Tag Archives: max hastings
June 8, 2020 · 22:18
D-Day and After: Beaches, Bocage, and Breakout
The author with Marines at Point du Hoc, Normandy in 2004
Every year about this time I try to write about D-Day. This year I spent more time on the Battle of Midway writing or rewriting a total of five articles.
Since we are now about to begin a time of major repairs to our home due to flooding from an plugged air conditioning condensation drains I have decided to do is to re-post a short research paper that I did for one of my Master's degree courses tonight, actually posting it on Sunday night for publication today, and hope to follow it up with some more articles over the week on specific aspects and personalities of the campaign. What I hope is that people that are not familiar with the campaign as well as those that are can use this as a portal to other resources on the web and in print.
I have visited Normandy once in 2004 on a trip with the Marines of the Marine Security Force Company Europe that took me to Belleau Wood as well as Normandy. In both places I had the good fortune to be able to explain aspects of both battles, at Normandy discussing the invasion from the German side of the fence. The Normandy battlefields are well worth visiting. Hopefully in the next few years I will get a chance to go back and do some serious exploring.
General Dwight D Eisenhower Commander in Chief Allied Forces Europe
The American landings on Omaha Beach were critical to the success of the Allied invasion northwestern Europe in the overall Overlord plan. Without success at Omaha there would have been a strong chance that the German 7th Army and Panzer Group West could have isolated the remaining beachheads, and even if unsuccessful at throwing the Allies into the sea could have produced a stalemate that would have bled the Allies white. This quite possibly could have led to a political and military debacle for the western allies which would have certainly changed the course of World War II and maybe the course of history.[i] This is not to say the Germans would have won the war, but merely to state that a defeat on Omaha could have changed the outcomes of the war significantly. Subsequent to the successful landing there were opportunities both for the Allies and the Germans to change the way that the campaign unfolded, thus the battles leading up to the breakout at Avranches are critical to its development and the subsequent campaign in France.
OVERLORD: The Preparations
Eisenhower's Key Lieutenants: Patton, Bradley and Montgomery
The planning for the Normandy invasion began in earnest after the QUADRANT conference in Quebec in August 1943. The timetable for the operation was established at the Tehran conference where Stalin sided with the Americans on the need for an invasion of France in the spring of 1944.[ii] Prior to this there had been some planning by both the British and Americans for the eventual invasion initially named ROUNDUP. These preparations and plans included a large scale raid at Dieppe in 1942 which ended in disaster but which provided needed experience in what not to do in an amphibious assault on a heavily defended beach.
The failure at Dieppe also darkened the mood of the Allies, the British in particular to the success of such operations, bringing to mind the failed Gallipoli campaign of 1915 as well as the opposed landings at Salerno and the USMC experience at Tarawa.[iii] Despite this the Americans led by General Marshall pushed for an early invasion of northwest Europe. Churchill and the British due to their weakness in land power pushed for land operations in the Mediterranean, and even in Norway as an option to the assault in France. The conflicted mindset of the Allies left them in the position of planning almost exclusively for the success of the initial landings and build up to the near exclusion of planning for the subsequent campaign once they landed. This especially included what one writer described as "the maze of troubles awaiting behind the French shore."[iv]
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Commander of Army Group B
Despite conflicts between the Americans and British political and military leadership the planning for the Normandy landings detailed in NEPTUNE and OVERLORD moved ahead. General Dwight Eisenhower was appointed as the commander of SHAEF with his major subordinates for Land, Air and Sea which caused consternation on both sides of the Atlantic.[v] [vi] The planned operation was expanded from the initial 3 division assault on a narrow front to a minimum 5 division assault on a broad front across Normandy[vii]supplemented by a strong airborne force.[viii] Overall the plan as it developed reflected a distinctly "American willingness to confront the enemy head-on in a collision which Britain's leaders had sought for so long to defer."[ix] It is ironic in a sense that the British avoidance of the head on attack was based on their known lack of manpower. Britain had few infantry reserves to sustain the war effort and the Americans only late recognized their own deficiency in both quantity and quality of infantry forces on which their strategy depended. That the western allies, so rich in material and natural resources would be so deficient in infantry manpower was a key constraint on the subsequent campaign in France and Germany. The shortage of infantry forces would cause great consternation among the Allies as the campaign in France wore on.
German Beach Obstacles
The Germans too faced manpower shortages due to the immense losses sustained on the Eastern front, those lost in Africa and those tied down in Italy, the Balkans and Norway as well as the drain caused by Luftwaffe Field Divisions and troops diverted into the Waffen-SS. The German Army resorted to smaller divisions and the created many "static" divisions manned by elderly or invalid Germans to plug the gaps along the Atlantic wall. The Germans were also forced to recruit "Volksdeutsch" and foreign "volunteers" to fill out both Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS formations.
German fortifications at the Pas de Calais
Prior to the final decision to mount an invasion the Allied planners had contended with the location of the assault in northwestern France. The Pas de Calais provided a direct route was rejected because it was where the Germans would expect the strike to occur and because it was where the German defenses were strongest. The fiasco at Dieppe had provided ample proof of what could happen when making an assault into a heavily fortified port. Likewise the mouth of the Seine near Le Harve was rejected because of the few beaches suitable for landing and because the forces would be split on both sides of the river. Brittany was excluded due to its distance from the campaigns objectives in Germany.[x]This left Normandy which offered access to a sufficient number of ports and offered some protection from the weather. Normandy offered options to advance the campaign toward the "Breton ports or Le Harve as might be convenient."[xi] Omaha beach, situated on the center right of the strike would be crucial to the success of the assault situated to the left of UTAH and the right of the British beaches.
Rommel inspecting beach obstacles
Once Normandy was selected as the location for the strike by the Allies, the planning sessions remained contentious. This was especially true when the Allies debated the amount and type of amphibious lift that could be provided for the landings, particularly the larger types of landing ships and craft to support the Normandy invasion and the planned invasion of southern France, Operation ANVIL. The increase in OVERLORD requirements for landing craft had an impact in the Mediterranean and resulted in ANVIL being postponed until later in the summer.
"Dummy" Sherman Tank: The Allies created a fictional Army Group to deceive German planners
As part of their preparations the Allies launched a massive deception campaign, Operation FORTITUDE. This operation utilized the fictitious First Army Group under the "command" of General George Patton. Patton was still smarting from his relief of command of 7th Army following slapping commanded an "Army Group" which incorporated the use of dummy camp sites, dummy tanks, aircraft and vehicles, falsified orders of battle and communications to deceive German intelligence.[xii] The success of this effort was heightened by the fact that all German intelligence agents in the U.K. had been neutralized or turned by the British secret service. Additionally the Luftwaffe's limited air reconnaissance could only confirm the pre-invasion build ups throughout England without determining the target of the invasion.[xiii] The German intelligence chief in the west, Colonel Baron von Roenne "was deceived by FORTITUDE's fantasy invasion force for the Pas de Calais."[xiv] Despite this Commander of the 7thArmy recognized by 1943 that Normandy was a likely Allied target and efforts were made to shift 7th Army's center of gravity from Brittany to Normandy. The one potential German success in getting wind of when the Allied landings would occur was lost when German intelligence discovered two lines of Verlaine's "Chason d' Automme" in June 1944 which were to alert the French Resistance of the invasion. The security section of 15th Army heard them transmitted on the afternoon of 5 June and notified General Jodl at OKW, but no action was taken to alert forces on the coast.[xv] Allied intelligence was aided by ULTRA intercepts of coded German wireless transmissions. However this was less of a factor than during the African and Italian campaigns as more German communications were sent via secure telephone and telegraph lines vice wireless.[xvi] Allied deception efforts were for the most part successful in identifying German forces deployed in Normandy. However they were uncertain about the location of the 352nd Infantry Division which had been deployed along OMAHA and taken units of the 709th Infantry Division under its command when it moved to the coast.[xvii]
USAAF B-17 Bombers and others helped isolate German forces in Normandy by bombing railroads, bridges, and supply lines
The Allied air campaign leading up to the invasion was based on attempting to isolate the invasion site from German reinforcements. Leigh-Mallory the Air Chief developed the "TRANSPORTATION PLAN" which focused efforts on destroying the French railroad infrastructure.[xviii] A more effective effort was led by General Brereton and his Ninth Air Force which was composed of medium bombers and fighters. Brereton's aircraft attacked bridges and rapidly achieved success in crippling German efforts to reinforce Normandy.[xix] Max Hastings gives more credit to the American bombing campaign in Germany to crippling the German defense in the west. General Spaatz and the 8th Air Force destroyed German production capacity in oil and petroleum as well as the degraded the German fighter force. The American daylight raids so seriously degraded the German fighter force that it could not mount effective resistance to the invasion.[xx] Russell Weigley also notes that Albert Speer the Reich Armaments Minister said that "it was the oil raids of 1944 that decided the war."[xxi]
US Navy LST's being loaded for the invasion
Planning and preparations for OMAHA were based around getting the 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions ashore and them securing a beachhead "twenty-five kilometers wide and eight or nine kilometers deep."[xxii] American preparations were thorough and ambitious, but the American assault would go through the most heavily defended sector of German defenses in Normandy. The landing beaches were wide and bordered by dunes which were nearly impassable to vehicles and "scrub covered bluffs thirty to fifty meters high…rough and impassable to vehicles even to tracked vehicles except at a few places. The exits were unimproved roads running through four or five draws that cut the bluffs."[xxiii] Dug in along those bluffs was the better part of the 352nd Division. The Americans compounded their selection of a difficult and heavily defended landing zone the Americans failed to take advantage of many of the "gadgets" that were offered by the British which in hindsight could have aided the Americans greatly. The Americans made use of two battalions of DD (Dual Drive) tanks but turned down the offer of flail tanks, flamethrower tanks, and engineer tanks, the "funnies" developed by General Hobart and the British 79th Armored Division.[xxiv]
Dual Drive amphibious tanks were included as part of the US invasion package
Weigley believes that the American view of "tanks as instruments of mobility rather than of breakthrough power." Likewise the Americans victories in the First World War were won by infantry with little tank support.[xxv] In this aspect the Americans were less receptive to utilizing all available technology to support their landings, something that when considering the fact that Americans were great lovers of gadgets and technology. The British use of the Armor, including the "Funnies" on the beaches to provide direct fire into German strong points lessened their infantry casualties on D-Day. Due to this lack of armor support on the beach American forces on OMAHA had little opportunity to exercise true combined arms operations during the initial landings.[xxvi]
Rommel with Artillerymen of the 21st Panzer Division in Normandy
German preparations for an Allied landing in Normandy were less advanced than the Pas de Calais. However they had made great strides since late 1943. Field Marshal Rommel greatly increased defensive preparations along the front, including the Normandy beaches. One of Rommel's initiatives was to deploy Panzer Divisions near the coast where they could rapidly respond to an invasion. However Rommel did not get everything that he wanted. The OKW only allotted him two Panzer Divisions to be deployed near the Normandy beaches. Only one of these the 21st Panzer Division was deployed near Caen in the British sector. One wonders the result had the 12th SS Panzer Division been deployed behind OMAHA. [xxvii]
OMAHA: The Landings
The venerable USS Nevada, resurrected from the mud of Pearl Harbor bombarding German positions at Utah Beach, (above) and USS Arkansas (below) off Omaha Beach
USS Texas firing on Omaha Beach (above) Guns of USS Nevada firing at Utah Beach (below)
Like the rest of the Allied invasion forces the 1st and 29th U.S. Infantry Divisions set sail from their embarkation ports with the intent of landing on June 5th. General Bradley, commanding the First Army until the American XII Army Group would be activated accompanied the invasion force. The OMAHA landing was under the command of General Gerow and his V Corps while VII Corps led by the 4th Infantry Division landed at Utah supported by airdrops of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions inland. American command and control during the invasion was exercised from sea as in the Pacific, although General Officers were to go ashore with each of the American divisions. A severe channel storm disrupted the plan to land on the 5th and Eisenhower delayed the invasion one day catching a break in the weather and electing to go on the 6th.[xxviii] This delay while uncomfortable for the embarked troops caused the Germans to believe that no invasion would take place until the next favorable tide and moon cycle later in the month.[xxix] The assumption that no invasion was possible ensured that a number of key senior German leaders, including Rommel were absent from the invasion front when the Allies landed.[xxx]
US Troops ride a LCVP toward Omaha
The landing beaches at OMAHA stretched about 6500 meters from Colleville-Sur-Mer to Vierville-Sur-Mere in the west. The beaches are wide with bluffs overlooking them and a seawall between the beaches and the bluffs. Additionally several small towns dot the beach. To the west of the town of Vierville, a prominent height overlooked the entire beachhead. Named Pont du Hoc, it was believed to house a 150mm battery sighted where it could enfilade the OMAHA landing zones. The Americans assigned to the 2nd Ranger Battalion to make a seaborne assault to land, scale the cliffs and take the battery. Companies from this battalion made a heroic landing and scaled the cliffs to capture the strongpoint only to discover that the guns had not been emplaced. The Rangers took heavy casualties and held their isolated beachhead against German counterattacks until relieved by the 29th Division on the morning of June 8th.[xxxi]
Landing craft passing the USS Augusta in heavy seas heading toward Omaha Beach
H-Hour for OMAHA was 0630. Unfortunately the assault troops were transferred to their LCVP landing craft 16-20 kilometers from the beach. The result was a long and dangerous ride in the small craft for the infantry. Most of the infantry were completely soaked in sea spay and seasick before going ashore and they carried loads far above what they normally would carry into battle.[xxxii] The Armor support was one battalion of DD tanks, the 741stArmored Battalion, supporting the 16th Infantry Regiment of 1st Infantry Division. These were also launched too far out and nearly all of the tanks were swamped and lost before firing a shot in anger.[xxxiii] Other American support units needed to provide firepower on the beach were equally unfortunate. Weigley notes that at OMAHA "at least 10 of the LCVPs sank" as did "the craft carrying almost all of the 105mm howitzers that were to be the first artillery ashore after the tanks."[xxxiv] The losses would cripple the assault on OMAHA and nearly cause its abandonment.
Bloody Omaha
As the soldiers of the American divisions on OMAHA came ashore they faced German defenders of the 352nd, 716th and a regiment of the 709th Infantry Division, the latter under the tactical command of the 352nd. Without the bulk of their tanks artillery and lacking close air support the Americans struggled across the beaches and were cut down in large numbers before being pinned down behind the sea wall.[xxxv] With the Americans pinned down on the beach unable to advance, the time tables for the reinforcing waves became snarled amid the German beach obstacles which had not been cleared. This was in large part due to 40% casualties among the Combat Engineers and the loss of all but five bulldozers.[xxxvi] Naval officers were frustrated in their attempts to provide naval gunfire support by the lack of identifiable targets on the beaches. Yet German strongpoint's were "knocked out by either by superbly directed vigorous gunfire from destroyers steaming as close as 800 yards offshore, or by determined action from Rangers or infantry.[xxxvii]
US Infantry struggles ashore at Omaha (above) General Omar Bradley with his Staff aboard USS Augusta
Soldiers ashore discovered that they were not facing the static 716th Division but the veteran 352nd Division as well.[xxxviii] Only the leadership and actions of Brigadier General Norman Cota the 29th Division's Deputy Commander and Colonel Charles Canham of the 116th Infantry kept the situation from complete collapse. They were able to rally their troops. Under their leadership small units from the 116th which had its linage back to the "Stonewall Brigade" as well as elements of the 16th and 18th Infantry Regiments began to move forward. Surviving junior leaders began to lead survivors through the dunes and up the bluffs to attack German defenders of the roads leading up from the beach from the flank and rear. A mid-day break in the weather allowed some close tactical air support giving the troops badly needed support.
US 1st Infantry Division Troops at the Omaha sea wall
With the situation desperate General Bradley considered the evacuation of OMAHA. At sea events were as confused as Bradley and his staff attempted to make sense of what was going on. Even later in the evening there was discussion of diverting all further reinforcements from OMAHA to the British beaches.[xxxix]At 1330 hours "Gerow signaled Bradley: "Troops formerly pinned down on beaches…advancing up heights behind beaches."[xl] By the end of the day Bradley's aid Major Hansen noted Bradley's comments to Collins: "They are digging in on Omaha beach with their fingernails. I hope they can push in and get some stuff ashore." And Montgomery: "Someday I'll tell Gen[eral] Eisenhower just how close it was for a few hours."[xli]
German Fallschirmjaeger Trüppen in Normandy, the German Parachute forces fighting in an infantry role were very effective in the Normandy campaign
The landings at OMAHA succeeded at a cost of over 2000 casualties. Critical to the success of the landings were the German inability to reinforce their defending troops on the beach. Likewise the weakness of the units available to mount the standard counterattack that was critical to German defensive plans on D-Day itself kept the Germans from driving the Americans back into the Channel. The 352nd Division fought superbly under the full weight of V Corps and the British XXX Corps on its right suffering heavy casualties as they contested every inch of ground. The 716th Division composed of second rate troops melted under the onslaught. Allied air supremacy played a key role as sorties by the 8th and 9th Air Forces helped keep German reinforcements from arriving and interdicted counter attacks inland. Weigley credits the Allied air superiority with the success of the landings and with limiting casualties.[xlii]Von Rundstedt and other German commanders in France were limited by the delay and refusal of Hitler and OKW to release Panzer reserves when needed most early on June 6th.
HMS Warspite (above) fired the first shots on D-Day, HMS Ramillies (below) fired over 1000 rounds of 15" shells on June 6th
By the close of D-Day allied forces had secured the five invasion beaches but not achieved their objectives of taking Caen and Bayuex. Since the forces on the various beachheads had not linked up the beaches would have been extremely vulnerable had the Germans been able to mount a rapid counterattack by Panzers and strong infantry formations as they had at Salerno.
Major Battles to the Breakout at Avranches
Securing the Beachheads
P-47 Thunderbolt firing 5" Rockets at ground targets (above) and British Troops landing on Gold Beach, Sword Beach, and Canadian troops with German P.O.W.s on Juno Beach.
It took the V and VII Corps nearly a week to secure the beachheads. German forces including the stalwart 352nd Division resisted stubbornly and mounted sharp local counterattacks which kept the Americans off balance. Elements of the 29th Division and the 90th Division began to push inland and to expand the beachhead toward UTAH. Opposed by the 352nd Division and elements of the 91st Airlanding Division and other non-divisional units the fighting revealed the inexperience of the American infantry formations and the uneven quality of their leadership. As the Americans tackled the Germans in the labyrinth of the Bocage country the defensive skill of the Germans cost many American lives and delayed the joining of the beachheads. On the 13th the link up was solid enough to enabling the Americans to conduct the follow up operations needed to expand the beachhead, secure Cherbourg and clear the Cotentin.
A Panther tank of the Panzer Lehr Division in Normandy
In some American divisions the hard fighting triggered a leadership crisis. The lack of success of the 90th Division led General "Lightening Joe" Collins of VII Corps relieve the division commander and two regimental commanders of command, a portent of things to come with other American units.[xliii] As the V and VII corps pushed into the "Bocage" they were followed by a massive build up of troops and equipment delivered to the beaches and to the artificial "Mulberry" harbors. Despite their numeric superiority, air supremacy and massive Naval gunfire support and facing the weakened 352nd, 91st and the 6thParachute Regiment and other less than quality formations, survivors of the static divisions, the Americans made painfully slow progress as they moved off the beachhead and into the Bocage.[xliv]
The Capture of Cherbourg
US Soldiers of the 29th Division surrender to German Fallschirmjaeger in Normandy
Once the beachheads had been consolidated the Americans turned their attention toward Cherbourg. Cherbourg was the major naval port at the far northwest tip of the Cotentin. D-Day planners counted on its swift capture and rehabilitation to serve as a supply port for the Allied forces. The 9th Division drove south to the coast near Barneville on the 18th of June cutting off the German forces covering the approaches to Cherbourg.[xlv] This put the Germans in a bind as the 7th Army "had to split its forces in the peninsula in order to hold the fortress a little longer and thus to gain time for the establishment of the southern front on the Cotentin peninsula.[xlvi] The German forces arrayed before Cherbourg waged a desperate defense centered around the 243rd Infantry Division and other assorted battle groups of LXXXIV Corps, whose commander General Marcks one of the best German Generals was killed in action on 12 June.[xlvii] The U.S. VII Corps under Collins with the 9th, 4th and 79th Divisions pushed up the peninsula capturing Cherbourg on June 29th. Bradley pushed hard for the capture of the port as the Mulberries had been ravaged by a severe Channel storm the week prior. The port of Cherbourg was thoroughly demolished by German engineers and would not be fully operational for months. The loss of the Mulberries and delay in Cherbourg's availability meant that few supplies were landed on the beaches would "hinder the escape from the constricting land of the hedgerows into which the Americans had come in search of a port.[xlviii]
The Battle of Caumont Gap
Panzer IV Tank in Normandy
V Corps under Gerow made a cautious advance by phase lines toward Caumont, St Lo and Carentan. The deliberate advance by the Corps toward a line weakly held by the Reconnaissance battalion of the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division was directed by Bradley who did not want to divert attention from the effort against Cherbourg. After capturing Caumont V Corps halted and continued aggressive patrolling to deceive the Germans while digging in.[xlix] The possibility existed that a strong push against the weak German line could have led to an opportunity to envelope the German line west of Caen. This was a missed opportunity that in part led to the bloody and controversial campaign to capture Caen.[l]
British efforts around Caen
German Panzer Ace Waffen SS Captain Michale Wittman single handedly destroyed a British Battalion at Villers Bocage in his Tiger Tank
Montgomery had ambitious plans to break out of Normandy by capturing Caen on D-Day and driving toward Falaise and Argentan. The British plans for this were frustrated by the rapid reinforcement of the sector by the Germans and the activities of 21st Panzer, Panzer Lehr, and the 12th SS Panzer Divisions. A flanking maneuver at Villers-Bocage was frustrated by a few Tiger tanks led by the legendary Waffen SS Panzer commander Captain Michael Wittman whose tanks devastated a British Armored battalion.[li]
Wreckage of a British Battalion at Villers Bocage
A series of disastrous attacks toward Caen (EPSOM, CHARNWOOD and GOODWOOD) strongly supported by air strikes and Naval gunfire finally succeeded in taking that unfortunate city on July 18th but failed to take the heights beyond the town.[lii]
British operations like Operation Epsom met setback after setback against dug in German forces outside of Caen
British Troops in the Ruins of Caen (above) and destroyed Cromwell tank at Villers-Bocage (below)
Against crack well dug in German forces the British took heavy casualties in tanks and infantry seriously straining their ability to conduct high intensity combat operations in the future.[liii] The one benefit, which Montgomery would claim after the war as his original plan was that German forces were fixed before Caen and ground down so they could not be used against Bradley's breakout in the west at St Lo.[liv]
Clearing the Bocage: The Battle of the Cotentin Plain
US M-5 Light Tank in Normandy
Other German forces arrived, and reinforced the Caumont gap which no longer "yawned invitingly in front of V Corps." [lv] Bradley wished to push forward rapidly to achieve a breakthrough in the American sector.[lvi] Facing the most difficult terrain in France amid the Bocage and swamps that limited avenues of approach to the American divisions committed to the offensive. The Americans now faced their old foe the 352nd division as well various elements of II Parachute Corps, the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier and Panzer Lehr Divisions. American tanks and infantry made slow progress and incurred high losses as they dueled the Germans at close range. In the VIII Corps sector alone the attack "consumed twelve days and 10,000 casualties to cross eleven kilometers of the Bocage…the achievements of the VII and XIX Corps were no better than comparable.[lvii]
St. Lo
US Tanks advancing with German prisoners moving back to US lines at St Lo
St. Lo was a key to Bradley's breakout efforts. His Army had to capture it and the roads leading out of it to launch Operation COBRA along the coast. The task of capturing St. Lo was assigned to GEROW'S V Corps and Corlett's XIX Corps. They faced opposition from the tough paratroops of the German 3rd Parachute Division of II Parachute Corps. The 2nd, 29th, 30th and 83rd Divisions fought a tough battle advancing eleven kilometers again with high numbers of casualties especially among the infantry to secure St. Lo on 18 July.[lviii] They finally had cleared the hedgerows. St Lo epitomized the struggle that the American Army had to overcome in the Bocage. Hard fighting but outnumbered German troops in excellent defensive country exacted a terrible price in American blood despite the Allied control of the skies.[lix]
Operation COBRA
US 155mm Howitzers in Normandy, the Germans had profound respect for American Artillery, a respect that they did not share for American Infantry or Armor forces
With the Bocage behind him Bradley desired to push the Germans hard. COBRA was his plan to break out of Normandy. Bradley ably assisted by Collins they realized that the better terrain, road networks favored a breakout. American preparations included a technical advance that allowed tanks to plow through hedgerows. This was the "Rhino" device fashioned by American troops which was installed on 3 of every 5 First Army Tanks for the operation.[lx] VII Corps was to lead the attack which was to begin on July 24th. American planning was more advanced than in past operations. Collins and Bradley planned for exploitation operations once the breakthrough had been made. A massive air bombardment would precede the attack along with an artillery barrage by Collins corps artillery which was reinforced by additional battalions. A mistake by the heavy bombers in the 24th resulted in the American troops being hit with heavy casualties and a postponement of the attack until the 25th.[lxi] The following day the attack commenced. Another mistake by the bombers led to more American casualties[lxii] but VII Corps units pressed forward against the determined resistance of the survivors of Panzer Lehr and the remnants of units that had fought the Americans since the invasion began. Although it was a "slow go" on the 25th Bradley and his commanders were already planning for and beginning to execute the breakout before the Germans could move up reinforcements. The 26th of June brought renewed attacks accompanied by massive air strikes.
The Devastated town of St Lo
While not much progress was made on the 26th, the Americans discovered on the 27th that the German forces were retreating. The capture of Marigny allowed VIII Corps to begin exploitation down the coastal highway to Coutances. On the 27th General Patton was authorized to take immediate command of VIII Corps a precursor to the activation of his 3rdArmy. COBRA ripped a hole in the German line and inflicted such heavy casualties on the German 7th Army that it could do little to stop the American push.[lxiii] As the American forces pushed forward they reinforced their left flank absorbing the local German counterattacks which were hampered by the Allied close air support.
Avranches and Beyond
US Forces advance through the ruins of St Lo
As the breakthrough was exploited the command of the forces leading it shifted to Patton and the newly activated 3rd Army. By the 28th VIII Corps led by the 4th and 6th Armored Divisions had reached Avranches and established bridgeheads over the See River with additional bridges being captured intact on the 30th.[lxiv] The capture of Avranches allowed the Americans to begin exploitation operations into Brittany and east toward the Seine. Weigley notes that for the first time in the campaign that in Patton the Americans finally had a commander who understood strategic maneuver and would use it to great effect.[lxv]
The American campaign in Normandy cost the U.S. Army a great deal. It revealed weaknesses in the infantry, the inferiority of the M4 Sherman tank to most German types, problems in tank-infantry cooperation and also deficiencies in leadership at senior, mid-grade and junior levels. Heavy casualties among infantry formations would lead to problems later in the campaign. Numerous officers were relieved including Division and Regimental commanders. Nonetheless during the campaign the Americans grew in their ability to coordinate air and ground forces and adapt to the conditions imposed on them by their placement in the Cotentin. The deficiencies would show up in later battles but the American Army learned its trade even impressing some German commanders on the ground in Normandy.[lxvi]
[i] See the alternative history of by Peter Tsouras Disaster at D-Day: The Germans Defeat the Allies, June 1944, Greenhill Books, London 1994. Tsouras describes the defeat of the Omaha landings and the effect on the course of the campaign leading to the overthrow of Hitler and a negotiated armistice in the west. While this outcome could be rigorously debated other outcomes could have led to the fall of the Roosevelt and Churchill governments and their replacement by those not committed to unconditional surrender or a continuation of the war that brought about more German missile attacks on the U.K. and the introduction of other advanced German weapons that could have forced such a settlement. Another option could have led to the dropping of the Atomic Bomb on a German city vice Hiroshima.
[ii] Weigley, Russell F. Eisenhower's Lieutenants: The Campaign of France and Germany, 1944-1945, Indiana University Press, Bloomington IN, 1981 p.33
[iii] Ibid pp. 34-35
[iv] Ibid p.35
[v] General Montgomery 21st Army group and Land Forces, Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsey as Allied Naval Expeditionary Force and Air Marshall Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory as Commander in Chief Allied Expeditionary Air Force. Weigley p.43
[vi] Max Hastings in Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy Vintage Books, New York, 1984, comments that many in Britain wondered if Eisenhower with the lack of actual battle experience could be a effective commander and that Eisenhower was disappointed in the appointment of Leigh-Mallory and Ramsey, and had preferred Alexander over Montgomery, pp. 28-29.
[vii] Ibid. Weigley p.40. Montgomery was the first to object to the 3 division narrow front invasion rightly recognizing that seizing Caen with its road junctions could provide a springboard for the campaign into open country.
[viii] Ibid. p.37
[ix] Hastings, Max. Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy Vintage Books, New York, 1984 p.29 Hastings finds the irony in the selection of the British officers to execute the plan that reflected the American way of thinking.
[x] The Germans agreed with this in their planning leaving Brittany very lightly defended. See Isby, David C. Ed. "The German Army at D-Day: Fighting the Invasion." p.27 The report of General Blumentritt, Chief of Staff OB West noted that only 3 divisions were assigned to Brittany.
[xi] Ibid. Weigley, pp. 39-40
[xii] Ibid. p.73
[xiii] See Isby p. 69. General Max Pemsel of 7th Army noted that "During the spring of 1944, Seventh Army received only tow good photographs of British southern ports, which showed large concentrations of landing craft."
[xiv] Ibid. Hastings p.63. Hastings comments also about the success of using the turned Abwehr agents.
[xv] Warlimont, Walter. "Inside Hitler's Headquarters: 1939-1945." Translated from theGerman by R.H. Barry. Presidio Press, Novao CA, English Edition Copyright 1964 Wiedenfeld and Nicholson Ltd. Pp.422-423
[xvi] Ibid. Weigley pp. 53-54
[xvii] Ibid. p. 67
[xviii] Ibid. pp.57-64 Weigley spends a great deal of time on the wrangling between Eisenhower, Leigh Mallory and Spaatz on the nature of the plan, the allocation of forces both strategic and tactical assigned to carry it out and its success, or in the light of postwar analysis the lack of effect that it had on German operations.
[xix] Ibid. p.67-68.
[xx] Ibid. Hastings pp. 43-44 In large part due to the long range P-51 Mustang which accompanied the American bombing raids beginning in 1943. Another comment is that the campaign drew the German fighters home to defend Germany proper and prevented their use in any appreciable numbers over the invasion beaches.
[xxi] Ibid. Weigley p.69
[xxii] Ibid. p.89
[xxiii] Ibid. pp. 88-89
[xxiv] Ibid. p.87
[xxv] Ibid. Weigley also talks about the rejection of General Corlett's ideas to use Amtracks used by the Marines in the Pacific to land on less desirable, but less defended beaches to lessen casualties on the beaches and the need for additional support equipment even on smooth beaches. One of Corlett's criticisms was that too little ammunition was allotted to supporting the landings and not enough supporting equipment was provided. pp. 46-47
[xxvi] Hastings notes that with the strength and firepower of the German forces on OMAHA that many of these vehicles had they been employed would like have ended up destroyed further cluttering the beachhead. "Overlord" p.102
[xxvii] The battle over the deployment of the Panzer Divisions is covered by numerous historians. The source of the conflict was between Rommel who desired to place the Panzer Divisions on the Coast under his command due to the fear that Allied air superiority would prevent the traditional Panzer counterthrust, General Gyer von Schweppenburg commander of Panzer Group West (Later the 5th Panzer Army) and Field Marshal Von Rundstedt who desired to deploy the divisions order the command of Rundstedt for a counter attack once the invasion had been launched, a strategy which was standard on the Eastern Front, and Hitler who held most of the Panzer reserve including the SS Panzer Divisions under his control at OKW. Hitler would negotiate a compromise that gave Rommel the satisfaction of having three Panzer Divisions deployed behind coast areas in the Army Group B area of responsibility. 21stPanzer had those duties in Normandy.
[xxviii] Ibid. p.74-75
[xxix] Von Luck, Hans. "Panzer Commander" Dell Publishing, New York, 1989 pp. 169-170. Von Luck a regiment commander in 21st Panzer noted that General Marcks of 84th Corps had predicted a 5 June invasion at a conference May 30th.
[xxx] Almost every D-Day historian talks about the weather factor and its effect on the German high command's reaction to the invasion. Rommel was visiting his wife for her birthday and planned to make a call on Hitler. Others including commanders of key divisions such as the 91st Airlanding Division were off to a war game in Rennes and the 21st Panzer Division to Paris.
[xxxi] Ibid. Weigley p. 96
[xxxii] See Cornelius Ryan, "The Longest Day" Popular Library Edition, New York 1959. pp. 189-193 for a vivid description of the challenges faced by soldiers going from ship to landing craft and their ride in to the beaches.
[xxxiii] Ibid. Weigley. p.78 Weigley talks about the order for the tanks to be carried ashore on their LCTs that did not get transmitted to the 741st.
[xxxiv] Ibid.
[xxxv] Ibid. Weigley p. 87 The weather prevented the aerial bombardment from being effective. Because the bombers could not see their targets they dropped their bomb loads further inland, depriving the infantry of support that they were expecting. Naval gunfire support had some effect but had to be lifted as the troops hit the beach leaving much of that support to come from Destroyers and specially equipped landing craft which mounted rockets and guns.
[xxxvi] Ibid. Hastings. pp. 90-91.
[xxxvii] Ibid. p.99
[xxxviii] Ibid. Weigley p.80
[xxxix] Ibid. p.101 Also see Weigley p.80
[xl] Ibid. p.99
[xli] Ibid. Weigley. p.95
[xlii] Ibid. p.94
[xliii] Ibid. p.99 Both Weigley and Hastings make note of the failure of both the Americans and British to train their troops to fight in the bocage once they had left the beaches.
[xliv] Ibid. Hastings. pp.152-153
[xlv] Ibid. Weigley p.101
[xlvi] Isby, David C., Ed. "Fighting in Normandy: The German Army from D-Day to Villers-Bocage." Greenhill Books, London, 2001. p.143
[xlvii] Ibid. Hastings p.173 Allied fighter bombers exacted a fearful toll among German commanders. The Commanders of the 243rd and 77th Divisions fighting in the Cotentin were also killed by air attacks on the 17th and 18th. Further east facing the British the commander of the 12th SS Panzer Division, Fritz Witt on the 17th.
[xlviii] Ibid. Weigley. p.108
[xlix] Ibid. p.111-112.
[l] Ibid.
[li] The efforts of the 51st Highland Division and 7th Armored Division were turned aside by the Germans in the area and were dramatized by the destruction of a British armored battalion by SS Captain Michael Wittman and his platoon of Tiger tanks. See Hastings pp.131-135.
[lii] The British 8th Corps under General O'Connor lost 270 tanks and 1,500 men on 18 July attempting to crack the German gun line on the ridge beyond Caen. Weigley, pp.145-146.
[liii] Hastings comments about the critical British manpower shortage and the pressures on Montgomery to not take heavy casualties that could not be replaced. Overlord. pp.241-242.
[liv] Ibid. Weigley pp.116-120
[lv] Ibid. p.122
[lvi] Ibid. p121 Bradley told Eisenhower "when we hit the enemy this time we will hit him with such power that we can keep going and cause a major disaster."
[lvii] Ibid. 134
[lviii] Ibid. Weigley. pp. 138-143. Weigley notes of 40,000 U.S. casualties in Normandy up to the capture of St. Lo that 90% were concentrated among the infantry.
[lix] Weigley quotes the 329th Regiment, 83rd Division historian "We won the battle of Normandy, [but] considering the high price in American lives we lost. P.143. This is actually a provocative statement that reflects America's aversion to massive casualties in any war.
[lx] Ibid. p.149
[lxi] Ibid. p. 152
[lxii] Ibid. pp. 152-153. Among the casualties were the command group of the 9th Division's 3rd Battalion 47th Infantry and General Leslie McNair who had come to observe the assault.
[lxiii] Ibid. pp.161-169. Weigley notes the advances in U.S. tactical air support, the employment of massive numbers of U.S. divisions against the depleted German LXXXIV Corps, and the advantage that the "Rhino" device gave to American tanks by giving them the ability to maneuver off the roads for the first time.
[lxiv] Ibid. pp.172-173.
[lxv] Ibid. p.172
[lxvi] Ibid. Isby, David C. "Fighting in Normandy," p.184, an officer of the 352nd Division referred to the American soldier "was to prove himself a in this terrain an agile and superior fighter."
Carell, Paul. "Invasion: They're Coming!" Translated from the German by E. Osers, Bantam, New York 1964.
Hastings, Max. Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy Vintage Books, New York, 1984
Isby, David C. Ed. "The German Army at D-Day: Fighting the Invasion." Greenhill Books, London 2004
Isby, David C., Ed. "Fighting in Normandy: The German Army from D-Day to Villers-Bocage." Greenhill Books, London, 2001.
Ryan, Cornelius, "The Longest Day" Popular Library Edition, New York 1959
Tsouras, Peter. "Disaster at D-Day: The Germans Defeat the Allies, June 1944,"Greenhill Books, London 1994.
Von Luck, Hans. "Panzer Commander" Dell Publishing, New York, 1989
Warlimont, Walter. "Inside Hitler's Headquarters: 1939-1945." Translated from theGerman by R.H. Barry. Presidio Press, Novao CA, English Edition Copyright 1964 Wiedenfeld and Nicholson Ltd. Warlimont, Walter. "Inside Hitler's Headquarters: 1939-1945." Translated from theGerman by R.H. Barry. Presidio Press, Novao CA, English Edition Copyright 1964 Wiedenfeld and Nicholson Ltd.
Weigley, Russell F. Eisenhower's Lieutenants: The Campaign of France and Germany, 1944-1945, Indiana University Press, Bloomington IN, 1981
Filed under aircraft, armored fighting vehicles, artillery, History, leadership, Military, Navy Ships, nazi germany, us army, US Army Air Corps, US Navy, world war two in europe
Tagged as 101st airborne division, 116th infantry regiment, 12th ss panzer division, 16th infantry regiment, 17th ss panzergrenadier division, 18th infantry regiment, 1st army, 1st infantry division, 21st panzer division, 29th infantry divsion, 2nd ranger battalion, 30th infantry division, 352nd infantry division, 3rd army, 4th armored division, 4th infantry division, 6th armored division, 716th infantry division, 741sr armored battalion, 79th infantry division, 82nd airborne division, 83rd infantry division, 8th air force, 90th infanty division, 91st airlanding division, 9th air force, 9th infantry division, adolf hitler, air marshal leigh-mallory, Albert Speer, alfred jodl, avranches, bayuex, bernard montgomery, bocage, bomber command, british 79th armored division, brittany, caen, captain michael wittman, caumont gap, charnwood, cherbourg, colleville-sur-mer, colonel charles canham, D-Day, dd tanks, dieppe raid, eastern front, eisenhower, epsom, erwin rommel, Field Marshal Von Rundstedt, franklin roosevelt, funnies-tanks, general brereton, general gerow, general hobart, general lawton collins, general marcks, general norman cota, general spaatz, George Patton, german 15th army, german 243rd infanty division, german 6th parachute regiment, german 709th infantry division, german 7th army, goodwood, ii parachute corps, josef stalin, landing craft, lcvp, le harve, lst-325, Luftwaffe, Luftwaffe Field Divisions, lxxxiv corps, max hastings, mulberry harbors, neptune, normandy, OKW, Omaha beach, omar bradley, operation anvil, operation cobra, operation fortitude, operation overlord, panzer group west, panzer lehr division, pas de calais, point du hoc, quadrant conference, rhino device, roundup, russell weigley, seine river, st lo, stonewall brigade, tarawa, tehran conference, tiger tanks, transportation plan, ultra, uss augusta, USS Texas, utah beach, v corps, vierville-sur-mere, vii corps british xxx corps, viii corps, villers-bocage, volksdeutsch, Waffen SS, winston churchill, world war ii, xix corps
September 26, 2019 · 17:29
Brittle Personalities with Yearning for Respect, the Danger Of the Lack Of Character in Leaders: President Trump and Kaiser Wilhelm II
We are in the German State Of Hessen visiting German friends that we have known for almost 35 years, after making the trip up from Munich. In our conversations with our German friends who are conservative supporters of Angela Merkel and the CDU, the question of the stability, suitably for office, and the Character of the American President came up, and they are frightened by his actions and wonder how a country like ours could have elected him. That made me revisit the question of the President's character, or lack thereof, and compare him with other vain, immature, and unstable leaders. Character matters, especially when we elect someone to be President of the United States. President Trump may be a character, but he has none, and that is the most dangerous thing about him.
Theodore Roosevelt noted: "Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike."
As the crises of probable impeachment hearings and potential war in the Middle East, and a growing trade war with Chine swirl around the White House I think that it is important to see the President's words and actions in light of a number of factors. One of those, as Theodore Roosevelt noted is character. Thus it is important to know how the character other leaders at other times influenced how they treated people, reacted to criticism, and led their nations.
In the American experience one is hard pressed to find a President with a similar temperament and character that corresponds to Donald Trump. Yes, Nixon had some similarities, Andrew Jackson as well, but both men even at their worst did, at least in public restrain themselves, and Nixon, when confronted with the reality of certain impeachment did the country a favor by resigning. James Buchanan, whose pro-slavery positions helped ignite the American Civil War, and Andrew Johnson, whose anti-Reconstruction policies and actions led to his impeachment, which fell short of conviction by one vote in the Senate, were as corrupt and cruel as Trump, but neither rose to Trump's level of contempt for our institutions and Constitution.
But that was a different time. There were leaders in the Republican Party who chose to honor the Constitution and their oaths over blind party loyalty or their determination to pass a certain legislative act. Their resistance to President Nixon was instrumental in his resignation in 1974, especially that of conservative icon Barry Goldwater.
But there seem to be few current members of the GOP congressional delegations willing to stand either for fear of the Trump base, or blind determination to press on with tax cuts even if it means the sacrifice of the Constitution, nuclear war, or their own integrity. It seems that Mitt Romney and Ben Sasse are now beginning to show some backbone, but most of the Republican Senate still seems willing; even after the revelations of what appears to be the President using his office to influence the President of the Ukraine to help undermine the campaign of one of his leading Democratic Party rivals, Vice President Joe Biden.
Of course no amount of the President's lies and corruption have yet swayed most of his supporters, so I don't think, unless individual Republican Senators decide that their political survival depends on abandoning Trump, that the GOP will do anything. His base remains solid, and armed members of private "militias" are begging the President to call them into action to eliminate his political enemies and members of the press who press his administration for the truth. I actually saw one of the videos a couple of days ago. Basically such people and their organizations are lawless gangs, despite their words, and they include active and former members of the military. They, are willing to kill for Trump, especially those who believe that he was chosen by God to be President, but I digress, Trump is not Hitler, and his thugs are minor leaguers compared to the SA and the SS.
But I do think that there is a leader who in temperament was much like President Trump, who ended up helping to lead his nation and the world to the abyss of World War. That is not Adolf Hitler who many people often compare the President. I think that Trump's authoritarian tendencies and his reliance on his radicalized base, including armed mobs in the street, and hyper-partisan allies in the right wing media, especially Fox News and Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp which serves as his de-facto state media are similar, but they do not speak to the President's unstable, narcissistic, and paranoid behaviors. I think that the better comparison is to Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany with whom the President seems to share many similarities.
In his book The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914, Christopher Clark wrote of Wilhelm in words that are strikingly reminiscent of the President.
"It was one of this Kaiser's many peculiarities that he was completely unable to calibrate his behaviour to the contexts in which his high office obliged him to operate. Too often he spoke not like a monarch, but like an over-excited teenager giving free rein to his current preoccupations."
'I am the sole master of German policy,' he remarked in a letter to the Prince of Wales (the future Edward VII), 'and my country must follow me wherever I go"
"Wilhelm frequently –especially in the early years of his reign –bypassed his responsible ministers by consulting with 'favourites', encouraged factional strife in order to undermine the unity of government, and expounded views that had not been cleared with the relevant ministers or were at odds with the prevailing policy."
"It was in this last area –the unauthorized exposition of unsanctioned political views –that the Kaiser achieved the most hostile notice, both from contemporaries and from historians. There can be no doubt about the bizarre tone and content of many of the Kaiser's personal communications in telegrams, letters, marginal comments, conversations, interviews and speeches on foreign and domestic political themes. Their exceptional volume alone is remarkable: the Kaiser spoke, wrote, telegraphed, scribbled and ranted more or less continuously during the thirty years of his reign, and a huge portion of these articulations was recorded and preserved for posterity…"
Max Hastings wrote that Wilhelm "was a brittle personality whose yearning for respect caused him to intersperse blandishments and threats in ill-judged succession." Sean McMeekin in his book July 1914 wrote that Wilhelm had an "insecurity complex, a need for constant attention and acclaim. As one of his many critics put it, the kaiser needed to be "the stag at every hunt, the bride at every wedding, and the corpse at every funeral." He also noted "Eager for praise, taking offense at the merest slight, the kaiser was a difficult man to work for. Bismarck had disdained to gratify Wilhelm II's fragile ego after he became emperor in 1888, which led to his sacking two years later."
Like President Trump the Kaiser did experience some push back from different governmental ministers, and was somewhat restrained during the month leading up to the war, but his constant belligerence, instability, and unscripted remarks helped set the diplomatic and governmental crisis that led to the war. Of course this was not his fault alone, the Austrian-Hungarians, Serbians, Russians, French, and British all had a hand, but the Kaiser, through his words and actions during the three decades preceding the war bears much responsibility for what happened in 1914. If the Kaiser had had a Twitter account he would have certainly used it in a similar manner to President Trump.
But Germany had no checks and balances to restrain Wilhelm. He was an absolute monarch. Americans do still have institutional checks and balances to Presidential overreach or abuses should we choose to follow the Constitution, but for that to happen the leadership of the Republican Party must also act, as did their predecessors during the Nixon administration to put principle or party, and rule of law over blind obedience. This is not about partisanship; it is about the Constitution, our form of government, and yes, even the prevention of nuclear war.
Character and temperament are very important in times of crisis and elevated tensions. Character is also fate. We should all tremble when we think of the lack of character and maturity shown by our President.
Filed under ethics, Foreign Policy, History, leadership, national security, nazi germany, News and current events, Political Commentary
Tagged as adolf hitler, andrew jackson, andrew johnson, barry goldwater, character, Checks and balances, Christopher Clark, donald trump supporters, fox news, impeachment of andrew johnson, james buchanan, Joe Biden, July 1914, kaiser wilhelm ii, max hastings, president donald trump, Private militias, richard nixon, right wing media, sa, Sean mcmeekin, ss, Sturmabteilung, The Sleepwalkers, theodore roosevelt, Trump and Ukraine president, twitter, u.s. constitution, U.s. institutions
Continuing my Reading and Writing Rainbow
British historian Sir Max Hastings once made the comment: "I would be miserable if I went to bed without having written 1,000 words about something." I am much the same way and hopefully one day I might be one tenth as good, and as successful writer as him or writers like Barbara Tuchman, William Shirer, and Laurence Rees.
I do most of my writing before I go to bed at night and usually set my articles to post at 6:30 in the morning, although of late I have been posting them as soon as I write them.
I have a hard time going to sleep without writing be it for this website or for one of the books that I am working on. I read voraciously whenever I get the chance sometimes going to a bar just to read a book while enjoying a good craft beer or German or Irish import. Likewise once I am done with whatever I am writing I go right back to reading, sometimes keeping whatever Papillon is sleeping with me from getting the sleep that they want. That's what I will be doing tonight when I finish this article which you will be reading tomorrow when it posts. In a sense my writings are kind of like Schroedinger's cat, they are written yet unwritten at the same time, but I digress…
But going back to writing and reading I have to say that I don't know what I would do if I couldn't do either, I think I would be in some sort of hell if I couldn't write every night or read. Doing these things helps me keep my perspective and to more fully appreciate the events of the day. Honestly, if I had not consciously immersed myself in history from the time that I was a child, including the many days that I cut 10th grade Geometry class to read the history reference books that I couldn't check out of the school library I wouldn't be who I am today.
I like writing history because I become immersed in the people, the places, and the intricacies and complexity of the events. I like to incorporate the little known back stories of people help understand their actions at a given point. Likewise think that the lives of the individuals involved in the events I write about, both before, and after the event should they have lived through it, give my readers a more human connection to the events, as well as understanding of the people involved. I find that the stories of people allow readers to make those connections, maybe even inspiring in them a bit of sympathy for scoundrels or suspicion of supposed saints.
I think that the character of people, good, bad, or wherever it falls on the spectrum, and their basic humanity; their strengths, weaknesses, contradictions, and their feet of clay, matter immensely and need to be part a of the story. I hate it when I read a history where a given character's actions during a given event are examined in detail, but who they are as a person never comes through because the authors didn't give their readers the courtesy of introducing them as people because they included little or no biographical details to make them interesting. Instead they become one dimensional caricatures of who they were in life, which in my view does them, the story, and the reader a grave injustice. So when I write I try to find interesting parts of a person's life that is not directly related to the event to paint the picture. Walter Lord, who wrote prolific books on some of the key events of the Twentieth Century including books about the Titanic, Pearl Harbor, Midway, Dunkirk, the desegregation of the University of Mississippi, and many more noted something that I have taken to heart, "I look for something that is highly unusual, involving ordinary people caught in extraordinary situations."
That's one reason I like the writings of both Tuchman and Hastings, they bring life to to the events they write about, they allow your imagination to run and to want discover more about the people and the events. The late Walter Lord, was also excellent at doing that, as was William Shirer, and I think that is how I would like my writings be remembered. But in order to do that I have to read and write, as Stephen King said "If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot."
In the past couple of months I have read Ian Kershaw's To Hell and Back, Europe 1914-1949; Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblat's How Democracies Die; Benjamin Cart Hett's The Death Of Democracy: Hitler's Rise to Power and the Downfall Of the Weimar Republic; Geoffrey Megargee's Inside Hitler's High Command; Christopher Browning's Remembering Survival: Inside a Nazi Slave-Labor Camp; Bonnie Weinstein's When Christians Break Bad: Letters from the Insane, Inane, and Profane; and I am just about done with Laurence Rees's Hitler's Charisma: Leading Millions into the Abyss. I plan on finishing it tonight.
I also need to get back to a submission to my agent on the book I started during the Spring, entitled Walk, Remember, Bear Witness: Remembering the Holocaust as the Last Survivors Pass Away.
Filed under books, books and literature, History, holocaust, Teaching and education
Tagged as barbara tuchman, Benjamin Carl hett, Bonnie Weinstein, christopher browning, Geoffrey Megargee, historians, History, ian kershaw, laurence rees, max hastings, reading, stephen king, walter lord, William Shirer, writing
The Psychological Portrait Of Trump, by an American Diplomat in 1940
I been doing a voracious amount of reading of late. I mentioned some of the titles I read during February and so far in March I have completed Tom Segev's Soldier's Of Evil which is about the commandants of the Nazi Concentration Camps, former Secretary of State Madeline Albright's "Fascism: a Warning," Ian Kershaw's "Luck Of the Devil" which is about the attempt to kill Hitler in July 1944, Kati Marton's "Wallenberg: The Incredible True Story Of a Man Who Saved Thousands of Jews," Max Hasting's Bomber Command; Volume Nine Of the Nuremberg Trials, the Complete Proceedings, the Case Against Goering, and today William Russell's Berlin Embassy.
All are worth the read, but Russell's book is fascinating because it deals with the observations of an American diplomat in Berlin during the 1930s and early 1940s. His primary duties dealt with immigration which alone make the book a must read in the age of President Trump's despotic anti-immigrant policies, which are starting to make the U.S. policy limiting Jewish entry into the country look positively moral.
Russell makes a number of observations about the various Nazi leaders. But when I read these words about Hitler I could not help but think of the current observations of former staff members, diplomats, civil servants, and journalists of President Trump I was dumbfounded. Never before have I seen a description of Hitler by one of his contemporaries so fit the attitudes and actions of President Trump. Russell wrote:
"This is the man who has in his hands a power greater than that ever held by any ruler in history —a power multiplied by the airplane, the radio, the fast printing presses. He is uncontrolled, he does not have to give account to anybody, he crassly and ruthlessly conceals his every failure, he puffs himself up with every success. Today he follows an impulse. Tomorrow he condemns it as wrong —without admitting that he has been wrong. To promise something and never to do it; to forget things which were never meant seriously; to break every promise but to faithfully keep every threat. That is the psychological picture of Der Fuehrer."
The rest nay thing missing was the Twitter tirades, but then Twitter was unknown in 1940.
So, I go back to work tomorrow, at least part time with all of the medical and physical therapy appointments I will continue to have the next few months before my retirement.
Filed under books, civil rights, History, nazi germany, News and current events, Political Commentary
Tagged as adolf hitler, Berlin Embassy, ian kershaw, Kati Marton, madeline albright, max hastings, president donald trump, Raoul Wallenberg, Raquel, The Nuremberg Trials, tom Segev, William Russell
Roughing it Out While Reading
Today was nothing but a series of medical appointments, physical therapy and surgery follow-ups followed by going to Gordon Biersch and watching Athletico Madrid defeat Juventus in the first stage of the Champions League Round Of 16.
As far as the medical surgery follow up appointments went I'm not doing too badly. The surgeon who did the arthroscopic surgery as well as the physical therapists were happy with how the left knee is doing. Evidently all the pain, popping, and swelling are normal, but I was able to get my knee to flex to 103 degrees, which according to the Dr. and Physical Therapist is very good for this stage of recovery. However, the Platelet Rich Plasma treatment wasn't so effective so the surgeon has begun a course of three treatments of injecting gel into my knee. This is supposed to work as a lubricant and shock absorber where the meniscus and other cartilage has degenerated. Today was the first treatment. I hope it works because the next step is knee replacement surgery.
But anyway, I have continued to do a lot of reading, so far this month I have read Max Hastings "Bomber Command," Madeline Albright's "Fascism: A Warning," Mark Perry's "Grant and Twain: A Friendship that Changed America," and Humphrey Cobb's World War I anti-War novel "Paths Of Glory" which later became a film produced and directed by Stanley Kramer by the same name starring Kirk Douglas in one of his first major roles.
As of now I am reading four books, a couple that I am almost already finished reading. I am almost done with Charles Lockwood's "Tragedy at Honda" which is about the greatest peacetime disaster in the history of the U.S. Navy, Colin Woodard's "American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America; Tom Segev's "Soldiers Of Evil: The Commandants Of the Nazi Concentration Camps," and the book of my primary undergraduate-professor, Dr. Helmut Haeussler, "General Wilhelm Groener and the Imperial German Army."
I won't go into detail tonight on any of them, I will toward the end of the month.
Filed under History, Loose thoughts and musings, mental health, movies
Tagged as American Nations, bomber command, Charles Lockwood, Colin Woodard, Fascism: A Warning, General Wilhelm Greoner and the Imperial German Army, helmut haeussler, Humphrey Cobb, knee surgery, madeline albright, max hastings, Paths Of Glory, reading rainbow, soldiers of evil, tom Segev, Tragedy at Honda
I Will Live a Thousand Times Before I Die: Reading as a Way of Life
George R.R. Martin wrote in his book A Dance With Dragons: "A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one."
I constantly read and because I try to imagine what I am reading so that in a way I live it. I have been to places that have never traveled to before and on entering them I know exactly where everything is and what happened there. I remember leading a group from my Army chapel in Wurzburg Germany to Wittenberg, where Martin Luther began the Protestant Reformation. As I led the group through the town a couple of people asked me how many times I had been there. I told them, "physically, never until today, but I have been here a thousand times before because of books. I saw Wittenberg in my minds eye before I ever saw the city." They were surprised and both said that it seemed like I had been there many times.
I have had the same thing happen other places that I have visited, and again, it is because I read, and as I read, I imagine and occasionally dream.
I have a huge number of my books in my office most dealing with the history, especially the American Civil War and Reconstruction, the World Wars, and the insurgencies and counter-insurgency wars of the past seventy or so years. I have a lot of biographies, books on American history, military theory, sociology, philosophy, psychology related to war and PTSD, and a few theological works, though most of my theology books are at home because I don't have room for them in the office.
Coupled with mementos of my military career, other militaria, artwork, and baseball memorabilia the sight and smell can be both overwhelming and comforting at the same time. I hear that a lot from my visitors, including those who come in for counseling, consolation, or just to know someone cares. They tell my visitors volumes about me without them ever asking a question or me telling them, and occasionally someone will ask to borrow a book, and most of the time I will lend them the book, or if I have multiple copies even give it to them.
In a sense my books are kind of a window to my soul, the topics, and even how I have them organized, and they are not for decoration. Many times while I am reflecting on a topic, a conversation, or something that I read in the news I peruse my books and pull one or more out to help me better understand it, or relate it to history. sometimes when in conversation something will come up and I can pull out a book. One of my Chaplains said that he should "apply for graduate credit" for what he learns in our often off the cuff talks. But, for me that is because I read so much and absorb it.
Likewise my memorabilia is there to remind me of all the people in my past who I have served with. I don't have all my medals, honors, and diplomas up for everyone to see, instead I have pictures and collages, many signed by people who made a difference in my life. When I see the signatures and often all too kind words on them I am humbled, and in some cases a tear will come to my eye, but I digress…
I always try to read a decent amount everyday. I in the past couple of weeks I have finished reading a number of very good books dealing with different historical dramas. Since my trip to Germany at the end of September I have read, or re-read a number of books. One that I read for the first time was Where Ghosts Walked: Munich's Road to the Third Reich by David Clay Large. I read it while during the week that we spent in Munich and it was very a very enlightening look at a complex and often contradictory city that has seen a number of cultural and political shifts since the Eighteenth Century, including its place as the spiritual home of the Nazi movement.
I re-read British military historian, Max Hastings book Das Reich: The March of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Through France, June 1944. It focuses on the leadership, and culture of the Waffen SS Division, and on the war crimes committed by its units and personnel it moved from Southern France to Normandy during the week following the Allied invasion of France. The book deals with especially the extermination of the population of the town of Oradour Sur Glane. For those who mythologize the Waffen-SS as an elite military formation, it should be required reading.
Also on my reading list in Germany and after were Anthony Beevor's The Fall,of Berlin 1945. I read it in order to refresh my memorial on the Battle of Berlin, and the locations that we would visit while in the city. I finally decided to read Robert Massie's Castle's of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea, which I have had on my bookshelf for years, and re-read Cornelius Ryan's The Last Battle, also about the Battle for Berlin. I first read that book as a teenager.
One of the most troubling books that I read while in Germany was Believe and Destroy: Intellectuals in the SS War Machine, by Christian Ingrao. Believe and Destroy is particularly troubling because it shows that racism, anti-Semitism, and the planning and execution of genocide is not just the work of poorly educated thugs.
I read Barbara Tuchman's The First Salute: A View of the American Revolution; and The Butcher of Poland: Hitler's Lawyer Hans Frank, by Garry O'Connor. To change things up I read Bob Woodward's Fear: Trump in the White House, Rick Wilson's Everything Trump Touches Dies, and the late Tony Judt's I'll Fares the Land.
I love complex characters, people who may be heroes and at the same time scoundrels. I like the contradictions and the feet of clay of people, because I am filled with my own, and truthfully saints are pretty boring. Unfortunately I haven't read any biographies of late, although most of my reading deals a lot with biography as the characters weave their way through history.
Since we just observed the Centenary of the end of World Aar One, I have started re-reading Edmond Taylor's The Fall of the Dynasties: The Collapse of the Old Order, 1905-1922 and Richard Watt's The Kings Depart: The Tragedy of Germany: Versailles and the German Revolution. Both of these are very important reads which should help us to reflect reflect on what is happening in our world today. There are many similarities and reading them causes me to wonder if world leaders will allow hubris, arrogance, greed, and pride to drag the world into another catastrophic war. Sadly President Trump, doesn't read, and doesn't learn from history. Unfortunately, his ignorance is very much a reflection of our twenty-first century media culture.
But to me, books are important, far more important than anything that is shouted at me on television. Historian Timothy Snyder wrote in his little but profound book, On Tyranny:
"Staring at screens is perhaps unavoidable, but the two-dimensional world makes little sense unless we can draw upon a mental armory that we have developed somewhere else. When we repeat the same words and phrases that appear in the daily media, we accept the absence of a larger framework. To have such a framework requires more concepts, and having more concepts requires reading. So get the screens out of your room and surround yourself with books. The characters in Orwell's and Bradbury's books could not do this—but we still can."
Barbara Tuchman wrote:
"Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. Without books, the development of civilization would have been impossible. They are engines of change (as the poet said), windows on the world and lighthouses erected in the sea of time. They are companions, teachers, magicians, bankers of the treasures of the mind. Books are humanity in print."
But anyway, I am late getting this out. So have a great day and a better tomorrow.
Filed under books, books and literature, History, Loose thoughts and musings, philosophy, Political Commentary, Teaching and education
Tagged as Anthony Beevor, barbara tuchman, berlin, bob woodward, books, Christian Ingrao, cornelius ryan, David Large, Edmond Taylor, Everything Trump Touches Dies, max hastings, Munich, president donald trump, reading, Richard Watt, rick wilson, Robert Massie, timothy snyder, Tony Judt
The War that did not End All War: Recommended Reading in Light of the Centennial of the End of the Great War
Fort Vaux, Verdun France, 1984
Many Americans are infatuated with the Second World War. I think this is because it is closer to us and how it has been recorded in history and film. I think much of this is due to the resurgence of popular works such as Tom Brokaw's The Greatest Generation, Stephen Ambrose's Band of Brothers and the associated classic mini-series, and Steven Spielberg's cinema classic Saving Private Ryan. Of course there were many other books and films one World War Two that came out even during the war that made it an iconic event in the lives of Americans born in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. In fact I have many of the books and videos in my library.
But as pervasive as is the literary and filmography of the Second War War remains, the fact is that the First World War is much more important in a continuing historical sense than the Second World War. Edmond Taylor, the author of the classic account The Fall of the Dynasties: 1905-1922 wrote:
"The First World War killed fewer victims than the Second World War, destroyed fewer buildings, and uprooted millions instead of tens of millions – but in many ways it left even deeper scars both on the mind and on the map of Europe. The old world never recovered from the shock."
First World War is far too often overlooked in our time, yet it was the most important war in the effects that still resonate today. One cannot look at the Middle East, Africa, the Balkans, or Eastern Europe without recognizing that fact. A similar case can be made in Asia where Japan became a regional power capable of challenging the great powers in the Pacific by its participation on the side of the Allies in that war. The same is true of the United States, although in the aftermath of the war it retreated into a narcissistic isolationism that took Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor to break.
But I digress. The purpose I have tonight it to recommend some books and films that I think are helpful in understanding just how important the First World War remains to us today.
I made my first visit to a World War One battlefield when I went to Verdun in 1984. I was a young Army Second Lieutenant, preparing myself for time time that the Red Army would attack across the Fulda Gap. The walk around the battlefield was one of the most sobering events of my life. It was hard to imagine that a minimum of 700,000 German and French soldiers were killed or wounded on this relatively small parcel of ground over a period of nine months in 1916. The fact that many parts of the battlefield are off limits to visitors due to the vast amount of unexploded ordnance and persistent chemical agents, in this gas Mustard Gas also made an impression on me. But what affected me most was unearthing a bone fragment as I shuffled my feet near Fort Vaux and turning it over to a docent. I am sure that it was added to the Ossuary which contains the skeletal remains of over 130,000 French and German soldiers. It is hard to forget.
The literature that came out of the First World War by participants or observers, either as memoirs, works of fiction, or poems is impressive. Likewise the volumes chronicled by soldiers which influenced later military strategic, operational, and tactical developments between the World Wars remains with us today. In fact the military works still remain the basis for much of the current understanding of combined arms, counterinsurgency, and mission command doctrine.
More importantly, and perhaps less appreciated by policy makers and strategists are the personal works of soldiers that fought the in the great battles along the western front during the war. For the most part, the soldiers who served on the Western Front, the Balkans, Italy, and the Eastern Front are part of an amorphous and anonymous mass of people who simply became numbers during the Great War, thus the individual works of men like John McRea, Sigfried Sassoon, Erich Maria Remarque, Winfried Owen, Ernst Junger, Erwin Rommel, and even Adolf Hitler, are incredibly important in understanding the war, the ideology, and the disappointment of the men who served in the trenches. This applies regardless of the particular writer's experience or political ideology.
The fact is that very few men who served on the ground in Europe reached the distinction of individual recognition is remarkable. More often those who achieved fame as relatively low ranking individuals were the Knights of the Air, the aviators who in individual combat above the trenches were immortalized by friend and foe alike. These men were represented as an almost mythological portrait of chivalry in a war where millions of men died anonymously, riddled by machine gun fire, artillery, and poison gas in mud saturated ground, trenches, and no man's land. There are war cemeteries in France and Belgium where the majority of those interred are unknowns. On the Eastern Front, even those cemeteries and memorials are sparse, swallowed by war, shifting borders, and massive forced population migrations between 1918 and 1948.
For different reasons the books and poems written by the otherwise anonymous soldiers in Europe are important if we are to understand the world that we have inherited and must live in today. The same is true of men like T. E. Lawrence who served in the Middle East, or his East African counterpart, the German Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. Both of them made their names by conducting inventive campaigns using indigenous irregular soldiers to tie down and defeat far stronger opponents.
Histories and biographies written about the period by later historians using the documents and words of the adversaries, as well as solid hermeneutics and historiography are also quite important. So are the analysis of economists, sociologists, psychologists, philosophers, and even theologians as to the effects of the war on us today, but I digress.
Tonight I will list a number of books, poems, and films that I think are important in interpreting the Great War, especially, in trying to understand just how the men who directed and fought that war set the stage for today.
Lawrence's "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" as well as many of his post-war letters, articles, and opinion pieces help us understand the current Middle East through the lens of a brilliant but deeply troubled man. Remarque, Sassoon, McRea, Junger, Owen, and Hitler help us to understand the ideology, motivations, fears, and hopes of men on different sides and even very different ideological and political points of view. Now I would not recommend Hitler's poorly written, turgid, almost unreadable, and hate filled book to anyone but a scholar of the period or biographer the the Nazi dictator.
Later historians Barbara Tuchman, Holger Herweg, Edmond Taylor, Richard Watt, and Robert Massie help us understand that bigger picture of international politics, intrigue, and strategy. Lest to be trusted, are the memoirs of high ranking men of any side who helped to write, and re-write the history of the war and its aftermath in order to bolster their own historical credibility. The same is true of the men who urged on war in 1914 and retreated from that in 1918 as if they had never heard of the war.
As for the books that came out of the war I would have to recommend Lawrence's classic Seven Pillars of Wisdom, as well as articles, and letters, written by him available online at T. E. Lawrence Studies . Likewise, Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front is a classic account of a combat soldier with a distinct anti-war message. Junger's Storm of Steel is also an account of a combat soldier who came out of the war but with a message completely different than Remarque's. The poetry of the British Soldiers McRea, Sasson, and Owen is moving and goes to the heart of the war experience in a way that prose, no matter how well written cannot do.
Of the later histories I think that Taylor's The Fall of the Dynasties, The Collapse of the Old Order, 1905-1922, Tuchman's The Proud Tower: A Portrait of the World Before the War, 1890-1914 and The Guns of August, Christopher Clark's The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War In 1914, and Margaret McMillen's The War that Ended Peace: The Road to 1914, are essential to understanding the events and conditions leading up to the war.
Herweg's World War One and Massie's Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea are both good accounts of the war. Catastrophe 1914: Europe Goes to War by Max Hastings, and Home Before the Leaves Fall: A New History of the German Invasion of 1914, by Ian Senior, and Tannenberg: Clash of Empires by Dennis Showalter are excellent recent histories of the opening months of the war which are a good compliment to Tuchman's The Guns of August.
Books about battles and campaign outside of the opening months and general histories of the war I have to admit that I have not read many. Most of the ones I have read deal with the ordeal and crisis of the French Army in 1916 and 1917. Alistair Horne's The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916, Richard Watt's Dare Call it Treason, and David Murphy's The Breaking Point of the French Army: The Neville Offensive of 1917 document the valor, sacrifice, and near collapse of the French Army.
A book that is focuses on the American military in the war and how it helped change American society is Jennifer Keene's Doughboys: The Great War and the Making of American Society.
A book that I found interesting was Correlli Barnett's The Sword-bearers: Supreme Command in the First World War. The book provides short biographies of the lives and influences of German Field Marshal Von Moltke, British Admiral Jellicoe, French General Petain, and German General Ludendorff. It is a good study in command. Another biography that I recommend is
As for the war at sea, I recommend Edwin Hoyt's The Last Cruise of the Emden, R. K. Lochner's The Last Gentleman of War: The Raider Exploits of the Cruiser Emden, Geoffrey Bennett's Coronel and the Falklands, Holger Herweg's Luxury Fleet: The Imperial German Navy, 1888 – 1918 in addition to Massie's Castle's of Steel, of which the latter is probably the best resource for the naval aspects of the war.
A couple of books that deal with the often overlooked campaign in East Africa are Lettow Von Vorbeck's My Reminiscences of East Africa, and Königsberg: A German East Africa Raider by Kevin Patience shed light on this obscure but important campaign.
Erwin Rommel's Infanterie Greift An (Infantry Attacks) is quite possibly the best book on tactics and operational methods published by a participant. Likewise, the the British historians and theoreticians B. H. Liddell-Hart and J. F. C. Fuller, and German Panzer theorist and Commander Heinz Guderian, who also served on the front produced a number of volumes which influenced later strategic and operational advancements which are still in evidence today.
Watt's The Kings Depart: The Tragedy of Germany: Versailles and the German Revolution is a necessity if one is to understand the rise of the Nazi State. Likewise, a good resource of the deliberations leading to the Treat of Versailles is Margaret McMillen's 1919: Six Months that Changed the World. Related to this is the very interesting account of the scuttling of the interred German High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow in the aftermath of Versailles, The Grand Scuttle: The Sinking of the German Fleet at Scapa Flow In 1919 by Dan Van der Vat.
One work of fiction that I can recommend is The General by C. S. Forester.
I am sure that there are many other volumes that others could recommend, but these are mine.
In an age where there are many parallels to the years leading up to the Great War, it is important not to forget just how catastrophic such a war can be.
Filed under books, books and literature, History, leadership, middle east, Military, News and current events, world war one
Tagged as alistair horne, all quiet on the western front, barbara tuchman, C. S. Forester, Catastrophe 1914, Dare Call it Treason, Edmond Taylor, Erich maria remarque, ernst junger, erwin rommel, first world war, Holger Herweg, Home Before the Leaves Fall, Ian Senior, John McRea, Margaret McMillen, max hastings, Paul Von Lettow-Vorbeck, Richard Watt, Robert Massie, Siegried Sasson, SMS Emden, storm of steel, t e lawrence, Tanneberg, The Breaking Point of the French Army, The Fall of the Dynasties, The Grand Scuttle, the guns of august, The Kings Depart, The Last Cruise of the Emden, The Last Gentleman of War, The Price of Glory, The Pround Tower, The Sleepwalkers, The War that Ended Peace, verdun, Wilfred Owen
The Longest Day and Afterwards: D-Day and the Normandy Campaign, an Introduction
The planning for the Normandy invasion began in earnest after the QUADRANT conference in Quebec in August 1943. The timetable for the operation was established at the Tehran conference where Stalin sided with the Americans on the need for an invasion of France in the spring of 1944.[ii] Prior to this there had been some planning by both the British and Americans for the eventual invasion initially named ROUNDUP. These preparations and plans included a large scale raid at Dieppe in 1942 which ended in disaster but which provided needed experience in what not to do in an amphibious assault on a heavily defended beach. The failure at Dieppe also darkened the mood of the Allies, the British in particular to the success of such operations, bringing to mind the failed Gallipoli campaign of 1915 as well as the opposed landings at Salerno and the USMC experience at Tarawa.[iii] Despite this the Americans led by General Marshall pushed for an early invasion of northwest Europe. Churchill and the British due to their weakness in land power pushed for land operations in the Mediterranean, and even in Norway as an option to the assault in France. The conflicted mindset of the Allies left them in the position of planning almost exclusively for the success of the initial landings and build up to the near exclusion of planning for the subsequent campaign once they landed. This especially included what one writer described as "the maze of troubles awaiting behind the French shore."[iv]
The venerable USS Nevada, resurrected from the mud of Pearl Harbor bombarding German positions at Utah Beach
US Infantry struggles ashore at Omaha
The landings at OMAHA succeeded at a cost of over 2000 casualties. Critical to the success of the landings were the German inability to reinforce their defending troops on the beach. Likewise the weakness of the units available to mount the standard counterattack that was critical to German defensive plans on D-Day itself kept the Germans from driving the Americans back into the Channel. The 352nd Division fought superbly under the full weight of V Corps and the British XXX Corps on its right suffering heavy casualties as they contested every inch of ground. The 716th Division composed of second rate troops melted under the onslaught. Allied air supremacy played a key role as sorties by the 8th and 9th Air Forces helped keep German reinforcements from arriving and interdicted counter attacks inland. Weigley credits the Allied air superiority with the success of the landings and with limiting casualties.[xlii]Von Rundstedt and other German commanders in France were limited by the delay and refusal of Hitler and OKW to release Panzer reserves when needed most early on June 6th. By the close of D-Day allied forces had secured the five invasion beaches but not achieved their objectives of taking Caen and Bayuex. Since the forces on the various beachheads had not linked up the beaches would have been extremely vulnerable had the Germans been able to mount a rapid counterattack by Panzers and strong infantry formations as they had at Salerno.
Filed under History, leadership, Military, nazi germany, us army, US Army Air Corps, world war two in europe
Of Hubris, Hurricanes, Hydrogen Bombs, and Harder Alternatives
I got five mile walk in with my dogs Minnie and Izzy along the Potomac River and has a good amount of time to enjoy them, to take in the woods and wildlife, and to do some thinking. As I walked in the quiet with my girls I thought about what I wrote yesterday about the blessings of solitude. Going out with them meant that I had time to think and ponder a number of crises that have the possibility of impacting all of our lives in major ways and the hubris, arrogance, ignorance, and incompetence of the so called leader of the free world. Max Hastings description of Kaiser Wilhelm II is frighteningly descriptive of President Trump: "a brittle personality whose yearning for respect caused him to intersperse blandishments and threats in ill-judged succession."
First, there was the catastrophe of Hurricane Harvey with the massive destruction to Houston and much of East Texas to which despite two visits to the region the President still seems emotionally untouched by. Then, after North Korea tested a missile that could hit the United States I conducted a test of its largest nuclear weapon to which after he made his obligatory angry tweets to North Korea, President Trump then both threatened and scolded South Korea.
Now there is the real possibility of another natural disaster as Hurricane Irma bears down of the Southeastern or Gulf Coast of the United States as a major, possibly category four or five storm capable of massive destruction and loss of life, and the realization that we have a President that only seems to see these crises in the light of self-promotion and how they make him appear, and the realization that most people do not prepare themselves for worst case scenarios.
This is nothing new, Barbara Tuchman wrote of an earlier generation "One constant among the elements of 1914—as of any era—was the disposition of everyone on all sides not to prepare for the harder alternative, not to act upon what they suspected to be true."
Likewise over the weekend I have been doing a lot of reading. I finished Max Hastings book about the opening months of the First First World War, Catastrophe 1914: Europe Goes to War, Bradley Gottfried's annotated atlas of the Battle of Antietam, The Maps of Antietam, which was helpful as I walked the battlefield on Thursday, Meg Groeling's The Aftermath of Battle: The Burial,of the Civil War Dead, and Breaking Point of the French Army: the Nivelle Offensive of 1917 by David Murphy. All three books to some extent dealt with the hubris of leaders and the human cost of war. Likewise, my walk of the Antietam battlefield was a good way for me to put both hubris and the human cost of war into perspective.
While natural disasters cannot be avoided they can certainly be mitigated if leaders and people are willing to do the hard thing prepare for worst case scenarios. What happened with Hurricane Harvey is going to cost hundreds of millions of dollars to repair and even for the region to partially recover. Houston will rebuild, and recover but many of the poorer small towns down the Gulf Coast of Texas will not. As I write this the potential damage and loss of life to whatever section of the East Coast or the Gulf Coast that Irma hits will be substantial.
As for North Korea, it seems that the President is determined to provoke the already tense situation on the Korean Peninsula by not only threatening North Korea, but our ally South Korea as well. I don't know about you but my training as a young officer on the Fulda Gap during the peak of the Cold War taught me to prepare for the worst and I don't see the leaders of our country or for that matter most people planning, or even thinking about how bad this could get. My motto is that of Hannah Arendt "Prepare for the worst; expect the best; and take what comes," to which I would add be flexible.
My hope is that Irma will turn away from land and head into the vast reaches of the North Atlantic, but with every new update I see the possibility that as with Harvey, millions of real people are going to have their lives upended. The same is true if the situation on the Korean Peninsula comes to war. It's just the way I think, and I would rather be ready and have done my best to prepare for the worst case scenario hoping that it never comes to pass, than through a lack of planning, inaction, and careless words or gestures make things exponentially worse.
So anyway, until tomorrow,
Filed under History, national security, natural disasters, News and current events, Political Commentary
Tagged as barbara tuchman, hannah arendt, hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, kaiser wilhelm ii, max hastings, natural disasters, north korea, nuclear war, president donald trump, south korea
"Read a Lot and Write a Lot" How I Avoid Misery
British historian Sir Max Hastings, whose book Catastrophe 1914, Europe Goes to War I am re-reading since I just completed another trip through Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August, once made the comment: "I would be miserable if I went to bed without having written 1,000 words about something." I am much the same way and hopefully one day I might be one tenth as good, and as successful writer as him or Tuchman.
I do most of my writing before I go to bed at night and usually set my articles to post at 6:30 in the morning. I have a hard time going to sleep without writing be it for this website or for one of the books that I am working on. I read voraciously whenever I get the chance sometimes going to a bar just to read a book while enjoying a good craft beer or Germanor Irish import. Likewise once I am done with whatever I am writing I go right back to reading, sometimes keeping whatever Papillon is sleeping with me from getting the sleep that they want. That's what I will be doing tonight when I finish this article which you will be reading tomorrow when it posts. In a sense my writings are kind of like Schroedinger's cat, they are written yet unwritten at the same time, but I digress…
Today while on vacation in Huntington, West Virginia, I have been doing a lot of my own reading, as well as keeping up with the latest news about the building crisis regarding North Korea's nuclear weapons and missiles and President Trump's unrelenting bellicose tweets and statements. Likewise today I've walked about seven and a half miles, much of it around the campus of Marshall University and walking my dogs around the neighborhood that we are staying. As I walk I tend to take in everything I see and because of my PTSD I am still somewhat hyper vigilant which causes me to be a bit more observant about my surroundings than a lot of other people. But I also muse about things going on in the world as well as things that I am writing or plan on writing about. I did a lot of today and over the past few days. The next couple of days won't be as free because Judy has scheduled us for some social activities, but I will still find a way to in get my reading, writing, and walking.
That's one reason I like the writings of both Tuchman and Hastings, they bring life to to the events they write about, they allow your imagination to run and to want discover more about the people and the events. The late Walter Lord, who I also mentioned was also excellent at doing that, and I think that is how I would like my writings be remembered. But in order to do that I have to read and write, as Stephen King said "If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot." So back to Hastings' Catastrophe 1914.
Filed under History, Loose thoughts and musings, philosophy
Tagged as barbara tuchman, biography, History, max hastings, reading, stephen king, writing