D-Day

by Antony Beevor

  ‘The only chance . . .’, Dean Rockwell, US Navy, NWWIIM-EC

  ‘It took us about . . .’, Werner Hugo Saenger, LST 27, NWWIIM-EC

  ‘I thank the gods . . .’, J. M. Stagg, Forecast for Overlord, London, 1971, p. 126

  ‘never really believed...’, Colonel Thomas Bigland, Montgomery’s personal liaison officer to First US Army, then 12th Army Group, SWWEC 99-10

  p. 217 tonnage and vehicles landed in August, Normandy Base Section Communications Zone, 8 September, Com Z, NA II 407/427/24133

  ‘a bit of plunder’, Oberst a.D. Dr Hans Kessler, BA-MA MSg 2/249

  ‘The men were tired . . .’, Lieutenant William Priestman, 315th Infantry, NA II 407/ 427/24242

  p. 218 ‘K Company . . .’, Lieutenant John E. Cunningham, 314th Infantry, 79th Infantry Division, NA II 407/427/24242

  ‘We fired back . . .’, Karl Hohmann, RAD, MdC TE 506

  ‘any part of the garrison . . .’, Colonel Bernard B. MacMahon, 315th Infantry, 79th Division, NA II 407/427/24242

  p. 219 ‘At eight-thirty . . .’, Lieutenant John R. Blackburn, Sky Control Officer, USS Quincy, NWWIIM-EC

  ‘It was a beautiful...’, Rear Admiral Carleton F. Bryant, USN, Commander Battleship Division 5, MdC TE 173

  p. 220 ‘Immediately we opened fire’, K. Jump, SWWEC T 1823

  armoured bulldozers, Lieutenant Colonel H. A. Delo, 346th Engineers, NA II 407/ 427/24242

  display of strength, Lieutenant Ralph Powell, Cannon Company, 47th Infantry, 9th Division, NA II 407/427/24241

  ‘had drunk enough . . .’, NA II 407/427/ 24242

  p. 221 ‘sound common sense’, Oberstleutnant Keil, FMS C-018

  ‘Final battle for Cherbourg . . .’, Generalleutnant Karl-Wilhelm von Schlieben, 709th Infantry Division, FMS B-845

  ‘Some of the boys . . .’, Lieutenant John A. Le Trent, 8th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, NA II 407/427/24242

  ‘We saw a few women snipers . . .’, Sergeant Walter M. Hedrick, 22nd Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, NA II 407/427/24242

  Organisation Todt workers, BA-MA RH 19 iv/132, quoted in Peter Lieb, Konventioneller Krieg oder Weltanschauungskrieg?, Munich, 2007, p. 168

  ‘The Teutonic tendency . . .’, Captain Elmer G. Koehler, Battalion surgeon, 12th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, NA II 407/ 427/24242

  p. 220 ‘That was quite . . .’, Clayton Storeby, 326th Airborne Engineer Battalion, NWWIIM-EC

  ‘The Germans have left . . .’, Pogue, p. 135

  ‘amassive under ground wine cellar’, Bradley, p. 314

  Hitler and Schlieben, General Warlimont, ETHINT 1

  15

  OPERATION EPSOM

  p. 223 ‘Field Marshal Rommel is . . .’, Wilhelm Ritter von Schramm, BA-MA MSg 2/247

  Channel Islands and Nebelwerfer Brigades, General Warlimont, ETHINT 4

  p. 224 ‘Jungle Tiger Tactics’, General Geyr von Schweppenburg, FMS B-466

  ‘[Hitler] looked unhealthy . . .’, Speidel, FMS C-017. The description of this meeting is based on the accounts by Speidel, Rundstedt (FMS B-633), Blumentritt, chief of staff OB West (FMS B-284), and Hitler’s Luftwaffe adjutant, Nicolaus von Below (Als Hitlers Adjutant, 1937-1945, Mainz, 1980)

  p. 225 withdrawal of six to ten miles and ‘a long auto-suggestive speech’, General der Infanterie Blumentritt, debriefing 6 August 1945, NA II 407/427/24231

  ‘That was the last thing . . .’, Below, p. 375

  ‘everything would depend . . .’, Blumentritt, Chief of Staff OB West, FMS B-284 p. 226 ‘What principally bothers . . .’, Mollie Panter-Downes, London War Notes, London, 1971, pp. 330-31

  ‘eerie howl of sirens’, Cyrus C. Aydlett, USS Bayfield, NWWIIM-EC

  War Cabinet, 16 June, LHCMA Liddell Hart 11/1944/38

  ‘These things . . .’, Wing Commander R. Beamont, SWWEC T537

  p. 227 Director General of Gendarmerie’s report, General Martin, AN AJ/41/56

  ‘with a pathetic wail . . .’, Field Marshal Lord Alanbrooke, War Diaries 1939-1945, London, 2001, p. 562 (27 June)

  Agent ‘Lector’, TNA HW 40/6

  p. 228 ‘Battle is going well . . .’, Montgomery to Churchill, 14 June, TNA PREM 3/339/8

  ‘We formed up . . .’, G. Steer, 1/4th

  King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, SWWEC 2002.1644

  p. 229 ‘There’s no need to tell Ike’, LHCMA, LHP/1/230/22-23a p. 231 ‘The German trick . . .’, Peter Rubie, CWM/MCG 58A 1 40.7

  ‘on turning a corner . . .’, Stanley Christopherson diary

  ‘The order came to us . . .’, G. Steer 1/ 4th King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, SWWEC 2002.1644

  p. 232 Ultra on Panzer Lehr, 27 June, TNA KV 9826

  ‘like strange fungi . . .’, John Keegan, Six Armies in Normandy, London, 1992, p. 174

  ‘were much amused . . .’, Aidan Sprot, Swifter than Eagles, Edinburgh, 1998, p. 120 ‘It’s a vision . . .’, Félix Drougard, MdC TE 3

  p. 233 ‘the enemy which has . . .’, 9th SS Panzer-Division Hohenstaufen, BA-MA MSg 2/4831

  p. 234 ‘die grosse Chance’, Kriegstagebuch Panzer Group West, Fifth Panzer Army, BA-MA MSg 2/4831

  Ultra, 29 June, XL 70, see Ralph Bennett, Ultra in the West, New York, 1979, p. 82

  Operation Epsom, one of the best accounts is in Carlo D’Este, Decision in Normandy, New York, 1983

  p. 235 ‘General talked about . . .’, Myles Hildyard diary, 22 June

  ‘the armchair strategists . . .’, General Geyr von Schweppenburg, FMS B-466

  p. 236 ‘returned in a vile humour’, Blumentritt, Chief of Staff OB West, FMS B-284

  ‘told him bluntly...’, Blumentritt, ETHINT 73

  ‘because of the effect . . .’, General der Panzertruppen Eberbach, FMS A-922

  p. 237 ‘become imbued . . .’, Blumentritt, Chief of Staff OB West, FMS B-284

  ‘energetic, quick-witted...’, Speidel, FMS C-017

  ‘After a rather frosty . . .’, Speidel, FMS C-017

  p. 238 ‘German tanks are superior . . .’, Eberbach, BA-MA MSg 1/106

  ‘the British attacks . . .’, General Alfred Jodl, FMS A-913

  ‘jumped out of line . . .’, William Oatman, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, NWWIIM-EC

  p. 240 ‘The effect of the major conflicts . . .’, Keitel and Jodl, FMS A-915

  visit of Colonel Vassilievsky, Arthur Reddish, A Tank Soldier’s Story, privately published, undated, p. 56

  ‘are still on the Soviet-German front’, Major General Galaktionov, Pravda, 23 June

  ‘We know where . . .’, Ilya Ehrenburg, ‘The West Wind’, Pravda, 11 June

  16

  THE BATTLE OF THE BOCAGE

  p. 242 ‘immediately deserted to the enemy’, Generalleutnant Dietrich von Choltitz, LXXXIV Corps, FMS B-418; and Oberst Eugen König, 91st Luftlande-Division, FMS B-010

  ‘to gain experience . . .’, NA II 407/427/ 24203

  ‘The prisoners we captured’, T/Sergeant Laurence E. Ousley, 330th Infantry, 83rd Division, NA II 407/427/24242

  ‘We no longer have . . .’, NA II 407/427/ 6431

  p. 243 ‘Fallen for Greater Germany’, Jean-Claude Perrigault and Rolf Meister, Götz von Berlichingen - Normandie, Bayeux, 2005, p. 267

  ‘The Germans haven’t much left . . .’, Martin Blumenson, The Duel for France 1944, New York, 2000, p. 23

  LXXXIV Corps daily losses, General Dietrich von Choltitz, De Sebastopol à Paris, Paris, 1964, p. 184

  ‘After having been . . .’, Obergefreiter Hans S., 10 July, 9.Kp./Gren.Rgt.1058, 91.(LL.)Inf.Div., 13 273 B, BfZ-SS

  p. 246 ‘to gain suitable terrain . . .’, NA II 407/427/24232

  attack of 30th Infantry Division, 7 July, NA II 407/427/24232

  p. 247 twelve Shermans knocked out, Pfc Bertrand J. Close, 3rd Battalion, 32nd Armored Regiment, 3rd Armored Division, WWII VS

  ‘Meine Frau und . . .’, Robert T. Gravelin, 23rd Combat Engineer Battalion, 3rd Armored Division, WWII VS

  p. 248 ‘terriblemes
s’,NA II 407/427/24232

  ‘because of the element . . .’, 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division, NA II 407/427/24037

  4th Division in marshland fighting, Major Yarborough, NA II 407/427/6431

  p. 249 ‘The Germans are staying . . .’, General Barton, 4th Infantry Division, NA II 407/427/6431

  ‘in comparing the average American . . .’, NA II 407/427/24242

  ‘have no regard . . .’, NA II 407/427/ 24242

  ‘What doyou want todo inEurope?’ TNA WO 171/337

  ‘Captivity is . . .’, Obergefreiter Hans S., 17 July, 9.Kp./Gren.Rgt.1058, 91.(LL.) Inf.Div., BfZ-SS

  p. 250 ‘Colonel, that was . . .’, 22nd Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, NA II 407/427/ 6431

  ‘Company G had . . .’, NA II 407/427/ 6431

  p. 251 Panzer Lehr losses against British, Generalleutnant Fritz Bayerlein, FMS A-903

  ‘was not in a position . . .’, Generalleutnant Fritz Bayerlein, ETHINT 66

  ‘Because of its exhausted condition . . .’, Geyr von Schweppenburg, FMS B-466

  p. 252 Panzer Lehr losses in American sector, Generalleutnant Fritz Bayerlein, ETHINT 66

  Panzer Lehr offensive, NA II 407/427/ 24232; and Generalleutnant Fritz Bayerlein, ETHINT 67

  schmutziger Buschkrieg’, Peter Lieb, Konventioneller Krieg oder Weltanschauungskrieg?, Munich, 2007, p. 176

  ‘the only good Jerry soldiers . . .’, E Company, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, Folder Huch, William, DDEL

  p. 253 ‘Keep moving . . .’, FUSAG ‘Battle Experiences’, NA II 407/427/24148

  three times as many wounds, 9th Medical Battalion, NA II 407/427/7545 p. 254 ‘The sniper menace . . .’, NA II 407/ 427/24170

  ‘moles in the ground’, NA II 407/427/ 24242

  German rapid counter-attacks, Eberbach, BA-MA MSg 1/106

  p. 256 Generalleutnant Richard Schimpf, 3rd Paratroop Division, FMS B-541

  p. 257 rhino tanks, Lieutenant John M. Wilder, ADC to General Hickey, 3rd Armored Division, NA II 407/427/24242

  ‘I talked to enough men . . .’, Forrest C. Pogue, Pogue’s War, Lexington, Kentucky, p. 105

  ‘Our younger men...’, Lieutenant Samuel E. Belk III, 320th Infantry, 35th Division, NA II 407/427/24242

  p. 258 ‘Practically all of the replacements . . .’, 4th Infantry Division, NA II 407/427/24021

  ‘Just before they . . .’, Paul Fussell, The Boys’ Crusade, New York, 2003, p. 108

  p. 259 ‘a high probability . . .’, ibid., p. 110

  ‘Riflemen must leave...’, FUSAG ‘Battle Experiences’, NA II 407/427/24148

  ‘To get down fast . . .’, Robert B. Bradley, 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division, MdC TE 366

  p. 260 ‘a sphygmomanometer . . .’, 29th Infantry Division, Combat Exhaustion Survey, June-August,NAII 407/427/24035/84 p. 262 ‘Krammer, a capable . . .’ and ‘a nice Heimatschuss’, Obergefreiter Hans S. 15.7.44, 9.Kp./Gren.Rgt.1058 91.(LL.)Inf.Div. 13 273 B, BfZ-SS

  ‘apparently few . . .’, L. B. Kalinowsky, American Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 107, 1950; and TNA WO 177/316

  17

  CAEN AND THE HILL OF CALVARY

  p. 263 ‘Ike is considerably less . . .’, Harry C. Butcher, Three Years with Eisenhower, London, 1946, p. 512

  Carlo D’Este, Decision in Normandy, New York, 1983, pp. 268-9

  p. 265 ‘a twenty-five centimeter . . .’, Erich Wohlgemut, quoted Hubert Meyer, The 12th SS, Vol. I, Mechanicsburg, Pa., 2005, p. 463

  1st SS Panzergrenadier-Regiment, Kriegstagebuch Panzer Group West/Fifth Panzer Army, BA-MA MSg 2/4831

  p. 266 ‘wounded as well as dead’ and ‘No prisoners are taken . . .’, Alexander McKee, Caen: Anvil of Victory, London, 1965, pp. 199 and 197

  Canadians and 43rd Infantry Division, NA II 407/427/24200

  ‘Please do not hesitate . . .’, 25 June, PDDE, p. 1949

  ‘in maximum volume’, 25 June, ibid., p. 1952

  p. 267 ‘There was high cloud . . .’, Lieutenant T. T. Ritson, RHA, diary

  ‘We could see . . .’, William Helm, ‘The Normandy Field Diary of a Junior Medical Officer in 210 Field Ambulance’, 177th Brigade, 59th Infantry Division

  ‘a magnificent spectacle’, W. Kingsley, IWM P424

  ‘I sat smoking a cigarette . . .’, Major Peter Griffin, 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, letter 8 July, NAC/ANC R5067-0-0-E

  ‘The awful thing was . . .’, Captain Michael Bendix, Coldstream Guards, SWWEC 2000-356

  ‘The sight was frightening . . .’, Robert Thornburrow, 4th Somerset Light Infantry, 43rd Wessex Division, MdC TE 120 p. 268 ‘Imagine a rat . . .’, MdC TE 149

  ‘We had the impression . . .’, MdC TE 145

  ‘Monsieur le Curé . . .’, MdC TE 149

  ‘a grandiose procession . . .’, MdC TE 145 p. 269 6,000 casualties, Robert Thornburrow, 4th Somerset Light Infantry, 43rd Wessex Division, MdC TE120

  350 deaths, CRHQ

  Lieutenant Colonel Kraminov, MdC TE 246

  bombing of Caen, ‘Observations on Bomber Command Attack on Caen, 7 July 1944’, TNA AIR 37/1255, quoted in D’Este, p. 315

  p. 270 ‘a heap of ruins . . .’, Eberbach, BA-MA MSg 1/106

  French squadrons, logbook of Roger Piroutet, MdC TE 262

  ‘There were all sorts of casualties . . .’, Rev. Jim Wisewell, 223 Field Ambulance, SWWEC T1141

  p. 271 ‘a group of terrified . . .’, William Helm, ‘The Normandy Field Diary of a Junior Medical Officer in 210 Field Ambulance’, 177th Brigade, 59th Infantry Division

  ‘The Germans are leaving!’, André Heintz diary, MdC TE 32 (1-4)

  p. 272 ‘Where is the River Orne?’, Max Maurin, MdC TE 77 (2)

  Les Petites Soeurs des Pauvres, Mme Laberthe, MdC TE 74

  ‘At last . . .’, Major L. J. Massey, civil affairs team, MdC TE 167

  Canadian captain and restaurant, Mme Lucie Corbasson, MdC TE 49

  p. 273 ‘Most of the women . . .’, Sapper Douglas Waite, Royal Engineers, MdC TE 182

  10 July parade,Place Saint-Martin,Henriette Guibé, MdC TE 237

  p. 274 ‘Kalvarienberg’, 9th SS Panzer-Division Hohenstaufen, BA-MA MSg 2/ 4832

  ‘a small, fiery . . .’, Michael Carver, Out of Step, London, 1989, p. 193

  Sergeant W. Partridge, 4th Somerset Light Infantry, SWWEC 2006.419

  p. 275 Maltot, Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 502, BA-MA MSg 2/4832

  ‘He had been hit . . .’, Corporal Jones, quoted in McKee, p. 230

  p. 276 ‘slit trenches scraped . . .’, Corporal D. Proctor, ‘Section Commander’, DWS

  ‘Not a metre . . .’, 9th SS Panzer-Division Hohenstaufen, BA-MA MSg 2/4832

  ‘einer Milchsuppe’, 9th SS Panzer-Division Hohenstaufen, BA-MA MSg 2/4832

  ‘They’re brave . . .’, 9th SS Panzer-Division Hohenstaufen, BA-MA MSg 2/ 4832

  ‘We had a scene . . .’, 9th SS Panzer-Division Hohenstaufen, BA-MA MSg 2/ 4832

  ‘Schlüsselstellung’,HubertMeyer,BA-MA MSg 2/4832

  p. 277 ‘infiltrate the enemy position . . .’, Sergeant W. Partridge, SWWEC 2006.419

  ‘Struggling in desperation . . .’, Corporal D. Proctor, ‘Section Commander’, DWS

  ‘anguished cries . . .’, Sergeant Partridge, SWWEC 2006.419

  ‘A single well-aimed . . .’, Corporal D. Proctor, ‘Section Commander’, DWS

  p. 278 ‘moon landscape’, 9th SS Panzer-Division Hohenstaufen, BA-MA MSg 2/ 4832

  ‘Mademoiselle Jeanette’, Ludwig Horlebein, 9th SS Panzer-Division, BA-MA MSg 2/4832

  civilians in the caves of Fleury, MdC TE 149

  cholera and dogs, Major L. J. Massey, MdC TE 167

  ‘Regret to report . . .’, TNA CAB 106/ 1092, quoted in D’Este, p. 274

  p. 279 ‘not to criticise . . .’, diary of Major Julius Neave, 13th/18th Hussars, SWWEC T2150

  6th Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, 49th Division, TNA WO 205/5G, quoted in D’Este, p. 282

  ‘during th
e 54 hours . . .’, 21st Light Field Ambulance, 13 July, LHCMA O’Connor 5/ 3/18

  p. 280 15th Scottish Division, 22 July, LHCMA O’Connor 5/4/14

  desertions in 50th Division, Stephen A. Hart, Montgomery and ‘Colossal Cracks’, Westport, Conn., 2000, p. 31

  ‘The Corps psychiatrist . . .’, 21 July, LHCMA O’Connor 5/3/18

  ‘most serious offence...’, 21 July, LHCMA O’Connor 5/3/18

  p. 281 ‘Two of them during . . .’, 129th Infantry Brigade Headquarters, Robert Thornburrow, 4th Somerset Light Infantry, 43rd Wessex Division, MdC TE120

  ‘ignorance, stupefying, brutalizing ignorance . . .’, VernonScannell, Argument of Kings, London, 1987, p. 152

  ‘Gentlemen, your life expectancy . . .’, Sydney Jary, 18 Platoon, Bristol, 1998

  18

  THE FINAL BATTLE FOR SAINT-LÔ

  p. 282 ‘awfully restless’, diary, 4 June, Martin Blumenson (ed.), The Patton Papers, 1940-1945, New York, 1974, p. 462

  ‘It is Hell . . .’, ibid., p. 464

  ‘an office seeker . . .’, ibid., pp. 468- 9

  p. 283 ‘I cannot follow the reasoning . . .’, Generalleutnant Richard Schimpf, 3rd Paratroop Division, FMS B-541 and FMS B-020

  ‘one or two armored . . .’, Blumenson (ed.), p. 470

  p. 284 ‘After lunch . . .’, ibid., p. 479

  p. 286 I saw U.S. troops . . .’, 2nd Lieutenant Morton Kligerman, Graves Registration, 320th Infantry, 35th Infantry Division, NA II 407/427/24242

  ‘to relieve the body . . .’, John Capell, 8th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division, NWWIIM-EC

  ‘sickening stench’ and ‘As gruesome . . .’, Sergeant Charles D. Butte, 603rd Quartermaster, Graves Registration Company, VII Corps, First US Army, NWWIIM-EC p. 287 ‘Three enemy paratroopers . . .’, NA II 407/427/24232

  p. 288 ‘Mind your Goddam business . . .’, Max Feldman, 2nd Infantry Division, NWWIIM-EC

  ‘scattered opposition’, 2nd Infantry Division, NA II 407/427/24232

  p. 289 ‘This second transfer . . .’, Generalleutnant Freiherr von Lüttwitz, 2nd Panzer-Division, FMS B-257

  ‘in a poor state . . .’ and ‘a giant, brutal man’, Generalleutnant Fritz Bayerlein, ETHINT 66

  p. 290 ‘more like jungle fighting’, NA II 407/427/24206