Countdown to D-Day

by Peter Margaritis

  (W)e’ re badly equipped and should therefore take advantage of all help which technical knowledge can give us. For, against a strong weapon superiority, it is no longer enough to oppose [it with] the courage of our soldiers…

  While he is in the factory, the air raid sirens go off. The deep blue sky is filled with condensation trails of the enemy bombers, but the bomb hits are distant and do not do much damage.

  That afternoon, Rommel returns to the château and finds himself involved with, of all things, a women’s issue. Supposedly, some time back, he had decided that all women up to the age of fifty were to be used on defensive barrier construction details, and he had given instructions to that effect. Now he finds out that a complaint has reached OB West from Daser’s 165th Reserve Infantry Division area about women being forced to work on the barriers. A message received from Daser states that permission for such use of women can only come from OB West, since using women this way technically violates the 1940 armistice agreement.

  Rommel, shaking his head, thinks about the situation a bit. He then calls OB West himself and talks to Blumentritt. He tells him that they have been using women quite successfully in the 348th Division sector to make “Rommel’s asparagus.” And these willing “volunteers” are getting paid quite well for their work. Rommel adds that anyway, he had not actually ordered this practice. He had only recommended it to his unit commanders, that’s all. Evidently, the people at the 165th Reserve must have misunderstood him… No general, there is no such edict forcing women to work on the barriers.

  Of course, if the SS had their way…

  That night, he finishes a letter to Lucie that he had started the night before (the party had delayed him). In it, he writes about the two dachshunds, Ajax (now home with Lucie) and Elbo (at the château with him):

  …Aldinger should bring Ajax along. I’ll exchange him for a real hunting dog. The little one is too cute, but not quite housebroken. I’ll send him to you later. Yesterday, he tore my pants for joy. Or do you want him right away?

  The field marshal is having Elbo problems.

  ***

  In the late morning, just after he has awakened, Hitler is informed that on the way back to the front from his promotion ceremony, General Hube’s Junkers flew into a mountain right after takeoff, just outside of Salzburg. He is dead.2

  Shocked at the news, Hitler becomes quiet and somber, understandably depressed. He orders a state funeral for his remains3 at the Reich Chancellery. The Führer will attend, as will the senior leaders of the Reich.

  During the day, bombers from the Eighth Air Force bomb the vital railroad marshaling yard in Hamm, Germany. The largest such yard in Europe, it sits at the entry to the Ruhr valley industrial complex. The raids will leave the yards crippled for the rest of the war.

  1Gause about a week after D-Day was reassigned as chief of staff to one of Rommel’s main critics, Geyr von Schweppenburg at PanzerGruppe West.

  2Most historians confirm that Hube was killed when the plane crashed into a mountain outside Salzburg. Some accounts state that he was headed back to his command at Army Group South. Yet still others state that Hube was badly injured in the crash while on his way back to Berlin and died soon after in a hospital.

  3The wrecked aircraft was so ravaged by fire that only Hube’s charred, blackened artificial arm was recovered.

  Saturday, April 22

  This morning, Rommel awakens to the sound of raindrops gently pattering on his windowpanes and on the walkway outside his bedroom. These days, he loves the sound of rain. It is his ally. Silently he gives thanks for another day of bad weather. It is a sure sign that the enemy is not coming. At least, not today.

  After breakfast, Rommel gets a visit from one General Kanzler, who reports on various problems with mine production. OB West has now focused attention on this as well (based on Rommel’s investigation into this problem, he notes), and is working on starting up some new mine-producing facilities.

  Despite Rommel’s hopes for continued bad weather, a few hours later, the sun comes out, so his staff enjoy a quiet Saturday afternoon. There are very few phone calls, and it seems that not much seems to be going on. One morning report though, mentions a number of bridges in France and Belgium having been attacked by low-level fighter-bombers.

  Today, Heeresgruppe B sends a detailed report to OKW on their progress so far along the coast. Rommel addresses the problem of units not cooperating. He writes:

  … (H)ere and there I noticed units that do not seem to have recognized the graveness of the hour, and some who do not even follow instructions. There are reports of cases in which my orders that all minefields on the beach should be alive at all times have not been obeyed. A commander of a lower unit gave an order to the contrary.

  In other cases, my orders have been postponed to later dates, or even changed. Reports from some sectors say that they intend to try to put one of my orders into effect, and that they would start doing so the following day. Some units knew my orders, but did not make any preparations to execute them.

  I give orders only when they are necessary. I expect them to be executed at once, and to the letter, and that no unit under my command shall make changes, still less give orders, to the contrary, or delay execution through unnecessary paperwork.

  He also states that there is still a good deal to be done. He then issues a message to the men in his army group:

  We must succeed in the short time left until the offensive starts, in bringing all defenses to such a standard that they will hold up against the strongest attack. Never in history was there a defense of such an extent, with such an obstacle as the sea. The enemy must be annihilated before he reaches our main battlefield!

  That evening, he receives an extremely interesting report. One of the few German recon planes that they have left flew a mission today (and actually survived). Around sunset, the aircraft discovered a convoy of over two dozen enemy vessels some five kilometers east of Dover. Half of the vessels were landing craft; the other half were mostly escorts.

  So! The Allies are getting ready, are they? A surge of energy wells up within him. Well, he will be ready too.

  It seems as though this force was carrying out some type of landing exercise. It must be a practice run, or else many more vessels would have been spotted. Rommel tells his staff to get further details. His officers are to press intelligence services for more information, but it will probably not do them much good. Now that Himmler’s Gestapo has assimilated the army’s Abwehr branch, 1 the quality of their intelligence reports, mediocre for the last year or so, has now taken a nose-dive. It is no great secret, either. Himmler’s agents appear to be blundering clods, lacking the finesse, patience, aptitude, resources, or experience needed to gather quality information in the field. They jump on any rumor like eager bloodhounds, and Rommel has to smile when he imagines the Allied intelligence department heads laughing over some crazy red herring of theirs that the Gestapo might be investigating en masse.

  No, as unsatisfactory as the old army counterintelligence agency had been, it had been a far sight more reliable than the inept SS staffs doing the work now. And the enemy is taking full advantage of the change, because more rumors than ever before have begun coming down the pipe.

  Maybe the enemy will broadcast news about this exercise themselves, though it seems unlikely. Still, they seem shockingly good sometimes at tooting their own horns. So that evening, Rommel and his staff listen to the BBC for any hint of an exercise (or a landing), but the radio does not yield a thing.

  If only they could get some real photo reconnaissance flights over there…

  ***

  Today, Hitler meets Mussolini as his guest at Klessheim Castle in Salzburg. The Duce is in a foul mood, depressed, and demoralized. They talk about the situation in the West and of course, in Italy. Mussolini’s ill humor becomes even darker when Hitler tells him that the Allies will probably start another offensive in Italy in the next six to eight weeks. Hitler tries to cheer
him up by promising at that time to let loose new technical weapons that will rip into the English cities and turn London in to a pile of ruins. Still, when the meeting finally breaks up, the Duce does not at all seem convinced.

  1See entries for February 9 and February 11.

  Sunday, April 23

  Panzer Inspector-General Heinz Guderian is on tour in Northern Europe, visiting and inspecting the panzer units there. Today he is at Mailly-le-Camp, near the city of Rheims. There he talks to a number of panzer commanders about replacements, tactics, and general well-being. He will stay here a few days, before he goes on to Paris to call on Rommel and von Rundstedt.

  ***

  It is another quiet day at La Roche-Guyon. There is no further word on the exercise convoy spotted the day before, as Rommel catches up on paperwork and makes a few phone calls.

  Today, he tries once again to convert a “heathen” to his way of thinking. He writes a letter to Alfred Jodl about the necessity of having the mobile reserves close to the coast. Clearly, the decisions that had been made back at the Führer’s conference in late March are not being implemented. His letter, he hopes, states what he has been preaching for months now (and the Führer had agreed with in March), concepts that he sincerely feels are correct. Once the invasion occurs, enemy airpower will paralyze their columns. Surely Jodl must see that. He writes:

  Provided we succeed in bringing our mechanized divisions into action in the very first few hours, then I’m convinced that the enemy assault on our coast will be completely defeated on the very first day…

  Contrary to what was agreed on March 20, however, they have still not been put under my control and they’re lying too far back from the coast, widely dispersed.

  Candidly, he refers to his clash on the 10th with von Schweppenburg:

  I’ve had some hard words with Geyr about all this, and I can only get my own way if he is put under my orders in good time.

  He concludes:

  Failing the early engagement of all our mobile forces in the battle for the coast, victory will be in grave doubt. If I have to wait for the enemy invasion actually to occur before I’m allowed to submit through routine channels an application for the panzer divisions to come under my orders and move forward, then they’ll probably arrive too late.

  Later in the day, he goes outside with his aide to unwind, take a walk, and enjoy the beautiful weather. He relishes this time before the storm, this period of quiet solitude before the war again savagely erupts in front of him.

  He starts out tramping through the woods with a well-made shotgun under his arm and Lang at his side. It feels good to get out of the headquarters, and just go walking around the forest behind the château. It is a beautiful day, and the woods are alive with the rebirth of spring.

  Clomping along in his boots, relaxed in spirit, his blue eyes darting everywhere as he takes in all the splendor of the afternoon, he is moved by the remarkable contrast of this enchanting scene with the horrors of war. Still, he feels an uneasiness in the pit of his stomach as the remembrance of the enormous responsibilities he carries comes back to him. If he loses this time, his country will be destroyed, because he knows that Hitler will never give up until every town in Germany is blasted to rubble. And if that happens, the name of Erwin Rommel will not after all go down as being a legendary leader. He will be lucky if he is not court martialed.

  He mentions this to Lang, who promptly disagrees with him. He is a hero now, and always will be.

  Rommel smiles at this blatantly loyal remark. Looking at Lang, he remarks, “How peaceful the world seems. And yet, what hatred there is against us. In an atmosphere like this, one cannot imagine that a war is on. And yet. It’s upon me that the heavy responsibilities of the coming events will rest.”

  He pauses, and then continues. “To have responsibility is all right, but one can only withstand the judgment of history if one is successful. History takes account only of those who know victory. There is no art in being a warlord for a wealthy country that is richly endowed with all the materials for war.”

  “But I,” he concludes, “I have to be satisfied with what little I’ve got, and try to defeat the enemy with only the most modest means.”

  He looks around at the woods, thinking about the ever-advancing Soviet armies. “And defeated they must be, if Bolshevism is not to triumph over us. Even then, supposing that we’ve defeated Great Britain and the United States; the war with Russia won’t be over, because it has such enormous resources of men and raw materials. The war will go on.”

  He stops and gazes up at the treetops. “Perhaps though, perhaps then a United Europe will come forward to fight this enemy.”

  Rommel falls silent as Lang furiously scribbles the field marshal’s words.

  Neither of them knows that Rommel has just envisioned the Cold War.

  Monday, April 24

  At the Berghof in lower Bavaria, Albert Speer, Minister of Armaments, visits his depressed Führer. The war is still going badly in Italy and in the East. General Hube has just been killed in a plane crash, and the Führer’s production heads, Speer included, are squabbling over who is responsible for what weapons, and why new Luftwaffe design production is stymied. Hitler has tried to clear the air of their differences, only to have Speer threaten to resign. Now the two make up. Hitler tells him to reorganize any way he thinks is best.

  ***

  After a quick breakfast, Rommel leaves on another inspection tour. This time, he is on his way to check out units around the Seine estuary. For this occasion, since his driver Daniel is indisposed, Rommel drives his Horch himself. The second car carries Admiral Ruge, Oberst! Freyberg, 1 and a war correspondent. Ruge’s car struggles to keep up with the lead-footed field marshal, and the two cars finally part company at the outskirts of the ruins of Rouen, hit hard in recent weeks by Allied bombers.

  Ruge and Freyberg stop in the city to call on Vizeadmiral Rieve, commanding the Kriegsmarine forces along the Kanalküste.. There they spend a couple hours discussing the various target priorities for the naval batteries whenever the invasion comes. Rieve seems optimistic, especially in light of the defensive construction effort up until now.

  In the meantime, Rommel, having driven on, visits various positions of Erwin Menny’s 84th Reserve Division, located near Yvetot.2 He instructs the units to move away from village positions, especially the unit’s artillery. Otherwise, they would make easy targets for Allied Jabos.

  By noon, Rommel is at Crasville-la-Rocquefort, some 28km north, where he is rejoined by Ruge and Freyberg. They dine there at a regimental headquarters before moving on southwest towards Le Havre. They stop and note an army battery of a half dozen 150mm guns that were hit in an air raid. To speed up work, a number of the tetrahedrons had been moved about during their handling and subsequently damaged. The inspection uncovers a few areas devoid of defensive barriers, especially across some coastal ravines. Again, Rommel shows the men there his unpleasant side as he harshly orders the local commanding officers to quickly rectify their problems. With the mood the field marshal is in, it is just as well that a cold fog rolling in from the Channel ends the local inspections.

  The inspection party moves on to Le Havre, where they go over the defensive positions there, inspect the shore batteries, and tour the minesweeper flotillas with the sea commandant and the newly-appointed port commander.3 Rommel likes what he sees, and his mood changes from irritated to pleasant.

  That evening, they have dinner and some stimulating table talk at the port’s enlisted mess hall. Rommel turns in early.

  ***

  Von Rundstedt in his weekly estimate to OKW expresses concern that the “danger zone” for the invasion includes an area that stretches some 300 kilometers, from Caen northeast to the Scheldt estuary in Belgium.

  ***

  Today, General Guderian spends another day at Mailly-le-Camp, near Rheims, visiting with more of his panzer commanders.

  1Freyberg was the IIa, the headquarters adjutant
.

  2A small inland town about 52km by car southwest of Dieppe, or about 62km northeast of Le Havre.

  3Seeko Seine-Somme Konteradmiral von Treskow and the Hako Le Havre, 50-year-old Generalmajor Johannes “Hans” Sauerbray.

  Tuesday, April 25

  Today it is bright and sunny. In the port of Le Havre, Rommel is up as usual at the crack of dawn. Over breakfast, he talks with his accompanying staff members. Goodheartedly, they joke about yesterday’s fog cutting short their inspections. Ravines, they decide, are to be cordoned off with barbed wire and anti-tank obstacles. Further inland, they can be defended just with infantry. Ruge points out that it would be a waste of labor fashioning steel barriers in areas of quicksand.

  At 7 a.m., they are off. They first inspect the support positions of General Diestel’s 346th Infantry Division.1 Rommel is generally satisfied with the overall progress the division has made. He notes that a good deal more of his “asparagus” has been put up in open fields.

  At divisional headquarters near Bolbec, he listens to Diestel’s report, and then decides to address the men on defensive measures against airborne landings. His speech is unrehearsed, although the ideas are firm in his head.