When The Allies Landed We Knew It Was Over

the evening of the 5th of June 1944 was unpleasant Normandy was showing its bad side during the day there had been rain and high winds I was sitting in a sparsely furnished house on the edge of the village of belangerville a few kilometers west of vimont a small town east of Khan the industrial center and Port of the Normandy Coast before me were papers and maps to do with exercises I Was preparing for my regiment my adjutant lieutenant Helmut liebskind was at the command post in the village I was a major 32 years old I was to be promoted to Lieutenant Colonel at the end of July and after a further two months to Colonel rapid progress it seemed to me the general weather conditions worked out every day by Naval meteorologists and passed on To Us by division gave the all clear for 5 and the 6th of June so we did not anticipate any Landings for Heavy Seas storms and low-lying clouds would make large-scale operations at Sea and in the air impossible for our opponents that evening I felt our lot was highly unsatisfactory like most of my men I was used to mobile actions such as we had fought in the other theaters of War this waiting for an invasion that was undoubtedly coming was innovating but in spite of the inactivity morale among the troops remained High the more so since Normandy spoiled us with butter cheese creme fraiche and meat as well as cider on that rainy evening my adjutant and I were waiting for a report from number two Battalion that the night exercise had ended this Battalion was in the area Tron escoville hence fairly near the coast while first Battalion equipped with armored personnel carriers and armored half-track vehicles had taken up waiting positions further to the rear I had given the more basic order that in the event of possible Landings by Allied Commando troops the battalions and companies concerned were to attack immediately and independently and to do so moreover without regard to the prohibition from the highest Authority on engaging action except after clearance by high command West but in view of the weather report that we had been given I had no thought of such an engagement that night about midnight I heard the growing Roar of aircraft which passed over us I wondered whether the attack was destined once again for traffic routes Inland or for Germany herself the machines appeared to be flying very low because of the weather I looked out the window and was wide awake flares were hanging in the sky at the same moment my adjutant was on the telephone major paratroops are dropping gliders are landing in our section I'm trying to make contact with number two Battalion I'll come along to you at once I gave orders without hesitation all units are to be put on alert immediately and the division informed number two Battalion is to go into action wherever necessary prisoners are to be taken if possible and brought to me I then went to the command post with my adjutant the fifth company of number two Battalion which had gone out with blank cartridges was not back yet from the night exercise a dangerous situation first reports indicated that British paratroops had dropped over Tron the commander of number two Battalion had already started a counter-attack with uninvolved elements and had succeeded in penetrating as far as Tron to which elements of the fifth company had already withdrawn under their own Steam we telephoned the company commander who was in a cellar Brandenburg hold on the Battalion is already attacking and is bound to reach you in a few moments okay he replied I have the first prisoner here a British medical officer of the sixth Airborne Division send him along as soon as the position is clear in the meantime my adjutant telephoned the division General feuchtinger and his general staff officer had not come back yet we gave the orderly officer Lieutenant Messmer a brief situation report and asked him to obtain clearance for us for a concentrated night attack the moment the divisional Commander returned by now we had a slightly better idea of and grip on the situation prisoners who had misjudged their jumps and fallen into our hands in the course of our limited counter-attack were brought into me before I had them escorted away to division in accordance with orders we learned during our small talk that the sixth Airborne Division was supposed to jump during the night in order to take the bridges over the orn at ronville intact and former Bridgehead east of the orm for the landing by sea planned for the morning of the 6th of June gradually we were becoming filled with anger the clearance for an immediate night attack so as to take advantage of the initial confusion among our opponents had still not come Although our reports via division to the corps and to Army Group B Rommel must have long since been on hand we made a thorough calculation of our chances of successfully pushing through to the coast and preventing the formation of a Bridgehead or at least making it more difficult I remember the British medical officer who was brought to me as the first prisoner in his parachute equipment he looked like any other Soldier as a good Britain he kept his composure but seemed deeply disappointed and unnerved at being taken prisoner immediately on his first mission since he too would only give his name a number I began as always with a British prisoner to make small talk I spoke about my last visit to London in March 1939 about Piccadilly Circus and my British friends but that he thought and I learned more about British intentions and the task of the sixth Airborne Division the hours passed we had set up a defensive front where we had been condemned to inactivity the rest of the division with the Panzer regiment and Panzer Grenadier regiment 192 was equally immobilized though in the highest state of alert my adjutant telephoned once more to division major Foster came to the phone he too was unable to alter the established orders Army Group B merely informed us that it was a matter of a diversionary maneuver the British had thrown out straw dummies on parachutes at Daybreak I sent my adjutant to ask divisional command post to secure us immediate clearance for a counter-attack on his arrival lieb's kind witnessed a heated telephone conversation which feustinger was evidently having with the army General I have just come back from Paris and I've seen a gigantic Armada off the west coast of caborg Warships Supply ships and landing craft I want to attack at once with the entire division east of the awn in order to push through to the coast but clearance was strictly denied Hitler who used to work far into the night was still asleep that early morning at the command post I paced up and down and clenched my fists at the indecision of the Supreme command in the face of the obvious facts if Rommel had been with us instead of in Germany he would have disregarded all orders and taken action of that we were convinced we felt completely fit physically and able to cope with the situation I concealed my anger and remained calm and matter-of-fact my experience in previous theaters of War had taught me that the more critical a situation or the more alarming the reports the more calmly every experienced leader should react the best way to calm an excited orderly officer or a dispatch Rider coming straight from an apparently desperate situation is to sit him down give him a cigarette and say now tell me what has actually happened so the tragedy took its course after only a few hours the brave fighting units in the coastal fortifications could no longer withstand the enemy pressure or else they were smashed by the Allied Naval guns while a German Panzer Division ready to engage lay motionless behind the front and Powerful Allied bomber formations thanks to Complete Air superiority covered the coastal divisions and Khan with concentrated attacks in the early hours of the morning from The Hills East of calm we saw the gigantic Allied Armada the fields littered with transport gliders and the numerous observation balloons over the landing Fleet with the help of which the heavy Naval guns subjected us to Precision fire the situation forced us to regroup strong combat units were formed on either side of the awn East and West we continued to wait for clearance for a counter-attack in view of this superiority I thought on seeing the landing Fleet there was no longer much chance of throwing the Allies back into the sea bringing up reserves was even now extremely difficult for us the second front had been established the enemy in the East pressing with Superior strength the ceaseless bombing of our most important industrial centers and Railway Communications even the bravest and most experienced troops could no longer win this war a successful Invasion I thought was the beginning of the end what we didn't know at the time was some information which came into my hands at the beginning of May 1987. Werner cortenhouse a former tank commander in our division and the author of History of the 21st Panzer Division made available to me two letters that had been sent to him at the end of 1979 by General Speidel formerly Chief of Staff of army Group B here follows an extract from letter of the 26th of October 1979. I called foigtinger between 1 and 2 am on the 6th of June 1944 but couldn't get him it was not until the morning of the 6th of June that my first general staff officer got through to him foigtinger had a general directive to attack at once in the event of an Airborne Landing extract from letter of the 15th of November 1979. the 21st Panzer Division had orders to go into action at once if the enemy made an Airborne landing and with the whole division in fact this general order to attack at once in full strength hence with my whole combat group during that very night of 5 6 June in the event of an Airborne Landing was known neither to me nor to my adjutant at the time the later general liebskind of the bundeswear neither apparently did the other units in the division know of this order instead we all adhered to the strict order not to carry out even the smallest operation until it had been cleared by Army Group B the divisional staff must have known of the other order as is clear from General spidle's letters the question arises if I had known of the order to take action in the event of Airborne Landings I would on my own responsibility have launched an attack with the whole regiment reinforced by the Becker assault gun Battalion against the Airborne Landings east of the awn it is my firm opinion and that of my adjutant at the time that by exploiting the initial confusion among the enemy after their descent we would have succeeded in pushing through to the coast and probably also in regaining possession of the two bridges over the orn at bennuville parallel operations would then have been started also by regiment 192 and the Panzer regiment this would not have been enough to prevent The Invasion as a whole but there would probably have been a delay in the Seabourn Landing with great losses for the British an example of how imprecise issuing of orders can have an adverse effect on a large operation further highly interesting information came into my hands at the beginning of June 1987 through a former captain on the general staff later general vagerman of the bundesffer who had given it to Lieutenant Colonel bechtold of the bundesffer a student of the invasion at the beginning of May 1987. from May to July 1944 Wegman had been posted to the divisional staff for training and during the night of 5 6 June he was deputizing for the first general staff officer who was in Paris with foittinger Wegman reported that late in the evening of the 5th of June 1944 the division's radio company had picked up a British clear text radio message that indicated the loading of Transport gliders this report had been passed on after the first reports of Airborne Landings he had at once alerted the whole Division and informed foistinger in Paris between 2 and 3 o'clock in the morning of the 6th of June feustinger had then arrived at the command post with his general staff officer between 6 and 7 o'clock we were all surprised that spidel in his call at two o'clock in the morning of the 6th of June knowing of the general directive had not given the order to attack Airborne enemy forces at once with all available elements in my sector east of the awn the fact that in the critical hours it was left to in completely informed divisional commanders to cope with the situation seems to me in retrospect inexcusable on the night of 5 6 June 1944 Lance corporal Hamel had been assigned to guard Duty he belonged to Panza reconnaissance Battalion 21 of our division which was lying in reserve in positions near a village south of calm as Hamel was later to relate the inactivity upset us greatly we had always been in action as Scouts and as the spearhead of the division now we had been stationed there for weeks waiting for something that might not affect us at all the landing on orders from Rommel we had to carry out exercises by night almost every day so that in the event of Airborne Landings we would be familiar with the terrain as far as the coast to occupy ourselves we had to set up rommel's asparaguses as a defense against gliders and also prepare fortifications in the area behind the Atlantic Wall Suddenly at midnight on 5 to the 6th of June all hell broke loose from my post I could see flares in the sky followed by a concentrated air raid on nearby car now the fun begins was my first thought Lieutenant as he then was ruprecht kazimek of the reconnaissance Battalion remembers it clearly during that same night of five to the 6th of June we were alerted that paratroops and gliders had landed in the sector of Panzer Grenadier regiment 125 under major Von look together with the bombing of calm this suggested more than a Commando operation we knew the order to attack only on orders from the highest Authority in spite of that within a very short time the Battalion was ready for action our Commander Major Waldo was on leave he was due back on the 8th of June at dawn a liaison officer whom we had sent to Von look reported that not only had an Airborne Division landed east of the awn but the enemy had brought up a vast Armada off the coast and Was preparing a landing from the sea heavy Naval guns now joined in the landing operations the weak units on the coast were apparently already involved in Fierce fighting soon after came the order the Battalion is attached to Von looks combat group and will move off at once in the direction of Tron about 12 kilometers east of Khan by making full use of cover we reached the area just west of Tron in the early afternoon more or less without interference Lance corporal Hamel later as we moved forward to the Northeast we saw toward midday on the 6th of June two Messerschmitt Fighters flying North low over the awn the only German aircraft that day east of Khan lay the first British paratroops to be killed from their parachute silk we cut ourselves scarves as protection against the dust our Commander's Deputy gave us the order to attack we went into the attack practically from the March further west we could hear the sounds of battle that we heard was where our armored group was supposed to attack the enemy was apparently concentrating his Naval fire against this for him dangerous thrust his Air Force was also in action there so we made good progress as far as the outskirts of escoville hence only a few kilometers from ronville and the two bridges over the awn in the early morning of the 6th of June the situation and issuing of orders in face of the Airborne Landings the Armada of Warships merchantment and landing craft and the incipient Landing from the sea were more than confusing despite the supposed General directive we had not received permission to attack during the night Inga even in the early morning did not receive clearance for his division to counter-attack the commander-in-chief West Von runstet was of the opinion as was Hitler's High command that this was a diversionary maneuver the real Landing was expected in the parda Calais our core commander on the other hand General Marx thought the landing was genuine Rommel we heard was on route to his HQ without having met Hitler so the night and First hours of the 6th of June went by too late much too late was how it seemed to us we were dismayed and angry that we had not been believed by the highest Authority finally General Marx whether authorized to do so or not ordered our division to attack at once with the whole division east of the awn and smashed the units of the sixth Airborne Division that had landed there and cut their Communications with the West while the necessary orders were being issued and the division was forming itself for attack the extent of the sea Landings became evident in the middle of our movements which were constantly harassed by British planes came a new order this time from the seventh Army the bulk of the 21st Panzer Division will attack the enemy forces that have landed west of the aworn only elements of Von looks combat group will attack the Bridgehead east of the awn this involved time and further losses from air attacks the regrouping of the division took hours most of the units from the area east of Khan and the awn had to squeeze through the eye of the needle at calm and over the only Bridges available in this sector Khan was under virtually constant bombardment from the Navy and the fighter bombers of the royal Air Force tinger informed me that an armored group including my Battalion in spws schutzen panzavagan armored personnel carriers was to push through to the coast west of the orn his orders to me you will attack with your Battalion reinforced by Panzer reconnaissance Battalion 21 and assault gun Battalion 200 and a platoon of anti-tank guns east of the awn your task is to crush the sixth airborne's Bridgehead recapture the two awn Bridges at bennuville and establish contact with the coastal units elements of artillery will support you start the attack as soon as all elements have reached you the employment of the reconnaissance Battalion worried me greatly I had after all seen action in all the theaters of War as an armored Scout always as the spearhead of the division we were not equipped for direct attacking operations number four company of the Panzer regiment arrived toward 5pm on the 6th of June major Becca's batteries not until the night of the 7th of June so I had to start without them my second Battalion was engaged in heavy defensive fighting against the paratroops that had landed who were obviously trying to extend their as yet very small Bridgehead I could free only limited elements of the Battalion for the attack in the late afternoon almost at the same time as the armored Group West of the awn we set off our goal to push through via Esquivel hero villette to ronville and the two awn Bridges the reconnaissance Battalion went straight into the attack from its March and supported by the Panzer company penetrated to escoville against their surprised opponents then all hell broke loose the heaviest Naval guns up to 38 centimeter in caliber artillery and fighter bombers plastered us without pause radio contacts were lost wounded came back and the men of the reconnaissance Battalion were forced to take cover I had gone up with the attack and saw the disaster I managed to run forward to the commander of the Battalion and gave him fresh orders to avoid further heavy losses break off the attack at once and take up defensive positions on the southern edge of escoville set up a line of defense there and prevent any further enemy Advance number four company of the Panzer regiment as well as major Becca's assault guns when they get here we'll support you see that your men and also the crews of the Armored Cars dig themselves in I ran back to my regiments radio station my adjutant liebskind had to report the breaking off of the attack to the division at the same time foiktinga sent word that the armored group had reached the coast through the gap between the landed elements of the British third infantry division and the third Canadian Infantry Division heavy fire from the Navy relays of attacks by fighter bombers and in the rear of the armored group newly landed paratroops had forced them to withdraw to avoid being encircled my sister regiment 192 had taken up a defensive position at about the same level as us now the very thing Rommel had feared had happened the enemy had not been attacked by our whole Division and thrown back into the sea in the first hours of the landing the other two Panzer divisions were lying in areas far to the rear of the 1000 Fighters that Gering had promised nothing was to be seen now on the evening of the 6th of June it seemed to have become clear even to Hitler that it must be a matter of a large-scale invasion but as feuchtinga told us Hitler and his high command still reckoned on a further Landing in the parda Calais the Panzer divisions and Reserve units stationed there were not to be withdrawn on Express orders from Hitler at the same time it was also clear to the last man that The Invasion had succeeded that it could now be only a matter of days or weeks before the Allies would have landed sufficient forces to be able to mount an attack on Paris and finally on the German Reich if it were not for that damned air superiority even by Night Christmas trees hung in the sky bathing the whole area in bright light the air attacks never stopped the Navy laid a barrage of fire on our positions and bombarded the city of Kong which was a focal point in our lateral Communications by day it was even worse at any movement on the battlefield even of an individual vehicle the enemy reacted with concentrated fire from the Navy or attacks by fighter bombers either our radio communications were being intercepted or the Navy had divided up the whole area into grid squares and had only to pass on the Square number to launch a sudden concentration of Fire against such concentrations and for the night we all dug foxholes beside our vehicles which provided some protection all our supplies came from the Paris area and could be moved only by night during the night of the 7th of June I received orders to continue the attacks on escoville also on the following days we must try to crush the Bridgehead east of the awn which as yet is small was the message from our divisional Commander then in the morning we saw on the rising ground north of escoville up to a hundred gliders lying in the fields a sign that further units of the sixth Airborne Division had landed units of the Panzer reconnaissance Battalion were still dug in on the southern edge of escoville a combat Patrol forced its way into the village and suffered heavy losses but brought out 13 prisoners one of them talked we had the task of attacking Southward through escoville to extend the Bridgehead and reach our original objective we are only waiting for reinforcements back at my command post I got into conversation with an NCO of the sixth Airborne Division he was slightly wounded and was just being treated by our doctor he thanked us for his fair treatment but was somewhat embittered I belong to B company under Major John Howard we had the task of landing at midnight with six gliders by the two awn bridges near bennuville and taking the bridges intact we had been trained for this operation for over a year we landed right by the bridges the enemy were taken completely by surprise they didn't even have time to carry out the prepared demolitions I think we were the very first to land on French soil we were Mighty proud especially since we had only a few casualties major Howard had told us that after the operation had succeeded we would be flown back to England to be held in Readiness for another action then yesterday evening our major received orders to attack the village of escoville this morning the little Bridgehead had to be extended a task for which in my opinion we were never intended we forced our way into the village but came under heavy fire from all sides especially from your bloody 88s I believe more than half our company have been killed wounded or taken prisoner after the feeble resistance at the bridges we seem to have stumbled here on a strong battle tried opponent our major was so proud of the kudama and now this disaster all the same we know our Landing from the sea has been successful you can't stop us anymore from marching on Paris before long you can't win this war anymore one of the bridges is known today as Pegasus Bridge so-called after the flying horse emblem of the British Airborne forces meanwhile reports were coming in from our right flank my second Battalion was engaged in heavy defensive fighting especially on the right flank near and north of Tron on no account must the enemy break through there on our unprotected open flank on the 7th of June its Commander Captain kurzen was killed he was promoted posthumously to Major and awarded the knights cross Lieutenant Brandenburg who with his fifth company had been the first to make contact with the enemy during the night of the sixth was also killed both were buried in ground to the rear and later reinterred these were heavy losses for us all divisions sent major courts of the reserve that same day as the new commander of the battalion he was an infantryman and had been in Russia in that respect he was very suitable for the immediate task within a short while he had integrated himself and became one of my most reliable and successful leaders in the combat group on the 8th of June neither we nor the British attacked on both sides the wounded had to be cared for and casualties replaced to our surprise a few messerschmitts suddenly appeared they were at once involved in an air battle a royal Air Force fighter was shot down over the British lines the men all raised their arms in jubilation were the promised 1000 Fighters about to turn up after all but a Messerschmitt was also shot down the pilot was able to save himself by Parachute and landed near the reconnaissance Battalion he was brought along to me he swore and waved his arms about what are we supposed to do with a couple of Fighters against this superiority where the hell are the 1000 fighter planes we didn't know either in the afternoon major Waldo reported back from leave his men of the reconnaissance Battalion were glad he was very popular especially as he stuck up for them and always tried to avoid unnecessary losses at the same time as Waldo came an order also came from division Von looks combat group will assemble on the morning of the 9th of June for a decisive attack on escoville Advance on randville and take possession of the awn bridges assigned to it for this purpose will be Panzer reconnaissance Battalion 21 number four company of Panzer regiment 22 three batteries of major Becca's assault gun Battalion 200 and one company of anti-tank Battalion 220 with 8.8 centimeter guns the division's artillery will support the attack within the limits of its supply of ammunition late that evening all the commanders along with an artillery Observer gathered at my post we assemble Before Dawn before the enemy Air Force can intervene or the Navy be effective the motorcycle escorts of the reconnaissance Battalion and the grenadiers of 2nd battalion not tied down by the enemy will lead followed by first Battalion and supported by the tanks of number four company as well as Becca's spws the anti-tank guns will take up positions on the hill south of escoville to ward off counter-attacks by British tanks it would take a powerful and effective combat group to offset the impact of the naval guns and fighter bombers we assembled an hour before Dawn I traveled with a little command group behind the reconnaissance Battalion so that I could make decisions on the spot during the night we had been plastered with heavy Naval fire and bombs our preparations had evidently been spotted Lance corporal Hamill who took part in the attack as a motorcycle escort recalls with support from the tanks and assault guns we soon forced our way into escoville the remaining civilian population had gathered by the church we found a few children running around looking for their parents we took them to the church the British of the sixth Airborne Division put up Fierce resistance when it became light heavy fire from the Navy began to fall on the center of the village and its Southern Edge we could make no progress then the news reached us that our beloved Commander Major Waldo had been killed only a day after coming back from his wife this was a blow to us all we couldn't even recover his body at first because of the barrage of fire it was not until after dark that a patrol of volunteers whom the British In fairness allowed to pass was able to bring major Waldo back and bury him further to the rear later the British transferred him to their military cemetery in ronville where he found his last rest among his former enemies Waldo's death greatly affected me personally during the course in Paris I had often had talks with him from which I could infer his contempt for Hitler as I heard later he had belonged to the Wide Circle of the men of the 20th of July 1944. I had told Waldo of rommel's Prophecy he too had set his hopes on Rommel Waldo was an officer of the old Prussian School highly decorated in Russia modest and always considerate of the welfare of his men his sister told me later for example that he had once been in a Russian village surrounded by partisans the inhabitants had had nothing to eat for days Waldo thereupon distributed his men's rations among the women and children during the night a deputation of partisans suddenly appeared German you have given our women and children food we thank you for that you may leave the village tonight with your men we will not attack a sign of Humanity on both sides Captain Brant from the division's reserve of officers took over the reconnaissance Battalion in place of Waldo for Verna cortenhouse 2 at that time a tank commander in number four company the 9th of June became a nightmare that day was for us one of the hardest actions ever we assembled with about 10 tanks under the Trees of the Avenue south of escoville we drove with closed ports one tank after the other to the right past the Chateau into a large Meadow which was enclosed by hedges there we intended switching to Broad wedge formation for attack the grenadiers behind and alongside us then everything happened very quickly within a few minutes we had lost four tanks knocked out by the naval guns on my tank a mark IV with the short barrel the turret jammed so that I could only shoot into the hedges with my machine gun the fire became more intense so that on orders from major fun look we had to withdraw as did the grenadiers the artillery fire continued unabated some 30 or 40 grenadiers must have been killed by it on the evening of that the 9th of June we realized that we could no longer drive the British back into the sea in 1960 when the ruins of the Chateau were still standing I went over the action again on the spot our attack could not have succeeded for behind the Hedge was a solid wall which we could have broken through with our tanks only at the risk of disadjusting our guns in front of the wall was a ditch very convenient for the elements defending themselves there and in the wall there were holes made by artillery shells through which the Defenders could easily retreat for us therefore it was an unfavorable sector for a tank attack from the reports of patrols it appeared that on the 8th of June the 51st Highland Division had been moved into the Bridgehead to relieve the hard-pressed sixth Airborne with that the likelihood of pushing back the Bridgehead was further reduced I knew the 51st Highland Division from North Africa it had been regarded even then as an experienced Elite unit to my surprise a combat Patrol came back one day with a man on a dkw motorcycle I looked at the machine it was painted khaki and bore the sign of my reconnaissance Battalion 3 on its mudguard this machine had been through its own little Safari it had been captured by the British in North Africa shipped to England and from there sent to Normandy where my men recaptured it and returned it to me intact meanwhile during the nights of 7 and the 8th of June the two Panzer divisions the Panzer layer Division and the 12th SS Panzer Division having arrived at The Invasion front after hard and costly marches from their concentration areas far to the east and south of calm had been thrown into counter-attacks and defensive fighting west of calm but they too decimated and unnerved by the constant attacks of the royal Air Force were no longer able to make any impression on the bridgeheads west of calm and were stuck

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Published: Sun Jun 18 2023