Overlord (Pan Military Classics)
Page 48
5 Quoted in Hamilton, Montgomery: Master of the Battlefield, p. 561
6 See note 7 to Chapter 2, DEFENDERS
7 For instance, Cooper, The German Army: Its Political and Military Failure 1933–45, p. 502
8 Interview with the author, 6.viii.83
9 Gosset & Lecomte, Caen pendant la Bataille, p. 26
10 Extract loaned to the author
11 Barrett, privately printed narrative on The First Ship Sunk on D-Day, loaned to the author
12 Ibid.
13 Diary loaned to the author
14 Williams, interview with the author (loc. cit.)
15 Fraser, Alanbrooke, p. 423
16 Interview with the author, 4.vii.83
THE AMERICAN BEACHES
1 Quoted in Carell, Invasion – They’re Coming, pp. 49 et seq.
2 Ibid., pp. 80 et seq.
3 Bradley (op. cit.), p. 270
4 Ibid.
5 Interview with the author, 3.vii.83
6 Interview with the author, 1.vii.83
7 Letter to the author
8 Rehm, interview with the author, 3.vii.83
9 Cota papers, combat narrative (op. cit.)
10 Ibid.
11 For example, see Wilmot, Struggle for Europe; Howarth, Dawn of D-Day
12 Wilmot, Struggle for Europe, pp. 253 et seq.
THE BRITISH BEACHES
1 ;Unpublished narrative loaned to the author
2 ;Unpublished narrative loaned to the author
INLAND
1 Warlimont, Inside Hitler’s Headquarters, p. 431
2 Narrative published in the regimental magazine of the King’s Own Shropshire Light Infantry
3 I Corps operational order in PRO W0171/258
4 Carell (op. cit.), p. 106
5 Diary loaned to the author
6 Bradley, A General’s Life, p. 253
7 Craven & Cate, The US Army Air Forces in World War II, vol. iii, p. 181
4. The British Before Caen
CLOSING THE LINES
1 Quoted in Brett-Smith, Hitler’s Generals, p. 162
2 Schaaf, interview with the author (loc. cit.)
3 Stacey, The Victory Campaign, vol. iii, p. 133
4 Ibid., p. 137
5 Raymond, interview with the author, 30.vi.83
6 Hamilton, Montgomery: Master of the Battlefield, p. 631
7 Ibid., p. 596
8 Williams, interview with the author (loc. cit.)
9 Wilson, Flamethrower, pp. 74–5
VILLERS-BOCAGE
1 Author’s interview with 7th Armoured eye-witness
2 Fergusson, The Black Watch and the King’s Enemies, p. 206
3 Salmud, History of the 51st Highland Division (Edinburgh, 1953), p. 144
4 Kortenhaus, interview with the author, 6.iv.83
5 Hamilton (op. cit.), p. 649
6 Carell (op. cit.), p. 169
7 Peter Roach, The 8.15 To War (London, 1982), pp. 138–9
8 Lockwood, interview with the author, 9.xi.82
9 Carver, interview with the author, 22.vi.83
10 Dempsey, interview with Chester Wilmot, Liddell Hart papers, King’s College, London
EPSOM
1 Woollcombe, Lion Rampant, p. 49
2 Bramall, interview with the author, 28.vi.83
3 Woollcombe (op. cit.), p. 60
4 Baker, unpublished narrative loaned to the author
5 Richardson, interview with the author, 21.vii.83
6 Dyson, interview with the author, 28.i.83
7 Wilson, interview with the author, 14.ii.83
8 Priest, interview with the author (loc. cit.)
9 Montgomery, interview with Wilmot, Liddell Hart papers, King’s College, London
10 For instance, Hamilton (op. cit.)
11 Ibid., p. 590
12 Quoted in Ellis, Normandy, p. 261
13 Leigh-Mallory, diary, PRO AIR 37
14 Brooke, diary, 31.iii.43; Bryant (op. cit.), p. 297
15 PRO CAB106/1092, 15.vii.44
16 Quoted in Hamilton (op. cit.), pp. 714–15
17 War Office, Current Reports From Overseas, 8.vii.44, Staff College Library
18 Ibid., no. 44
19 Interview with the author, 24.vi.83
20 PRO WO205/118
21 C-in-C’s order quoted in Current Reports from Overseas (op. cit.)
22 Ibid., no. 54
23 PRO WO208/3193
24 Current Reports (op. cit.), no. 58
25 PRO WO208/393. For a further fascinating, damning but unbiased view of British tactics and of the British army’s general performance in Normandy, see the notes of Brigadier James Hargest, New Zealand observer with XXX Corps, in PRO CAB 106/1060
26 Richardson, interview with the author (loc. cit.)
27 Grigg papers, Churchill College, Cambridge. The name of the commanding officer concerned is given in the document, but is omitted here to spare personal embarrassment.
28 Ibid.
29 Lessons of Normandy, Liddell Hart papers, King’s College, London
30 Williams, interview with the author (loc. cit.)
5. The Americans Before Cherbourg
THE BOCAGE
1 Gavin, On to Berlin, p. 121
2 Bradley (op. cit.), p. 280
3 Cota papers, Combat narrative (loc. cit.)
4 Bradley (op. cit.), p. 295
5 Ibid., p. 283
6 Richardson, narrative (loc. cit.)
7 Ibid.
8 Eichen, interview with the author, 7.vii.83
9 Cota (op. cit.)
10 Ibid.
11 Cota (loc. cit.)
12 Herman, unpublished narrative loaned to the author
13 Ibid.
14 Bryant, interview with the author, 9.vii.83
15 First Army diary, copy held in DDE Library
16 It is an apparent paradox that while all the combatants in Normandy agreed upon the prodigious scale of Allied resources, the Allied high command complained of constant difficulties with supplies, above all artillery ammunition. Many observers both at the time and since have suggested that the ammunition shortages could readily have been remedied had the vast shipments of rations, equipment, vehicles been moderated somewhat, especially on the American flank. But the scale of supplies provided for the Allied forces reflected a philosophy determined many months before D-Day.
17 Preston, interview with the author (loc. cit.)
18 Collins, Lightning Joe, p. 220
19 First Army diary
THE BATTLE FOR CHERBOURG
1 Carell, Invasion – They’re Coming, p. 194
2 Herman, narrative (loc. cit.)
3 Bryant, interview with the author (loc. cit.)
4 Hughes, diary
5 Palmer, Wiley & Keast, The Procurement and Training of Ground Combat Troops, p. 1
6 First US Army Report of Operations, p. 117
7 PRO WO205/401
8 PRO W0232/17
9 Gavin (op. cit.), p. 71
10 Interview with the author, iv.83
11 Gavin (op. cit.), p. 71
12 Weigley, Eisenhower’s Lieutenants, p. 45
6. The German Army: Stemming the Tide
SOLDIERS
1 PRO219/1908
2 Schickner, interview with the author, 3.iv.83
3 Harrison, Cross Channel Attack, p. 374
4 Kruger, interview with the author, 30.iv.83
5 PRO WO219/1908
6 Bradley (op. cit.), p. 292
7 Quoted in Irving, Trail of the Fox, p. 340
8 Ibid., p. 343
9 Ibid.
10 PRO WO205/1021 (Dietrich interrogation)
11 Kauffmann, interview with the author, 4.v.83
12 Irving (op. cit.), p. 346
13 Ibid., p. 351
14 Ibid., p. 353
15 Ibid., pp. 363–4
16 PRO WO205/1022 (von Rundstedt interrogation)
17 Irving (op. cit.), p. 74
18 Ruge, quoted
in Irving (op. cit.), p. 375
19 Ibid.
20 Ibid., p. 376
21 Williams, interview with the author (loc. cit.)
22 Hellmuth Lang, interview with the author, 6.v.83
23 For instance, Cave Brown and Irving (op. cit.)
24 Kauffmann, interview with the author (loc. cit.)
25 Kruger, interview with the author (loc. cit.)
26 Guderian, interview with the author, 4.v.83
27 Williams, interview with the author (loc. cit.)
28 Quesada, interview with the author (loc. cit.)
29 PRO WO219/1908
30 Dupuy, A Genius for War, pp. 253–4
31 Bradley (op. cit.), p. 357
WEAPONS
1 PRO WO205/5b
2 Quoted in Hamilton, Montgomery: Master of the Battlefield, pp. 713–14
3 Kay Summersby, diary, 2.vii.83
4 Gavin, On to Berlin, p. 51
5 Discarding sabot was a formidable British innovation in armour-piercing ammunition. The casing of the shell was shed after leaving the gun-barrel, and only a slender bolt of hardened steel continued to the target at very high velocity, generating unprecedented power of penetration. Discarding-sabot ammunition had been available for some time for 6-pounder guns, but became available for 17-pounders only in the summer of 1944. It has been one of the principal forms of anti-armour projectile ever since.
6 Wilson, Flamethrower, p. 54
7 Ross, The Business of Tanks, p. 153
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid., p. 263
10 ORS reports nos. 12 & 17, Staff College Library
11 Ross (op. cit.), p. 275
12 Bradley (op. cit.), p. 320
13 et seq. Hansard
14 Ross (op. cit.), pp. 316–17
7. The Battlefield
FROM THE BEACHHEAD TO THE FRONT
1 Letter loaned to the author by Mr James Verrier
2 See, for instance, Dunn, Second Front Now; Hartcup, Code Name Mulberry
3 Ibid.
4 See Fergusson, The Watery Maze
5 Patton, War as I Knew It, p. 101
6 Baldwin, MS (op. cit.)
7 Lee, interview with the author, 4.iii.83
8 Hein, interview with the author, 1.vii.83
9 Zimmer, diary from Hoover Institute, S644D/1.5.202
10 Gunther, interview (loc. cit.)
11 Gosset & Lecomte, Caen pendant la Bataille, p. 51
12 Quesada, interview (loc. cit.)
13 Ratliff, interview with the author, 3.vii.83
14 Ivon-Jones, interview with the author, 4.ii.83
15 Sadi Schneid, Beutesdeutscher, p. 119
16 Wilson, interview (loc. cit.)
17 Whitelaw, interview with the author, 27.vii.83
18 Sir David Cole, Rough Road to Rome (London, 1982), p. 82
19 Current Notes (op. cit.), no. 44
20 Brown, interview with the author, 18.ii.83
21 Preston, interview (loc. cit.)
22 Current Notes (op. cit.) for 8.vii.44
23 Hansen, diary, US Army Military History Institute
24 Current Notes (op. cit.), no. 54
25 Wilson, interview with the author (loc. cit.)
CASUALTIES
1 Brenda McBryde, A Nurse’s War (London, 1979), pp. 86–7
2 Copy loaned to the author
3 Wilson, Flamethrower, p. 70
4 Higgins, interview (loc. cit.)
5 Bramall, interview (loc. cit.)
6 Whitelaw, interview (loc. cit.)
7 Letter loaned to the author by Mr James Verrier
8 Wilson (op. cit.), p. 71
8. Crisis of Confidence
THE FALL OF CAEN
1 Quoted in Wilmot, The Struggle for Europe, p. 338
2 Gosset & Lecomte, Caen pendant la Bataille, p. 37
3 Ibid.
4 Portway. interview with the author, 16.v.83
5 DF: Defensive Fire – a standard gunnery technique whereby batteries designate certain likely lines of enemy attack by code numbers, and range in upon them in advance. Then, when an attack develops, men in the forward positions can summon immediate artillery support at a threatened point by radioing simply to the guns for ‘DF63’ or ‘DF14’, rather than having to waste precious minutes correcting the gunners’ aim onto map coordinates from scratch.
6 Zimmer, diary (loc. cit.)
7 Stephens, unpublished MS loaned to author
8 Butcher, diary, DDE Library
9 Eisenhower Papers, vol. iii, p. 1982
10 Bryant (op. cit.), p. 229
11 Tedder, With Prejudice, p. 555
12 Colliers’ Magazine, 5.x.46
13 Note of 18.iii.52 in Dempsey file, Liddell Hart papers (loc. cit.)
14 Bradley (op. cit.), p. 319
GOODWOOD
1 Montgomery to Brooke, M511
2 Quoted in Pogue, The Supreme Command, p. 188
3 Dempsey, notes in Liddell Hart papers, ‘The aims of Operation Goodwood’
4 Roberts, interview with the author, 17.vi.83
5 Ibid.
6 Brown, unpublished MS loaned to the author
7 Roach, The 8.15 to War, pp. 144–6
8 Wyldbore-Smith, interview with the author, 13.vi.83
9 Richardson, interview with the author, 21.vii.83
10 Quoted in Ellis (op. cit.), pp. 344–5
11 Butcher, diary (op. cit.)
12 Most recently by Hamilton, Montgomery: Master of the Battlefield, and Carlo D’Este, Decision in Normandy
13 Richardson, interview with the author (loc. cit.)
14 The Memoirs of Field-Marshal Lord Montgomery, p. 257
15 Eisenhower Papers (op. cit.), pp. 2018–19
16 Bradley, A General’s Life, p. 274
17 Ibid., p. 257
18 Bryant (op. cit.), p. 235
19 Carver, interview with the author (loc. cit.)
20 Butcher, diary, DDE Library
21 Bryant (op. cit.), p. 245
9. The Breakout
COBRA
1 First Army diary, 7.vii.44
2 Bradley (op. cit.), p. 271
3 Gunther, interview with the author (loc. cit.)
4 Quesada, interview with the author (loc. cit.)
5 Blumenson, The Patton Papers, vol. ii, p. 521
6 First US Army report (loc. cit.)
7 Interview with the author, 2.vii.83
8 First US Army report (loc. cit.)
9 Bradley (op. cit.), p. 270
10 Bradley, A Soldier’s Story, p. 226
11 Ascher, interview with the author, 5.vii.83
12 In a letter to the author, 3.viii.82
13 Hamilton (op. cit.), p. 650
14 Stimson papers, Yale University
15 This account is derived from information provided by another NCO of 102nd Cavalry Reconnaissance, Bill Walsh.
16 Contemporary narrative by Flint’s executive officer, in DDE papers no. 84, Patton G. no. 2.
17 Carell, Invasion – They’re Coming, pp. 257 et seq.
18 History of the 120th Infantry Regiment by Officers of the Regiment (Washington Infantry Journal Press, 1947)
19 Eichen, interview with the author, 26.vi.83
20 Quoted in D. Bruce Lockerbie, A Man Under Orders, p. 79
21 First US Army diary (loc. cit.)
22 History of the 120th (op. cit.), p. 133
23 Carell (op. cit.), p. 259
24 Stober, interview with the author, 6.v.83
25 Weigley, Eisenhower’s Lieutenants, p. 157
26 Gunther, interview with the author (loc. cit.)
27 Reisler, interview with the author, 4.vii.83
28 Guderian, interview with the author (loc. cit.)
THE LIMITS OF AIR POWER
1 For instance, see Tedder, With Prejudice; Harris, Bomber Offensive; and the memoirs of other more junior air force officers who wrote in a fashion that suggested it was an indulgence on the part of their service to ac
cept any responsibility for direct support of the armies.
2 Vandenberg, diary, MS Division Library of Congress
3 Tedder (op. cit.), pp. 559–60
4 Ibid., p. 551
5 Ibid., pp. 557–8
6 Ibid., p. 562
7 Ibid., p. 565
8 PRO W0232/51
9 Quesada, interview with the author (loc. cit.)
10 Vandenberg, diary (loc. cit.)
11 PRO W0232/51
12 Vandenberg, diary (loc. cit.)
13 Richardson, interview with the author (loc. cit.)
14 Bradley, A Soldier’s Story, p. 249
15 Richardson, interview with the author (loc. cit.)
16 Bradley (op. cit.), p. 249
17 Account based upon Reisler interview (loc. cit.)
18 Scott, Typhoon Pilot, p. 120
10. The Open Flank
1 Liddell Hart papers, translations of Army Group B and C-in-C West reports, quoted in Cooper, The German Army, p. 507
2 Warlimont, Inside Hitler’s Headquarters, p. 442
3 Ibid., p. 445
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid., p. 453
7 PRO WO219/1908
8 Among the strategic theorists, most authoritatively from Basil Liddell Hart, but also from some serving US commanders, such as John ‘P’ Wood (see text below)
9 Hansen, diary, US Army Military History Institute
10 Patton, War as I Knew It, p. 92
11 Ibid., p. 382
12 A remark repeatedly made to me in interviews with veterans of the US First Army of all ranks.
13 Bradley, A General’s Life, p. 285
14 Frank Price, Middleton (Louisiana State University, 1974), p. 188
15 Ibid.
16 Blumenson, Breakout and Pursuit, p. 463
17 Bradley, A Soldier’s Story, p. 367
18 Irving, Hitler’s War, pp. 683–4
19 Carell, Invasion – They’re Coming, p. 278
20 The above account is compiled from the History of the 120th Infantry (op. cit.), interview with Sidney Eichen (loc. cit.), First Army diary (op. cit.).
21 Quoted in Wilmot, The Struggle for Europe, p. 404