The message goes out to OB West that day. They in turn relay the information to Rommel’s headquarters, stressing that the Cotentin peninsula and Brittany, because of concerns expressed by the Führer, are to be immediately fortified.
Jodl, talking to Blumentritt at 7 p.m. confirms the information, adding that the Führer now believes that the Cotentin peninsula will probably be the enemy’s first objective. He then again goes over with him the coming reinforcements to the Normandy and Brittany area. He stresses to him the Führer’s belief that the Cherbourg peninsula will probably be the Allies’ first objective when they land. Jodl points out though, that the Führer is not entirely sure that the main invasion would be near there.
“However,” Jodl adds, “the Führer attachés particular importance to Normandy and the defense of Normandy.”
Blumentritt promises to discuss the matter with von Rundstedt.
***
Later that day, after Koch leaves, General von Schwerin, 6 commanding the newly formed 116th Panzer Division, reports to Rommel at La Roche-Guyon. Von Schwerin had served with Rommel in North Africa in the spring of 1941, and the two had exchanged some heated words at that time. But that was long ago. Now, they have a pleasant chat. Rommel gives him a rundown on the disposition of their units in northern France. Despite Hitler’s recent anxieties about the Normandy area, Rommel tells him that, “We expect the invasion on either side of the Somme estuary.” Von Schwerin’s soon-to-be well-equipped 116th Panzer is to be located inland, athwart the Seine River. 7
That evening, Rommel is in good spirits. About the upcoming invasion, he dictates to Lang:
I’m more confident than ever before. If the British give us just two more weeks, then I won’t have any more doubts about it.
The British will in fact give him a month.
1There were a number of major German commands in the capital area at that time. OB West was, of course, located outside the city itself, in nearby St.-Germain-en-Laye; but others were in the city itself. These included Krancke’s Naval Group West, several naval ordnance centers, the Luftwaffe main weather service, Gestapo headquarters, Sperrle’s Luftflötte III, and of course, the headquarters of the Military Governor, General von Stülpnagel.
2The Chief Engineer of Seventh Army, Oberst! von Bodecker, recorded after the war that corroding mine detonators had rendered ineffective about half of the 13,400 mines that were laid in front of the 716 Infantry Division.
3See entry for March 26.
4Forty-one-year-old Lutz Koch had been a journalist since 1924. Now in uniform, once an army specialist, he had become an experienced radio news reporter and war correspondent. He had been attachéd to Rommel in North Africa. He had also often been with him in Italy as well. He would survive the war, despite being wounded four times at the front.
5“Treff,” according to Cornelius Ryan’s notes, was a common German name for a hunting dog. It is an expression meaning “direct hit” or “bull’s-eye,” as in accurately striking the target.
6Forty-four-year-old Generalleutnant Gerhard (“Gerd”) Helmuth Detloff Graf von Schwerin. A World War I veteran, he started World War II as a staff member of OKH. In 1940, commanding a battalion in the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment, he fought in the French campaign, where he played a significant role in the battle of Sedan. He later fought in North Africa under Rommel, but there was friction between the two of them, and Rommel eventually relieved him. Von Schwerin later fought in Russia, taking part in the siege of Lenningrad, then distinguishing himself in the Stalingrad campaign, commanding the 16th Panzergrenadier Division. In March, he and the remnants of his unit were transferred to France, where they combined with the 179th Reserve Panzer Division to form the 116th Panzer Division.
7It has never been determined if Rommel knew at this time that von Schwerin was in on the plot against the Führer. One thing was certain: Rommel could not know at this time that the 116th Panzer would not engage the enemy for over a month after the landings—not until mid-July.
Saturday, May 6
It is overcast today and cooler, with some light drizzle. Chief of Staff General Dr. Hans Speidel leaves the château for Paris, where he has a number of conference meetings with various unit chiefs of staff and unit commanders. The talks continue into the afternoon with Admiral Krancke, 1 the military governor of France, and Luftwaffe Field Marshal Sperrle’s chief of staff.
Speidel and Krancke discuss a reorganization of the naval commands. Naval Group North is going to be disbanded, for one thing. On a more personal level, Krancke relays a request from GroβAdmiral Karl Dönitz himself that Heeresgruppe B detach Admiral Ruge for more important duties with the Kriegsmarine.
***
After several other meetings, Rommel checks the latest messages again in the afternoon. One bit of news interests him: the Supreme Headquarters report on the paratroop units that are being dispatched to Normandy and Brittany. He confers with Speidel on this and then, for clarification (and to satisfy his aroused curiosity), he puts in a phone call to OKW. After a while, Jodl comes on the line, stolid and brisk as always.
“Ah, Herr Feldmarschall!” the OKW chief of staff says cordially. “How good to hear from you. The Führer was just talking about you the other day…”
“Herr General, why did he order those airborne units to move to Normandy and Brittany? Not that I’m complaining, of course.”
“Airborne units? Let me see… Ah yes, well, actually, I’m not really at liberty to tell the source, but suffice it to say that he has ‘certain information’ from one of our intelligence sources, telling us that Normandy is a likely place for the landing.”
“Interesting,” the field marshal replies. What does the Führer know that he doesn’t? And why can’t he be told?
He stays polite. “May I suggest that the airborne units be deployed around Rennes, so that they can move either towards St. Malo or Lorient?”
“An excellent suggestion, Feldmarschall. We shall take it under advisement.”
Rommel grimaces. Pretentious administrators.
“What about the status of the OKW reserves?” Another sore subject.
Jodl says soothingly, “Don’t worry. The panzer reserves will all be released as soon as it becomes clear where the enemy landing point is. Another thing,” Jodl says in a low voice, as though that would keep the enemy from hearing, “After the landing, Cherbourg is supposed to be their first strategic objective.”
“Cherbourg?”
“Ja.”
Rommel wonders about the reliability of their source. “Then I request the Panzer Lehr Division be taken out of reserve near Chambois and moved to Bayeux.”2 He does not of course point out that Bayeux is right next to the coast.
“My dear Rommel,” Jodl says politely. “You know how von Rundstedt will react to that.”
“But if what you say is true, that part of the coast will need some sort of local backup if we are to stop the invasion. The defenses in that area are not finished yet.” Rommel is using reverse logic on him.
“Yes, we know,” replies Jodl. “That is a definite problem,” he says in a concerned tone. Rommel’s ploy has obviously worked.
Rommel comes to the area corps commander’s defense. “General Marcks is doing his best.”
“But there is a good chance that they will not be ready before the Allies come.” It is not a question. “Furthermore,” Jodl continues, “we have intelligence reports that British experiments at penetrating your present types of beach obstacles have been successful.”
Rommel is surprised. “Are you sure?”
“Our source is pretty reliable. Maybe you should take the time to re-evaluate your plans.”
“I’ll look into it,” Rommel answers thoughtfully. He hangs up and sits back in his chair. If the enemy has found ways to overcome his beach defenses, his defense plans will be in serious trouble indeed…
After some thought, he picks up the phone again and gets hold of General Marcks at St. Lo. He tells the
corps commander that something has come up, and that he will be back out there again in a few days. Marcks (is that a touch of reluctance in his tone?) agrees to expect him.
Hanging up once more, Rommel sits in thought. If the enemy can get around his obstacles, he will have to come up with a new rabbit to pull out of his hat. He had better mention this news to Speidel tonight at dinner.
Looking back at the papers before him, he glances at the latest reports. More bad news. The German fuel industry has been especially hard hit by the Allied bombings. Always a critical weak point, this bottleneck is now a crisis.
In the latest report, national production is estimated to have fallen from 6,100 to 5,200 metric tons per day. And he has a feeling that these numbers are conservative.3 Rommel knows what this statistic means. Low fuel supplies had haunted him nearly all the time in Africa. Fuel had been scarce, and when it had dwindled, his panzers began to starve.
As Jodl has requested, Rommel orders the drafting of a message outlining suggestions on strengthening the Cotentin peninsula and Brittany be for OKW OB West will have to pass it on.
Speidel returns to La Roche-Guyon and immediately goes into Rommel’s study to report on his meetings. He gives him Dönitz’s request to transfer Ruge. Is this an end-around by Krancke to finally get Ruge under him? Probably. At any rate, Rommel knows how Ruge feels about the idea and perhaps remembers the lack of cooperation that he’s been getting from the navy lately. So he denies the request.
Speidel again discusses with Rommel General Dollmann’s idea of moving the entire 74th Corps staff to Normandy. Rommel once more turns it down.
Then the field marshal fills him in on his phone conversation with Jodl about the airborne units transferring, and about Normandy. So Speidel goes to his office and talks again to Blumentritt, this time by phone, regarding the Führer’s recent speculation over the Normandy area. Blumentritt tells him that there is also some concern from OKW about the 243rd Infantry’s main transport—in this case, horses. Also, they want the top portion of the Cotentin peninsula in general reinforced. This cannot be done though, by replacement with a larger unit. None are available, and OKW is not about to let them pull a division out of reserve. And of course, sending another infantry division to the West is out of the question. No, it will have to be done with a hodgepodge of smaller units.
To that effect, some rearranging is done with Seventh Army. The 243rd will be used to help put up obstacles in other areas of the Cotentin peninsula. In the meantime, several smaller Seventh Army units will move into the central peninsula area. These include the 700th Training Unit, the 206th Panzer Battalion near Cap de la Hague, and the Seventh Army Stürm Battalion.4
At around 4:30 that afternoon, there is a visit from State Secretary Ganzemueller, out of the Reich Ministry of Transport. He and Rommel sit over tea and discuss the critical shortage of transport. The secretary’s news is not encouraging. When the invasion comes, he says sadly, most major transport movements will either be blocked or destroyed. Only limited transportation will be available, and this will mostly be at night.
A little later, a message arrives from OB West confirming that the 2. Fallschirmjäger Division has indeed been officially transferred from the Eastern Front. It is to be positioned near the 21st Panzer Division.
In the evening, Rommel writes to Lucie:
Now I’m here at my headquarters for a few days to run things for a change. There is so much work. Today I have a very big conference. There are still no signs of the British and Americans coming in the very near future. Every day, every week, is for us of invaluable importance. Every day we are getting stronger. My inventions are now being employed. I am looking forward to the battle with confidence. Perhaps on the 15th of May, perhaps at the end of the month.
That night, upriver from the château, the bridges at Mantes are bombed again. Many of the army group staff are unable to sleep because of the noise.
1Krancke commands Naval Group West (Marinegruppenkommandos West).
2Panzer Lehr was still in the process of returning to France from Hungary.
3During that time, production actually fell from 5,850 metric tons per day to 4,820 metric tons per day.
4The 206th Panzer Battalion was mostly made up of two dozen French Hotchkiss H-35s, a dozen Somoa S-35s, and a few old German PzKw I and PzKw II light panzers. Nearly a dozen of them were non-operational. The Seventh Army Stürm Battalion was an independent army reserve group, used as an assault unit. It had some 1,100 “shock troops” and four light howitzers.
Sunday, May 7
It is a nice cool day. Rommel and his staff prepare for tomorrow’s OB West conference in Paris. Again, in light of the Führer’s recent concerns over the possibility of Normandy being the target for the invasion, Rommel spends part of the day with his staff going over a number of improvement suggestions that have been made by Seventh Army staff. Rommel is gathering ideas to bring up at the conference. They discuss the following points:
1.OB West senior officers should agree for good that moving the entire 74th Corps to the Normandy area is unwise.
2.The 243rd Infantry Division must be repositioned from Brittany to the northwest corner of the Cotentin peninsula. Rommel says that he would normally not have a problem with that, except that at present, there is nothing that can take over the southwest coastline, short of a couple Öst battalions.
3.They might want to move just one regiment of the 243rd (possibly the 920th) to the Cap de la Hague—Cap de Carteret area. Rommel rejects this idea, as much of the 243rd is to be used to defend ports and man anti-aircraft batteries.
4.They should move the 2nd Luftwaffe Field Division into the 243rd’s area. Spe- idel says that he will discuss this matter with Field Marshal Sperrle’s staff tomorrow, but they will probably not like the idea. Instead, Rommel proposes to move the 6th Parachute Regiment further up the peninsula.
5.The 342nd Tank Panzerzerstörer Battalion should be kept where it is, deployed on the hills overlooking Cherbourg.
6.The Seventh Army Stürm Battalion could be moved around La Haye du Puits. Rommel agrees to this.
7.They should move the 100th Panzer Reserve Battalion inland.1
Lunch at La Roche-Guyon is spoiled by yet another aerial attack on the Mantes bridges upstream, as well as the bridges just downstream at Vernon. It seems as if the enemy bombers are trying to cut off the château from Western France. Still, the loss of these bridges to Rommel seems insignificant, since whenever he wants to tour westward, he just takes a ferry across the Seine. However, the idea that the enemy has recently been severing more and more supply links across major rivers like the Seine is disturbing.
That afternoon, they get a call from the Waffen-SS commander in Holland. His units have been asked to take over the left flank of the 16th Luftwaffe Field Division to bolster it. The SS commander gives the standard bureaucratic response: they cannot do that without specific, written permission from Reichsführer Himmler. The matter is put on hold.
A couple hours later, while Rommel is out exercising his two dogs, official word comes in from OB West on the reorganization and reformation of the reserve panzer divisions. The 155th Reserve Panzer will become the 9th Panzer. The 273rd Reserve Panzer will become the reconstituted 11th Panzer; and the 179th Reserve Panzer will be absorbed into the recently created 116th Panzer Division under General von Schwerin.
More word from OKW. Göring has (probably gleefully) turned down the request to relocate the III Flak Corps. The batteries are to remain scattered all over France to cover bridges. Rommel just shakes his head. It is a pity that Göring is such an ass. The III Flak Corps would have been a perfect anti-aircraft shield to put near the Calvados coast. Now that area will be weak in AA defense.2
***
While his staff prepares for tomorrow’s conference, Generalfeldmarschall von Rundstedt reviews various status reports. He is irritated that the Allies are indeed taking advantage of Germany’s weak air strength. They have begun hitting stra
tegic supply line targets. Railroad centers and trains themselves are suffering badly at the hands of the enemy tactical air forces. Bridges over key rivers like the Somme and the Seine in the northeast are being struck regularly, as are those in the central region along the Loire.
This is quite possibly an attempt to isolate different sections of northwestern France from the northeastern section. What makes things worse is that OB West has lost another railroad repair battalion, transferred to the Italian Front. He had already lost one in January. Now he is down to three. To compensate, he must take construction workers off the West Wall3 and press them into service onto the railroads. Over 25,000 workers are being diverted.4
He glances at a report covering railroad losses. Over 500 locomotives have been damaged by various low-level attacks. Their supply system in France is certainly taking a beating. By the beginning of May, in France alone, over 600 army supply trains had been backlogged. Many are being destroyed systematically. Allied air power has reduced an average running schedule of 100 trains a day in France to a mere 48; by the end of this month, his staff estimates that this number will be down to less than two dozen. Logic dictates that it will go down much further after the invasion comes.
His staff has responded by canceling all military leave and putting some 18,000 workers onto repairing the railways. Another 10,000 are slated to be committed to this endeavor in May, but von Rundstedt knows that will not make the difference. Their efforts will not keep them from singing the tune that Allied air command is calling.
Enemy bombing raids of March and April included airframe parts and assembly factories—eight in March, and almost two dozen in April. The enemy is also hitting various Luftwaffe airfields near the coast, either destroying the aircraft on a continuing basis, or forcing air units to relocate inland.
Countdown to D-Day Page 57
