Countdown to D-Day

by Peter Margaritis

  Enemy fighter escorts have started to get particularly brazen about this. Up until the end of March, they had merely flown along to accompany the bombers flying in for the raids. Starting in April, if a German airfield was along a bombing route and its fighters did not respond to the approaching raid, the escorts had in several instances actually come down to low levels and strafed the aircraft along the runways.

  Air casualties are mounting steadily. The Luftwaffe, one report claims, lost over 2,000 aircraft in April, and von Rundstedt is sure that the actual number was substantially greater.

  Later that day, von Rundstedt’s staff finalizes preparations for the large commanders’ conference scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, as well as sorting out preliminary administrative details for the creation of the new army group. The order will go out today. Armeegruppe G for southern part of France is now a reality. GeneralOberst! Johannes Blaskowitz has been appointed commander. He too will be at the meeting tomorrow to officially accept his new command. He had many bad run-ins with the Führer in the early years of the war. However, he is a solid officer, a veteran leader of the Polish campaign, an intelligent product of the Generalstab, and firmly supported by von Rundstedt for the position.

  1The 100. Panzer Ersatz und Ausbildungs Abteilung (100th Panzer Replacement & Training Battalion, as it was officially referred to) consisted of about 28 light captured French and Soviet tanks, and one PzKw III.

  2In his defense, Göring wanted the batteries evenly spread across the main path that the enemy bombers used on their way into Germany. He also denied the request partly just to assert his waning authority. Technically though, although the Reichsmarshal naturally had overall say on the flak corps’ deployment through Luftflottenkommando III (3rd Air Fleet Command Headquarters in Paris), tactically and operationally, the corps actually fell under the command of the Luftgaukommando Westfrankreich (Western France Air District Command).

  3The West Wall was Germany’s defensive line, built opposite the Maginot Line and the border to the Low Countries. It was also called the Siegfried Line by the Allies.

  4Before D-Day, another 3,000 workers would be switched.

  Monday, May 8

  By this time, Allied intelligence is well aware of Rommel’s change of strategic headquarters. While the objective of the air raids over the lower Seine is of course to knock out the bridges, they also provide cover for occasional reconnaissance missions sent to get a good understanding of the logistical network set up by the Germans to supply the Seventh Army. In that vein then, a special aerial reconnaissance mission is set for today. As medium bomber formations are sent to bomb the bridges upriver and downriver from La Roche- Guyon, a high-speed reconnaissance plane flies over the château. It desperately avoids deadly anti-aircraft bursts from flak positions located on both sides of river, especially near the ancient Norman tower. The aircraft manages to take a series of photos of both the château and the nearby town.

  The Allies now have Rommel’s number.

  It is yet another pleasant day at La Roche-Guyon. After breakfast, Admiral Ruge sits down with der Chef, and they discuss in detail plans for the upcoming reorganization of the Kriegsmarine fleet command.1

  That morning, the air raid sirens go off. Rommel and the staff members dutifully go down the villa’s stairs and into the engineered air raid shelters of the adjoining chalk cliff. Luckily, no bombs are dropped in the area, although the railroad bridge just upriver at Vernon has been hit by Jabos.

  When the air raid threat ends, it is back upstairs to continue business as usual. After a couple hours of talks and phone calls, Supreme Command has decided that, instead of deploying the remaining elements of the 2. Fallschirmjdger Division to the center of the Cotentin peninsula, General Falley’s 91. Luftlande Division, also intended to be sent to France but originally to deploy near Nantes, will go to the Cotentin instead. To Rommel, this makes sense defensively. It seems better to put the 91st on the peninsula with its two fully equipped and fully manned regiments, then supplement it with Major von der Heydte’s operational 6th Fallschirmjdger Regiment, which would then be ordered to the Lessay-Periers area, instead of sending the 2nd Division’s two depleted regiments. The air landing troops would be better able to defend the roads in the region, while the exhausted paratroopers coming west from Russia would get to recuperate and rebuild.2

  Around noon, Rommel and Speidel walk out the side entrance. Getting into Rommel’s Horch, they depart for today’s scheduled conference in Paris. They enjoy the spring day as they travel southwest down the northern bank of the Seine, watching the scenery as they discuss the upcoming meeting. They enter the beautiful capital city, and Daniel takes them to the luxuriant Hôtel Prince de Galles, where the conference is being held.3

  They enter the hotel and are greeted by other officers already there. After a lavish late lunch, the senior officers move to a large, luxurious dark-wood paneled conference room in the hotel basement. Here the war conference is to be held. Present are the following senior officers:

  •Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt, Commander, Western Theater; Chief of Staff, General der Artillerie Günther Blumentritt

  •Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel, commanding Army Group B, and Chief of Staff, Generalleutnant Dr. Hans Speidel

  •Generalfeldmarschall Hugo Sperrle, commanding Luftwaffe Air Fleet III and also Deputy-Commander, Western Theater; Chief of Staff, Generalmajor Hermann Plocher.

  •GeneralOberst! Johannes Blaskowitz, Outgoing Commander, First Army, incoming Commander, Army Group G; Chief of Staff, Generalmajor Heinz von Glydenfeld.

  •Admiral Theodor Krancke, Commander, Naval Group West; Vizeadmiral Gustav Kleikamp, Commander, all naval forces in the Netherlands

  •Generalleutnant Karl Stülpnagel, Military Governor of France

  •General der Flieger Friedrich Christiansen, Commander, Netherlands; Chief of Staff, Generalleutnant Heinz-Hellmuth von Wuhlisch

  •General der Panzertruppen Freiherr Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg, Commander, Panzer Group West

  •SS Obergruppenführer und Panzergeneral der Waffen-SS Sepp Dietrich, Commander, I SS Panzer Corps.

  Goebbels’ Propaganda Ministry takes occasion to make the conference a media affair. The reporters are allowed in to take pictures, and a couple short authorized newsreels are made. The media is told that this meeting is being held to concentrate on developing new ideas to directly repel the expected enemy landing. After the photos are taken and some film shot, the media leaves the room and the conference begins.

  The main purpose of the conference is to brief everyone on the newly reorganized command structure in the West. General Blaskowitz seems somewhat nervous. At 63, he is slated to command Armeegruppe G, 4 officially created yesterday by OB West. It has been about four years since Blaskowitz has commanded a unit larger than an army, and this high appointment is courtesy of von Rundstedt’s recommendation back in March when he had first proposed creating another army group. This new command means that Blaskowitz will again be in regular contact with OKW Blaskowitz tries not to think about that. He already has enough enemies there, and of course, the Führer’s disfavor.

  Blumentritt details some significant changes. Armeegruppe G will now be responsible for defending southern France below a boundary line running from Tours to the Swiss border. It will be comprised of the First Army, under General der Infanterie Kurt von der Chevallerie, headquarters at Bordeaux, and the Nineteenth Army under General der Infanterie Georg von Sodenstern, headquarters at Avignon.

  Blaskowitz adds that he will establish his own headquarters somewhere near Toulouse. Most of his command staff will be chosen by von Rundstedt.

  Von Rundstedt is happy with the new command structure. It makes strategic sense to divide his forces into two army groups, addressing both operational and administrative issues. Just as importantly though, it dilutes Rommel’s command authority in France, reducing him to a subordinate position, something the Prussian has been keen on establishing since t
he Swabian came to France last December.

  Other matters are covered. A mobilization plan from Seventh Army commander General Dollmann is reviewed. The 243rd Infantry Division is to be redeployed up the western side of the Cotentin peninsula, and will be backed up by the 206th Panzer Battalion and 342nd Panzerzerstörer Battalion.5 Also discussed are the airborne units that Rommel will be getting for western France.

  Close cooperation in defense from the Kriegsmarine is discussed with Admiral Krancke. Then von Rundstedt and Rommel briefly listen to Luftwaffe plans for the invasion, presented by Field Marshal Sperrle. He tells them that when the invasion begins, the alarm will be sent to all Western air units.6 Pre-made plans to attack the embarkation points and bomber bases will be immediately put into effect. Rommel insists that they instead hit the beaches, and Sperrle reassures him that there will be enough fighters and tactical bombers to do that as well.

  Rommel, sitting between von Rundstedt and Admiral Krancke, puts on a good show of cooperative spirit. He is on the one hand happy that the new command structure clarifies the chain of command, and that hopefully duplication of orders will be minimized.

  On the other hand though, there is still the question of the panzer reserves. Rommel retains tactical command of the 2nd Panzer and 21st Panzer Division, as well as getting the newly created 116th Panzer, which von Rundstedt suggests should be deployed near the Seine. An official directive from OKW dated the day before makes it official. However, Rommel still has no real power to use them. That means he cannot, without specific permission of von Rundstedt and OKW,

  •relocate them closer to the coast or to another sector,

  •combine them into a stronger mobile force,

  •take immediate command of them when the enemy lands,

  •or direct their training for immediate response and anti-invasion maneuvers.

  Not that it is any consolation, but General Blaskowitz down south will have a similar limited tactical control (and thus, no operational control) over the reconstructed 9th and 11th Panzer Divisions, as well as the 2nd SS Panzer Division “Das Reich, “returning from Russia (OB West having issued the order the day before). But Dietrich’s I SS Panzer Corps, the élite Panzer Lehr, and the 17th SS Panzergrenadier will remain under the strict control of OKW. OB West will retain full responsibility for the training and administration of these units through von Geyr’s PanzerGruppe West.

  After the conference ends and the generals chat for a while, Rommel returns to his château. Rommel later has Lang note in his diary:

  Throughout the conference, Rundstedt was most kind and amiable.

  On the other hand, Rommel has basically the same command control that he had that morning. And his main mobility problem has not been resolved. He must be able to move those panzers close to the coast, and to be able to take swift command of them when needed. Today’s conference shows that he is still far from achieving that objective. Since von Rundstedt, Geyr, and Guderian are set against him on this (as he suspects, are Keitel, Jodl, and Warlimont in OKW as well), he must go along with this arrangement—at least for now.

  Jodl has written to him their reasoning:

  The enemy’s intentions are at present so obscure, that some capability for strategic command must be maintained by means of keeping a separate, if modest, reserve. These High Command reserves will be released for operations—without further application by yourself—the moment we can be certain about the enemy’s intentions and focus of attack.

  That evening, Rommel relaxes and takes time to write to Lucie. Today, he writes to her about the dog the civilians gave him a few days ago to replace Ajax. He writes amusingly:

  Dearest Lu:

  The OT have now sent me a big, brown, smooth-haired hunting dog. It’s young, good at following and affectionate, and has soon settled down to its new life. Elbo looked aggrieved at first, but he now has lots of fun with his playfellow. It was at feeding time that Elbo suffered badly at first.7 Anyway, the two of them got me up the hill four times yesterday. I shall either send Elbo to you shortly or get you to look out for a dog for yourself. It’s strange what a distraction these creatures can be, and how they can take your mind off your troubles.

  Rommel finishes his letter, then begins to help his aide pack his belongings for another inspection tour. This one will start with the 84th Corps, as per his conversation with Jodl. He reflects back on all the media at today’s conference. He does not mind the coverage, and is satisfied that newsreels recorded his optimism.

  He goes over in his mind again the command problem regarding the panzers. It really bothers him to be nearly powerless on this issue, a feeling he is not used to. Of course, he might just go directly to the top. The Führer basically agreed with his concepts of defending the coast. So why not jump the chain of command and go right to him? Rommel has done it before. Besides, as a field marshal, he carries the privilege of having access to Hitler anytime he desires. Anyway, Rommel learned long ago that the last man to get to talk to the Führer will probably be the one to get his way.

  Rommel feels that a trip to Berchtesgaden might be coming up.

  By early May, 1944, the Allies have realized that the crucial matter of setting a day for the landing must be decided. The target date, originally called “Y-Day,” had been set for June 1. Now the date has to be pinpointed.

  Maximum favorable conditions for the air drop require light as well, but not so much early on in the evening, so that aircraft could still approach in darkness. Thus a full moon, rising around 1 or 2 a.m. would be best.8 And low winds are vital, to minimize scattering; no greater than Force 3 (8—12 mph) on shore and Force 4 (13—18 mph) offshore.

  Today, as the German Western leaders confer in Paris, Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, commanding the Allied Naval Expeditionary Force, sits down with General Eisenhower to determine an exact date. The admiral tells him that, according to moon and tide predictions, and judging from the estimated level of readiness by then, the earliest favorable time after Y-Day would be June 5 (Y+4) and 6 (Y+5)—weather permitting, of course. The moon would rise late the evening before, and low tide would occur just after dawn.

  Ramsay tells Eisenhower that the weather will be their biggest worry. Based upon historical weather records of the Normandy coast, the planners have calculated that the odds that all the required weather conditions are met in the month of June are only one in thirteen. Still, even with the weather odds against him, Eisenhower tentatively decides on June 5. But he keeps open the 6th or 7th as well——just in case the weather on the 5th is unfavorable to launch the landings.

  1There has been some speculation as to whether or not Ruge and Speidel talked at all about matters pertaining to the conspiracy against the Nazi regime. Certainly Speidel was one of the plotters, and more than likely, Ruge was quite sympathetic to their cause. Since Speidel was going to accompany Rommel to the capital, he would be in close proximity to other co-conspirators in the Paris cell. Perhaps some secret documents would be passed, as well as some words.

  2The battle-weary elements of the 2nd Parachute Division (except von der Heydte’s 6th Regiment, which was already in Normandy) had been taken out of Russia at the beginning of the month to briefly rest and refit in Germany, before they were ordered to Normandy. There they would refit, reorganize and train, but still be able to enjoy some relaxation and leisure in the peaceful French countryside.

  3“Hôtel Prince of Wales” is a luxurious Hôtel, built in 1928 in honor of England’s Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII. It is located on the Avenue George V, named after his father. The Hôtel was so named so that the prince would stay there whenever he visited Paris.

  The conference was originally scheduled to be held at the OB West command bunker for security reasons, considering the ranking general officers that were attending. However, since most of them were bringing staff and support members, there simply was not enough room to accommodate them all. A Hôtel would be much more comfortable. It would be much easier for guest
officers and staff staying overnight to simply go downstairs. And of course, von Rundstedt would use any excuse to enjoy dining out. In addition, the Propaganda Ministry was going to make this a media affair, complete with cameramen, photographers, and reporters. So the location was changed to this Parisian Hôtel commonly used by the Germans.

  4Partly because he has been in disfavor with the Führer and partly because it is smaller in size, Blaskowitz’s newly created army group has not been given the regular classification of a Heeresgruppe. Rather, it is denoted as an Armeegruppe, an inferior designation often denoting a heterogeneous command or two combined armies of multinational groups—especially if only one was German and the other from a second-rate satellite nationality, such as Romania. Usually though, it was given to a smaller formation, often to ad hoc temporary commands (a point no doubt not overlooked by the commanders present). As such, his headquarters would not rate all the complete administrative and personnel allowances that were normally given to a full army group headquarters.

  While the new Armeegruppe G was much smaller than a true army group, there was a shortage of transport and of key organizational personnel. Still, the biggest reason for this lesser title was Blaskowitz’s past relations with Hitler. Thus, the less-eminent term was in essence an affront.

  5The 206th, to be located between Cap de la Hague and Cap de Carteret, was an ad hoc unit created around Versailles in November 1943. It was composed of nearly four dozen miscellaneous light tanks, including captured French, Russian, and Czech models. German panzers were limited to outmoded PzKw I and PzKw II models. No information was found on the 342nd.