Schwerpunkt: From D-Day to the Fall of the Third Reich (9 page)

29. May. 44

Hello my darling son:

I was so relieved and happy to get your letter telling me that you are still working at the headquarters of so famous a general! I remember what must be two years ago now. I scraped up millions of Deutsche Marks and just barely had enough to see the film about General Rommel. I still even remember the title: Victory in the West. I remember being so proud that our Fatherland had such a great general to defeat our enemies. The story of how he conquered France was so thrilling. I am so proud of you, Son. Since you told me you were working for him, I say prayers for this great man every night. And for you too, my dearest Rudi. I imagine that by working at this headquarters, you are out of harm’s way. And please don’t tell me differently even if my imaginings are not really true. I could not bear to think of you fighting like the boys in that movie.

There have been so many changes here since you’ve been gone. Our rations have gone down again and I think the bombings of Stuttgart have gone up. In this year alone, there have been bombs dropped on our city more than a half dozen times. My favorite opera singer, Maria Roesler Keuschnigg was just killed by a bombing raid in Stuttgart. I had seen her in Fidelio a year or so ago. There were several hundred other people killed in that raid. I can’t even imagine how many thousands of people have lost their houses. But we have more boys protecting us now since the neighbor boys, Hans and Rolf have turned 12 years old. They too are now working on the FLAK cannons along with the other older boys in our neighborhood.

I myself am not eating too much anymore as the rations have been cut again. When I hear there is some food to buy at one of the stores, I drop what I am doing so I can get a good place in line where I stand and wait for several hours. More times than not, whatever they had is gone by the time I get to the head of the line. I am willing to do this all, of course, because our Führer has asked it of us. I’m sure you know that Heinrich Himmler has recently been put in charge of the German Home Front. I wonder how the situation will change, not that it needs changing, mind you. No one I know of is a defeatist, that’s for certain. We all await the nearby day when our Fatherland stands victorious over our enemies. And while I am sure this will happen, I am glad for the bomb shelter just at the corner of our street.

So Rudi, my dearest son. That is all that I can fit on this paper. Please remain safe and brave.

Your loving mother.

On June 6, 1944, General Eisenhower issued the Order of the Day: “Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen…you are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you…you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.” The first hours of DDay belonged to the more than 20,000 paratroopers of three Airborne divisions and the almost 10,000 Allied aircraft including planes, bombers, fighters and escorts not to mention wooden gliders which prepared the coast for the arrival of the invading land forces. Earlier on June 5
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and throughout the early hours of June 6
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, those three airborne divisions were flown to designated drop zones in France behind the beaches of Normandy. Eventually, nearly 13,000 total aircraft flew in support of the Invasion, some by bombing enemy defensive positions throughout the day and some by bringing in critical supplies as the days and weeks progressed.

More than 20,000 paratroopers and airborne infantry dropped from something like two thousand planes and gliders into the areas behind the beaches on the night of June 5
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and the morning of June 6
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. All the strategic planning for DDay, all the logistical preparation and all the training that’s been going on for months now, has culminated in this night. As Ike said in the mimeographed Order of the Day which each and every one of these guys got today, the eyes of the world are upon them.

First to set off were the Pathfinders who were to drop in designated zones behind enemy lines. Their job was to mark the zones for the future landings of the Airborne Infantry. The Pathfinders left England’s air bases on the night of June 5
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. Then, two American Airborne divisions and one British Airborne division took off to be dropped where the paths had been laid for them. The first phase of the invasion had begun. These heroes dropped behind enemy lines in the early morning hours of June 6
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with orders to capture and hold strategic inland locations until relieved by additional infantry troops. They each shared the same general orders: disrupt the enemy and secure strategic positions. They were to defend against any counterattacks designed to move them off their positions. I am nervous as hell. I cannot even imagine how they are feeling.

Each Airborne division was also given specific orders. The British paratroopers were to hold the eastern flank and capture certain bridges over the River Orne to facilitate the capture of Caen. The British 6
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airborne was dropped on the eastern side of the beaches opposite from where the Americans were being dropped at the western side. The Brits took off and landed around 0230 on June 6
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. Taking and holding Caen is the first major objective of the British forces and without the bridges, meeting this objective would be impossible. They also needed bridges because without at least one, those paratroopers who landed east of the Orne River would be cut off and trapped behind enemy lines. When we learned that earlier British glider forces who had come in with the Pathfinders had already captured a bridge, we were ecstatic. They renamed it Pegasus Bridge and they took the very first casualty of DDay in getting it out of the Krauts’ hands and into ours. But now that we have it, the Jerry sons of bitches are going to have one hell of time bringing up reinforcements from the south or east and getting the city of Caen will be that much easier for us.

U.S. Paratroopers were to hold the western flank of the landing beaches. Our major objective is to clear the Cotentin Peninsula and get to Cherbourg to take control of its crucial ports. We need to take several towns along the way in order to accomplish this mission so the “All American” Airborne troops of General Matthew Ridgeway’s 82
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Airborne Division have been ordered to clear opposing enemy troops from the banks of the Merderet River. Once this River crossing is in our hands, the Paratroopers have been ordered to secure the town of Ste. Mere Eglise, a town situated along the North-South French roadway running from Cherbourg to Bayeux. This critical roadway was the only road wide enough to carry Allied reinforcement troops to the Utah and Omaha beach exits.

Taking and controlling roads is critical in Normandy. During the planning stages which preceded DDay, engineer troops tested sand and soil. Besides making sure the sandy beaches of Normandy could handle the weight of our tanks and trucks, they tested the ground abutting the roads to determine whether those tanks and trucks could travel off the road. Unfortunately, most of the ground up there is usually marshy and wet. This means that tanks or trucks are relegated pretty much to only the paved roads which is why taking and controlling them has to be one of the first objectives. Once Ste. Mere Eglise and its roadways are taken, the Paratroopers’ orders are to prevent German reinforcements from using that roadway and to keep all Krauts from entering the area until the land troops from Utah and Omaha link up. They were then to leave the ground fighting to the regular infantry while they evacuated and trained for some other operation to be carried out in the future behind the front lines.

As the landings took place last night, we received precious few reports, but as the night turned to day and the day to evening, we were being told that most of the landings involving the 82
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had been off target due to who knows what. High winds? Low clouds? Pilot error? As reports filed into Headquarters, we could see that confusion followed misdirection and the situation was nearly a shambles.

The first reports that came in from the 82
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were dismal. Close to no one was in the position we had anticipated and the time it took them to hike to where they were supposed to be caused delays which we sure hadn’t accounted for. Not being in the right place meant that virtually no one could link up with their units which meant that immediate objectives weren’t achieved. The guys who made it down safely had to fend for themselves, sometimes against machine gun fire and sometimes against sniper fire, until they could move and meet up with some other jumpers who, most of the time, were men from different units with different orders to carry out. One unit had to hike almost 25 miles to get to their objective. They had no choice though and when we finally found out that they reached their designated destination, my heart went out to each and every one of those boys who did what they had to do to finally carry out their orders. And of course, the bad thing is that while our guys were wandering around trying to hook up with the other members of their squads, the goddamn Krauts had time to dig in and launch their repelling attacks. More than one report indicated that many of these inexperienced units were immediately engaged in firefights. The only good thing about the scattered landings was that it probably so confused the Kraut commanders that they didn’t know where we were coming from and I can only hope they didn’t know whether to shit or go blind when issuing their orders.
In my book, these paratroop drops more than made up for any shortcomings in their confused landings since they did nothing but amplify the confusion of the Germans who everyone was hoping were still thinking that the actual invasion would be taking place at Pas de Calais.

As reports continued to come in, we found out that the goddamn Krauts had opened the dams on the rivers in the area behind the beaches and had flooded the inland ground right where our drop zones were. When landings were made, some of the poor guys who weren’t hooked up in trees were drowned in flooded marshes. Ike was visibly distraught since he had made the decision to go ahead with the drops in spite of the high winds and potentially stormy weather. We didn’t know about the flooded plains though and that just added to his despair and frustration. From what we were told, some of the landing zones had three to four feet of water in them and many of our men just couldn’t get their harnesses off fast enough so those helpless soldiers drowned trying to get out of their rigs. Some drowned in as little as a foot of water. Thank the good Lord that many were able to make it and they reported later that they moved towards their objectives in either small bands of men who just happened to meet up with each other or in some cases, singly until they met up with others. It had to be harrowing! I mean, you’re behind enemy lines and you’re by yourself with no one to lean on. I don’t know how they did it but they did do it and they did it superbly.

I know that at headquarters, Ike was shitting bricks. He had been advised by Air Chief Marshal Leigh-Mallory that paratroop casualties could reach as high as 75% and Ike agonized over what to do. These drops were so critical though, that Ike couldn’t let Leigh-Mallory’s estimates stop him and he reluctantly (Christ, how reluctantly!) issued the order that they go. He had gone out to as many of the air bases as he could to talk to the men who were setting off to score a KO against Hitler and I know he felt the responsibility weighing on him like a ton of bricks. So when the first reports came in, he was devastated. But soon, further reports showed that men hooked up with others from entirely different units and somehow, by sheer will power, determination and dedication, tasks were completed, objectives were met and missions were accomplished. Leigh-Mallory even came up to Ike sometime later and told him he was sorry he had added to Ike’s burdens by giving such bleak odds. It seemed impossible to him that success could be achieved given the conditions that those paratroopers jumped into. When we received the report that St. Mere Eglise was in American hands, everybody here cheered like nobody’s business. What a goddamn relief!

By dawn on the morning of June 6
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, we discovered that the Jerries who were initially on hand to welcome our airmen in Ste. Mere Eglise soon left the town which, as of that point, had the distinct privilege of being the first town in France to be liberated. The Americans took full advantage of their absence by cutting cables and telephone wires and clearing roads and buildings. I guess the Krauts weren’t willing to give up that town so easily though and they launched a counter-attack the next day. The paratroopers had secured the flanks of the infantry coming in off the beaches and when the Germans set up for their counterattack, many of the paratroopers were in place to get to them before they could start. But of course, not all the time, goddammit and we were taking significant casualties.

After the infantry troops arrived, the combined efforts of both the airborne and the infantry finally paid off after some very hard fighting. We eventually kicked the shit out of the Hun and we received reports that defensive positions were established and the vital cross roads in the town of Ste. Mere Eglise were now firmly in American hands. As final reports filed in, the first day Airborne losses were far less than projected and nowhere near the 75% estimate Ike had to wrestle with. In all, it seems of the more than 20,000 men who jumped, something less than 3000 ended up either killed or wounded. The Paratroopers did almost all that was asked of them. It’s a good thing I’m not in charge of medals. I’d give one to each one of those sonofabitchin’ heroes!