 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Widening
of the D-Day bridgehead (3) |
|
||||||
| D-Day + 1 to D-Day + 12 - From June 7 June 18, 1944
|
||||||||
| The Germans on the defensive If the Germans are within the days in clear numeric inferiority, they know how to make the best use of the Normand land, the bocage. This grove is composed of parcels of lands and orchards, all surrounded by big hedges of bushes and nettles, that the inhabitants maintain since decades. These real natural fortifications are profitable to the German that integrate them in their defensive strategy.
On June 17, Hitler convenes von Rundstedt and Rommel in his command post of Margival, near Soisson. They told him that any massive counterattack is impossible for now and that they are not really confident: the front won't hold a long time. Rommel asks the Führer if he still believes in the German odds in Normandy. Hitler answers: "This question is not of your responsibility but of mine." Hitler still believes in the German secret weapons, such as the V-1 rockets, but he needs time so that the engineers can create and produce these weapons of mass destruction, to use them against military objectives: the artificial harbors for example.
As Hitler gives his orders to the German generals of Normandy, mid-June 1944, the V-1 rockets are not precise enough to be efficient: on June 17, the day of the meeting between the Führer, von Rundstedt and Rommel, a V-1 falls a few meters away from Hitler's bunker, instead of stricking the city of London. The two German generals (who had left the bunker before the accident) cannot see the Führer anymore after this incident again and can go back in Normandy without having received supplementary helps of the German armed services.
|
The Allies settle Rommel knows that the objective of the Allies, once the bridgehead reunified and a maximun of committed divisions in Normandy (20 divisions are hired then between Sainte-Mère-Eglise and Ouistreham and 24.500 tons of material are disembarked), is to capture the city of Cherbourg. He decides to forbid any access to the Cotentin, but already, on June 18, the 7th corps of the general Collins cuts the Cotentin in two parts. It is also at that moment that the two artificial harbors of Arromanches and Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer are finished and ready to receive the cargo ships. These facilities are favorable to the beginning of a second offensive, after the one of the widening of the bridgehead. It is for the Allies about capturing Cherbourg, to pierce Southbound of the American sector in direction of Saint-Lô, and to capture Caen, the biggest city of Calvados. Rommel summarizes
the situation: "The enemy reinforces itself under the protection
of a very strong aerial superiority. Our aviation and our marine
are not able to lead a valid opposition. The enemy reinforces
itself more quickly than us... Our position is extremely difficult:
the adversary forbids us all movement the day whereas he displaces
its strengths (even by air) freely. The enemy has a total control
of the air above the front, and even 100 kilometers behind...
Our aviation and our anti-aircrafts forces are completely unable
to interrupt its destruction power..."
|
|||||||
| DDay-Overlord.com
-
Reproduction is submitted to authorization - Contact
the webmaster |
||||||||
