Countdown to D-Day

by Peter Margaritis

  He wonders if the invasion might now have to be postponed…

  1Allied intelligence deception at work.

  2This used to be Armee Felber, named after its commander, General der Infanterie Hans-Gustav Felber. After Italy’s collapse in August of 1943, Felber was relieved by General der Infantrie Georg Sodenstern, and the army renamed the Nineteenth Army.

  3Two Canadian destroyers attacked and the German vessels in response fired two spreads of torpedoes and turned to flee. The T-27 mortally wounded the Athabaskan, but the Haida avenged her. Laying cover smoke and pursuing the German T-boats, she crippled the T-27 with gunfire. Ablaze, the T-27 grounded on a reef near Pontusval. She would finally be finished off by British aircraft and MTBs weeks later, on May 7. The T-24 though, made it back to St. Malo.

  4General der Artillerie Kurt Gallenkamp, commanding.

  5Admiral Ruge in his Reminiscences mistakenly refers to this unit as the 700th Infantry Division.

  6The division, created last October, was named after Götz von Berlichingen, a heroic 15th-entury German knight. In one ferocious combat, he lost his right hand. Thereafter, he wore a prosthetic hand, which he defiantly kept clenched tight during battle. The division took his demeanor and adopted it as their own, their emblem being his clenched iron fist.

  7Forty-four-year-old Kapitän-zur-See Hans Michahelles. A torpedo boat officer in the 1930s, he became a naval liaison to OKH in the summer of 1941, before being put in charge of the port of Gascogne.

  8E-boat (enemy boat) was the all-inclusive generic term the Allies used for any German patrol craft.

  9HMS Azalea, a Flower-class ASW corvette, capable of no more than 16 knots.

  10Further inquiries uncovered other shortcomings. A second British escort, an old World War I destroyer, had been slated to escort the landing ships as well. However, it had returned early to Plymouth harbor for some repairs (left over from a recent minor collision), and the Americans were for some reason not informed. And at least one of the E-boat formations had been picked up by shore radar earlier that night, and both had been detected as unidentified contacts by other distant British escorts. The shore batteries around nearby Salcombe harbor had visually spotted the unidentified small craft as well, but they unfortunately were ordered not to fire on them, because that would have shown the Germans that the harbor was defended, and given away the battery positions. In all cases, the American vessels were never warned, partly because of the different chains of command, and partly because the Americans were operating on different frequencies.

  11This ended up being the costliest training exercise in all of World War II. When all the bodies had washed ashore, the official count rose to 749 lost, two thirds of them soldiers. Knowledge of both the exercise and the large casualty figures was covered up until the 1990s.

  12The final count was ten missing officers with top clearance and critical knowledge.

  13Luckily, they eventually were.

  Sunday, April 30

  After an early breakfast, Generalfeldmarschall Rommel and his group board a patrol boat in the port of Royan.1 They steer south-southwest across the estuary. They pass the destroyer Z-37 and circle her once in salutation.2 The crew responds smartly, turning out in parade formation (they have been told that the Desert Fox is on that little patrol boat) and returning salutes. Rommel is moved.

  Their cars are waiting for them on the other side, and they depart southward, towards Bordeaux. They pass a large section of coast recently ravaged by a forest fire. This fire had detonated or destroyed some five percent of the estimated 200,000 mines laid there. On top of that, this area is too lightly defended. Rommel makes a note. This area is commanded by First Army commander Johannes Blaskowitz and is technically directly subordinate to von Rundstedt. However, the First and the Nineteenth will soon combine to form a new army group3—so there is no need to stir up trouble. Therefore, Rommel does not comment on that area when he reaches Blaskowitz’s headquarters at Bordeaux late in the morning. Ruge and the First Army staff go into conference, while Rommel and Blaskowitz talk privately for a short while.

  Blaskowitz and Rommel continue their chat through a (thankfully) simple lunch, relating their past experiences. Rommel of course talks about North Africa, especially El Alamein, and Blaskowitz tells of his experiences in Poland in ’39, and briefly goes over the atrocities that he protested against so vehemently.

  By 1 p.m., they are on the road again on this beautiful Sunday afternoon. Next stop is the port town of Arcachon. Inspecting the positions, they find an oddity: a bunker near the water with its field of fire pointed inland, and not out over the approaching waves. Shaking his head, Rommel orders the corrective measures to be made.

  Soon after leaving the town, the second car in the motorcade (Ruge’s car) develops engine problems—no doubt partly due to the fast pace and the nearly ubiquitous flying sand particles near the coast. So Ruge heads directly for their night stopover, the picturesque town of Biarritz.4 Rommel continues on, pausing here and there to note a position.

  By 8 p.m., Rommel has joined Ruge in Biarritz, and they dine some 45 minutes later in the soldiers’ mess. They are served on priceless Basque china. The field marshal finds himself as usual the center of attention, surrounded by smiling, adulating men. He beams and, rising to the occasion, he launches into one of his North Africa stories. This one is about his first retreat, and the resulting problems that he had experienced with that bombast, Italian General Bastico.

  When he finally finishes his storytelling, the men make comments and ask questions, trying to get him to converse with them, interact with them. They seem to relish this special time with one of their most famous war heroes. Rommel in turn stays for a bit, trying to answer their questions, He listens patiently when a number of them tell some short stories of their own.

  Attention briefly turns to a major in the Alpine Corps, who recalls occupying some Greek islands in 1943 against heavy resistance. While he is talking, Rommel takes a minute to relax and look around. He is a bit surprised to see that the mess hall is now packed. Men have come from near and far to see him and to hear him speak. The talk goes on for some time, with the men asking him about a variety of things like North Africa, the Italians, conditions in Germany, and the upcoming invasion.

  He finally becomes aware that it is getting late and that he is keeping these men from their duties. Rising from the table, he thanks everyone sincerely for letting him dine with them. In turn, the officer in charge of the mess thanks him profusely for the privilege of eating in their mess hall. Rommel smiles.

  He turns and starts to leave, when suddenly the men impulsively break out into rousing applause. They are clapping wildly, some of them in tears. They are cheering him, der Wüstenfuchs. Their hero. He is moved, and takes a deep breath to keep from breaking down in front of them.

  As he stands there, too moved to speak, looking around at this emotional crowd, the applause quickly turns into an enthusiastic standing ovation. He gazes at them humbly as the spirited clapping and whistling continue unabated, with many cheering and yelling out his name. Despite his control, he finds himself trying hard to hold back the tears. A lot of these men, he realizes, had fought either directly or indirectly under him. All of them would clearly follow him anywhere. And many of them in doing so would probably die before the war was over.

  He looks out at the faces of those men, many now crying openly. They are what is left of the best his country has given—proud, respectful, loyal warriors. They in turn are in awe of him, and he makes a unique emotional connection with them in a special moment of mutual respect.

  They can see now that he wants to say something, so the cheering slowly dies down. Gazing at them, he finds it difficult to speak. With a slight tremor in his voice, he thanks the men sincerely for their warmth and fond sentiment. Then he turns and leaves.

  It is a day he will remember for quite a while, this elegant dinner at Biarritz.

  11 On the northern bank of the Gironde Ri
ver.

  2The 2,637-ton Z-37, commissioned in July 1942, (KL Ullrich, commanding) was accidentally rammed and damaged by Z-32 on January 30, 1944. She was later towed into Bordeaux, where her guns were eventually removed. They were to be used for shore defense. Repairs were discontinued on August 24, 1944 and she was decommissioned. That same day, the ship was gutted by fire and she was scuttled. Her hulk was finally scrapped in 1949.

  3Von Rundstedt had made this proposal to OKW back in March and had suggested that command go to the capable General Blaskowitz. OKW had agreed at the beginning of April.

  4Located on the Atlantic coast, a little over 200km south-southeast of Bordeaux, and some 30km from the Spanish border.

  May 1944

  Monday, May 1

  It is 5:35 a.m. Rommel sits down for a quick early breakfast, once again at the soldiers’ mess in Biarritz. Just before the officers are served, the staff, mostly Luftwaffenhelferinnen, 1 present the field marshal with a bouquet of flowers. It is a lovely arrangement, dainty lilies-of-the-valley from some secret (no doubt female) admirer. Rommel shakes his head with a smile, and those officers next to him beam and gently chide him as a couple photographers snap a few pictures. The smiles continue when several of the staff ask for Rommel’s autograph and in general gush all over him.

  After a very nice meal, the field marshal, his staff, and the reporters leave the mess, ready to depart, the Luftwaffenhelferinnen smiling from the windows. As Rommel walks towards his Horch at the curb, he turns to his chief engineer with a grin, points back towards the windows, and says, “You know, Meise, some of those girls are so darned attractive, I could almost be a rat!”2

  Meise smiles back, knowing full well that the field marshal would never cheat on his Lucie.

  They depart at 6 a.m. sharp for more inspections, driving across the southern base of France towards the Mediterranean. There is a heavy fog in the air, but as the morning wears on, the temperature begins to warm up, the sky starts to clear, and finally the sun comes out. Corporal Daniel’s route becomes easier, allowing them to better enjoy the spectacular montages of the breathtaking Pyrenees off to their right.

  The vehicles stop at a striking rocky formation near Perpignan, and Rommel lets the photographers take some photos of him there. “The British are bound to recognize that rock formation,” he says with a grin. “Now they’ll see that I’ve been down here, too.”

  The motorcade reaches the port town of Perpignan around 1:30 p.m. Rommel is puzzled to see policemen blocking off the side streets, and a large crowd gathered, evidently just to watch him arrive. There is a strong curiosity, no doubt, to see “Le Renard.”

  They drive to the headquarters of the IV Luftwaffe Feldkorps and have lunch with its commander, General Petersen.3 Also present are Konteradmiral Schulte-Moenting and Generalleutnant Schack.4 The conversation is interesting, as they discuss the concept of senior naval officers taking over defense of some major ports. The more senior officers should be capable enough.

  After lunch and a quick report by General Schack, Rommel, accompanied by his recent lunch companions, heads southeast to the old town of Port-Vendres near the border. They make their way through the town, inspecting a number of positions, and notice a specially equipped anti-aircraft corvette in the harbor. Then it is back along the coast again, passing a number of defensive positions chiseled out of the cliff rocks, and a few areas strewn with deadly Minengranaten.5

  More stops follow as they make their way northeast up the Mediterranean coast, enjoying along the way the breathtaking scenery and the beautiful mountains now behind them. They stop at Sète to inspect a fire control bunker located on a tall hill overlooking the town and its harbor. However, getting to it proves to be difficult, because the road up there is unpaved and stony. Hard on the tires, the path forces them to go slow. At the top, Generalleutnant Danhauser6 meets them and gives his report.

  They soon depart with Danhauser following. Their cars struggle down the steep hill over the rocky road before turning east. Admiral Schulte-Moenting, riding with Ruge, is somewhat upset by their seemingly quick pace, but stays calm and entertains him along the way with navy war stories.

  The entourage finally arrives in Montpellier at 9:30 p.m., tired and hungry. They drive to the 271st headquarters, a small château just outside of town, where they are to be dinner guests of General Danhauser. Those who wish to change into something more comfortable before dinner are given only 12 minutes to do so—Rommel does not change for once, and stays in his high leather boots. Admiral Ruge decides to go to his room and change clothes and in doing so, is nearly late for dinner.

  After dinner, Generalmajor Kaliebe7 entertains them with various stories and anecdotes. There was the time he inspected a gun battery and after showing up and introducing himself, received the curt reply, “127mm,” because the battery commander had obviously misheard what he had said.

  ***

  This afternoon, while von Rundstedt is entertaining General Guderian at his villa in St.-Germain-en-Laye, his chief of staff is in his office, on the phone with his counterpart at La Roche-Guyon. Blumentritt has learned that Speidel is a cool customer, never ruffled. Blumentritt gets down to business.

  He has a set of important instructions to pass on from Supreme Command, and he is rather sure that he knows how Rommel will take it. Generally, army group commanders do not like OKW telling them how to do their jobs, especially when the orders come straight down from the Führer, and Rommel is certainly no exception. He has a temper, and the wrong suggestion might upset him. Still, orders are orders.

  The Führer at this point has become convinced that the enemy’s main stratagem to deceive them about the invasion site8 is just a ruse. So he has again somehow concluded that Normandy is a probable landing site for the upcoming invasion. Walther Warlimont had then called OB West for a status report on the Normandy defenses. Later that morning, Jodl had called Blumentritt too, telling him to remind von Rundstedt that the Führer felt the landings would probably occur along Dollmann’s coastline. Now some time later, Blumentritt is pursuing this with Heeresgruppe B.

  Blumentritt tells Speidel about the two phone calls and that the Führer now believes that the landing will probably be in Normandy. OKW wants an immediate estimate on General Marcks’ chances of being able to defend the coast. Speidel is unsure of what Blumentritt wants to hear, and tells him that it is difficult to say precisely.

  Blumentritt clarifies. “We need to know how strong the defensive wall is along the Normandy coast. Could General Marcks repel an invasion and airborne landing there if it came right now?”

  Speidel pauses. “Yes,” he replies carefully, “He probably could, eventually, given certain conditions. It depends on a lot.”

  Blumentritt presses him to be specific.

  “Well,” Speidel says thoughtfully. “For one thing, what kind of warning time he is given. The weather conditions. I suppose some luck would be involved as well. How quickly the reserve panzers could be released. What type of intervention the Luftwaffe would make…”

  “Forget about the Luftwaffe,” Blumentritt replies. “Could 84th Corps defeat the enemy?”

  Speidel hesitates, and Blumentritt realizes that the other chief does not want to commit himself here. Well, Blumentritt has to press him for an answer. The question is coming from the Führer himself.

  Speidel clears his throat and replies, “That’s hard to say right away. I would have to have some time on this to give the Führer an accurate answer. Let me ask the field marshal when he gets back, and I’ll give you a better answer as soon as I can.”

  This is an honest request. “Gut. Better make it today at the latest, though. General Warlimont stressed the fact that the Führer’s pretty anxious about this. He wants this information as soon as possible.”

  “Jawohl,” Speidel replies. “I will get right on it.”

  General Blumentritt a little later calls Admiral Krancke at Marinegruppenkommandos West and relays to him the Führer’s
concerns about Normandy.

  At La Roche-Guyon, important administrative matters have developed today. The 2nd Panzer Division is starting to redeploy, as per Rommel’s insistent instructions. Word has come from OB West that the 155th Reserve Panzer Division is to disband. Most of its units are to go to the 9th Panzer Division.

  In the meantime, 2nd Fallschirmjäger Corps and the 5th Fallschirmjäger Division have started moving towards Brittany. And the 91st Luftlande Division, commanded by General Falley, 9 will begin leaving for the Cotentin peninsula tomorrow.

  Blumentritt calls Speidel again to set him in motion, and when the field marshal checks in that evening, Speidel tells him about the phone calls and the estimates that he has pulled together from their staff and from a quick estimate sent by General Pemsel at Seventh Army.

  Speidel also tells him that Krancke at Naval Group West has informed the château that, because of the Führer’s concerns, the Kriegsmarine is going to take additional measures. After some consideration, Krancke has decided to order some Blitzensperren be laid in the Somme River sector, between Le Havre and Boulogne. Because his forces are so meager though, the operation will have to be carried out by his fleet torpedo boats.

  Speidel assures Rommel that he made sure that OB West received the requested situation report later that day, along with Pemsel’s status report. Rommel approves.

  1Female staff in the Luftwaffe. Equivalent to American WAAFs.

  2Irving does not specify the exact day this occurred, only mentioning that it was “… during the last fatiguing weeks before the Normandy landings.” However, May 1 is the likely day, because Irving stated that it occurred in one such mess hall or hostel, and this was one of the few times in May that Meise was with him.