4Admiral Ruge in his biography mistakenly refers to this as the 71st Corps.
5Owned by British politician, economist, and financier Alfred Moritz Mond (1868-1930) before he converted to Zionism.
6In 1738, a group of porcelain makers established in a villa near Paris a large porcelain manufactory (the old English term for a factory or plant). King Louis XV developed a keen interest in their lavish products, and so he moved the whole operation to much larger facilities in the Paris suburb of Sèvres—which conveniently happened to be near the residence of Madame de Pompadour (his rumored mistress) and the king’s own palace at Versailles. The Sèvres porcelain in subsequent decades became known as the French porcelain of royalty, and then of Napoleon’s imperial court. The manufactory went through a series of financial ups and downs throughout French history. Today, the historical building is run by the French Ministry of Culture, and its 18th- and 19th-century products have become priceless collectibles.
Wednesday, March 8
Generalfeldmarschall Rommel is on his third day touring western France, today in the Brittany area. This latest inspection, ordered by the Führer, at least has come at a fortunate time. While he is covering the coastline, his new headquarters back at La Roche-Guyon, downstream from Paris, is being set up for him. Hopefully, he will be able to move right in when he finishes this trip. Those of his staff not with him are already moving their gear over from Fontainebleau.
The inspection group enjoys a robust, early-morning breakfast at General Straube’s 74th Corps headquarters, a historic villa in Dinard. They are off by 7:30 a.m. and travel west to Saint-Brieuc, then onward to meet at Belle-Ile-en-Terre with General Sprang, 1 commanding officer of the 266th Infantry Division.2 The unit dispositions are gone over, and yet again Rommel emphasizes the importance of components being as close to the beach as possible.
They move on. Along the coast northwest of Saint-Brieuc, he meets a unit commander who dares make a complaint. His unit, he argues, is too small to stop any coordinated invasion. He simply cannot defend his long section of shoreline with the few men that he has. Rommel, irritated already at the lack of progress made in this area, chews the officer out. He tells him that he is missing the whole point of their strategy. They must do what they can against whatever is thrown against them. That’s all that matters. Naturally, his unit would not be able to stop a major operation. The main enemy effort would probably be against the eastern shore. But against a minor probe (more likely in this region) such as a small diversionary landing or commando raid, his unit would be quite adequate. They must be ready for anything, he drills them. And when it comes, they will have to be furious tigers and throw the enemy back into the sea.
The chastened officer replies that he now understands—whether he actually does or not.
More obstacles are inspected and progress is noted near Lannilis. Flat land mines for this sector are in short supply, but on the other hand, the areas around the critical port of Brest are starting to bristle with obstacles of every shape and size. Ruge notes that open areas look “like porcupines.” Rommel is satisfied. The group moves on.
More inspections, more wading out from the beach. In some areas, the heavier obstacles, like the Belgian gates, have sunk down into the wet sandy bottom. Rommel bluntly tells the local commander to “fix this.”
After sloshing through the surf for a half-hour or so, they walk back to their cars and drive to the rear areas to view some minefields. Rommel criticizes the configurations of a number of them. The patterns laid out are too regular, and in some areas, the mines have been too closely laid. A good barrage would be able to take out whole sections of them. He orders this corrected.
The group turns around and heads back east. Lunch today is brief but stylish, at a lovely villa turned soldiers’ mess hall in Pléneuf-Val-André, which features picturesque views of the cliffs there.3 Then it is off again, back to Dinard. There a ferry takes them across the river mouth to the major port of St. Malo. More inspections, more recommendations, more orders. Next comes a short 15km trip eastward across the Alet peninsula, and a breathtaking view of the Bay of Mont St. Michel from the town of Cancale on the northeast tip of the peninsula. At one point, the party stumbles across two SS “geological” companies. The field marshal recommends that the local unit commander use them to help construct their beach obstacles.
They reverse their course and return to St. Malo, crossing back over to stay for the evening again at Straube’s villa headquarters in Dinard. There they dine with Oberst! Aulock, 4 the St. Malo commandant, an amusing fellow who never seems to mince his words.
***
Back at St. Lô, General Marcks, having just yesterday experienced the Rommel “Wirbelwind”5 again, now writes home to his son:
R. [Rommel] has a great amount of energy, and is truly fanatic on some things. He was content with us, and told me to pass along his satisfaction to the corps. And said he’d rather be happy after a victory than before one. Still, he makes the men happy saying things like that…
***
Today, Adolf Hitler issues Führer Order No. 11, entitled Commandants of Fortified Areas and Battle Commandants. It details the duties and responsibilities of the area commandant, of fortified areas and fortresses, as well as specifying that every fortress is expected to hold out to the last man.
Having long since broken the Japanese Ultra code, the Allies intercept and decrypt another situation report sent by the Japanese military attaché to Germany, currently in France. The message turns out to be critically important. It asserts that, up until December of 1943, the German strategy against the invasion had been to conduct several full-scale counterattacks against the invaders after they have landed. The report then states:
However, as a result of studying the problem, and because of recommendations which have been made by Marshal Rommel, the Germans have now decided that the coastal lines must be held at all costs and that the enemy must not be permitted to set foot on the continent…
The changes in defense plans are the result of the German experience in Sicily, Salerno, and Nettuno. In Rommel’s opinion, it was bad strategy to allow the enemy to land because (1) After the British and American forces had obtained a bridgehead, the Germans did not quickly move into action against them, and (2) With superiority in the air, the enemy makes it a rule to pound the rear of the defending forces, and that makes impossible a defense in which small units hold the front lines and a large reserve in the rear is used for counterattacks…6
The Allies are thankful for the information, and wonder who the military attaché’s incredible source for this information is. They will find out only three days later, when another report from him is intercepted. His source again has spoken quite openly about their defensive strategy. The attaché in turn dutifully reports that:
The essence of the German plan of defense for Holland, Belgium, and France can be summed up in these words—Hold on to the beaches. The strategy now is to destroy the enemy landing forces before they ever reach the beaches, or if they do manage to land, to destroy them in areas as close to the coast as possible.
This time, the report does state the information source. It is none other than von Rundstedt’s chief of staff, Günther Blumentritt.
1Generalleutnant Karl Sprang, who took over command of the 266th on June 1, 1943.
2The 266th Grenadier (bodenständig) Division was officially created in mid-May 1943 at the troop training grounds in Stuttgart. Like many of the static divisions by this time, the 266th had shed its third regiment to help create a mobile infantry unit.
3On the northern Brittany coastline, about 47km west of St. Malo.
4Oberst! Andréas von Aulock. After the Allied breakout from Normandy in early August, he put up a staunch defense of the port area, forcing the Americans to literally blast him out. He declared at that time to the town leaders that, “I was placed in command of this fortress–I did not request it. I will execute the orders I have received and, doing my duty
as a soldier, I will fight to the last stone. I will defend St. Malo to the last man even if the last man has to be myself.” Horrified, the town leaders requested that he instead declare the port an open city. A relatively fair man, he reluctantly relayed their request to OKW, relayed through OB West. Hitler of course turned it down, declaring that in war there was no such thing as an open city. Aulock in response vowed to fight to the last man. He nearly did. Starting out with some 12,000 defenders, he would finally, arrogantly surrender with fewer than 500 men on August 17.
5“Whirlwind.”
6Based on intercept SRS 1234, March 8, 1944.
Thursday, March 9
Generalfeldmarschall Rommel begins the final day of his latest tour in northwest France. Starting out early in Festung St. Malo, his inspection party travels east, inland, bypassing Cancale and moving southeast to get to Fougères.1 There they will inspect the 155th Reserve Panzer Division.2 Today though, Rommel decides to change the itinerary. By now, his staff have all but given up trying to get him to visit the historic monastery at Mont-St.-Michel. Now as they travel east, having inspected several positions so far, they once again get close to this tourist area. Rommel suddenly announces with a smile, “Today, we’ll visit Mont-St-Michel.”
His surprised staff are immediately pleased. They turn off towards the famous abbéy and travel up the narrow spit of land to the medieval seminary out on the bay. They eagerly get out of their vehicles and begin taking a full tour of the grounds. They marvel at this finely designed abbéy of solid granite, and they take in the breathtaking views of the bay. They listen to the history of this Christian “Mecca,” and are shown the different rooms and levels within the solid stone structure.
Like his officers, Rommel enjoys the sightseeing. At the end of the tour, he thanks the monks for showing them the sights. Turning to leave, he looks over at his staff, thumps the solid doorway with his boot, and with the hint of a smile, remarks, “Good bunker.”
They leave the historic attraction around 10:30 a.m. and move on. The field marshal is unusually hungry because he has not eaten a good breakfast. Anyway, this is the last day of the tour for him. Moving into his new headquarters probably has a lot to do with his easy-going manner. So with this half-holiday, half-hooky sort of attitude, they stop at a locally famous restaurant, Le Poulard. There he and his staff gorge themselves on the specialty of the house—exquisite home-made crêpes. Fascinated, they watch these delicacies get cooked in a long-handled pan over the open wooden fireplace.
As expected, the servings taste wonderful. The innkeeper delights in their satisfaction, although she still has no idea who this important German officer with such an impressive entourage is. She of course realizes he is a bigwig—the general’s uniform and his company are obvious. But who he is, she cannot guess. Not knowing him continues to perplex her, which of course, delights him. Still, she does not openly come out and ask who he is; that of course would be rude (and possibly dangerous). So she says very little about it as they sit.
They eat their fill, lean back relaxed and casually converse for a while. Finally, just before noon, they get ready to leave. Rommel smiles, feeling sorry for the old woman. She is now openly frustrated because he has obviously enjoyed the meal, yet she does not know who he is. Relenting, he finally allows the guards to tell her the identity of the high-ranking general who has so recently stuffed himself on her cooking. Her eyes light up like silver dollars when she is told. “Mon Dieu!” she yelps in amazement, slowly sinking down into a chair. “Rommel.”
He grins and motions Daniel that it is time to go.
They arrive at the Fougères castle a few minutes after noontime. The efforts of the 155th Reserve Panzer are coming along, and there are several PzKw IIIs and PzKw IVs already in its ranks. The commanding officer complains that he is losing his trained men to other units.
On to Le Mans. Rommel tells General Dollmann that his men are doing all right, but that they must continue erecting defenses in all areas, not just the most likely.
They discuss the upcoming move of the 352nd Infantry to the Calvados coast. Rommel suggests only moving up half the division, and leaving the other half inland. While this is going back on his original idea, he hopes that this placates OKW somewhat by leaving some units protected inland. They discuss how this leaves the western sector of the Cotentin peninsula weakly manned, and how they will compensate for this with heavy minefields and obstacles.
Dollmann tells him they only have some 100,000 mines laid, with nearly twice that number on order. They discuss the placement of units, and trying to combat the OT’s plan to remove French workers from the coastal defenses and ship them to factories in Germany. Rommel expresses concern that the Seventh Amy is moving slower on carrying out his defensive orders than its counterpart, the Fifteenth Army. They are some six weeks behind in their constructions.
The inspection group finally leaves and drives off to their new home. The motorcade arrives at La Roche-Guyon around 7 p.m. The huge château looks positively beautiful to them as they approach it in the twilight.
The current duke, having no animosity towards the Germans taking over his home, 3 will be permitted to stay, along with his wife and daughter. They will be allowed quarters on the second floor.
The mansion is perfect for Rommel, and is large enough that it can house his immediate staff. The rest of his men will of course have to find quarters in the village. Over the centuries, a number of tunnels and small rooms had been constructed into the chalk cliffs. Rommel’s own army engineers, assisted by some Polish POWs, have now enlarged them.
Yes, it will be quite adequate for his needs. He writes to Lucie that night:
Tomorrow Gause will fly to the wedding4 and should bring you this letter. I still happily remember those nice days of my leave with you two and I want to thank you for them.
In the meantime I have scheduled numerous days here and we will be looking forward to upcoming events. For the time of the wedding, I gave Gause permission to use the two cars. Aldinger will then take the camouflage-colored one and put the black one in the new garage.
How is our Manfred? I hope his stiff neck is alright again. We are now in new quarters. It is very cold, but hopefully spring will come soon to France. A good post is always worth a bit.
That’s all for today. Have Gause bring some long underwear pants back for me. Aside from that, there is nothing else I need.
1About 80km southeast of St. Malo and 50km northeast of Rennes.
2Originally organized as the 155th Panzer Division, it was redesignated in August of 1943 as the 155th Reserve Panzer Division. The division would disband at the end of April, and its units would become part of the 9th Panzer Division.
3The Germans had seized the castle a year ago in mid-March, and had installed an anti-aircraft position at the top of the castle.
4Rommel’s niece was getting married.
Friday, March 10
At the Berghof, OKW continues planning for Margarethe I, the occupation of Hungary.1 Two days ago, Hitler had targeted the 19th as the invasion date, and tomorrow, the orders will officially go out. Now, Panzer Lehr begins its journey eastward out of France.
In the meantime, OKW is up to its eyeballs in Eastern Front problems. The latest Soviet offensive is just a week old, but battered German lines are staggering in retreat. Many panzer units have been decimated, and the élite 1st SS Panzer Division, nearly surrounded in Galicia, is starting to look like a large regiment. More units have to be brought east to bolster the front. The 161st Division, which had taken part in the Battle of Kursk last year, has been ordered out of Denmark to move back east. It will have to be replaced with some reserve unit.2
***
The Heeresgruppe B staff spend the day acquainting themselves with their new headquarters.3 Several auxiliaries are busy in the tunnels, preparing new spaces for additional staff members that will soon join them.
Rommel, having taken an immediate liking to the place because of its arist
ocratic taste, its old historic flavor, and its charming, out-of-the-way locale, is relaxing today. The rustic quarters have lavish rooms that were once occupied by Princess Zénaïde.4 They are not overly spacious or luxurious and are comfortable and well furnished. The solid walls are a few meters thick and stay cool, even in the summer. Now in the late winter though, the building is downright cold. Many rooms have not been heated in years, so getting them warm is a slow process, especially when the staff discover how archaic the room fireplaces are. Luckily, wood is plentiful.
Rommel and his senior staff of course get to stay at the château. Junior staff officers and senior enlisted men will stay in a large adjacent building, which is also where the naval advisory staff will work. The remainder of the headquarters personnel will have to find quarters in town.
This morning, Rommel checks the latest message traffic. Dollmann at Seventh Army headquarters in Le Mans was bombed the night before, though the bombers had targeted the railyards. Then he meets with a couple of high-ranking engineering officers in his study.5 Later in the afternoon, he will see the Luftwaffe field commanding officer for Belgium and Northern France, General Wimmer.6 Then there are no more meetings, because he will spend the next two days touring up the coast.
The field marshal wastes no time settling in. Even Elbo quickly gets used to the new quarters, allowed to stay in the study in the daytime, though not (to his chagrin) ever allowed in the dining room.
1A second such plan, Margarethe II, called for the occupation of Romania if the government there ever decided to either surrender to or side with the Soviet Union. Despite the fact that Romania indeed surrendered in August 1944, the operation was never undertaken.
2Generalmajor Paul Drechmann’s 161st would later be destroyed as a fighting unit in Romania during the Russian August offensive of 1944.
Countdown to D-Day Page 33
