D-Day: 71 years
[NOTE: The following is a repeat of a post from the 65th anniversary of D-day. I have added a small amount of new commentary to update.]
Today is the 71th anniversary of D-Day, the Normandy landings in WWII. Here’s a video with a few grainy clips of the Allies wading ashore:
I wonder how many people under forty, either here or in Europe, now know or care what happened there. The dog barks and the caravan moves on, and all that.
The world we now live in seems so vastly different, including the relationship between the US and western Europe. But make no mistake about it; if threatened in a way that finally gets their attention, Europeans would be counting on us again. And I have little doubt that our armed forces would be up to the task; the question is whether our government would. In the years that have passed since I first wrote this post, I have gotten to the point where I have little doubt that our government would not be up to the task, and I’m beginning to doubt whether our armed forces would, either, because of the way it’s been hamstrung under Obama.
But back to the D-day landings. About thirty-five years ago I visited Omaha Beach, site of the worst of the carnage. A quieter place than that beach and those huge cemeteries, with their lines of crosses set down as though with a ruler, you never did see.
But the scene was quite different back in 1944. The D-day invasion marked the beginning of the end for the Germans.
The weather was a huge factor, and the Allied commanders had to make the decision knowing that the forecast for the day was iffy and the window of opportunity small. For reasons of visibility and navigation (maximum amount of moonlight and deepest water), the invasion needed to occur during a time of full moon and spring tides, and all the invasion forces had already been assembled and were at the ready. To postpone would have been hugely expensive and frustrating, but to go ahead in bad weather would have been suicidal.
This is how bad the weather looked, how difficult the decision was, and how much we owe to the meteorologists, who:
…were challenged to accurately predict a highly unstable and severe weather pattern. As [Eisenhower] indicated in the message to Marshall, “The weather yesterday which was [the] original date selected was impossible all along the target coast.” Eisenhower therefore was forced to make his decision to proceed with a June 6 invasion in the predawn blackness of June 5, while horizontal sheets of rain and gale force winds shuddered through the tent camp.
The initially bad weather ended up being an advantage in other ways, because the Germans were not expecting the invasion to occur yet for that reason:
Some [German] troops stood down, and many senior officers were away for the weekend. General Erwin Rommel, for example, took a few days’ leave to celebrate his wife’s birthday, while dozens of division, regimental, and battalion commanders were away from their posts at war games.
In addition, there was Hitler’s personality and his reluctance to give autonomy to his military commanders:
Hitler reserved to himself the authority to move the divisions in OKW Reserve, or commit them to action. On 6 June, many Panzer division commanders were unable to move because Hitler had not given the necessary authorization, and his staff refused to wake him upon news of the invasion.
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This didn’t mean that the beaches were not heavily fortified and manned, especially Omaha:
[The Germans] had large bunkers, sometimes intricate concrete ones containing machine guns and high caliber weapons. Their defense also integrated the cliffs and hills overlooking the beach. The defenses were all built and honed over a four year period.
The number of Allied casualties was enormous. Reading about it today makes one appreciate anew what these men faced, and how courageously they pressed on despite enormous difficulties. This is just a small sampler of what occurred on Omaha Beach at the outset; there was much more to come:
Despite these preparations, very little went according to plan. Ten landing craft were lost before they even reached the beach, swamped by the rough seas. Several other craft stayed afloat only because their passengers quickly bailed water with their helmets. Seasickness was also prevalent among the troops waiting offshore. On the 16th RCT front, the landing boats found themselves passing struggling men in life preservers, and on rafts, survivors of the DD tanks which had sunk. Navigation of the assault craft was made more difficult by the smoke and mist obscuring the landmarks they were to use in guiding themselves in, while a heavy current pushed them continually eastward.
As the boats approached within a few hundred yards of the shore, they came under increasingly heavy fire from automatic weapons and artillery. The force discovered only then the ineffectiveness of the pre-landing bombardment. Delayed by the weather, and attempting to avoid the landing craft as they ran in, the bombers had laid their ordnance too far inland, having no real effect on the coastal defenses.
These obstacles and unforeseen circumstances were extraordinarily costly in terms of the human sacrifice that occurred that day. Note that I use the word “obstacles and unforeseen circumstances” rather than “mistakes.” Today, if the same things had occurred (particularly if while under the aegis of the Bush W. Bush administration), they would be labeled unforgivable errors rather than the inevitable difficulties inherent in waging war, in which no battle plan survives contact with the enemy.
Another historical footnote is the following passage from Eisenhower’s message to the Allied Expeditionary Forces: You are about to embark upon the great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. It’s another sign of how times have changed; the word “crusade” has become verboten.
In his pocket, Eisenhower also kept another statement, one to activate in case the invasion failed. It read:
Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that Bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.
The note was written in pencil on a simple piece of paper, and is housed in a special vault at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library & Museum in Abilene, Kansas, a bit of thought-provoking fodder for an alternate history that never occurred—fortunately for all of us.
In the early 1980s I worked in Germany and one week end took a trip to the American cemetery in Luxembourg. There were thousands of graves and at the front was the grave of General Patton. He was still leading the troops even in death.
And D-Day was just the beginning of getting the Germans out of the towns, villages, and hedge rows. I was in Normandy again last year. The whole region was filled with the aging soldiers who fought. And I’m sure they were all thinking of those who didn’t come home.
Today the young are worried about Jenner and the mattress girl. Is no history taught in our schools?
No, they don’t teach much history these days beyond the coverage of the evil white males who invented slavery and destroyed the peace loving American Indian. You can’t cover D day because of too many white males. You can point out the evil white men behind the atomic bombs used on Japan.
It is estimated that 70% of young people are not qualified to serve in the military.
Over many years, I’ve grudgingly reached the conclusion that we should not have entered Europe during World War II, except to rescue the Jews.
I most definitely would not support defending Europe against the developing alliance of Russia, China and Iran. Who knows how many American lives would be lost in the defense of an ungrateful Europe? Such a war could even lead to the destruction of our country. Afterwards, the Europeans would crawl out from whatever hole they’d hidden themselves in, and proceed to spit on all the American cowboys who didn’t understand their wonderful moral complexity. I say it’s time to let Europe rot in its own ambiguity. I only wish that we’d done so before D-Day ever happened.
Take a quiet, breathtaking walk through the American Cemetery at St. Avold in Lorraine. 10,000+young Americans who would never have the chance to become old men.
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D-Day in Normandy: I was nearly 3-weeks old and with my Mom. Dad was in the CBI Theater/Western China with the B-29s of the 20th Air Force. His 462nd Bomb Group, The Hellbirds, had a great motto on the noses of all their SuperFortresses: WITH MALICE TOWARD SOME.
Amen. AMEN.
Today, if the same things had occurred (particularly if while under the aegis of the Bush W. Bush administration), they would be labeled unforgivable errors rather than the inevitable difficulties inherent in waging war…
Reporting as it would be nowadays:
D-Day: Crisis On Omaha.
I blame the voters.
My Dad visited Omaha Beach — and on the government’s dime — seventy-one years ago to the day.
The tour was seriously overbooked, so he didn’t make it ashore.
He spent the rest of the day split between medic and graves and registration duties.
His outfit took about 95% Casualties in less than 15 seconds.
Dang those acoustic mines… his craft found them the hard way.
He would’ve died with his buddies — but for some unknown reason felt really nervous that morning — and went up to pace the top deck.
To give you an idea of how shallow the sea was — the craft sunk clear to the bottom — yet was — for a time — still partially above water.
Tides in the English Channel are INTENSE, nine meters, is typical. So there was quite the push to get the dead off of the craft and to haul it out of the primary path to the beach.
For, you see, this particular wave was the VERY first at Omaha. The ‘standard’ published account suppresses the fact that the entire first wave of assault boats didn’t even get to first base!
Three abreast, these were ENGINEER specialists who were tasked with jumping off FIRST to attack Rommel’s beach defenses in the deepest water. It was for this activity that the D-Day landing window was set for June 5 or June 6.
By even June 7th the tides would’ve been out of synch to a morning assault. And SHAEF wanted the tide to not only be synched to the morning — HQ wanted the tides to be at the bi-monthly EXTREME if at all possible. June 5-6th just happened to be about as sweet a slot as one could hope.
FYI, the ORIGINAL D-Day was to be May 1st. Bradley delayed that into June — by a calculation made back in February.
Only later, in MAY, did Bradley realize that he’d made a horrific mistake delaying the attack.
ALL of the stuff we all read about: the 352nd German infantry division, the 155mm Artillery guns, Rommel’s defenses — ALL of them were put in place during the final five weeks. 5-1-44 thru 6-6-44.
Even that Tuesday, the Germans had work parties scheduled to massively extend the beach obstacles… which were actually MISSING on the right flank.
That’s why there were NO obstacles at Utah Beach!
The stuff at Omaha was ALL less than two-and-a-half weeks old. Back in early May — it was as nude as nature!
The original German defense formation was pulled and sent to Utah Beach. (!) It surrendered without a fight. (!!!)
The delay also caused the 82nd Airborne to be re-deployed — at the last moment — to assist the 101st Airborne. If it had jumped in early May — the fields would NOT have yet been flooded and the Omaha defenders would’ve been in the exact same spot as they ended up — but over at Utah Beach. (!!!)
The last five weeks also saw the 17th SS division move in, a parachute regiment, (it was a Royal Pain to eliminate — and its troops basically took over all of the subordinate units — including the 17th SS — that entered its zone in front of St Lo, all by force of personality. They just did it.)
Bradley was so angry at the German parachute troops that he gave oral instructions that lasted until May 8, 1945 for ALL American artillery to prioritize parachute troops beyond all other German formations — until said unit was utterly destroyed. The implicit nature of this order was to not take any parachutists as prisoners… just hose them.
The entire 2nd Parachute Division received this treatment after the breakout. IIRC, less than two hundred stunned and bleeding parachutists survived the multi-day attack. And they were holed up in a massive fortress. (!) Bradley had sent the entire (tactical) USAAF into the battle — to the extent possible.
Patton entirely agreed: in the post-war era there would be absolutely no swaggering Nazi parachutists. And there weren’t!
Most of the 2nd Parachute Division was burned alive by napalm and flamethrower. (tank, especially) Their artillery and such was crushed at the outset. Then every single chamber was bombed, burned and crushed. IIRC, surrenders were simply not accepted. This was entirely due to the legacy of St. Lo ‘fake surrender’ gambits.
The oral orders were: No-one from THIS Nazi outfit are suitable prisoners.
Likewise German parachutists were wiped out during Battle of the Bulge. The 7th Parachutist Division was the blocking force between Patton and Bastogne. It was wiped out via 24hours per day attack in snow and hail. That effort went on for days.
At one instance Patton had deployed over 30 battalions of artillery at the point of attack.
After the war, the German survivors of these outfits couldn’t round up enough men to staff a beer fest.
ALL of this was a legacy of the bitter fighting in front of St. Lo.
Not only have so many forgotten history (or not learned it in the first place); but, many don’t seem to realize that the action that took place in Europe on D-Day would have looked like child’s play if the Allies (and that would most likely have meant majority American GIs) would have had to invade the home islands of Japan.
And, there is no doubt that Japan, like Germany, needed to be totally, unconditionally, defeated.
The staggering number of deaths, both Allied forces and Japanese civilians would have been enormous.
So, yea, let’s remember D-Day and honor those whose lives were lost for future generations; but, let’s also remember the bombs that made ending the war quicker were a good thing too.
Cornflour; I, too, often think the same – let the Zeropeans suffer their own fate. Except, I do believe that if we let Europe, or any other part of the world (hello, Middle East and ISIS) run riot it WILL come to us. Whether it be 9-11 or some other form.
We need to stand strong and fight evil where ever it is. I wish it weren’t so, but, it is so.
“Hitler reserved to himself the authority to move the divisions in OKW Reserve, or commit them to action. On 6 June, many Panzer division commanders were unable to move because Hitler had not given the necessary authorization, and his staff refused to wake him upon news of the invasion.”
While this tale is repeated ENDLESSLY it is grossly distorted if not factually incorrect.
1) The crazy way the dictator split up military authority is actually astounding — and beyond the comprehension of contemporary historians and news folk. They’ve gotten EVERYTHING wrong.
2) The ONLY formation actually covered by his imperial restriction was the 1SS Panzer Corps. THAT’S IT. That was just TWO tank divisions — one of which was hundreds of miles from the front — the other was three days away from Normandy.
3) So the legendary restriction by the dictator was no restriction on deployments AT ALL.
4) Rommel’s HQ had DIRECT and FULL command of a slew of panzer divisions – straight off. They’d been pre-released based upon Rommel’s arguments — by Hitler to Rommel.
So, Rommel actually HAD his quick reaction tank divisions.
The nearest one — the 21st was (nominally) a panzer division that had been redeployed from Africa. ( The boys that fought in Africa were now residing, safely, in American PW camps.) The 21st actually reached the beach sands, the afternoon of 6-6-44. The tankers saw the Royal Navy and fled without engaging ANY of the Brits right in front of their panzers!
The counter-attack in Sicily was still in memory. The Royal Navy would’ve utterly destroyed any active panzers. So they ran away before being properly spotted.
The REST of Romel’s panzers were either too far away OR were being held back for the moment when Hitler was assassinated. The magic unit: the 116th Panzer Division was ENTIRELY composed of anti-Nazi panzer troops… selected by Guderian EXPRESSLY for this purpose.
With good humor, Guderian presented this newly hatched panzer division to the dictator — as a ‘birthday present.’ This division, was held out of ALL of the fighting until the last. It was kept back at Rommel’s HQ so that the SS could not arrest Rommel — should he take the throne.
To top it all off, this unit had a full THREE tank battalions — the ONLY panzer division to do so! (160 + of the newest, and best — everything, including the mechanics.)
ALL during the first weeks of the fighting, the 116th sat on its tush… per Rommel’s orders.
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Lastly, Adolf issued WRITTEN standing orders to the effect that should ANY ‘toy’ or real parachute drops occur – that all invasion reaction troops were AUTOMATICALLY released — on the spot, on the instant. Ditto if the Royal Navy was spotted.
In the panic of the moment, surviving German officers admitted that THIS particular order was stapled to EVERY HQ interior door — and they ALL forgot about it!!!!!
They were so used to getting orders from Berlin, they totally forgot the ‘permission slip’ posted by the hundreds all over France.
Truth is even stranger than ‘first’ history.
VDH: 2006
In the Eye of the Beholder. Imagine if we’d reported on WWII the way we do now.
Disturbing, if we are still [disturb-able] that is …
Americans Are Losing the Victory in Europe
LIFE Magazine | January 7, 1946 | John Dos Passos.
TWANLOC, They never stop, they never tire, they never rest, they never sleep, they never give up.
It is amazing what total victory and unconditional surrender can do in converting warrior nations into pacifists. Thank G-d for the USA.
“I wonder how many people under forty, either here or in Europe, now know or care what happened there. The dog barks and the caravan moves on, and all that.”
The following article from a couple of weeks ago is interesting:
Dutch families adopt and care for U.S. World War II graves
In one single action, more than the entire Iraq WAR while Bush was in office, despite the imbeciles feeding the enemy’s hope that we would cut and run on such measly losses**, thereby keeping them fighting much longer and harder than they might have.
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** When taken individually, there are no “measly” losses, but, as a nation, for that large a goal, it was a trivial number of losses.