinger, with a slight grin, “It’s good to have once been a sergeant and to still remember how to talk like one.” It was experience that he sometimes put to good use.

  Monday, January 17

  Rommel is back on the road again. Reassured by Jodl’s apparent support of his theories, he leaves the 81st headquarters and travels northwest to Bolbec, about 30km east-northeast of Le Havre, where he attends a conference at the headquarters of the 17th Luftwaffe Field Division. He notes a large percentage of NCOs in the enlisted ranks, typical of the air force. Once again, he outlines his strategy to the commanders.

  Then it is off to the port of Le Havre. He has meetings with the Hafenkapitän1 and the naval coordinator for the area at their headquarters. Again he points out the inferior emplacement design of the army batteries compared to their naval counterparts.

  It is then northeast up the coast to Fécamp, to see the massive number of positions being built there. Rommel nods approval. The local area commander is furious at his naval counterpart there, a mild, easy-going fellow. The army officer complains that the navy is a bunch of no-good bureaucrats. Rommel turns on the charm and has the commanders laughing and making up in no time.

  After a short lunch in the enlisted mess, he travels up the coast to St.-Valery-en- Caux and his mind takes a trip down memory lane. For it was there in 1940 that his famed 7th Panzer “ghosts”2 had pushed an entire British division back to the English Channel and forced them to surrender.

  Climbing a few hills to reach a Luftwaffe radar station, Rommel finds out that the station had failed to report an air raid to the local army base commander. He reprimands the lieutenant in charge there, only to find out that the man had just returned from leave and had not been present. Still, the point has been made, and the field marshal leaves it at that.

  Next, they are off to the port of Dieppe. There, during the long, inevitable conference, held in the officers’ mess, everyone is given a hot cup of coffee. Rommel, typically occupied by the talk, forgets to drink his. Chief engineer Meise, sitting beside him, finishes his and starts looking at Rommel’s slowly cooling mug with longing.

  Admiral Ruge sees Meise eyeing Rommel’s coffee cup. Finally taking pity upon the engineer, Ruge casually walks over to where the field marshal is sitting and calmly picks up both Meise’s cup and Rommel’s cup. The field marshal, engrossed in the briefing, does not notice.

  Ruge walks behind one of the large situation maps and pours over half of Rommel’s coffee into Meise’s empty mug. He then walks back to the table and puts the cups back where they were. Rommel is still oblivious to the incident, but a grateful Meise savors the warm drink.

  A few minutes later, the field marshal, perhaps subconsciously triggered by Meise’s sipping, reaches for his own cup. As he listens to the briefing before him, he raises the mug to his lips. Glancing down, he is surprised to see it nearly empty. He looks up at the briefing officer, back down at his cup, then around the room for a telltale guilty face. Temporarily distracted, he forces himself to return his attention to the meeting.

  After the conference is over, they stay for dinner. They finally tell Rommel what happened to his coffee, and he shares a good laugh with them. After eating, he regales them with stories about his mad dash across France in 1940. He recalls how his panzers assaulted the Maginot Line on a moonless night with his memorable order: “Broadside right, broadside left; just like in the navy.”

  They spend the night in local French quarters, and some of the staff have trouble getting into bed. It seems that the blankets in typical French style are firmly tucked under the mattresses, and the officers find that to get in, they have to slide in from the top. A French sleeping bag on a frame, one officer grumbles.

  1Port commander Vizeadmiral Rieve.

  2In the 1940 blitzkrieg across France, Rommel commanded the 7th Panzer Division. It was nicknamed Le Division Fantôme (the “Ghost Division”) by the French because it moved so fast and they never knew where it would turn up, or from what point it would attack. It also amazed them that Rommel was always in front, his command vehicle being a speciallyequipped PzKw III. Sometimes, he would even take off in a light Storch observation plane and study the battlefield from above, before landing near his lead tanks.

  His amazing movement through enemy lines stunned the French, and sometimes his crazy advance would startle them so much that they would hesitate to shoot at his lead formation. Instead they would just stand back to either side of his column and stare wide-eyed, trying to figure out what the hell was happening. One day, a French officer that Rommel’s men had captured asked Rommel the identification of his unit. When Rommel told him, the man smacked his forehead and exclaimed, “Sacre bleu! Le Division Fantôme encore! First in Belgium, then at Arras, and on the Somme, and now here, again and again our paths have crossed.”

  The men of the 7th Panzer were of course thrilled with the compliment, and the nickname Ghost Division (Gespensterdivision) stuck. Rommel himself was amusingly referred to as one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. The division pushed on through France, hell-bent for the coast and the devil take those in the rear. They averaged a staggering 60 to 80 kilometers a day, and eventually, the 7th Panzer would bag nearly 100,000 enemy prisoners for a loss of only 42 tanks. Rommel later in his letters home to Lucie referred to his smashing operation across the countryside as “a lightning tour of France.”

  As a result of his success, his name was included in nearly every German paper in print, and his unit truly had earned its nickname. The 7th Panzer’s moniker was considered well-deserved even by the German High Command, because Rommel’s panzers moved so fast and so unexpectedly that often, like the French, neither OKH nor OKW had any idea where he was. Even the Führer himself later commented that Rommel had cost him a “sleepless night,” and after the campaign, greeted (and embarrassed) him with mock distress, bemoaning, “Rommel! We were all very worried for your safety!”

  Tuesday, January 18

  Rommel continues his tour up the northeast French coast. Starting at Le Tréport, 1 he instructs the uninformed local division commander2 on how to thwart a landing, and points out serious communication problems for the army batteries there. He notes that an invasion here is unlikely, because of the narrow stony beaches and high cliffs. But a raid is quite possible.

  Touring south of the Somme estuary nesr Cayeux-sur-Mer, they stumble across an excellent battery site, complete with fortified bunkers and defensive strongpoints. The only problem is that the bunkers have been partially destroyed, and the area has been abandoned, even though the unused position is still viable. Rommel, enraged, demands that this be rectified immediately.

  That afternoon he again meets with a now-chastened General von Salmuth at Montreuil-sur-Mer.3 They talk a while, and then Rommel moves on to inspect some minefields sown by SS engineers at Hardelot-Plage.

  He retires for the evening at an old soldier’s home in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage.4 He discovers that someone has thoughtfully has left a nice variety of good English books in the reading room.

  1About 32km northeast up the coast from Dieppe.

  2Probably Generalmajor Paul Seyffardt, commanding the 348th Infantry Division.

  3About 40km south of Boulogne-sur-Mer.

  4Just south of Boulogne-sur-Mer.

  Wednesday, January 19

  At 8 a.m., Rommel’s entourage is off again. Leaving Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, they turn southward and drive to nearby Breck-sur-Mer, to inspect some more defensive positions and a few minefields.

  The inspection concluded, the entourage speeds for home and arrive back at headquarters early that afternoon.

  That evening, Rommel writes to his wife about various subjects:

  Dearest Lu:

  Returned today from my long trip. I saw a lot and was very satisfied with the progress that has been made.

  I think for certain that we’ll win the defensive battle in the West, provided only that a little more time re
mains for preparation.

  … Situation in the East: apparently stabilized.

  … Situation in the South: severe fighting and more heavy attacks to be met.

  … In the West: I believe we’ll be able to beat off the assault.

  Günther’s1 going off tomorrow with a suitcase and will help you with the move. In 10-12 days, he will return here. He has taken everything along that we—more accurately Hammermann—have been able to get here. When he returns, he should bring back my brown civilian suit and lightweight overcoat with hat, etc. I want to be able to go out sometime without a marshal’s baton for once… Günther wants two days of leave for his wedding. Give him 300 marks…

  ***

  After a study conducted by OKW, Adolf Hitler today reclassifies a number of areas along the Atlantic Wall categorized as defensive areas (Verteidigungsberich) as fortresses (Festungen). They include Ijmuiden and the Hoek van Holland in the Netherlands; and in France, Dunkirk, Boulogne, Le Havre, Cherbourg, St. Malo, Brest, Lorient, St. Nazaire, and the Gironde estuary.

  1Obergefreiter Herbert Günther was Rommel’s orderly. He had served under the field marshal since North Africa. In comparison to Leutnant Hammermann, Rommel’s aide, Guenther performed minor daily functions for the field marshal, such as preparing his uniform, unpacking his suitcase, etc. Hammermann, an officer, acted as his personal assistant in military events, carried his papers, etc.

  Thursday, January 20

  In the very early morning hours, Berlin is hit hard by the RAF. They dump some 2,400 tons of explosives onto the city, devastating whole sections. Clearly, the enemy can now amass huge bomber armadas to tear into Germany’s cities.

  In pathetic comparison, it was all the Luftwaffe could do a year ago to transport a hundred tons a day just 330km to Stalingrad.

  ***

  Today, Rommel stays at Fontainebleau and has a number of meetings with his staff. They establish three points:

  First, Rommel wants to pursue the concept of “coastal zones of combat.” In each zone, the overall commander there will have unlimited authority. This will cut down tremendously on red tape and bureaucratic policies that would slow down construction of defenses, to say nothing of jeopardizing the responsibility of command in the event of an invasion.

  About a dozen major port areas are classified as “fortresses.” While most are already significantly fortified and defended against the sea, few are capable of withstanding an assault from the land side. Creating the official term now of “fortress commander” bestows upon the man unlimited authority, and gives him a staggering amount of power to conduct his business. On the other hand, it also imposes upon him a terrific responsibility. Loss of his fortress area would now probably mean dismissal, perhaps even arrest and a firing squad.

  Second, Rommel tells them to transfer unit command on each side of the Somme estuary to the 67th Corps, 1 and thus not split authority across the river mouth.

  Third, the staff must give serious attention to the formation, reorganization, and training of both new and existing panzer divisions.

  Rommel gets on the phone and calls Jodl at the Führer’s headquarters in Rastenburg. They discuss coastal defenses, and specifically positioning the reorganizing 21st Panzer Division. Rommel wants the 21st employed in the coastal defense immediately. As part of his strategy, he asks that all divisions on the coast be able to initiate counterattacks immediately against a possible landing.

  As he did after his inspection of the West, Jodl tentatively agrees with him in principle. However, Rommel does not know that, right after he hangs up with him, Jodl considers the matter and discusses it with Warlimont, his deputy.

  Despite Rommel’s sound logic, von Rundstedt’s belief that the coast is way too long to adequately defend every kilometer has merit. The enemy could in theory concentrate on whatever area he wished and would be able to penetrate at any point, no matter what type of defenses they put up: a sort of amphibious blitzkrieg.

  The answer, then, might be along von Rundstedt’s way of thinking: to put out a few coastal divisions to slow the enemy up, and then hit them with a powerful, mobile, strategic reserve force when they began to advance. And if that does not work, they will just have to defeat them in the French interior itself.

  So Jodl calls von Rundstedt’s headquarters and speaks to his operations officer. To placate them, he claims that his understanding of this “immediately counterattack” concept only pertains to the infantry—not to the panzer units.

  Von Rundstedt’s operations officer, Bodo Zimmermann, later calls his counterpart at Army Group B, Oberst!leutnant von Tempelhoff, and tells him about Jodl’s call.

  Von Tempelhoff counters that Rommel wants the panzers moved close to the coast immediately to be able to react at once to any invasion. Zimmermann replies that von Rundstedt will never go for that. The reserve panzers must be inland and free to maneuver, since the enemy will no doubt have a number of surprise moves for them; surprises that the panzers will have to meet quickly.

  Finally, a small concession is made. The 9th SS, 10th SS, and 21st Panzer will be allowed to move a bit closer to the coast, but not much. And they will have to be ready to move out at a moment’s notice to maneuver inland.

  1Fifty-four-year-old General der Infanterie Walther Fischer von Weikersthal, commanding. A World War I veteran, he served as Dollmann’s chief of staff during the French campaign of 1940, later commanding the 35th Infantry Division in Russia. He was considered a ruthless leader who served on the Eastern Front until late January 1942. Then, commanding LIII Infantry Corps, he went against express orders to “hold until the last possible moment” and directed some of his hard-pressed units to retreat. Relieved of his command and placed into the Führerreserve, he was given command of the 67th Infantry Corps in September, 1942 but then relieved of command of July 25, 1944. Captured in early May 1945, he was charged with committing war crimes in Russia. He was finally released from American custody two years later, and died on February 11,1953.

  Friday, January 21

  Today, the weather is mild. Rommel’s senior officers meet with other staff members and, together with the visiting General Wagner, 1 they critique a recent resupply exercise that had been organized by OB West. It is well noted that a vital means of keeping the front supplied will be the railroads. After the meeting, Ruge leaves to meet with Vizeadmiral Schirlitz, the naval commander for Western France.

  The field marshal meanwhile is dedicating himself to defeating the upcoming invasion. He is preparing himself for that task by getting himself in shape, both physically and mentally.

  The focal point of his physical training becomes small “hunting” walks around Fontainebleau. Once lean and healthy in the desert, his tour in Italy (where he also suffered a bout of appendicitis) has softened him. And Jodl’s comments about the rich, easy Parisian life have made him aware of the holiday attitude of the men in France. Now getting out into the cold French woods around his headquarters will harden his body again.

  He takes a shotgun along, although his walks are mainly for the exercise. He pushes himself mercilessly, and often comes back to his car out of breath and aching. His routine often exhausts him, but gritting his teeth, he vows to stay on track with his training program. The only things that curtail his sprees are being on an inspection tour or an occasional attack of his lumbago; and of course, the incessant paperwork.

  He is also reorienting himself mentally. He simply has to stop the invasion and be victorious. And this will not be a halfway measure. He will either totally win or totally lose. This is Germany’s last chance. They are counting on him. His peers, especially those critical snobs of the Generalstab, will be watching him—waiting for him to fail or to get discouraged. Well, that is not going to happen. He will show them that he is no defeatist. The stakes here are too important, the odds are against him, and there will be no second place.

  His staff members have picked up his frenetic pace and struggle to keep up. Der Wüstenfuchs is back
on form again. And now he has some company. He glances at them sleeping under his desk: two lovely young dachshunds.

  They had been given to him by the Todt Organization on the 20th. Rommel had instantly taken a liking to them. Ajax, the older one, is less energetic than the younger one, Elbo. They have been following him everywhere. Last night, they both slept in his room, Elbo’s spot behind the luggage stand, and Ajax’s on the carpet close to the door. He writes his wife:

  Dearest Lu:

  I’ve been a dog owner since yesterday, when the OT presented me with not one but two dachshunds. One of them (a male) is a year old, longhaired with a proper mustache. The other is only three months. The younger one was very affectionate immediately, but the older one is not so forthcoming.

  The two of them are now lying beneath my writing desk. The older one barks whenever anyone comes. They both howl occasionally at night. Probably they’re homesick for their previous owner. The older dachshund would be just right as watch dog for our house. He reports well. The younger one I would like to keep here.

  He thinks about their move to the new home in Herrlingen and adds:

  I am anxious to hear from you about the move and how it went. I hope everything goes without a hitch.

  ***

  The Luftwaffe this evening begins Unternehmen Steinbock,”2 the bombing counteroffensive against England that was conceived in response to the Allies’ recent massive air campaign targeting cities and air production centers. It will consist of a series of air raids: a sort of “baby blitz” as the English will soon refer to it. The campaign has been delayed about a month because of bad weather and the time it has taken to gather a sizeable force. Tonight though, it begins. In the first attack, Unternehmen Mars, nearly 450 bombers—the largest force assembled to strike England since 1940—and two Jagdgruppe fly across the English Channel to try to strike terror into major cities with incendiaries and blockbusters. Unfortunately, even though the pathfinders drop enough flares to identify London from the air, the inexperienced aircrews have trouble finding their targets, so only about 30 tons of the total 270 tons of bombs dropped actually fall over London.