World War II D-Day: A History From Beginning to End (World War 2 Battles Book 3) by History Hourly

Author:History, Hourly [History, Hourly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hourly History
Published: 2017-10-02T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

The German Response

“Make peace, you idiots!”

—Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt

The year 1944 was the high-point for the Germany military in terms of the forces it could summon. The Eastern Front had over 5,000 tanks, and the Luftwaffe had more than 5,000 aircraft. On June 6, 1944, there were 157 German divisions in the Soviet Union, 59 in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, 21 in the Balkans, and smaller numbers stationed in Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Germany. However, German records show that before the invasion, the actual numbers were at 50% of their personnel. The Allied Air Forces had not been idle as Eisenhower prepared for the invasion and they had launched strikes against Germany which required the Luftwaffe to pull resources from other locations in order to defend the home front. The depletion of men and aircraft would diminish the Nazi defense against the invasion.

But Hitler had made it clear that the enemy was not to advance into Europe. On November 3, 1943, he had issued Führer Directive No. 51, which threatened deadly consequences should the Allies be able to claim a foothold onto the continent. His strategy was to throw the Allies back into the sea with a mighty counter-attack after reinforcing his defenses along the west.

Hitler failed to realize that the crack Nazi troops were not located in the western regions of his conquered lands. In fact, the troops that had fought on the Eastern Front were sent to the west so that they could recover from the brutal fighting they had experienced.

But Hitler’s will was not to be disobeyed, and by the end of May 1944, 58 German divisions out of the total of 300, were sent to France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Both Hitler and Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda minister, wanted the invasion to take place; otherwise, they reasoned, Germany would continue to watch and wait, leading to a decline in Germany’s resources. The increase in Allied bombings had begun to threaten the availability of gasoline for the Nazi vehicles, and if the waiting endured for too long, the Allies could gain the upper hand. While the Allies were based in England, they were out of reach of the German military machine. But with an invasion, they would be targets.

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was the commander of Army Group B, which consisted of Germany’s 7th Army in Normandy and Brittany, the 15th Army located in the Pas-de-Calais, which the Germans believed was the target of the invasion, and the LXXXVIII Corps in the Netherlands. Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, the commander of the forces in western Europe, could also call upon the 1st and 19th Armies, or Group G, giving him 50 infantry and 10 Panzer divisions .

Von Rundstedt was a veteran of World War I who had retired in 1938 but returned to active service when World War II broke out. After taking part in the conquering of Poland, he was instrumental in defeating France in 1940 in the early days of the war.

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