09:48 End of second artillery barrage on Omaha Beach.
RAF reconnaissance patrol reports presence of armoured vehicles north of Caen.
09:55 352. Infanterie-Division reports all radio contacts with Grenadier-Regiment 916 are broken down.
10:00 Omaha Beach: 2 US destroyers approaching within half mile of shore to support isolated groups trying to get out of beach.
Omaha Beach: about 200 soldiers of 1st Battalion, 116th Regiment, US 29th Infantry Division climb cliff and reach Vierville-sur-Mer.
Omaha Beach: W64 silenced by US troops.
Sword Beach: British soldiers of 4 Commando reach port of Ouistreham where German defence is concentrated.
General Marcks decides to counter-attack with 21. Panzer-Division.
General Feuchtinger ordered to counter-attack with his tanks along River Orne against British paratroopers of 6th Airborne Division.
Hitler wakes up at Berghof after having been up late the night before, listening to Wagner’s music.
10:15 Omaha Beach: at WN62 by Colleville Draw, 2 x 76.5mm guns are destroyed at the same time by naval artillery.
10:30 Omaha Beach: 2 x 75mm guns of Pointe de la Percée put out of action by destroyer USS McCook.
Omaha Beach: WN65 at junction between Easy Green and Easy Red beach sectors and protecting E1 exit is stormed by US soldiers.
Feuchtinger ordered to move 21. Panzer-Division to west of Orne Canal and to engage it north of Bayeux–Caen line.
11:00 German radar station at Pointe de la Percée attacked off Omaha by destroyer USS Thompson, which fires 127mm shells.
Gold Beach: 7 beach exits cleared.
11:27 Omaha Beach: Grenadier-Regiment 916 reports that attackers hold the heights of St-Laurent-sur-Mer beach. Commander of Infanterie-Division 352 again orders counter-attack.
11:45 Omaha Beach: 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, US 1st Infantry Division lands.
12:00 Utah Beach: 4 beach exit routes (causeways) are controlled by paratroopers of US 101st Airborne Division.
Utah Beach: 2nd Battalion, 8th RCT enters Pouppeville.
Utah Beach: Dog Company, 501st PIR reaches village of Angoville.
Pointe du Hoc: last 6 defenders of observation post surrender to Rangers.
Pointe du Hoc: Col Rudder sends message ‘Arrived at Pointe du Hoc. Mission completed, urgent need of ammunition and reinforcements. Many losses.’
Omaha Beach: due to lack of ammunition, the Houtteville Battery (4,500 metres from beach near Colleville-sur-Mer) refuses an order to fire salvoes against landing craft on approach. The battery only fires with one 105mm gun after the other.
London: Churchill delivers speech in House of Commons, informing MPs of the liberation of Rome and the beginning of the Normandy landings.
12:14 Omaha Beach: Americans reach church of Colleville-sur-Mer.
12:23 Omaha Beach: men of 18th Regiment, US 1st Infantry Division climb bluffs and head towards Colleville-sur-Mer.
13:00 Omaha Beach: WN72 strongpoint (Vierville-sur-Mer, Dog Green area) under US control.
Sword Beach: men of 1st Suffolk Regiment storm the Morris strongpoint south of Colleville-sur-Orne.
Sword Beach: Germans counter-attack to seize WN21 (British code name ‘Trout’) defended by 41 Commando led by Lt-Col Gray.
13:30 Aerial bombardment of Caen.
13:41 Omaha Beach: German resistance in front of Dog Green, Easy Green, Easy Red and White Red sectors has stopped.
14:00 Pointe du Hoc: German defenders of Werfer-Regiment 84 abandon the battery on its western flank.
14:13 Omaha Beach: destruction by destroyer USS Harding of the bell tower of church of Vierville-sur-Mer supposed to house German artillery observers.
14:58 Omaha Beach: Artillerie-Regiment 352 reports that village of Colleville-sur-Mer has fallen once again into enemy hands.
15:00 Omaha Beach: 2 US destroyers approach shore to support the landed troops.
Omaha Beach: Grenadier-Regiment 916 counter-attacks US troops between WNs 62a, 62b and 64.
About 80 French resistance fighters shot dead at Caen prison by Gestapo because they could not be moved (the first are shot from 10:00 a.m., the rest in the afternoon).
Gen. Marcks asks Col von Oppeln-Bronikowski to counter-attack with 21. Panzer-Division: ‘The fate of Germany and this conflict depends on the success of your counterattack.’
15:26 Omaha Beach: failure of German counter-attack led by Grenadier-Regiment 916 in Colleville-sur-Mer.
15:30 Sword Beach: British control port of Ouistreham.
15:45 Sword Beach: men and tanks of 2nd Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment and 13th/18th Royal Hussars storm WN14.
16:00 German counter-attack towards bridge of La Fière, 2 miles from Ste-Mère-Église, defended by US paratroopers of Able Company, 505th PIR, 82nd Airborne Division.
Gold Beach: WN35 at Le Hamel under control of 1st Royal Hampshire Battalion.
Aerial bombardment of city of Caen. Bombing of German battery at Mont-Canisy by 37 Marauder aircraft, which drop 61 tons of bombs on the site.
Von Rundstedt authorized to engage his two armoured divisions.
16:20 25 German tanks belonging to 21. Panzer-Division counter-attack near Périers-sur-le-Dan.
17:00 Omaha Beach: Maj.-Gen. Huebner lands on Easy Red beach area.
Omaha Beach: bell tower of church of St-Laurent-sur-Mer, which houses German snipers, is destroyed by American naval artillery.
Omaha Beach: Omaha’s westernmost strongpoint, WN73, stormed by men from 5th Rangers Battalion and 116th Regiment, US 29th Infantry Division.
17:10 Grenadier-Regiment 916 informs HQ of Infanterie-Division 352 that St-Laurent-sur-Mer has fallen into hands of enemy.
18:00 Juno Beach: in St-Aubin-sur-Mer, last German defenders of coastal installations in Nan Red sector surrender.
Sword Beach: men of 2nd Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment storm Daimler fortified point (WN12) to Ouistreham.
18:10 Omaha Beach: Grenadier-Regiment 915 reports that it has bypassed the Americans from the rear at Colleville-sur-Mer castle and that its wounded can no longer be evacuated.
18:25 Pointe du Hoc: Gen. Dietrich Kraiss, commander of Infanterie-Division 352, orders Grenadier-Regiment 916 to counter-attack.
18:30 Omaha Beach: 26th Infantry Regiment, US 1st Infantry Division, begins landing.
18:54 Destroyer USS Harding once again bombards the steeple of church of Vierville-sur-Mer. Shooting ends at 18:57.
19:00 Omaha Beach: in locality of Colleville-sur-Mer, violent fighting between US troops and German defenders.
19:25 Pointe du Hoc: Germans launch counter-offensive in east towards Rangers positions with elements of Le Guay’s strongpoint.
19:35 Destroyer USS Harding pours fire on to bell tower of church of Vierville-sur-Mer.
19:40 Pointe du Hoc: Kraiss informed of German advance and told 9. Kompanie, Grenadier-Regiment 726 is surrounded by enemy in east and south.
Omaha Beach: German artillery barrage on beach in Colleville-sur-Mer area, where landing operations are continuing. Some losses within US troops.
20:00 6 German tanks make breakthrough to Lion-sur-Mer then fall back.
1st Suffolks still fighting Hillman strongpoint, defended by men of Grenadier-Regiment 736, south of Sword Beach.
French Commandos of 1er Bataillon de Fusiliers Marins reach locality of Le Hauger.
20:15 Hillman strongpoint stormed by men of Suffolk Regiment and tanks of 13th/18th Hussars after hard fighting.
20:51 Last elements of 6th Airborne Division land with 256 gliders on landing zones of Ranville – LZ N – and north-west of Bénouville – LZ W – Operation MALLARD.
20:55 Beginning of airlanding operations, involving 36 Waco and 140 Horsa gliders towed by 176 Douglas C-47s.
21:00 Attack led by 3 companies of 21. Panzer-Division south of Juno Beach fails.
Pointe du Hoc: 24 Rangers of Company A, 5th Battalion reach Pointe du Hoc Battery f
rom Omaha Beach.
21:30 Rommel arrives back at La Roche-Guyon from Germany.
22:30 Aerial bombardment of city of Caen.
After heavy fighting, liberation of town of Tailleville, defended by Grenadier-Regiment 736.
Men of 1st Royal Hampshires liberate locality of Arromanches.
23:00 Pointe du Hoc: counter-attack by 40 German soldiers belonging to the 1. Kompanie, Regiment 914, Infanterie-Division 352, launched against Rangers at Pointe du Hoc Battery.
Notes
Abbreviations used in notes
AFHRA United States Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell AF Base, AL
BA-MA Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv, Freiburg
BTM Bovington Tank Museum, Dorset
CCL Churchill College Library, Cambridge
DDE Papers of Dwight D. Eisenhower
IWM Imperial War Museum, London
LHCMA Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King’s College, London
MdC Mémorial de Caen
NWWIIM National World War II Museum, New Orleans
TNA The National Archives, Kew, London
USAHC United States Army Heritage Center, Carlisle Barracks, PA
WSC Winston Churchill, The Second World War
Prologue
1 ‘Here we are on the eve …’: cited in Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory’s notes, TNA AIR 37/784. Although Eisenhower’s words are given in speech marks, it is pointed out that these are the gist of what he said not 100 per cent verbatim
2 ‘Gentlemen I am hardening …’: cited in Omar N. Bradley, A General’s Life, p. 241
1 The Atlantic Wall
1 ‘We found no cheer …’: cited in Vince Milano and Bruce Conner, Normandiefront, p. 37
2 ‘How is this possible?’: ibid, p. 35
3 ‘In our circle …’: Friedrich Ruge, Rommel in Normandy, p. 50
4 ‘He had a good sense of humour …’: ibid, p. 49
5 ‘Our friends from the East …’: cited in B. H. Liddell Hart (ed.), The Rommel Papers, p. 467
6 ‘I have to be satisfied …’: cited in David Irving, The Trail of the Fox, p. 315
7 ‘Provided we succeed …’: ibid, p. 313
8 ‘Subject: fundamental questions …’: Ruge, p. 144
9 ‘It was to be hoped …’: ibid
10 ‘On this beach …’: ibid, p. 155
11 ‘Irrefutable documentary proof …’: cited in ibid, p. 157
2 Command of the Skies
1 ‘Mary Coningham was …’: General Elwood Richard ‘Pete’ Quesada, interview 3, AFHRA
2 ‘The strategic British …’: cited in Richard G. Davis, Carl A. Spaatz and the Air War in Europe, p. 352
3 ‘Considering that they are all …’: Churchill in WSC, Vol. V, p. 466
4 ‘I and my military advisors …’: DDE, Vol. III, doc. 1,630, p. 1,809
5 ‘The ratio in which …’: Adolf Galland, The First and the Last, p. 201
6 ‘It had been a long …’: Wolfgang Fischer, Luftwaffe Fighter Pilot, p. 98
7 ‘Its pilot immediately …’: ibid, p. 124
8 ‘Start travelling!’: ibid, p. 125
9 ‘There is no torture …’: Richard E. Turner, Mustang Pilot, p. 78
10 ‘The fighter arm …’: Galland, p. 269
3 Understanding Montgomery and the Master Plan
1 ‘This is going to be quite a party!’: cited in Carol Mather, When the Grass Stops Growing, p. 244
2 ‘Perhaps you will have him to dine …’: ibid, p. 245
3 ‘This exercise is being held …’: TNA CAB 106/1031
4 ‘Some of us here know …’: ibid
5 ‘If projected phase lines …’: Omar N. Bradley, A General’s Life, p. 233
4 Countdown
1 ‘And, you know, when I joined …’: cited in Holger Eckhertz, D-Day Through German Eyes, p. 94
2 ‘Every morning I thought of my brother …’: ibid
3 ‘The Atlantic Wall …’: ibid
4 ‘Feuchtinger had to delegate …’: Hans von Luck, Panzer Commander, p. 167
5 ‘Gentlemen, I know the English …’: cited in Werner Kortenhaus, The Combat History of the 21. Panzer Division, p. 68
6 ‘From my knowledge …’: ibid
7 ‘In view of the thin …’: Friedrich Freiherr von der Heydte, A German Parachute Regiment in Normandy, p. 6, B-839, USAHC
8 ‘Weapons from all over …’: ibid, p. 8
9 ‘Emplacements without guns …’: ibid
10 ‘A large percentage …’: cited in Vince Milano and Bruce Conner, Normandiefront, p. 50
11 ‘Herr Major, we have …’: ibid
12 ‘The weakest point …’: Friedrich Ruge, Rommel in Normandy, p. 169
13 ‘The corporal was lying …’: Arthur Blizzard, IWM 17979
14 ‘The success of any tank …’: Stanley Christopherson Diary, February–6 June 1944
15 ‘I lay you 10–1 …’: cited in ibid
16 ‘So, yeah …’: Tom Bowles, author interview
17 ‘I know we had some guys …’: Henry D. Bowles, author interview
18 ‘The men were honed …’: John Robert Slaughter, Omaha Beach and Beyond, p. 89
19 ‘Sergeant, are you and your men …’: ibid, p. 84
20 ‘The essence of his technique …’: Carol Mather, When the Grass Stops Growing, p. 246
21 ‘He either fears his fate …’: Montgomery of Alamein, Field Marshal the Viscount, Memoirs, p. 244, and Mather, p. 247
22 ‘Then everyone burst out …’: Mather, p. 247
5 The Winds of War
1 ‘If our planning …’: DDE, Vol. III, no. 1,682
2 ‘I hesitate to increase …’: TNA AIR 37/772
3 ‘However, a strong airborne …’: ibid
4 ‘Brad, the best of luck …’: Chester B. Hansen Diary, 2/6/1944
5 ‘We are done with the heavy …’: ibid
6 ‘Gentlemen, the fears …’: LHCMA LH 15/15/29
7 ‘Are we prepared to take a gamble …’: ibid
8 ‘Pleasant dreams …’: ibid
9 ‘Are there any dissenting …’: ibid
10 ‘The fair interval …’: ibid
11 ‘It’s a helluva gamble …’: cited in Stephen E. Ambrose, The Supreme Commander, p. 416
12 ‘The question is …’: ibid
13 ‘Stagg, we’ve put it on …’: LHCMA LH 15/15/29
14 ‘Lay and thought …’: ibid
15 ‘OK. Let’s go.’: Ambrose, p. 417
6 Big War
1 5,552,000 tons …: cited in Duncan S. Ballantine, U.S. Naval Logistics in the Second World War, p. 170
2 ‘Damn, he did unbelievable things …’: Charles ‘Tick’ Bonesteel, USAHC
3 ‘It is a most complicated …’: Robert W. Love, Jr., and John Major (eds), The Year of D-Day: The 1944 Diary of Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay RN, 24/3/1944
4 ‘They must float up and down …’: WSC, Vol. V, p. 66
5 ‘Every detail was there …’:, A. M. D. Lampen, Naval Reminiscences, LHCMA V/7
6 ‘It’s been decided …’: ibid, V/9
7 ‘However, there’s no point …’: ibid
8 ‘I became familiar …’: ibid, VI/4
9 ‘No single question …’: cited in Battle Summary No. 39: Operation “Neptune”, Landings in Normandy, June 1944, TNA, p. 24
10 ‘Made 16 …’: Ramsay Diary, 29/5/1944
11 ‘Everybody who was supposed …’: General Elwood Richard ‘Pete’ Quesada, interview 3, AFHRA
12 ‘Goddam it, Pete …’: ibid
13 ‘You have to have …’: ibid
14 ‘The air forces were fighting …’: ibid
15 ‘I stayed up …’: Ernie Pyle, Brave Men, p. 351
16 ‘The Germans will have to …’: ibid, p. 354
17 ‘From a vague …’: ibid, p. 356
18 ‘I tried to visualise …’: Stanley Christopherson Diary, 5/6/44
19 ‘I immediately set about …’: ibid
20 ‘This was the invasion …’: Chester B. Hansen Diary, 3/6/1944
7 Air Power
1 ‘Constant enemy air attacks …’: cited in James A. Wood (ed.), Army of the West, p. 35
2 ‘Paris has been systematically …’: cited in Major L. F. Ellis, Victory in the West, p. 111
3 ‘Large-scale strategic …’: ibid
4 ‘In fact, the whole crew …’: Truman Smith, The Wrong Stuff, p. 37
5 ‘There was an overpowering …’: ibid, p. 136
6 ‘I’m not going.’: ibid, p. 137
7 ‘This was the fourth …’: ibid
8 ‘Once the pilots and crew …’: Joseph J. Boylan, Goon’s Up, p. 228
9 ‘One of our planes got it!’: ibid, p. 227
10 ‘Living outside Germany …’: Ken Adam, author interview
11 ‘We were the last in …’: ibid
12 ‘Junior Soesman hit …’: Ken Adam, logbook
13 ‘Target well pranged’: TNA AIR 27/2103
14 ‘Where within this entire …’: F. H. Hinsley et al., British Intelligence in the Second World War, Vol. III, Part 2, p. 64
15 ‘the arsehole from the Berghof’: cited in Ralf Georg Reuth, Rommel: The End of a Legend, p. 170
16 ‘highly animated’: Friedrich Ruge, Rommel in Normandy, p. 172
8 D-Day Minus One
1 ‘Well, here it is …’: Mark J. Alexander and John Sparry, Jump Commander, p. 173
2 ‘I want to be there …’: cited in ibid, p. 174
3 ‘There has been no …’: F. H. Hinsley et al., British Intelligence in the Second World War, Vol. III, Part 2, p. 63
4 ‘Airborne troops …’: Ridgway Papers, Box 2a, USAHC
5 ‘In D Company …’: Denis Edwards, The Devil’s Own Luck, p. 19
6 ‘Apart from flying training …’: ibid
7 ‘I smoked a great many …’: ibid, p. 33
8 ‘My muscles tightened …’: ibid, p. 35
9 ‘You’ve had it chum …’: ibid
10 ‘In my opinion …’: Latham B. Jenson, Tin Hats, Oilskins & Seaboots, p. 215
11 ‘I have just been informed …’: ibid, p. 222
9 D-Day: The First Hours
Normandy '44 Page 72
