Divided on D-Day
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general strategy of, 106
invasion planning, four major flaws in, 107
launch date May 1944, 31
logistical plan, complex, 81
logistics was the Achilles’ heel, 81
nerve center in Southwick, 84
OVERLORD plan
final (May 1944), 40, 99
Morgan's plan (July 15, 1943), 39, 88
plan for deployment of several airborne divisions on both flanks of the five invasion beaches, 88
plan's ambiguities and the impasse over its bombing strategy, SHAEF resolved, 94
Stalin, Joseph, 30–31
strategic blunders, missed opportunities, and tactical errors, 319
target date of May 1, 1944, 41
ultimate goals: invading Germany, capturing Berlin, and ending the war in Europe, 319
See also Festung Europa; Normandy landing (June 6, 1944); Operation NEPTUNE; Operation ROUNDUP
Operation RANKIN (invasion of Mediterranean region, Balkans, and Norway), 25, 30, 35
Operation ROUNDUP (northwestern Europe invasion)
British gave full support to the Americans, 26
King and Marshall, 23, 27
Marshall's plan, 24
Operation OVERLORD, renamed (May 1943), 29
US War Department's War Plans Division, 23
See also Operation OVERLORD; Operation SLEDGEHAMMER
Operation SHINGLE (Anzio invasion), 81
Operation SLAPSTICK (Puglia region invasion), 29
Operation SLEDGEHAMMER (northwestern Europe invasion), 23–24. See also Operation ROUNDUP
Operation TIGER, 103–104
Operation TITANIC (dummy Rupert paratroopers), 140, 150
Operation TORCH (North Africa invasion)
Afrika Korps (German), 120
Bradley assisted Eisenhower, 61, 66–67, 86
Brooke opposed, 28
Cunningham, Ramsay was second-in-command to, 81
Cunningham was TORCH Naval Commander, 27
Eisenhower as Mediterranean supreme commander, 46, 64–66, 71
Marshall, King, and Churchill wanted an American commander in chief, 27
Montgomery appointed by Churchill, 59, 61
Patton, 333
positioned American troops in North Africa, 61
Ramsay was chief naval planner, 76, 81, 331
See also Operation GYMNAST
Operation TOTALIZE (ground offensive), 95, 247, 249–50
Operation TRACTABLE (assault on Falaise), 250, 258–60
Operation Valkyrie (to remove Hitler), 213
Operation ZEPPELIN (Balkans and Greece deceptive invasion plan), 96
Orne River bridgehead, 161, 207
Packwood, Allan (director of the Churchill Archives Centre), 73, 76
paratroopers
American, 138–42, 146
British, 138–42
evacuation of 1,900 from across the lower Rhine, 313
German engineers dammed rivers and streams to drown paratroopers overloaded with equipment, 132
German reserve regiment on bicycles and Rupert dummies, 143
Kraiss infantry of investigated exploding dummy Rupert paratroopers, 150
Operation TITANIC (dummy Rupert paratroopers), 140, 150
Paris (France) Liberation of (Aug. 18–29, 1944)
Choltitz, Dietrich (German general)
disobeys orders to destroy Paris monuments, 279–80
signs German capitulation, 280
de Gaulle's arrival in Paris and “Paris Liberation” speech, 280–81
Eisenhower, importance of decision to liberate Paris, 283
French Victory parade down the Champs-Élysées, 280–81, 281
Leclerc Second Armored Division of spearheads liberation of Paris, 278–79
Paris general strike, 278
US Twenty-Eighth Infantry Division parades down the Champs-Élysées, 281–82, 282
Park, Keith (British air vice marshal), 63
Pas-de-Calais (France)
Allied secret Ultra intercepts of German-coded radio messages, 167
Atlantic Wall, 119
German
attention fixed on Calais area, 97
beach defenses, 130, 130, 131
Fifteenth Army, 133, 141, 167
high command, it was probable invasion site by Allied forces, 132
military intelligence discounted by Rundstedt and most senior commanders, 141
Ninety-First Air Landing Division and mobile units, 142
radar stations, 138
Hitler, Adolf
believed Allies would land in Pas-de-Calais sector, 124, 167
believed Garbo deception that Pas-de-Calais was about to be invaded (June 10), 167
ordered four infantry divisions and 116th Panzer to move from Pas-de-Calais to attack the Normandy bridgehead (June 9), 167
offered no vital logistical plum for the Allies, 36–37
Operation FORTITUDE, 132–33, 138, 167
Operation TITANIC, 140
Patton's First US Army Group reinforced OVERLORD bridgehead, 210
Rommel's forces around Calais, 132
rubber Rupert dolls, 140
Rundstedt and Speidel believed Allies would land here, 142, 167
Rundstedt commander defending, 121, 123
Special Air Service Brigades and gramophones played bursts of small-arms fire, 140
See also Atlantic Wall; Calais
Patton, George S. (US general)
Allied breakout and advance (June 6–Aug. 31, 1944), 276, 284, 287, 294
America's top offensive general, 69
background, 69
“blitzkrieg in reverse” on the Germans, 230, 237
Bradley, Omar
Bradley/Patton plan not supported by Eisenhower; so Germans regrouped their shattered forces in Western Europe, 316
Bradley-Patton's southern thrust to Germany, 285, 286–89
Bradley's prohibition, not Montgomery's, stopped Patton's advance to “Falaise follies,” 254
given Tunisian command campaign, 71
ordered Patton to stop at the Meuse (Aug. 30), 294
planned to send Patton's Third Army into Brittany, 235
reasons for stopping Patton's offensive, 270–71, 276
Brittany cleared, seizes seaports, and covered First US Army's right flank, 99
Brittany Sweepstakes, 238–41
Camp Young (California), armor and infantry training at, 71
combat leader, outstanding and eccentric, 70
commanded Third Cavalry at Fort Meyer, Virginia, 70
commander of II Corps, 67–68, 71
commander of Third Army as part of Bradley's US Army Group, 73
commander of Western Task Force invading Morocco, 71
Coutances-Saint-Lo road, 234
D-Day plan, Patton objects to Montgomery's, 91–93
Desert Training Center, Mojave Desert, 71
“doghouse” status, 220–22, 236
Eisenhower, Dwight D.
backed the wrong offensive by not backing Patton's southern thrust to the Ruhr, 314, 319
at Bradley's headquarters when the decision was made not to allow Patton to close on Falaise, 271
direct intervention with Marshall saved Patton, 72
needed Patton's tactical genius and drive needed for leading Normandy bridgehead breakout and charge across France, 73
Exercise THUNDERCLAP planning (Apr. 7), 98–100
Falaise-Argentan Pocket, 246–49, 251, 252–53
Falaise Pocket was finally snapped shut a week after Patton had reached Argentan (Aug. 12–13), 274
genius in aggressive command and ability to see the big battlefield picture, 236
German fuel depot provided fuel to resume his offensive (Sept. 5), 296
“household cavalry,” 237, 287–89
larger-than-life persona, created, 70
Marshall appointed upper ranks men, 51
Marsh
all saw Patton's potential military genius as commander, 70
mastery of technology, tactics, and doctrine of armored warfare, 71
maverick commander, 333–35
military exploits, mad-dashing, 69
military prima donna, 72
Montgomery, Sir Bernard Law, “Monty”
agreed that Patton could cross the Allied forces’ boundary line, 269
headquarters’ dinner (June 1), 112
Patton-Montgomery rivalry during the Sicily campaign, 68
“protest” action to stop Montgomery, 307
Mortain Offensive, Patton's attack and German counterattack (Aug. 6–12, 1944), 242–43
Nancy-Epinal gap, Patton pleaded with Eisenhower for a drive through, 294
Operation BLUECOAT, 232
Operation COBRA, 222–23, 226, 230, 233
Operation FORTITUDE South, 97
Operation HUSKY planning, 71
Operation MARKET GARDEN, Patton tried to enlist Bradley in a “protest” action to stop Montgomery, 307
Operation OVERLORD
final full-scale briefing (May 15), 105–107
Patton's conduct in Sicily undermined chances of ground commander, 72
Operation TOTALIZE, 249
organizational methods and command skills, advanced, 237
photograph, 221, 239, 288
quote, 195, 225, 235, 245, 275
Second and Third Army attack (proposed, Aug.–Sept. 1944), 285
Seventh Army invaded southern Sicily, 71
short hook vs. long hook, 257–58
Sicily operation, 67–68
slapped two hospitalized soldiers he thought were cowards, 68, 72
staff conference, last (July 31), 235–36
strategy of “an all-out effort” actually resulted in fewer casualties vs. other Allied armies, 327
tactical genius and drive needed for leading Normandy bridgehead breakout and charge across France, 73
Third Army commander, 52, 99, 105–106, 235, 288
Third Army seized most of Brittany (except Lorient and Brest, Aug. 1944), 275
Third Army vs. Germans, 256–57
Vichy French forces, negotiated an armistice with, 71
VIII Corps to the threshold of Brittany, 234
von Rundstedt's comments, 69
Pearl Harbor, 19, 21, 23
Perez, Ignacio Molina, 108
Pershing, John J. (US general), 46–47, 69
Petain, Philippe (French marshal, premier of occupied France), 180
“Pluto” (Pipe Line under the Ocean), 91
Portal, Sir Charles F. A. (British air chief marshal), 20, 27–29, 28, 94
Pound, Sir Dudley (British admiral of the fleet), 20, 27–29, 28
Pugsley, Anthony (British captain), 315, 318
Pyle, Ernie (war correspondent), 68
Quebec (Quadrant Conference, Aug. 1943), 20, 29, 40–41, 46, 89
Quesada, Elwood R. (US air force general), 64, 226, 229–30
Raeder, Erich (German admiral), 243
Ramsay, Sir Bertram (British admiral)
Allied Naval Commander (Normandy) Expeditionary Force (ANCXF), 81
Allied naval commander in chief, Expeditionary Force, 24, 53
assessment of historian Correlli Barnett, 75
background, 74–76
Battle of Antwerp, 303, 308, 318 (see also Scheldt Estuary)
British supreme naval commander for HUSKY, 81
chief amphibious naval planner for Operation TORCH, 76
chief of staff under British admiral Backhouse, 75
commander of Allied Naval Expeditionary Force for Operation OVERLORD, 76
command of NEPTUNE, 90–91
Dempsey worked closely with (Mar. 1943), 331–32
deputy to Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, 27
Dover command, 75–76
Dunkirk military evacuation of British and French forces (June 1940), 24
Exercise THUNDERCLAP of OVERLORD planning (Apr. 7), 98–100
Imperial Defence College, 57, 74–75
killed in Jan. 1945, 73
King (US admiral) and anti-British prejudices, 86
Kirk (US rear admiral) commander of Western (American) Task Force, 85
minesweeping plan for Normandy coast with Vian and Kirk, 86
Mulberries (two artificial harbors), 90–91
naval commander in chief for invasion of northwestern Europe (Operation ROUNDUP), 76
Normandy
amphibious invasion of, planned logistical plan for, 74
campaign's ultimate success depends on adequate logistical planning, 83
D-Day invasion planning, worked with Eisenhower on, 27
naval bombardment plan in, 85–86
Operation DYNAMO (May–June 1940), 76
Operation HUSKY, commander of, 76, 81
Operation INFATUATE (Battle of Antwerp), 303, 308, 318
Operation NEPTUNE, order to begin (May 28), 109–10
Operation NEPTUNE (Mar. 1943), 82–86
Operation OVERLORD
armada was “the greatest amphibious operation of all time,” 112
final full-scale briefing (May 15), 105–107
nerve center in Southwick, 84
Ramsay naval command for OVERLORD (code-named Operation NEPTUNE), 52, 73
Operation TIGER, 103–104
photograph, 82
“Pluto” (Pipe Line under the Ocean), 91
second-in-command to Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham in TORCH, 81
SHAEF logistical planning experts issued warnings to all Allied commanders, 83
SHAEF meeting in London (Feb. 1, 1944), 53
Theatre Intelligence Section, evaluated and synthesized information gathered by, 82
Vian appointed commander of Eastern (British) Task Force, 84
warning to SHAEF, Twenty-First Army Group, Admiralty, and the commander in chief at the Nore, 303
World War II commands, 76
Rattle Conference (June–July, 1943), 36–37, 90
Red Ball Express (Allied supply delivery system), 286, 294
“Rhino” tank, 219, 220, 228–29
Rohmer, Richard (Canadian air force major general), 257
Rommel, Erwin (German field marshal), 15
Afrika Korps, 26, 59, 92, 120, 126, 158, 326
Allied fighter-bombers ambushed staff car of, 212
Allied invasion, strategy for meeting and defeating an, 122–23
Army Group B, 121, 124, 126
background, 119–20
commander of Führer Headquarters for invasion of Poland, 120
command of coastal areas in France and building of the West Wall, 119
commoner from family of teachers, 123
conference at Hitler's Eagle's Nest mountaintop hideaway in Obersalzberg (Mar. 1944), 123–24
described hopelessness of their situation (June 11), 171, 213
“Desert Fox,” 59, 121, 134, 160, 163, 213
Dieppe invasion, wrong conclusions from, 36
forced to commit suicide, 213
headquarters in Chateau de La Roche-Guyon, 124–25
Infantry in War, 69
injuries from Allied fighter-bomber attack, 212
inspector general of defense in the West, 121
Luftwaffe ground units had parachute divisions and volunteer infantry units, 125–26
Operation GOODWOOD, 212–13
OVERLORD, panzer counterattacks, 91
photograph, 120
responsible for Holland, Belgium, and northern France south to the Loire River, 121
Rundstedt, nominally subordinate to, 121
Seventh Army defended Normandy and Brittany, 121
war was lost, advising a separate peace to a declaration of military bankruptcy, 213
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano (US president)
Allied landing in France, vetoed 1942, 26
Casablanca Conference (1943), 27–29, 28
Chu
rchill and Pearl Harbor attack (1941), 19–21
Germany's war-making capacity, acknowledged, 21
intervened in military decisions, 26
Marshall stayed in Washington, 49
Operation GYMNAST, Marshall and King were forced to commit to, 26
Operation OVERLORD
American to be appointed supreme commander for, 46
Eisenhower appointed supreme commander for, 50
Operation OVERLORD command, Eisenhower vs. Marshall, 48
Second Washington Conference (June 1942), 25–26
supreme commander for each theater of operations, 20
Tehran Conference (Iran, Nov.–Dec. 1943), 30–31, 49
Victory Program (July 1941), 23–24
See also “Big Three”
Roosevelt, Theodore, Jr. (US brigadier general), 146
Rundstedt, Gerd von (German field marshal), 69
Allied invasion, strategy for meeting and defeating an, 122
Allies deprived of port facilities in France and Belgium, 307
aristocrat with long family military lineages, 123
Atlantic Wall defenses, comprehensive report on, 119
Bodyguard (deception plan), 96–97
commander in chief in the West, 117, 307
commander of forces for defense of the Netherlands, Belgium, and occupied regions of northern France, 118
conference at Hitler's Eagle's Nest mountaintop hideaway in Obersalzberg (Mar. 1944), 123–24
defended English Channel fortresses to starve Allies of logistical support needed for advance into Germany, 307
message to Keitel about ending the war, 193–95
Patton, comments about, 69
photograph, 118
request that OKW release Twelfth SS Panzer and Panzer Lehr Divisions to move them into Normandy, Jodl rejected, 143
Rupert dolls (dummy paratroopers), 140, 143, 150
Ryan, Cornelius (historian), 330
Scheldt Estuary
Battle of Antwerp (Scheldt Estuary, Oct.–Nov. 1944), 303, 308, 318
Dutch freighters, Rhine river barges, small craft, and even rafts evacuated over 100,000 German troops, artillery, vehicles, and horses, 308
German navy laid mines and deadly obstacles, 303–304, 308
Montgomery, Sir Bernard Law
did not brief General Horrocks or General Roberts on vital need to secure the Scheldt Estuary, 304
disregarded the supreme logistical importance, 303
Operation MARKET GARDEN vs. opening the Scheldt, 305
Ramsay's combined operation of to remove the Wehrmacht from the Scheldt, 304–305
Rundstedt, Gerd von
defended English Channel fortresses to starve Allies of logistical support needed for advance into Germany, 307
moved Fifteenth Army to block the mouth of the Port of Antwerp, 303