Liddell Hart described Normandy as ‘an operation that eventually went according to plan, but not according to timetable’.10 A good case can be made that the Allies’ disappointments and delays in gaining ground eventually worked to their advantage. Just as in Tunisia, more than a year earlier, Hitler’s obsessive reinforcement of failure caused him to thrust division after division into the cauldron for destruction. By the time the breakout came, no significant forces lay in front of the Allies before the German border. Paris fell on 25 August, Patton crossed the Meuse on 31 August, and was at Metz on the Moselle the next day. The Guards Armoured Division reached Brussels on 3 September, after advancing 75 miles in a single day. 11th Armoured reached Antwerp on the 4th, to find the port intact.
On 1 September, Eisenhower assumed direct control of the Allied armies in the field – to Montgomery’s bitter frustration, disappointment and chagrin. The Commander-in-Chief himself was the only man at 21st Army Group unable to understand the imperative by which American dominance among the armies demanded American command in the field. Williams and de Guingand attempted to explain this reality to him, and the fact that his loss of control was inevitable, ‘even if the Americans thought you the greatest general in the world – which they do not.’11
At this juncture, there were perhaps 100 German tanks on the entire western front against over 2,000 in the Allied spearheads; 570 Luftwaffe aircraft against the Allies’ 14,000. By yet another Herculean feat of organization, Student mobilized 8,000 men of First Parachute Army to cover a 100-mile chasm in the front. The Allies paused to regroup and resolve their immense logistical problems. By mid-September, the German line was thickening everywhere. ‘I left France almost convinced that Germany was through and that the war would end in 1944,’ wrote Gavin of the 82nd Airborne. ‘But many in the division felt more cautious, since the fighting at times had proved to be far more difficult and costly than we had anticipated.’12 The battles in Holland and along the German border so often seem to belong to a different age from those of Normandy that it is startling to reflect that Arnhem was fought less than a month after Falaise; that within weeks of suffering one of the greatest catastrophes of modern war, the Germans found the strength to halt the drive of Horrocks’s XXX Corps in its tracks, and to prolong the war until May 1945. But if this phenomenon reveals the same staggering qualities in Hitler’s armies which had caused the Allies such grief in Normandy, it is also another story.
Appendix A
Chronology of the Normandy Campaign
1943
13
March
Lt-Gen. F. E. Morgan appointed COSSAC – Chief of Staff to the Supreme Commander (designate)
1944
23
January
Eisenhower approves Montgomery’s plan for the landings in Normandy
7–
8 April
Montgomery presents the OVERLORD plan at St Paul’s, and presides over Exercise THUNDERCLAP with subordinate commanders
15
May
Montgomery’s final presentation at St Paul’s
3
June
D-Day postponed from 5 June to 6 June
4
June
D-Day ordered for 6 June
6
June
Allied landings in Normandy
7
June
Bayeux falls
8
June
US First and British Second Armies link near Port-en-Bessin
12
June
Omaha and Utah beachheads united
13
June
British 7th Armoured Division checked and repelled at Villers-Bocage. Germans open V-I frying bomb offensive against Britain
18–
21 June
The ‘great storm’ in the Channel
18
June
US VII Corps reach west coast Cherbourg peninsula at Barneville
19
June
Americans take Montebourg
22
June
Russians open their summer offensive against Army Group Centre with 146 infantry divisions and 43 tank brigades attacking on a 300-mile front
25
June
British Operation EPSOM south-west of Caen
26
June
Americans in Cherbourg
27
June
Resistance in Cherbourg ends
29
June
British break off EPSOM
1
July
Geyr von Schweppenburg sacked and replaced by Eberbach. Americans secure Cap de la Hague
2
July
Von Rundstedt sacked and replaced by von Kluge.
6
July
Flotilla of biber one-man submarines attack Allied shipping off the beachhead, sinking three minesweepers and damaging a Polish cruiser for the loss of seven German craft
8
July
British attack Caen, Americans seize La Haye-du-Puits
10
July
British occupy Caen
17
July
Rommel wounded and replaced as C-in-C Army Group B by von Kluge
18
July
British Operation GOODWOOD east of Caen. Americans take St Lô
20
July
Hitler wounded by bomb at his headquarters, abortive conspiracy and its aftermath rocks the Third Reich
25
July
American Operation COBRA launched west of St Lô
30
July
British Operation BLUECOAT launched south-east of Caumont. Americans ‘turn the corner’ at Avranches
31
July
Russians within 10 miles of Warsaw. Uprising begins
1
August
Hodges assumes command US First Army, Patton’s Third Army activated, Bradley becomes C-in-C US Twelfth Army Group
7
August
Germans launch Mortain counter-attack. Canadian Operation TOTALIZE launched towards Falaise
10
August
TOTALIZE broken off
12
August
US XV Corps takes Alençon
14
August
Canadian Operation TRACTABLE launched towards Falaise. DRAGOON landings in southern France
17
August
Model assumes command German armies, orders full retreat east from Allied pocket. Falaise falls
19
August
Polish Armoured Division and US 90th Division reach Chambois
21
August
Falaise Gap closed
25
August
Paris falls
1
September
Eisenhower assumes direct command Allied ground forces. Montgomery promoted Field-Marshal
2
September
US First and Third Armies ordered to halt by Eisenhower in view of huge fuel and supply problems
3
September
Brussels falls
16
September
US First Army units cross the German border near Aachen
17
September
Operation Market Garden launched against Arnhem and the Maas and Waal bridges
Appendix B
Allied order of battle
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force
Supreme Allied Commander
General Dwight D. Eisenhower
Chief of Staff
General Walter Bedell Smith
TWENTY-FIRST ARMY GROUP
Commander-in-Chief
General Sir Bernard L. Montgomery
Chief of Staff
GHQ AND ARMY TROOPS
79th Armoured Division
Major-General Sir Percy C. S. Hobard
30th Armoured Brigade
22nd Dragoons
1st Lothians and Border Horse
2nd County of London Yeomanry (Westminster Dragoons)
141st Regiment RAC
1st Tank Brigade
11th, 42nd and 49th Battalions RTR
1st Assault Brigade RE
5th, 6th and 42nd Assault Regiments RE
79th Armoured Divisional Signals
1st Canadian Armoured Personnel Carrier Regiment
INDEPENDENT BRIGADES
4th Armoured Brigade
The Royal Scots Greys
3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) (to 28.7.44)
3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) (from 29.7.44)
44th Battalion RTR
2nd Battalion The King’s Royal Rifle Corps (Motor)
8th Armoured Brigade
4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards
24th Lancers (to 29.7.44)
The Nottinghamshire Yeomanry 13th/18th Royal Hussars (from 29.7.44)
12th Battalion The King’s Royal Rifle Corps (Motor)
31st Tank Brigade
7th Battalion RTR (to 17.8.44)
9th Battalion RTR (to 31.8.44)
144th Regiment RAC (23–31.8.44)
34th Tank Brigade
107th and 147th Regiments RAC
153rd Regiment RAC (to 24.8.44)
6th Guards Tank Brigade
4th Tank Battalion Grenadier Guards
4th Tank Battalion Coldstream Guards
3rd Tank Battalion Scots Guards
27th Armoured Brigade (to 29.7.44)
13th/18th Royal Hussars
1st East Riding Yeomanry
The Staffordshire Yeomanry
33rd Armoured Brigade
1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry
144th Regiment RAC (to 22.8.44)
148th Regiment RAC (to 16.8.44)
1st East Riding Yeomanry (from 16.8.44)
2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade
6th Armoured Regiment (1st Hussars)
10th Armoured Regiment (The Fort Garry Horse)
27th Armoured Regiment (The Sherbrooke Fusiliers Regiment)
HQ Anti-Aircraft Brigades
74th, 76th, 80th, 100th, 101st, 105th, 106th and 107th
Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiments 60th, 86th, 90th, 99th, 103rd, 105th, 107th, 108th, 109th, 112th, 113th, 115th, 116th, 121st, 146th, 165th and 174th; 2nd Canadian
Light Anti-Aircraft Regiments 20th, 27th, 32nd, 54th, 71st, 73rd, 93rd, 109th, 112th, 113th, 114th, 120th, 121st, 123rd, 124th, 125th, 126th, 127th, 133rd, 139th and 149th
Searchlight Regiments 41st
56th Infantry Brigade
(Became integral part of the 49th Division from 20.8.44)
2nd Battalion The South Wales Borderers
2nd Battalion The Gloucestershire Regiment
2nd Battalion The Essex Regiment
1st Special Service Brigade
Nos. 3, 4 and 6 Commandos
No. 45 (Royal Marine) Commando
47th Special Service Brigade
Nos. 41, 46, 47 and 48 (Royal Marine) Commandos
OTHER FORMATIONS AND UNITS
Armoured
GHQ Liaison Regiment RAC (‘Phantom’)
2nd Armoured Replacement Group
2nd Armoured Delivery Regiment
25th Canadian Armoured Delivery Regiment (The Elgin Regiment)
Artillery
HQ Army Groups Royal Artillery 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th and 9th; 2nd Canadian
Heavy Regiments 1st, 51st, 52nd, 53rd and 59th
Medium Regiments 7th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 13th, 15th, 53rd, 59th, 61st, 63rd, 64th, 65th, 67th, 68th, 72nd, 77th, 79th, 84th, 107th, 121st and 146th; 3rd, 4th and 7th Canadian
Field Regiments 4th RHA, 6th, 25th, 86th, 147th, 150th and 191st; 19th Canadian
Engineer
HQ Army Groups Royal Engineers 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th; 1st Canadian
GHQ Troops Engineers 4th, 7th, 8th, 13th, 15th, 18th, 48th and 59th
Airfield Construction Groups 13th, 16th, 23rd, 24th and 25th
Army Troops Engineers 2nd, 6th and 7th; 1st and 2nd Canadian 2nd and 3rd Battalions Royal Canadian Engineers
Signal
Twenty-First Army Group Headquarters Signals
Second Army Headquarters Signals
First Canadian Army Headquarters Signals
Air Formation Signals, Nos. 11, 12, 13, 16, 17 and 18
1st Special Wireless Group
Royal Marine
Armoured Support Group: 1st and 2nd Royal Marine Armoured Support Regiments
Special Air Service
1st and 2nd Special Air Service Regiments
3rd and 4th French Parachute Battalions
Infantry
4th Battalion The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers (Machine Gun)
First Canadian Army Headquarters Defence Battalion (Royal Montreal Regiment)
Army Air Corps
Glider Pilot Regiment: 1st and 2nd Glider Pilot Wings
European Allies
1st Belgian Infantry Brigade
Royal Netherlands Brigade (Princess Irene’s)
ARMIES, CORPS AND DIVISIONS
Second Army
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief
Lieutenant-General Sir Miles C. Dempsey
Chief of Staff
Brigadier M. S. Chilton
First Canadian Army
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief
Lieutenant-General H. D. G. Crerar
Chief of Staff
Brigadier C. C. Mann
I Corps
Lieutenant-General J. T. Crocker
The Inns of Court Regiment RAC (Armoured Car)
62nd Anti-Tank, 102nd Light Anti-Aircraft, 9th Survey Regiments RA
1 Corps Troops Engineers
I Corps Signals
VIII Corps
Lieutenant-General Sir Richard N. O’Connor
2nd Household Cavalry Regiment (Armoured Car)
91st Anti-Tank, 121st Light Anti-Aircraft,
10th Survey Regiments RA
VIII Corps Troops Engineers
VIII Corps Signals
XII Corps
Lieutenant-General N. M. Ritchie
1st The Royal Dragoons (Armoured Car)
86th Anti-Tank, 112th Light Anti-Aircraft, 7th Survey Regiments RA
XII Corps Troops Engineers
XII Corps Signals
XXX Corps
Lieutenant-General G. C. Bucknall (to 3.8.44)
Lieutenant-General B. G. Horrocks (from 4.8.44)
11th Hussars (Armoured Car)
73rd Anti-Tank, 27th Light Anti-Aircraft, 4th Survey Regiments RA
XXX Corps Troops Engineers
XXX Corps Signals
II Canadian Corps
Lieutenant-General G. G. Simonds
18th Armoured Car Regiment (12th Manitoba Dragoons)
6th Anti-Tank, 6th Light Anti-Aircraft, 2nd Survey Regiments RCA
II Canadian Corps Troops Engineers
II Canadian Corps Signals
Guards Armoured Division
Major-General A. H. S. Adair
5th Guards Armoured Brigade
2nd (Armoured) Battalion Grenadier Guards
1st (Armoured) Battalion Coldstream Guards
2nd (Armoured) Battalion Irish Guards
1st (Motor) Battalion Grenadier Guards
32rd Guards Brigade
5th Battalion Coldstream Guards
3rd Battalion Irish Guards
1st Battalion Welsh Guards
Divisional Troops
2nd Armoured Reconnaissance Battalion Welsh Guards
Guards Armoured Divisional Engineers
Overlord (Pan Military Classics) Page 45
