JF Ptak Science Books   Quick Post 

[Source:  the Library of Congress, here.]

The idea of being on the receiving end of these lines on 6 June 1944 is terrifying.  General Rommel pretty much figured out what was going to happen, and sort of when it was going to happen, but he was kept out of the strategy loop even though he was in charge of the German defences here, unable to convince Hitler to move men and machines southward to meet the invasion where he thought it was going to come rather than strengthen the position of defence in a place where he knew the invasion wasn’t coming, which was Pas de Calais. The pull of war by this time had destroyed the Luftwaffe, and German high command had been destroyed by Hitler–or at least communications and straegy within the command system of the German army was very highly compromised.  In any event, once the invasion had begun, there was not much hope for the Germans–it had been a complete surprise, with the huge efforts of misdirection playing themselves out beautifully. So beautifully, as a matter of fact, that once the invasion was well underway it was still a matter of no small debate as to where the “real” invasion would take place.  Even after the airborne divisions began landing some hours before the assault began, it was only the elderly and problematic General von Rundstedt who reacted appropriately, believing that the airborne assault was far too large to be a feint, and ordered two reserve panzer divisions to Normandy.  the amount of men and materiel moving onto Normandy was gigantic, impossible, overwelming, as some part of this map makes clear.