Divided on D-Day Read online

  Published 2017 by Prometheus Books

  Divided on D-Day: How Conflicts and Rivalries Jeopardized the Allied Victory at Normandy.

  Copyright © 2017 by Edward E. Gordon and David Ramsay. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or conveyed via the Internet or a website without prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Cover images © (top) akg-images/Alamy Stock Photo; (bottom left) US Army; (bottom right) US Army; (bottom) Imperial War Museums (TR 1541)

  Cover design by Nicole Sommer-Lecht

  Cover design © Prometheus Books

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Gordon, Edward E. (Edward Earl), 1949- author. | Ramsay, David, 1933- author.

  Title: Divided on D-Day : how conflicts and rivalries jeopardized the Allied victory at Normandy / by Edward E. Gordon and David Ramsay.

  Description: Amherst, New York : Prometheus Books, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2017010411 (print) | LCCN 2017011242 (ebook) | ISBN 9781633883192 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781633883208 (ebook)

  Subjects: LCSH: World War, 1939-1945—Campaigns—France—Normandy. | Operation Overlord. | Allied Forces. Supreme Headquarters—History. | Combined operations (Military science)—Case studies. | Great Britain—Military relations—United States. | United States—Military relations—Great Britain. | Normandy (France)—History, Military,—20th century.

  Classification: LCC D756.5.N6 G68 2017 (print) | LCC D756.5.N6 (ebook) | DDC 940.54/2142—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017010411

  Printed in the United States of America

  List of Charts and Maps

  List of Photographs

  Background and Acknowledgments

  Introduction: Remembering D-Day in History and Memory

  Chapter 1: Setting the Stage: Struggle over Opening the Second Front

  Chapter 2: First Shots: Controversies over D-Day Planning

  Chapter 3: “Who Will Command OVERLORD?”

  Chapter 4: The OVERLORD Gamble

  Chapter 5: Cracks in Fortress Europe

  Chapter 6: The “Longest Day” Comes Up Short

  Chapter 7: Who Was in Control?

  Chapter 8: Breakout Blues

  Chapter 9: Patton Unleashed

  Chapter 10: Falaise Follies

  Chapter 11: The Lost Victory

  Chapter 12: The Antwerp/MARKET GARDEN Fiascos

  Chapter 13: Crisis in Command

  Notes

  Index

  (In Insert)

  CHARTS

  Chart 1: OVERLORD Command Structure, June 6, 1944

  Chart 2: German Chain of Command in Western Europe, June 6, 1944

  Chart 3: OVERLORD Command Structure, September 1, 1944

  MAPS

  Map 1A: Morgan's OVERLORD PLAN, July 15, 1943

  Map 1B: The Final OVERLORD PLAN, May 1944

  Map 2: OVERLORD D-Day Objectives

  Map 3: General Strategy of OVERLORD

  Map 4: German Dispositions in the West, June 6, 1944

  Map 5: D-Day June 6, 1944

  Map 6: Juno, Gold, South Beach German Counterattack, June 6, 1944

  Map 7: D-Day Beaches Objectives Attained

  Map 8: German Concentrations and the Battle of VILLERS-BOCAGE, June 11–12, 1944

  Map 9: The Normandy Bocage Country, July 2, 1944

  Map 10: Bradley's Advance, June 13 to June 30, 1944

  Map 11: Operation EPSOM, June 26–July 1, 1944

  Map 12: The Normandy BRIDGEHEAD, June 6–30 1944

  Map 13: Expanding the BRIDGEHEAD Battle for St. Lô and Caen, July 1–24, 1944

  Map 14: Operation CHARNWOOD, July 7–10, 1944

  Map 15: Operation GOODWOOD, July 18–July 20, 1944

  Map 16: Operation COBRA, July 25–August 1, 1944

  Map 17: Operation BLUECOAT, July 30–August 7, 1944

  Map 18: Breakout Into Brittany, August 1–12, 1944

  Map 19: Northwestern France—The Breakthrough, August 1–13, 1944

  Map 20: Patton Attack and German Counter Attack Mortain Offensive, August 6–12, 1944

  Map 21 OVERLORD Advance, July–August 1944

  Map 22: Closing the Falaise-Argentan Pocket, August 6–22, 1944

  Map 23: Allied Breakout and Advance, June 6–August 31, 1944

  Map 24: Patton's 3rd and 2nd Army Attack (Proposed), August–September 1944

  Map 25: Montgomery's “Full Blood Thrust” (Proposed), August–September 1944

  Map 26: Eisenhower's Original “Broad Front” Offensive (Proposed), August–September 1944

  Map 27: Montgomery's Advance to Antwerp, August 26–September 4, 1944

  Map 28: Battle of Antwerp (The Scheldt Estuary), October–November 1944

  Map 29: Operation MARKET-GARDEN I, September 17–24, 1944

  Map 30: Operation MARKET-GARDEN II, September 17–24, 1944

  Fig. 1.1. Meeting of Combined Chiefs of Staff, Quebec Conference. August 1943.

  Fig. 1.2. Casablanca Conference, North Africa. 1943.

  Fig. 2.1. Lieutenant General Sir Frederick E. Morgan.

  Fig. 3.1. Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke.

  Fig. 3.2. General George C. Marshall.

  Fig. 3.3. Meeting of the Supreme Command. Allied Expeditionary Force in London. February 1, 1944.

  Fig. 4.1. General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay at Southwick House.

  Fig. 5.1. Gerd von Rundstedt.

  Fig. 5.2. Erwin Rommel.

  Fig. 5.3. German beach defenses, Pas-de-Calais.

  Fig. 5.4. Bombproof artillery bunker on the German Atlantic Wall.

  Fig. 6.1. Buildup of Omaha Beach reinforcements.

  Fig. 6.2. Gold Beach British Fiftieth Infantry Division going ashore. June 6, 1944.

  Fig. 7.1. Generals Dempsey and Montgomery.

  Fig. 7.2. Bocage/hedgerows of Normandy.

  Fig. 7.3. A British Universal Carrier drives through a gap made in a hedgerow.

  Fig. 7.4. German tank concealed in a hedgerow.

  Fig. 7.5. General Charles de Gaulle.

  Fig. 7.6. Wrecked pontoon causeway of one of the Mulberry artificial harbors, following the storm of June 19–22, 1944.

  Fig. 7.7. German destruction of Cherbourg Port. June 1944.

  Fig. 8.1. Field Marshal Gunther von Kluge.

  Fig. 8.2. Rhino tank.

  Fig. 8.3. Generals Patton, Bradley, and Montgomery.

  Fig. 9.1. General George S. Patton in France.

  Fig. 9.2. Hitler and Admiral Erich Raeder in discussion at a map table.

  Fig. 10.1. Major General Francis de Guingand, chief of staff, Twenty-First Army Group.

  Fig. 10.2. Field Marshal Walte
r Model.

  Fig. 10.3. A British soldier in Caen, after its liberation, gives a helping hand to an old lady among the scene of utter devastation.

  Fig. 10.4. Falaise Pocket destruction of German army.

  Fig. 11.1. General Charles de Gaulle at the liberation of Paris. August 26, 1944.

  Fig. 11.2. The US Twenty-Eighth Infantry marches down the Champs-Élysées.

  Fig. 11.3. Patton's Third Army advances across France.

  Fig. 11.4. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, and George S. Patton.

  Fig. 11.5. The Thirty-Ninth Infantry Brigade of the US Army crossing the Siegfried Line in Germany. September 1944.

  Fig. 12.1. Lieutenant General Henry Crerar.

  Fig. 12.2. Antwerp Harbor. 1944–45.

  Behind every book there is a team of people who are responsible for its ultimate publication. The authors met over ten years ago when Ed Gordon gave a presentation entitled “The Secrets of D-Day” at the Palm Springs Air Museum. Afterward David Ramsay introduced himself as a fellow historian. We then began what turned out to be our decade-long dialogue on the Normandy invasion.

  David has a unique link to the events of D-Day. His special interest spans almost an entire lifetime since his father, Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, was Allied commander in chief of the seven-thousand-ship D-Day fleet, and principal author of NEPTUNE the naval/amphibious assault plan that was a vital part of the OVERLORD operation.

  The authors gathered information from many published and archival sources. Elaine Gordon, who spent a large part of her career as an instruction librarian at DePaul University, had a major role on our team as a researcher and a very insightful editor. We are deeply indebted to her for all the expert suggestions she provided into making Divided on D-Day a far better history.

  Valerie Collier at Loyola University Chicago spent many hours in preparing our manuscript. Her outstanding work helped us produce a more readable book.

  Charlene Meers utilized her great talents in graphic design to help us create original, detailed maps that enable readers to better understand the geography of the OVERLORD campaign. She also assisted us in the selection and formatting of the photographs that appear throughout Divided on D-Day.

  Denise Goolsby, a reporter at the Desert Sun in Palm Springs, California, was very generous in giving us access to her interviews of World War II veterans. These fascinating accounts of soldiers who participated in the OVERLORD campaign add unique perspectives on these events.

  We wish to thank the staff at the Pritzker Military Museum and Library in Chicago. In particular Theresa A. R. Embrey, chief librarian, has been very helpful in showing us pertinent research materials at their library and gathering many other materials for us from across the United States. Also the staff at the University of Ohio Libraries, home of the Cornelius Ryan Collection, has been of assistance to complete our research.

  We are also grateful to Steven L. Mitchell, the vice president and editor in chief at Prometheus Books, for all of his many helpful suggestions and advice on improving Divided on D-Day and bringing it to a wider audience of readers.

  Finally, we wish to heartily thank John Willig of Literary Services Inc. for his outstanding efforts in successfully bringing this book into the marketplace and encouraging us to persevere as authors. His wise counsel has been invaluable.

  For all of the content, historical judgments, or unintended factual errors that are found in Divided on D-Day, the authors take sole responsibility.

  Edward E. Gordon, Chicago, Illinois

  David Ramsay, Indian Wells, California

  “History will hear me out, particularly as I shall write that history myself.”

  —Winston Churchill1

  The Allied D-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, and the subsequent campaign rank high in the annals of military history. The final result was the destruction of most of the German army in Western Europe, which played a major role in ending the Second World War in the West. Some of the Allies’ finest commanders provided the key leadership.

  Even Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, German senior commander in Normandy, was impressed. “Technically and strategically the landing in Normandy was a brilliant achievement of the first magnitude…. The functioning of the Allied fighting machine, with all its complexity, surprised even me, and I already had a fairly high opinion of their powers.”2

  In keeping with the seventy-fifth anniversary of D-Day, it is fitting that we commemorate the courageous acts of these countless soldiers, sailors, and airmen who were the most important contributors to the Allied victory. The Americans buried above Omaha Beach at St. Laurent; the British, Canadians, and other Allies at Bayeux; and many military cemeteries across northern France provide mute testimony to the cost of the Allied campaign to free Europe from the yoke of Nazi Gemany.3

  Dwight D. Eisenhower expressed this best when he said that “the American soldiers who rest forever near the beach-head they won, and in the land they helped to free, will never be forgotten. Their memory will always help strengthen the bonds of friendship between our countries, historic allies for the cause of human freedom.”4 By 2015 only 5 percent of the sixteen million World War II veterans were still alive. About five hundred were passing away every day.5

  Many people have commented that the history of war has been written by its winners. The Normandy campaign has been largely represented as a triumphant Allied success story. Martin Blumenson believes that the Anglo-American alliance that directed it “was probably the most successful alliance in history.”6

  The pursuit of a common goal—the defeat of the Axis at times held a difficult partnership together. The “sheer depth, scale and scope of the alliance,” says Niall Barr, “between Britain and the United States…is hard to comprehend even now.”7 The combined Allied Supreme Headquarter Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) that planned and executed Operation OVERLORD contrasted sharply with the confused German (OKW) armed forces high command. “Alongside the command structure of their enemies, that of the Allied Force was a masterpiece of reason and understanding,” asserts historian Max Hastings.8

  Though it was victorious, the Normandy campaign was far from perfect. The working relationships among the Allied OVERLORD commanders was often marred by disagreements over tactics, strategy, and national agendas exacerbated by rivalries and personality conflicts.9

  Over the past decades a vast quantity of literature has chronicled the events and the controversies of D-Day. This barrage of sources includes the following:

  Memoirs, autobiographies, biographies of the British, American, Canadian, French, and German commanders.

  National official histories.

  D-Day anniversary books.

  First person accounts by soldiers and officers.

  The published papers of the principal commanders.

  Unpublished archival documents, letters, and reports.

  These materials have helped to define the identities of the participant commanders and the aspirations of the Allied nations. However great the triumph, it in itself does not provide conclusive evidence on the quality of the command decisions. This literature also includes myths that have little or no basis in the historic record. Fortunately, the perspective of time has helped us sharpen our historical assessments.

  The major focus of Divided on D-Day is an analysis of the quality of leadership and the relationships among its principal commanders. Their command decisions proved crucial at key points in the Normandy campaign. Our roster of political leaders and principal commanders include Prime Minister Winston Churchill, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery, General George C. Marshall, Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, General George S. Patton, General Omar Bradley, General Charles de Gaulle, Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder, Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, Admiral Ernest J. King, and many other Allied and German commanders.

  Divided on
D-Day is the first general history of this campaign to be written by an Anglo-American team of historians. Our aim to provide a fresh, balanced critical perspective on controversies that still surround D-Day:

  What caused the Allied failure to implement their beachhead breakout strategy?

  Why was Caen, a top D-Day objective, not captured by the British?

  How could Rommel's Omaha Beach orders have defeated the Allied D-Day invasion?

  Why did Eisenhower refrain from issuing direct orders to his commanders?

  What decisions forced the Americans to fight in the bocage/hedgerow hell?

  Who issued the “phantom order” stopping Patton from closing the Falaise Pocket?

  Why did Eisenhower stop Patton's drive to outflank Germany's West Wall?

  Why did Montgomery delay opening the vital supply facility, the Port of Antwerp, for nearly two months?

  How could have the MARKET GARDEN/Arnhem disaster and the Battle of the Bulge been avoided?

  What decisions could the Allies have made to end the war in 1944 or early 1945?

  Divided on D-Day provides the behind-the-scenes stories of crucial command decisions, or a lack of them, that led the invasion to first come close to failure, then experience a long period of stalemate on the ground, and eventually win the long, bloody struggle for victory. By raising questions about the Allied commanders’ key strategic and tactical decisions, we seek to provide new insights into some of the most vexing controversies that have long surrounded the Normandy invasion.

  What lessons can we learn from the OVERLORD campaign? These mighty battles contained both triumphs and personal tragedies. They were fought to sustain great ideals. This is what gives glory to the Allied effort, whatever the rivalries and tangled relations among its commanders.

  As we recall OVERLORD's higher purposes, even in the midst of the hard conflicts of a twenty-first century world, the high level of cooperation achieved by the Allies in spite of conflicting goals and objectives may also inspire us to do better. For most of us that is the most important lesson of all.

  “Well, there it is; it won't work, but you must bloody well make it.”