Countdown to D-Day

by Peter Margaritis

  The 319th Infantry is jokingly referred to by the Feldgrau on the mainland as the “die Kanadadivision. ” This is partly because it was felt by most that as soon as the invasion began, the unit would be isolated. It would only be a matter of time before they all became POWs, which were known to get shipped off to Canada. Anyway, it was joked, it might just as well be over there, for all the good that it would do against the enemy landing.5

  Covering some 90km of coast from the Orne River to the Vire is the second-rate 716th Infantry Division.6 Commonly classified as a bodenständig7 division, it lacks any type of transport and is made up of second- or third-rate troops. Looking over the maps, Rommel expresses concern that the 716th lacks so much transport and equipment, and yet is stretched across a really vital sector. This beach area obviously must be strengthened.

  All around the top of the Cotentin peninsula and situated westward down the coast is the 709th Infantry Division.8 Including the critically important port of Cherbourg, it presently defends an incredible total of 220km of front line, about thirty times the normal frontage for a division.9 Rommel tells Marcks that the Allies have plenty of small vessels for supplies. “They won’t need to depend upon seizing any large ports immediately.”

  Sitting in reserve is the 243rd Infantry Division.10 The static 243rd’s regiments only have two battalions, with very limited transport. One regiment uses horses to move its supplies, and another has to rely on bicycles.

  The recently created 352nd is actually a composite of other units, survivors of the Eastern Front.11 Marcks points out the liability of the very limited transport for both divisions, although the 352nd is much better equipped. Unfortunately, the 352nd is slated to relocate to the Eastern Front as soon as it becomes combat ready. The 352nd’s sister division, the 353rd, is stationed in Brittany.

  Marcks and the field marshal continue a satisfying discussion. Rommel explains his defense plans for this area and Marcks, staggered by the size of the undertaking, still agrees to somehow get it done.

  They finally part. Rommel continues with his inspection, and Marcks goes back to his headquarters at St. Lô to prepare their quarters for the evening. His emotions about Rommel are mixed.

  The rest of the day is filled with brief stops and quick reports. Some vessels spotted near the Gironde River turn out to be a bunch of fishing boats.

  That evening, Rommel returns to St. Lô as planned and dines with Marcks. His chief of staff, Oberst!leutnant Rudolf von Oppen, a middle-aged Austrian, gives them a number of interesting facts about military and naval history.

  Later, Rommel retires to write to Lucie and update her on the war:

  The situation in the East is still very tense and serious, although we are shooting up masses of enemy tanks; 860 in the last three days, which they’ll have a job to replace.

  The situation in Italy has developed as I always feared it would. The open, unprotected flanks were a great danger. However, I feel certain that we’ll manage to restore the situation.

  I’m having a new coat made in Paris. My old one is too tight and too thin…

  1This is the first time the field marshal would visit the future invasion site.

  2General der Artillerie Erich Marcks had taken an active part in the invasion of France of 1940, and his swift capture of the Seine River bridges on June 13th had prevented them (and subsequently parts of Paris) from having to be shelled. In late 1940, Marcks came up with the original master plan for invading Russia. He had later helped spearhead the Russian invasion on June 22, 1941, only to be severely wounded just four days later. He lost his right leg and suffered some head injuries, especially to his eyes. After he recovered and was fitted with a prosthesis, he was reassined to command the 337th Infantry Division in France. He was appointed commander of the 84th Infantry Corps in August of 1943.

  3Marcks had made the political mistake of being Press Officer to General Kurt von Schleicher, elected Chancellor of Germany in 1932. Unfortunately, von Schleicher’s radical views on sweeping social reform had quickly become unpopular with everyone. He was especially hated by the National Socialist Party, which he repeatedly attacked politically. When his reforms irrevocably lost the backing that they desperately needed to pass, he became a political outcast. With no chance of getting any cooperation from any other government members, von Schleicher was forced to resign. As fate would have it, in the next election, Hitler was appointed to succeed him, and being one to carry a grudge, he never forgot his political enemy and by association, his underlings.

  Eventually, von Schleicher was murdered by Hitler’s SS henchmen during the Blood Purge of June 20, 1934. Because of Marcks’ association with von Schleicher, he was thereafter looked upon by the Nazi party with suspicion. Although no one could doubt Marcks’ capabilities as a unit commander, his past had kept him from getting an army command, something that Marcks never forgave.

  4Fifty-three-year-old Generalleutnant Rudolf Graf von Schmettow, commanding. Recently promoted that month, he had been appointed Military Governor of the Channel Islands back in September of 1940. In June of 1941, Erich Muller replaced him, and von Schmettow took over command of the 319th.

  5Von Rundstedt, hard-pressed to find more men for his units, suggested to the Kriegsmarine on March 14, 1943, that army personnel manning the batteries on the Channel Islands be replaced with naval personnel. This would free up several hundred men for units in Normandy and Brittany. Naturally, the navy did not relish the idea. Sending sailors so far off the coast, isolated, under army command, was against their instincts. Besides, those men freed up would probably be factored into the slow drain of army personnel to the Eastern Front. So the navy rejected the idea three days later, their excuse being that the navy did not have the men available for such a task.

  6Generalmajor Richter, commanding.

  7“Static” or “defensive” division. See Glossary.

  8Generalmajor Karl-Wilhelm von Schlieben, commanding.

  9A good rule of thumb by 1943 was that a front of ten to eleven kilometers was about as much as a normal infantry division could handle. (In comparison, the average frontage for a German corps on the Eastern Front was about 52.3km, about 17.2km per division). The average front coastal divisions in the Fifteenth Army were about 80km. For the Seventh Army, it was an implausible 193km. General Schlieben’s 709th Division alone was covering some 65km of coastline. And then there was the entire Atlantic coast to worry about—some 350km for each division.

  10Commanded by 54-year-old Generalleutnant Heinz Hellmich. He commanded the 23rd Infantry Division in Poland at the outbreak of the war, which in 1941 became a part of Barbarossa’s Army Group Center. He was reassigned at the beginning of 1942 when the division was converted into the 26th Panzer Division. Hellmich was given the 243rd at the end of 1944.

  11The 352nd was formed in late 1943 from the cadres of three other units: the 268th Infantry Division, which had fought hard in the East at Cholm and Demyansk; the 321st Infantry Division, which had been ravaged and decimated at Kursk that summer; and the 546th Grenadier Regiment (of the 389th Infantry Division), a rare partial survivor of Stalingrad. The 546th would be the cadre for the 1st and 2nd battalions of the 352nd’s 916th Grenadier Regiment. The surviving units were redesignated the 352nd Infantry Division on November 5, 1943.

  Sunday, January 30

  Generalfeldmarschall Rommel, having spent the night in St. Lô, is up early. He bids goodbye to General Marcks at 8 a.m. and departs to continue his inspection. Today it will be the Cotentin peninsula. He starts at the wide mouth of the Vire River, intending to go up the coast.

  The entourage meets the commanding officer of the 709th Division, 1 Generalmajor Karl von Schlieben, who was given the division last month.2 Von Schlieben reports on his division’s positions, and Rommel outlines his plans to create an intricate maze of barriers.

  The inspection group continues up the coast, running into heavy patches of fog here and there. The ride is bumpy since the roads in this area are bad.
They reach Quineville just after low tide. Rommel, gazing out over the wet beaches, spots just offshore a small group of obstacles off in the distance and asks about them. A lieutenant tells him that the obstacles had been out there for a while now, part of a defensive barrier experiment started some two and a half years ago. Rommel immediately marches out to examine them.

  Slogging into the low waves, he spies four stakes set in concrete. Three are still effective. Rommel smiles and shows them to his approaching staff. Clearly, offshore obstacles planted even last year would still be effective when the invasion comes.

  On the other hand, not too much work has been done in this area, except for some limited flooding. There are not many defensive points in the area, other than a 155mm army battery at Morsalines. The massive naval battery at St. Marcouf is still unfinished.3

  The inspection party is joined by Admiral Hennecke, who had been detained by the fog, 4 and they continue on, eventually getting to the critical port of Cherbourg, where they have a late lunch at the soldiers’ mess hall. They listen to the report of the fortress commandant and inspect the port in the haze, noting several problems. Then they continue westward along the top of the Cotentin peninsula and then down the western coast.

  Late in the day, they finally turn around and head back to St. Lô to again quarter for the night with Marcks’ staff. Admiral Ruge leaves them to have dinner with Admiral Hennecke in his quarters at Tourlaville, southeast of Cherbourg, and to confer with him on harbor defenses.

  Because Rommel has cancelled tomorrow’s planned inspection of Mont-St.- Michel, Admiral Ruge separates from the entourage and drives to Admiral Hennecke’s headquarters at Tourlaville, the eastern suburb of Cherbourg. There they confer about naval matters including mines and how to make large ports unserviceable if they are about to fall into enemy hands.

  Rommel’s own entourage though is somewhat upset over tomorrow’s schedule. The field marshal has once again crossed the famed Mont-St.-Michel off their itinerary. Shaking their heads, they grumble about how it is so typical of him to pass up famous tourist points in his inspection trips. Months ago, they had done the same thing in Pisa, Italy. They had driven straight through without stopping to admire the world-famous leaning tower.

  “How long has the tower been leaning already?” Rommel had asked gruffly. Someone had answered, “Over 150 years.”

  “Then drive on,” he had growled. “It’ll still be leaning when the war is over.”

  ***

  In a small ceremony at the Wolfsschanze, Alfred Jodl is promoted from General der Artillerie to GeneralOberst!. Later that evening, Hitler in his quarters sends for him. Standing, Hitler tells him with a smile that he forgives him for his insolence back on September 7, 1942 over List and the Caucasus.5 The Führer tells him that although he still believes Jodl was wrong on his assessment of the proposed airborne landing, he considers Jodl a competent man and he has come to appreciate his excellent qualities as an officer.

  Then in a sort of reconciliation, Hitler presents Jodl with a golden Nazi party badge of honor. Jodl eventually leaves the quarters grateful but wary, his faith in the Führer’s sense of justice still low.

  He will later decide that his principles cannot be compromised, and that he will still speak out whenever the Führer wrongs any senior officer.6

  1The 18th Panzer Division, devastated at Kursk, was deactivated in early September, and its components were sent to Lithuania. There they were eventually reorganized into the 18th Artillery Division.

  2Like nearly all German generals, 49-year-old Generalmajor Karl-Wilhelm von Schlieben entered the army at the outbreak of the World War I and served with distinction. When World War II began, he was an adjutant in the XIII Military District. During the early part of the war, he commanded the 108th Rifle Regiment and then the 4th Rifle Brigade. Then in mid-May 1943, he was given command of the 18th Panzer Division for the battle of Kursk. In September, he was relieved of his command and placed in the Führer Reserve.

  Samuel Mitcham in his book The Desert Fox in Normandy concludes that von Schlieben must have been wounded, since the period of his absence (September 7 to sometime in December) was too long for any leave. It is possible though, that he was also relieved for other reasons, because the 18th Panzer Division, having suffered heavily in the battle, was disbanded at the end of that September, and its units were used to create the 18th Artillery Regiment and the 504th Panzer Battalion.

  3The St. Marcouf battery consisted of four 210mm Skoda K52 Czech guns. These pieces would have a range of some 33km and a field of fire of 120 degrees. For air protection, a battery of six French 75mm anti-aircraft guns and some 20mm anti-aircraft guns would be added. A dozen machine-gun nests would cover them from any airborne assault.

  4Konteradmiral Walther Hennecke, the naval commandant for the peninsula.

  5See Prelude.

  6According to a handwritten document written by Jodl, Office of US Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution of Nazi Criminality, Interrogation Division.

  Monday, January 31

  In Normandy, there is another morning fog, particularly dense in some areas. At the 84th Corps headquarters in St. Lô, Generalfeldmarschall Rommel takes his leave of General Marcks and begins his trip back to his own headquarters at Fontainebleau. Admiral Ruge, separated from the entourage, continues on with his own inspection, starting around the mouth of the Vire River. The weather soon clears, and a hint of spring seems to be in the air.

  That evening in Fontainebleau, during a pleasant dinner, Rommel once again states his objections to the idea of knocking down important bunkers just to clear fields of fire. From there, the dinner party goes on to talk of naval traditions in general.

  After the meal, they discuss the subject of flares and tracer ammunition before they head off to the designated cinema room, where that night’s movie is to be shown.

  Checking his mail, Rommel is happy to find correspondence from his 15-year-old son. Manfred, now in the Luftwaffe auxiliary forces, has written the field marshal a letter. Tonight Rommel replies:

  Dear Manfred:

  I was particularly pleased with your first letter as Luftwaffe auxiliary, because you have settled in so well to your new conditions. It is not easy for an “only child” to leave home. Perhaps you’ll be getting a few days’ leave in February, and then you must give us a full report.

  There’s still an endless amount of work here before I’ll be able to say that we’re properly prepared for battle. People get lazy and self- satisfied when things are quiet. But the contrast between quiet times and battle will be tough and I feel it essential to prepare for hard times here.

  I’m out on the move a lot and raising plenty of dust wherever I go.

  All the best to you and warmest greetings,

  Your Father

  February 1944

  February 1944

  Generalfeldmarschall von Rundstedt is still on leave at the spa in Bad Tölz. While he is away, his villa and command bunker complex are undergoing changes.

  Normally, von Rundstedt only stays at the Hôtel Georges V in Paris in the winter, since it offers maximum comfort in the freezing months for his staff at a low cost. Personally though, von Rundstedt has often found living in the crowded Parisian capital to be distasteful. Once he had grumbled that Paris was, “a dirty hole,” and that it was, “atrocious, especially during the holidays.” So when he was first appointed OB West in the spring of 1941 he had moved his headquarters from Paris to the Pavillon Henri IV in the suburb of St.-Germain-en-Laye.1 He loves this picturesque western Parisian suburb, where his father had once taken temporary residence back in 1870.

  Back in the spring of 1942, a few stray bombs from an RAF air raid had landed aoround his quarters in St.-Germain. When Hitler was told of the air raid, to protect his field marshal, he had ordered a bunker complex to be built for his strategic headquarters command. So von Rundstedt and his staff had chosen a beautiful, discreet, secluded location nearby. The picturesque area incl
uded a rolling hill, a nice terrace, a breathtaking little forest, a nearby castle, and several large villas, all which could be requisitioned if necessary for the headquarters staff.2

  On an old limestone quarry below a hillcrest, at 20—24 Boulevard Victor Hugo, OT laborers divided into three 400-man teams had started working in shifts around the clock for seven months to build a three-floor concrete command bunker. The solid, thick concrete structure was finished in late 1943.3

  The bunker normally holds over a hundred people, although it can accommodate up to three times that number. Staff members include various administrative and communications personnel, including a number of Kriegshelferinnen.4 All in all, it is an excellent and safe location for the strategic staff charged with overseeing the defense of Western Europe.

  Near the bunker has been built a communications center. For air protection, the surrounding area includes a number of anti-aircraft positions, as well as several fire stations. The nearby girls’ school had to be partially requisitioned by headquarters for additional personnel to work in the command blockhouse down the hill. Half of the school is now a garrison for German troops, and the mixing of German uniforms and girls in pink overalls around the buildings evokes concern from the locals. Other staff members have quarters in homes on the Rue Thiers and the Rue de Lorraine.

  Von Rundstedt’s personal quarters are in the Villa David, located behind the girls’ école at No. 28 Rue AlexAndré Dumas: a petite three-storey, twelve-room villa on a well-landscaped half-acre lot. It sits atop the gentle hill in which the block headquarters building, some 300 yards away, is partially buried. Blumentritt lives with him in the villa.