Countdown to D-Day

by Peter Margaritis

  Rommel sadly shook his head, and they talked quite a while about what seemed to him to be a losing situation. Rommel went over the impressive material strengths of the British and the Americans. Hitler listened to him quietly, looking down continuously at the floor, asking an occasional question.

  They moved on to the general situation of the war. The Führer was clearly worried; the updates on all theaters were discouraging. Rommel wanted to make a good point, and this seemed the right time to do just that. There was just such a combination of rationality, calm, and depression in the Führer that maybe, just maybe, Rommel’s point might hit home.

  He entered into it carefully. His tone was quiet, almost wondering as he ticked off the details of their situation. He stated that they were now at war with England, all of North America, and the entire British Commonwealth, which included Australia, India, New Zealand, and massive Canada. Over half of Africa was against them, and of course, there was that behemoth to the east, the Soviet Union. There were even a couple countries in South America fighting them. Their Japanese allies were losing islands in the Pacific as the Americans gained the initiative. The Italian economy was in chaos, and Germany itself was experiencing shortages and losing hundreds of men a day.

  Rommel repeated what Admiral Dönitz had recently told him. They were losing some thirty U-boats a month in the North Atlantic as tonnage sunk decreased dramatically. With American escort carrier groups ranging across the Atlantic, their radar-equipped aircraft could now attack submarines anywhere and at any time.

  Probably more disturbing than anything else was the fact that the Allies, despite all of the severe military setbacks that they had suffered, still seemed to have a great deal of material strength left to keep them going. Most of it was coming from Canada and the untouched manufacturing might of the United States; but even battered Russia was continuing to produce material and conscript men in substantial quantities. Of course, their own efforts to full mobilization in 1943 would now increase their production of war supplies.

  “But then,” he added, “can we keep pace with the whole world?” How long would they be able to sustain their high-energy output? A recent fiery British night air raid over Germany was just a taste of what was to come. With Allied air strength increasing, their production centers would soon be under heavier bombing attacks.

  The Führer, wearing his tan, undecorated uniform blouse, still sadly looked down at the floor, leaning against a map table. Suddenly, he glanced up, the stress of the last three years all over his face. He then spoke slowly, sullenly, “I know that there is very little chance now of winning the war.”

  Rommel was amazed and yet heartened to hear Hitler admit this. Perhaps he was not out of touch with reality after all.

  “Unfortunately,” the Führer then added, “those in the West would never agree to make peace with me—certainly not the ones who are at present at the helm…

  And those that would negotiate with me have no power.”

  Glancing over at Rommel, his voice strengthened and his eyes hardened as he continued. “I never wanted a war with the West,” he said defiantly, “But they did. Well, now the West will have its war, and they shall have it to the end!”

  Rommel did not reply.

  Then a couple months later, the Führer’s frustration, his contempt for their failure to win, and this growing determination never to sue for peace had come out on an even more alarming occasion, one that had made Rommel start to wonder if psychologically the Führer was becoming ill from the stress of the war.

  In July, with the battle of Kursk raging, Hitler and a couple senior officers had been assessing the overall strategic picture in Russia. They had been evaluating their chances of a final victory in the East, one that would win them the war. On this particular occasion, he once again took up a favorite theme—the ultimate effort. He said that he was convinced Germany could still win the war. He believed this would happen naturally, if only the Germans would rise and be the great warriors that he knew they were, to make the same supreme effort that he himself, their leader, was making every day.

  Energized by his own words, his piercing eyes blazed as he looked at Rommel. He stated that Germany had up until now been putting forth only a half-hearted effort. They had to strive harder as a people to overcome their enemies.

  Sensing something within him, the Führer suddenly become defiantly bitter. “Well, if the German people are incapable of winning the war,” he said vehemently, “then they can rot.”2

  Rommel was stunned to hear him say that.

  “In any case,’ he added, “the best of them are already dead. If I’m to be beaten, then I will fight for every single house. Absolutely nothing will be left standing.” He looked directly at Rommel and read the surprise in his face. “A great people,” he explained, “must die heroically.” He evidently believed this to be a known truth and the result was inevitable. He added, “It’s a historic necessity, you know.”

  No one had replied, and Rommel had naturally been troubled by this speech. He had later mentioned the conversation to his son, who had also found it hard to believe the Führer’s words. Rommel had looked directly at Manfred and had added, “You know, sometimes you feel that he’s no longer quite normal.”3

  1Rommel was near-sighted in one eye and somewhat far-sighted in the other. In cadet school in Danzig, he sometimes used a monocle with the one (also, it was a fashion often sported by the Prussian military aristocracy). Of course, whenever he came across a senior officer, he would snatch it away and hide it, so as not to look foolish. As a field marshal, he rarely wore glasses in public, in case he was photographed or filmed.

  2This was not the first time Hitler had made such comments. On November 2, 1941, Quartermaster General Wagner had occasion to report to him that the Wehrmacht had come to “the end of our human and material forces.” Both Hitler and Jodl had then realized that the war could probably not be won. Later that night, miserable and moody, Hitler remarked to a visitor, “If the German people are no longer so strong and ready for sacrifice that they will stake their own blood on their existence, they deserve to pass away and be annihilated by another, stronger power.” Later he added callously, “If that is the case, I would not shed a tear for the German people.”

  3Charles Marshall confirms this quote, adding that Rommel then said, “Eighty million Germans should not have to die for this man’s demonical hate.” Since the first sentence was repeated a number of times by Lucie and Manfred later, it’s probable that this additional comment was spoken sometime during the last few months of his life, when his revulsion for the Führer had heightened considerably.

  April 1944

  Saturday, April 1

  Generalmajor Doctor Hans Speidel arrives at the Berghof for duty. After reporting in, he is taken under the wing of GeneralOberst! Jodl. They begin by talking about the West. Since Speidel has spent some of his past career in France, including a stint early in the war with the military governor, Jodl asks him about that and Speidel recalls his experiences.

  To his surprise, this briefing is then followed by a small ceremony. Speidel is to get a medal in recognition of his heroic actions as chief of staff for the Eighth Army during their recent breakout from Cherkassy. He had played a critical part in helping them make a successful retreat, thereby saving the army from being surrounded and annihilated by the Russians. He is promoted to the rank of Generalleutnant. Adolf Hitler personally awards him the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross.1

  Then he is told officially that he has been appointed chief of staff to Heeresgruppe B in France.

  Speidel inquires about his new role. He politely asks the Führer what instructions or directive he is to transmit to Generalfeldmarschall Rommel, especially regarding military strategy.

  “Directive?” repeats the Führer. He pauses and then replies, “Any kind of directive would be superfluous.”

  Jodl elaborates. OB West and Heeresgruppe B already have rigid instructions. The coastline
is to be fiercely defended. No retreat will be made, and no free space for “mobile maneuvering” is to be allowed. Wherever the enemy lands, he is to be defeated at the water’s edge and driven back. The mistakes of Salerno and Anzio are not going to be repeated.

  Those are two critical landings that OKW has come to realize were strategically mishandled. Both times they had allowed the enemy time to get ashore and to build up a defensive bridgehead. And both times, the enemy had been in the end able to hold on to the landing area, taking full advantage of their superior airpower and naval gunfire. Reserve panzers had been too scattered and too far away to intervene effectively in time, and enemy strafing raids had hit their columns hard on the way to the beaches. Well, this time is going to be different. This time, the enemy is going to be stopped in his tracks.

  The lack of panzer support in the West is briefly mentioned. The Führer promises though, that when the invasion comes, Rommel will have eight to ten full-strength panzer divisions stationed near Paris under the unified command of PanzerGruppe West, but completely at the field marshal’s disposal.

  Right after the ceremony, Speidel is ushered into a private room to confer with Jodl and Warlimont. Speidel is to report to his new command immediately.

  That evening, Speidel returns to his hotel room, his mind a whirl of information and ideas.

  ***

  Today, Rommel is in Paris inspecting a concrete plant at an engineering depot. Fascinated, he watches reinforced concrete and revolving gun turrets made of cement under construction. He is told at one point that the turret he is looking at has been tested and could take a 150mm shell. He enjoys the tour and expresses regret that he did not know about these earlier. Unfortunately, production of the turret foundations is slow; again, due to concrete shortages.

  He returns to La Roche-Guyon, and that afternoon, he and some of his senior staff go off for one of their “armed promenades.” Traipsing through the woods does not go well on his lumbago, but he keeps up. They scare up a few rabbits, but nothing more.

  Outgoing Chief of Staff Alfred Gause is busy on the telephone a good part of the day, trying to drum up some transport for the static divisions. This is an especially hard task. Nearly all the military vehicles are east, either in Hungary, Italy, or in the Soviet Union. He could procure a few dozen bicycles and some horses, although not the men to tend them…

  That evening, Admiral Ruge leaves the army group headquarters for two weeks’ leave. He is going to the minesweepers’ recreation home in the Taunus Hills of Germany. His assistant, Kapitän Peters, will take over his duties in his absence.

  ***

  Today, OB West Chief of Staff Günther Blumentritt is officially promoted to General der Infanterie. Von Rundstedt’s staff holds a small ceremony on his behalf.

  1Ironically, a little over five months later, Hitler would have Speidel arrested for treason.

  Sunday, April 2

  Generalleutnant Hans Speidel continues another day of briefing at the Führer’s chalet. After the daily noon conference, GeneralOberst! Jodl meets with him, and they go over further details regarding Speidel’s new assignment as Rommel’s chief of staff. Along with some new details, Jodl reiterates what Speidel has been told the day before—that the defense of the coast is to be rigid. Again, Speidel asks if there is anything specific to pass on.

  Jodl calmly replies, “There’s no need. If there is any sort of a local landing, just drive the enemy into the sea. It’s that simple.”

  The new chief of staff is told once more that when the invasion occurs, some ten panzer divisions will be “brought up in time” to help deal with the landing. In addition, a revolutionary new class of U-boats will be sent into the English Channel to viciously deal with the enemy fleet. Lastly, he is briefed on several new types of special “reprisal” weapons that are being readied to exact a savage toll on the English population.

  Jodl also goes over the current political situation in the West. Talking about the ground order of battle, Jodl asks him if, in his opinion, the Western Allies will ever invade.

  After taking a few seconds to think about the question (and how it was put), Speidel carefully answers yes. Jodl responds with more assurances. He boasts confidently that whenever the invasion comes, the Luftwaffe will have a thousand fighters put at their disposal. This includes several squadrons of the new jet fighters to deal with the Allied bombers.

  And what about Rommel himself? On a personal level, Jodl takes Speidel aside and asks him—begs him, in fact—to try to bolster the field marshal’s morale. He needs to be cheered up, if for no other reason than for the sake of the Reich.

  “Do what you can to cure him of his bouts of pessimism, 1 ja? He has suffered from them ever since Africa.” The appointee agrees to do so. How he is to cheer up the field marshal is left entirely up to him.

  Jodl of course does not know that Speidel is indirectly in on the plot to overthrow the Führer. Since he wants Rommel to join their cause, cheering him up about the war would be the last thing he would want to do.

  ***

  Generalmajor Feuchtinger’s 21st Panzer Division continues having problems outfitting its units. Over half of the allotment of panzers have indeed arrived. Some are the more modern 75mm PzKw IVs, although most of these are the older Ausf. C or D models, with their shorter 75mm KwK 37 gun.2 Unfortunately, many of the panzers are also old PzKw IIs and PzKw IIIs, and many are old French Somua medium tanks that had been captured back in 1940. The division also lacks anti-tank units; it has perhaps a few older assault guns, like the StG III Auf. A.3 Also, transport for the panzergrenadier units remains a serious problem.

  The division still has those French Somua light tanks, quite outdated. What could be done with them? Or those old French Hotchkiss and Lorraine armored vehicles?

  It is regarding these captured French units that the division’s assault gun battalion has come up with a genius—Alfred Becker.4 A reservist, the man is a resourceful engineer. His family is wealthy, owning the Alfred Becker Werke factory in Krefeld, Germany, near Düsseldorf. Starting in 1943, using some of the firm’s own resources, Alfred set up a branch Baukommando5 near Paris to work on these old French armored units.

  Using tracked chassis that he had found at the Hotchkiss factory in Paris, they began converting some into assault guns by mounting heavy guns. They also experimented by adding guns to some Lorraine 37L prime movers and other odd tracked vehicles. Several will be outfitted to carry 75mm PaK40 anti-tank guns and function as makeshift tank destroyers. Other units are being equipped with less armor and mounting 105mm leFH16 guns and 150mm s. FH13 howitzers, to function as self-propelled artillery. For protection, they affix to the sides some jury-rigged armor. Overall, Becker has something like 90 frames to convert, so his work is cut out for him.

  For some units, the top portion of the armor structure is being built by Alkett, and the anti-tank gun assembly built by Reinmetall in Düsseldorf. All of the components are being put together by Becker’s detachment in Paris and shipped out to the field—mostly to his division, the 21st Panzer.

  Becker plans soon to add rocket launchers to the remaining old vehicles to create a fleet of oddly shaped but deadly self-propelled weapons. His branch location is now referred to as Sonderkommando Becker (Special HQ Becker).

  Other unit commanders in the division are struggling to get transport as well. Old buses, trucks, cars—whatever can propel itself down the road is “appropriated,” under the watchful eyes of the divisional commander, Generalmajor Edgar Feuchtinger.6

  ***

  Today, Generalfeldmarschall Rommel stays in his headquarters and catches up on paperwork.

  1Rommel’s Afrikanische Krankheit (“African sickness”)—the chronic, pessimistic mood that enveloped him late in 1942 after his defeat at El Alamein.

  2The 75mm KwK (Kampfwagenkanone) 37 gun was indeed deadly against infantry, vehicles, and light tanks. However, because of its short barrel and low muzzle velocity, it was not as potent a weapon to us
e against the enemy’s newer heavy tanks.

  The 24-ton PzKw IV Ausf. G or H (referred to by the Allies as a “Mk. IV Special”) sported a heavier, longer-barreled 75mm KwK 40 gun. Its shell, about twice as long as the KwK 37’s, had a greater velocity (792mps) and could penetrate 84mm of armor at 1,100 meters. The Ausf. H’s own armor protection included 80mm frontal, and 30mm side. Some units carried side skirts to absorb the blow from hollow-charge projectiles fired at its sides, but many such skirts were torn off by the hedges and trees. Only in mid-May would the division start getting PzKw IV Ausf. H models—five tons heavier with thicker armor, mounting the longer, higher-velocity 75 mm Kw.K. 40 L/48 barrel—outdated models, but more than a match for a US Sherman.

  3The Stürmgeschütz III Ausf. A (Sd. KDZ.142) was a four-man, 20-ton, self-propelled assault gun created early in the war to support ground troops. Built on a PzKw III Ausf. F chassis, it mounted a 75mm Sk 40 L/43 gun in a fixed casemate, and thus could only shoot forward. (The 360-degree traversing capability of a turret was sacrificed for additional armor, protection, and simplicity in manufacture.) Because of their versatility, over time these units became anti-tank units, often replacing actual tanks in depleted panzer units.

  4Major Alfred Becker commanded Panzerjäger Abteilung 200, attachéd to Feuchtinger’s 21. Panzer Division. Becker, first and foremost an engineer, had served in World War I and had by this time amassed a number of distinctions fighting for the Third Reich as well.