THE SECOND

WORLD WAR
IN THE WEST
~.::.~.il.
THE SECOND
WORLD WAR
IN THE WEST

Charles Messenger
General Editor: John Keegan

L
-
CASSELL
CTotal war is not a succession of mere
episodes in a day or week. It is a long
drawn out and intricately planned
business, and the longer it continues the
heavier are the demands on the
character of the men engaged in it. ~
GENERAL GEORGE C. MARSHALL, JUNE 1941

First published in Great Britain 1999

by Cassell, Wellington House, 125 Strand, London
WC2R OBB www.cassell.co.uk

Text copyright © Charles Messenger, 1999

The moral right of the author has been asserted

Design and layout copyright © Cassell

The picture credits on p. 224 constitute an extension
to this copyright page.

All rights reserved. No part of this title may be

reproduced or transmitted in any material form
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British Library Cataloguing-in-publication Data

ISBN: 0-304-352-241

Design, cartography and picture research: Arcadia

Editions Ltd
Printed in Italy by Printer Trento s.r.l.

Typeset in Monotype Sabon

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am deeply indebted to John Keegan for inviting me to

write this volume in The History of Warfare series. I first
met him when I was a cadet at the Royal Military
Academy, Sandhurst nearly forty years ago, when he
helped to develop my deep interest in military histor~ His
writings have proved an inspiration to me ever since.
I am also very grateful to Malcolm Swanston and his
team at Arcadia for the devoted effort they put into
creating the maps and diagrams, and carrying out picture
research.
Finally, my warmest thanks to Nick Chapman, Judith
Flanders, Penny Gardiner and Caroline Knight at
Weidenfeld. Their enthusiasm and encouragement have
made working on this book a pleasure.

Charles Messenger
The rapidly expanding German army on parade, 1938.
 CONTENTS
- - -....---::~:~~ ...:@:.~:==~:t--l .....- - -

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 5 French North-West Africa; Tunisia; Casablanca

MAP LIST 9 Conference; invasions of Sicily and Italy, including
CHRONOLOGY 10 fall of Mussolini 117

6 TH.E LIBERATION OF"RuSSIA

The First World War - the 'war to end all war'; the 1943-4
Treaty of Versailles; the League of Nations;
Reformation of Soviet tactics; Battle of Kursk;
international disarmament; the rise of Mussolini
liberation of western Russia; entry into Eastern
and Hitler; Spanish Civil War; rearmament; war
Europe and Balkans; Russian advance to River
clouds gather; Hitler turns on Poland 17
Vistula and Warsaw Uprising 139

2 THE TRIUMPH OF BLITZKRIEG NORTH-WEST EUROPE AND

7
1939-40 ITALY 1944
State of opposing forces at outbreak of Second World
Planning and preparation for Normandy landings;
War; Polish campaign; Phoney War; Russo-Finnish
Anzio, breaking of Gustav Line, Allied entry into
war; Denmark and Norway; France and the Low
Rome; Normandy landings; breakout from
Countries; Britain alone; Resistance in Occupied
Normandy; landings in South of France; Arnhem;
countries; Lend~ease and US attitude to war 39
closing to German border; Gothic line, Italy;
Ardennes counter-offensive; closing to the Rhine 167
3 MUSSOLINI'S DREAM: THE
MEDITERRANEAN THEATRE 8 THE FINAL CAMPAIGN 1945
1940 -4 1 Russian Vistula-Oder offensive; siege of Budapest
Delayed Italian entry into war; early campaigns in and last German offensive; overrunning of Hungary;
East and North Africa; Italian invasion of Greece; Russian capture of Vienna; Rhine crossings and Ruhr
German troops sent to Libya; Balkan campaign; Pocket; the end of Italy; western Allies' strategic
Crete; Iraq; Syria; November 1941 British counter- debate over Berlin; Russian assault on Berlin and
offensive in Egypt; Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor link-up with western Allies; Hitler's suicide;
and US entry into war 71 German surrender; the last shots; removal of
Doenitz 'government' 193

4 HITLER TURNS EAST: RUSSIA

194 1-3 9 IN RETROSPECT
Hitler's invasion plans; 1941 offensive; first Russian Summary: the total nature of the war and the
counter-attacks; 1942 German plans; the road to physical cost in terms of loss of life and
Stalingrad; battle of Stalingrad 91 destruction 2°9

SOME LEADING COMMANDERS 21 4

5 SECOND FRONT: WESTERN FURTHER READING 21 9
EUROPE AND THE INDEX 220

MEDITERRANEAN: 1942-3 PICTURE CREDITS 224

Anglo-US strategic debate; Rommel's spring 1942

counter-offensive in Egypt; El Alamein; invasion of
 KEY TO MAPS

Military units-types General military symbols

~ infantry -xxxxx- army group boundary

~ armoured -xxxx- army boundary

~ motorized infantry ...........- front line

EJ airborne
VV' defensive line

~ parachute n.J"\; defensive line (3D maps)

[!J artillery ~ field work

Military units-size
0 pocket or position

xxxxx +- field gun

CJ army group
xxxx ~ paratroop drop
CJ army

xxx sunken ship

CJ corps
xx ~ airfield
CJ division

x
CJ brigade
Geographical symbols
III
CJ regiment
urban area
II
CJ battalion
road

railway
Military unit colours
river
DAllied

seasonal river
D Germany

canal
D Poland
border
D Finland
....... bridge or pass

Military movements marsh

attack rocks

-T retreat

air attack
 MAP LIST

I. EUROPE IN 1920 (POST PEACE TREATIES) 21

2. HITLER'S ANNEXATIONS, 1936-9 34-5

3· CAMPAIGN IN POLAND, 1-28 SEPTEMBER 1939 41

4· Russo-FINNISH WAR, 1940 47

5· 'PLAN YELLOW', SEPTEMBER 1939-ApRIL 1940 49

6. DENMARK AND NORWAY, APRIL AND JUNE 1940 51

7· PANZER STRIKE 54-5

8. INVASION OF THE WEST, MAY-JUNE 1940 5 6 -7

9· CAMPAIGN IN EAST AFRICA, JUNE 194o-NoVEMBER 194 1 77

10. THE BALKANS, 6-30 APRIL 1941 AND

CRETE, 20 MAY - I JUNE 1941 82-3

II. OPERATION CRUSADER, 18-24 AND

24-28 NOVEMBER 1941 87

12. INVASION OF RUSSIA, JUNE-DECEMBER 1941 94-5

13· THE CAUCASUS, JUNE-NoVEMBER 1942 III

14· THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD,

SEPTEMBER 1942-FEBRUARY 1943 112-1 3

15· BATTLE OF GAZALA AND ROMMEL'S PURSUIT,

JANUARY-jUNE 1942 120-22

16. OPERATION TORCH, 8 NOVEMBER 1942 13 0 -3 1

17· BATTLE OF KURSK, 5- 1 3 JULY 1944 14 6 -7

18. OPERATION BAGRATION, JUNE-AUGUST 1944 161

22. ITALY 1944-5 172-3

19· D-DAY, 6 JUNE 1944 17 8 -9

20. BATTLE OF THE BULGE 16-24 DECEMBER 1944 AND

COUNTER-ATTACK, 26 DECEMBER-7 FEBRUARY 1945 188-9

21. BATTLE OF BERLIN, 16 APRIL-6 MAY 1945 20 4- 20 5

THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE WEST

CHRONOLOGY

Key w 22Jan Hitler takes charge of w 27 May Calais falls

w North-West Europe planning for invasion of w 28 May Allies finally capture
e The Third Reich and the East Norway Narvik. Belgium
m The Mediterranean and the e 1 Feb Timoshenko launches surrenders
Balkans fresh offensive against w 3-8Jun Final Allied evacuation
a Africa and the Middle East Finns from Norway when
e 11 Feb Mannheim Line troops and King
1939 breached. Haakon of Norway
e 1 Sep German invasion of Soviet-German leave N arvik
Poland economic agreement w 4Jun Evacuation from
w 3 Sep Britain and France w IMar US Secretary of State Dunkirk ends and
declare war on Sumner begins visit of Germans enter the port
Germany warring countries to w 5Jun German offensive
w 7Sep French forces advance investigate prospects for across Rivers Somme
into Saarland but soon peace and Aisne begins
withdraw e 8Mar Russians capture port of w 11 Jun Italy declares war on
w 9Sep British Expeditionary Viipuri Britain and France
Force (BEF) begins to e 12Mar Soviet-Finnish peace a IlJun British patrols cross
land in France treaty Egypt-Libya border
e 15 Sep Warsaw surrounded w 7 Apr British air w 14 Jun Germans enter Paris
e 17 Sep Soviet invasion of reconnaissance spots a 14 Jun British destroy guns in
Poland German invasion fleet Libyan frontier forts
e 19 Sep German and Soviet en route to Norway w 18Jun De Gaulle broadcasts to
forces link up at Brest- w 9Apr German invasion of French people from
Litovsk Denmark and Norway London
e 27 Sep Warsaw surrenders w 11 Apr First British contingent w 20Jun Italian forces invade
e 6 Oct Last Polish resistance sails for Norway France
ceases w 15 Apr British landings near w 22Jun France signs armistice
w 9 Oct Hitler issues orders for Narvik with Germany
attack in the West w 16 Apr Allied landings at w 24 Jun France signs armistice
w 17 Nov British and French Namsos with Italy and hostilities
decide on Plan D, a move w 18 Apr Allied landings at end the following da~
into Belgium to defend Andalesnes First British
against German attack w 26 Apr Allied decision to Commando raid takes
e 30 Nov Soviet forces invade evacuate southern place that night on
Finland Norway French coast
e 6Dec Russians begin fruitless w 10May German invasion of w 28Jun Britain recognizes de
frontal attacks on France and the Low Gaulle as leader of the
Mannheim Line Countries Free French
w 13 May Germans cross the w 30Jun German forces occupy
1940 Meuse Channel Islands
e 7 Jan Timoshenko takes w 15 May Dutch surrender a 4 Jul Italians capture British
command of Soviet w 16 May Allies begin to frontier posts in Sudan
forces in Finland withdraw from Belgium w 5 Jul Vichy France breaks off
w 10 Jan Mechlin incident, when w 17 May Germans enter Brussels diplomatic relations
German aircraft force w 20 May German armour reaches with Britain after
lands in Belgium with English Channel bombardment of French
plans for invasion of w 25 May Boulogne falls North African ports
West. First prompt for w 26 May Evacuation from w 16Jul Hitler issues directive
rethink of plan Dunkirk begins for invasion of Britain

10
 CHRONOLOGY

w 19 Jul Hitler makes final plea a 17 Jan Italians evacuate a 1 Apr Asmara, capital of
for peace with Britain frontier forts they hold Eritrea, surrenders. Pro-
e 21 Jul Estonia, Latvia, in Sudan Axis revolt in Iraq
Lithuania become a 19 Jan British forces enter m 6Apr Axis forces invade
autonomous republics Eritrea Yugoslavia and Greece
within USSR a 20Jan Emperor Haile Selassie a 6Apr African troops enter
e 31 Jul Hitler informs his re-enters Abyssinia Addis Adaba, capital of
commanders of a 22Jan Libyan port of Tobruk Abyssinia
intention to attack captured w 12 Apr US forces establish
USSR a 24 Jan British forces invade bases in Greenland
w 1 Aug Hitler makes it clear Italian Somaliland from e 13 Apr Japan signs neutrality
that invasion of Britain Kenya pact with Soviet Union
depends on success of w 29Jan Opening of Anglo- m 17 Apr Yugoslavia surrenders
Luftwaffe Canadian-US ABC a 18 Apr Indian troops start to
e 1 Aug USSR reaffirms military staff talks land at Basra to begin
neutrality a 3 Feb British forces begin to quelling revolt in Iraq
a 4 Aug Italians invade British attack Keren, Eritrea a 25 Apr Rommel had driven
Somaliland, which they a 6 Feb Australians enter British forces in
secure on 17 Aug Benghazi Cyrenaica back to
w 10 Sep Luftwaffe's failure to a 6-7 Feb Battle of Beda Fomm Egyptian border, but
gain air supremacy over results in destruction of Tobruk holds out
southern England leads Italian Tenth Army in m 27 Apr German forces enter
to invasion postponed Libya Athens
until 24 Sept a 14 Feb German forces begin to a 9 May British troops enter Iraq
a 13 Sep Italian invasion of land at Tripoli, Libya from Palestine
Egypt from Libya, which a 25 Feb African forces occupy w 10 May Hitler's deputy, Rudolf
halts after three days Indian Ocean port of Hess, flies to Scotland
w 17 Sep Hitler indefinitely Mogadishu a 15 May Failed British attack
postpones invasion of m 1Mar Bulgaria signs Tripartite Brevity against
Britain Pact Rommel
e 27 Sep Germany, Italy and w 4Mar Successful Commando a 18 May Amba Alagi, last main
Japan sign Tripartite raid on Lofoten Islands Italian fortress in
Pact northern Norway northern Abyssinia,
m 28 Oct Italian troops invade m 7Mar British ground troops surrenders
Greece from Albania land in Greece m 20 May German airborne
m 4Nov Greeks mount counter- w 8Mar LendLease becomes law assault on Crete
attack, driving Italians in USA a 31 May Iraq revolt ended
back into Albania a 19Mar British forces begin to m 1 Jun Crete secured
e 20 Nov Hungary joins liberate British a 8Jun Allied forces invade
Tripartite Pact; 23 Somaliland Vichy Lebanon and
Romania joins; 24 a 24 Mar Rommel attacks British Syria from Palestine
Slovakia joins. in Libyan province of a 15 Jun Launch of Battleaxe,
a 9Dec British Western Desert Cyrenaica another abortive
Force launches counter- m 25 Mar Yugoslavia signs British attack against
offensive in Egypt Tripartite Pact Axis forces on the
m 13 Dec Hitler issues a directive m 27 Mar Coup in Yugoslavia Egypt-Libya border
for occupation of results in Tripartite Pact e 22Jun German invasion of
Balkans being revoked Russia
e 18 Dec Hitler issues formal a 27 Mar Keren falls e 26Jun Finland declares war on
directive for invasion of w 29 Mar ABC talks conclude Soviet Union
Russia with agreement that e 29 Jun Finnish forces attack
1941 priority would be given Karelian isthmus
a 5 Jan Australians capture to defeat of Germany e 1 Jul Germans enter Riga,
Bardia over Japan Latvia

II
THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE WEST

e 3 Jul Stalin broadcasts for e 18 Oct Germans penetrate e 8 Feb Soviets create first
first time since opening defence line eighty miles significant pocket at
of German attack. west of Moscow Demyansk, south of
Army Group Centre e 24 Oct Army Group South Lake lImen
crushes the Bialystok captures Kharkov e 19 Mar Soviet attempt to relieve
pocket e 30 Oct Army Group Centre Leningrad fails
m 4Jul Tito issues national call halted by weather e 5 Apr Hitler issues directive
to arms in Yugoslavia e 15 Nov Advance on Moscow for offensive into
w 7 Jul US Marines begin to resumes Caucasus
relieve British garrison a 18 Nov Launch of British w 8Apr In midst of increasing
on Iceland Crusader offensive into Soviet agitation
e 9 Jul Vitebsk falls Libya requesting it, US
e 12Jul Britain and USSR sign e 20 Nov Army Group South delegation arrives in
mutual assistance pact captures Rostov-on- Britain to discuss
a 15 Jul Convention of Acre Don Second Front strategy
marks end of campaign a 27 Nov Fall of Italian fortress of e 12 May Soviet offensive
against Vichy French in Gondar in northern launched south of
Lebanon and Syria Abyssinia marks end of Kharkov
e 19 Jul Hitler switchespriority campaign in East Africa a 27 May Rommel launches
to Leningrad and e 29 Nov Soviet counter-attack assault on Gazala line
Ukraine on Rostov forces e 29 May Soviet forces around
e 20Jul Stalin makes himself German withdrawal Kharkov destroyed
People's Commissar for e 5Dec German drive on a 21Jun Rommel captures
Defence Moscow halted and first Tobruk
e 27 Jul Germans enter Tallinn, of numerous Russian e 30Jun German Sixth Army
Estonia counter-attacks opens main summer
e 5 Aug Army Group Centre a 7Dec British forces relieve offensive
produces huge Russian Tobruk after an eight a 30Jun British Eighth Army
pocket at Smolensk month siege back on El Alamein
e 8 Aug Army Group South w 11 Dec Germany and Italy Line in Egypt
reduces huge pocket declare war on USA a 1-27 Jul Inconclusive first battle
around Uman e 15 Dec Organs of government of El Alamein
w 9-12 Aug Roosevelt and Churchill ordered to return to e 3 Jul Germans secure port of
meet off Newfoundland Moscow Sevastapol, Crimea,
a 25 Aug British and Soviet forces e 19 Dec Hitler appoints himself which had been under
invade Iran to prevent it C-in-C German Army siege since October
joining the Axis w 22 Dec Opening of Anglo-US 1942
e 4Sep Leningrad put under strategic conference in e 7 Jul Germans enter
siege Washington, DC. Voronezh. Army Group
e 5 Sep Hitler decides to Ended 13 January 1942 A begins attacks into
advance on Moscow w 27Dec Successful Commando Donets Basin
once more raid on Vaagso, south- w 24 Jul Allied agreement
a 17 Sep British and Soviet forces west Norway reached to mount Torch
occupy Tehran landings in French
e 19 Sep Kiev falls 1942 North-West Africa
e 23 Sep Army Group South a 4 Jan Axis forces complete e 25 Jul Army Group A breaks
enters Crimea withdrawal from out across Lower Don
e 14 Oct Army Group Centre Cyrenaica e 9 Aug Maikop oilfields seized
reduces pocket at a 21 Jan Rommel launches fresh e 10 Aug German Sixth Army
Bryansk offensive into Cyrenaica reaches outskirts of
e 16 Oct Non-essential w 26Jan First US forces arrive in Stalingrad
government offices and Britain w 19 Aug Dieppe raid
foreign embassy begin a 4 Feb Rommel offensive halts e 24 Aug Stalin orders Stalingrad
to evacuate Moscow in front of Gazala to be held

12
 CHRONOLOGY

a 30 Aug Rommel assaults again e 8Jan Paulus rejects Soviet a 7 May Fall of Tunis and
at El Alamein, but is surrender demand Bizerta
repulsed e 10Jan Final Soviet offensive a 11 May Final Axis surrender in
a 23 Oct Opening of against Stalingrad North Africa
Montgomery's assault begins w 12-25 May Trident Conference
at El Alamein e 12]an Russians launch Washington, DC
e 2 Nov Army Group A advance another Leningrad relief confirms Italy to be
into Caucasus comes to operation knocked out of war
final halt e 13 Jan Russian offensive across before Second Front
a 2 Nov Final breakthrough the Don opened
battle begins at El w 14-24 Jan Casablanca Conference e 4 Jul German offensive
Alamein a 23 Jan British enter Tripoli against Kursk salient
a 8 Nov Torch landings in French e 2 Feb Final German surrender opens
North-West Africa at Stalingrad m 10Jul Allied landings on Sicily
a 11 Nov French in North-West e 8 Feb Russians regain Kursk e 12Jul Soviet counter-attack at
Africa sign armistice e 14 Feb Rostov-on-Don Kursk
with Allies. Axis begin liberated w 15 Jul COSSAC presents his
to fly troops into e 16 Feb Germans evacuate Overlord plan to British
Tunisia, and Allies Kharkov Chiefs of Staff
make first advance here a 19 Feb Rommel seizes m 23 Jul US troops enter
from Algeria Kasserine Pass, Tunisia, Palermo, Sicily
a 13 Nov British re-enter Tobruk but is then rebuffed by m 25 Jul Mussolini arrested by
e 19 Nov Russian counter- the Allies Fascist Grand Council
offensive at Stalingrad e 20 Feb Germans launch e 5 Aug Belgorod and Orel
opens counter-offensives in liberated
a 20 Nov British re-enter Ukraine w 12-23 Aug Quebec Conference
Benghazi a 6Mar Montgomery throws approves Overlord plan
e 23 Nov German forces trapped back Rommel's assault m 12 Aug Axis forces begin to
at Stalingrad against him at Medinine withdraw from Sicily
a 24 Nov Beginning of renewed, in eastern Tunisia m 14 Aug Italian government
albeit fruitless, Allied e 15 Mar Kharkov recaptured declares Rome an open
efforts to reach Tunis a 17 Mar US forces under Patton city
e 26 Nov Hitler orders Paulus to capture Gafsa m 17 Aug American forces enter
stand fast at Stalingrad a 20-27 Mar Montgomery forces Messina, Sicily
e 30 Nov Further Russian attacks Axis troops out of the e 23 Aug Kharkov finally
on lower Chir Mareth Line liberated
e 12Dec Von Manstein launches a 7 Apr Allied forces attack e 30 Aug Taganrog liberated
Stalingrad relief Fondouk Pass in m 1 Sep Italian government
operation western Tunisia accepts Allied armistice
e 16Dec Further Soviet attacks w 13 Apr Gen Morgan appointed terms
launched against Army as COSSAC m 3 Sep British Eighth Army
Group B e 13 Apr Germans announce lands in toe of Italy
e 28 Dec Hitler sanctions further discovery of mass grave m 8 Sep Eisenhower broadcasts
withdrawals, putting of Polish officers at Italian surrender
Stalingrad 125 miles Katyn m 9 Sep Allied landings at
east of main front e 19 Apr Jewish uprising within Salerno
Warsaw ghetto. m 10 Sep German troops occupy
1943 (Resistance ends on 16 Rome. British forces
e 3]an Army Group A begins May) begin to land on Italian
to withdraw from a 19-21 Apr Montgomery rebuffed Dodecanese Is. in
Caucasus at Enfidaville Aegean
a 3Jan Axis forces begin a a 22 Apr Opening of final Allied m 12 Sep Germans rescue
series of attacks in assault in western Mussolini from house
western Tunisia Tunisia arrest

13
THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE WEST

e 16 Sep Germans evacuate e 1 Apr Finland approaches e 31 Jul Russians capture

Bryansk Moscow for an Kauna, capital of
e 22 Sep Russians seize crossings armistice Lithuania
over Dnieper m 11 May Alexander launches w 1 Aug US Third Army begins
e 25 Sep Smolensk liberated breakthrough of Gustav break-out from
m 26 Sep British Eighth Army Line Normandy
links up with Salerno e 12 May Crimea cleared of e 1 Aug Polish Home Army rises
beachhead German forces against Germans in
m 1 Oct Allied forces enter w 15 May Final presentation of Warsaw
Naples and Foggia plans for Overlord w 7 Aug Eisenhower sets up
e 60ct Soviet offensive launched m 17 May Monte Cassino finally forward HQ in
towards Baltic states captured Normandy
m 13 Oct US Fifth Army crosses m 23 May Allied forces break out w 15 Aug Allied forces land in
River Volturno of Anzio beachhead South of France
e 6 Nov Kiev liberated m 25 May German glider coup de e 20 Aug Russians enter Rumania
m 6 Nov Hitler appoints main on Tito's HQ w 21 Aug Falaise pocket finally
Kesselring C-in-C Italy forces him to flee closed
m 20 Nov British Eighth Army Yugoslavia e 23 Aug Rumania surrenders
crosses River Sangro m 5 Jun US Fifth Army enters w 25 Aug Allied forces enter Paris
w 6Dec Eisenhower appointed Rome m 25 Aug Allies renew offensive in
Supreme Allied w 6Jun Normandy landings Italy
Commander for e 10Jun Russian offensive w 28 Aug Toulon and Marseilles
Overlord against Finland liberated
m 8Dec US Fifth Army attacks launched w 3 Sep Brussels liberated
force Germans to e 22Jun Russians launch w 4Sep Hitler recalls von
withdraw to Gustav Operation Bagration Rundstedt to be C-in-C
Line against Army Group West
w 12Dec Rommel appointed to Centre m 8 Sep German forces begint6
command Army Group w 27 Jun Capture of Cherbourg evacuate Greek islands
B in defence of northern w 2Jul Von Rundstedt w 11 Sep First Allied troops enter
France and Low dismissed as C-in-C Germany
Countries West and replaced by w 12 Sep Port of Le Havre finally
m 27 Dec Canadian capture of von Kluge falls
o rtona marks end of m 15 Jul Allied advance north of w 12-16 Sep Second Quebec
Eighth Army advance Rome halted on River Conference
Arno w 17-26 Sep Operation Market-
1944 w 17 Jul Rommel seriously Garden
e 14 Jan Russians open further wounded by marauding e 17 Sep Tallinn, Estonia falls to
offensive to relieve Allied fighter Russians
Leningrad w 18 Jul Montgomery launches e 19 Sep Finland signs armistice
m 17 Jan Fifth Army opens Operation Goodwood, with Moscow
attacks on Gustav Line an attack east of w 30Sep Calais liberated
m 22 Jan Allied landings at Anzio Caen w 1 Oct First Canadian Army
e 26 Jan Siege of Leningrad e 20Jul Attempt on Hitler's life begins clearance of
lifted at his HQ at Rastenburg banks of River ScheIdt
m 30Jan Beginning of four- in East Prussia w 20ct US First Army begins to
month assault on e 23Jul Russian forces enter attack West Wall
Monte Cassino Lublin between Aachen and
e 1Mar Russians reach Estonian w 25 Jul US First Army launches Geilenkirchen
border Operation Cobra to w 6 Oct Opening of Battle of
e 10 Mar Uman liberated break through German Huertgen Forest
e 19 Mar German troops enter defences e 7 Oct Russians begin to drive
Hungary to help defend e 26Jul Russians reach the Germans out of
country Vistula northern Finland

14
 CHRONOLOGY

w 90ct Hitler sees draft plan w 28]an German salient created e 13 Apr Russians secure Vienna
for Ardennes counter- by Ardennes counter- e 16 Apr Russians open offensive
offensive offensive finally across Oder to Berlin
e 11 Oct Hungarian delegation eliminated w 17 Apr Second British Army
signs armistice in e 4-11 Feb Big Three conference at reaches Bremen
Moscow. However, Yalta, Crimea w 18 Apr Ruhr pocket finally
some Hungarian w 9 Feb 6th Army Group closed reduced
formations continue up to upper Rhine w 19 Apr First US Army takes
to fight on the side of e 13 Feb Russians capture Leipzig
the Germans Budapest w 20 Apr Seventh US Army
m 12 Oct German forces evacuate e 15 Feb German counter-attack captures N urem berg
Athens from Pomerania into m 21 Apr Bologna falls
m 20 Oct Soviet forces and Tito's Russian flank w 25 Apr Elements of First US
partisans liberate e 24 Feb Russians attack into Army and 1st Ukrainian
Belgrade Pomerania Front link up at Torgau
w 21 Oct Americans secure m 3 Mar First German approach on River Elbe
Aachen for an armistice in Italy e 25 Apr Berlin encircled
w 22 Oct Hitler briefs von e 6Mar Germans launch m 27 Apr Genoa falls
Rundstedt and offensive to secure m 28 Apr Mussolini killed by
Model on Ardennes Hungarian oilfield partisans
attack (halted 15 Mar) m 29 Apr German forces in Italy
m 22 Oct Fifth Army closes down w 7Mar US First Army seizes surrender
its offensive against the Rhine bridge at e 30 Apr Hitler commits suicide
Gothic Line Remagen. (This w 2 May 21st Army Group enters
w 1 Nov Amphibious assault on collapsed on 18 March) Schleswig-Holstein
island of Walcheren w 10Mar 21st Army Group e 2 May Berlin surrenders
w 18 Nov US Third Army enters entirely closed up to m 2 May British troops link up
Metz Rhine with Tito's forces near
m 3Dec Civil war breaks out w 19 Mar Hitler issues 'scorched Trieste
in Greece. British earth' order w 4May Montgomery accepts
troops are sent from w 22 Mar Patton achieves surrender of German
Italy in order to quell it 'bounce' crossing of forces in north-west
w 16 Dec Opening of Ardennes Rhine at Oppenheim Germany, Denmark,
counter-offensive w 23 Mar Montgomery begins Holland
w 22 Dec Sixth Panzer Army to cross the Rhine w 7 May German surrender
comes to halt in at Wesel ceremony in Reims
Ardennes w 26Mar US Seventh Army e 8 May German surrender
w 26Dec Bastogne relieved crosses Rhine near ceremony in Berlin
e 26 Dec Budapest encircled Worms e 11 May German forces in
m 29 Dec Eighth Army advance in w 31 Mar French First Army Czechoslovakia
Italy finally halted crosses Rhine near surrender
w 31 Dec Germans launch Germersheim
subsidiary offensive w 1 Apr Army Group B trapped
into Alsace in the Ruhr pocket
w 4 Apr British Second Army
1945 enters Osnabrueck and
e 1 Jan Germans launch attack US Third Army
to relieve Budapest captures Kassel
e 12Jan Russians launch m 9 Apr Final Allied offensive in
Vistula-Oder offensive Italy opens
m 12Jan Truce brings hostilities w 11 Apr US Ninth Army reaches
in Greece to an end River Elbe
e 20Jan Russians cross the w 12 Apr Death of President
German border Roosevelt

15
 CHAPTER SEVEN

NORTH-WEST EUROPE
AND ITALY

AN AMERICAN INFANTRYMAN during the bitter fighting in the

Huertgen Forest towards the end of 1944. German resistance
in both North-west Europe and ItaLy remained tough untiL
aLmost the very end of the waf; as the British and Americans
often found to their cost. Indeed, both after the entry into
Rome in June 1944 and the Liberation of France that August,
the German defence congeaLed once more, forcing the
Western Allies to pay dearLy for further advances.
THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE WEST

NORTH-WEST EUROPE AND ITALY 1944

The most effective method of attack proved to be by the combined action of

infantry, artillery and tanks with some of the tanks equipped with dozer blades
or large steel teeth to punch holes through the hedgerows. It was found necessary
to assign frontages according to specific fields and hedgerows instead of by
yardage and to reduce the distances and intervals between tactical formations.
Normal rifle company formation was a box formation with two assault platoons
in the lead followed by the support platoon and weapons platoon.
us FIRST ARMY REPORT ON FIGHTING IN THE NORMANDY BOCAGE

N 1 APRIL 1943 the British General Frederick Morgan was formally

O appointed Chief of Staff to the Supreme Allied Commander (COSSAC). As
such he was charged with drawing up the plan for the cross-Channel invasion of
France and was given a joint Anglo-American staff to assist him. The date of the
assault was confirmed as 1 May 1944. As yet no overall commander for the invasion
had been appointed, and so Morgan found himself answering directly to the
Combined Chiefs of Staff.
Morgan was able to make use of the numerous British staff studies of the
problem which had been undertaken during the previous two and a half years. There

Photograph taken by an
Allied reconnaissance
aircraft of the beach
defences along the Atlantic
Wall. These were designed to
cripple landing craft at high
water. Note the German
soldiers working on them
diving for cover.

r68
 NORTH-WEST EUROPE AND ITALY 1944

was also the experience being gained from amphibious operations, both small scale
at home and major landings in the Mediterranean theatre. One crucial lesson had
been learnt from the disastrous raid against Dieppe by the Canadians in August
1942: to base the landings around a port would be to court disaster since the defences
were likely to be strong. Thus open beaches would have to be used, but many parts
of the northern French coastline were not suitable. Another limiting factor was that
the landing area had to be within range of fighter aircraft based in England.
Eventually Morgan and his staff were left with two options - the Pas de Calais
and Normand)!. While the former had the major advantage that the English Channel
is at its narrowest here, it was, in German eyes, the most likely landing point.
Consequently, Normandy was selected. Morgan realized, however, that the size of
the landings depended on the amount of amphibious shipping available. From the
production forecasts he calculated that the amphibious lift would provide for an
initial landing force of three divisions. They would land north of Caen. The next
task would be to secure Cherbourg for use as a port before advancing south into
Brittany and east across the River Seine.
Morgan presented his plan in draft to the British chiefs of staff in mid July 1943
and it was approved in principle by the Combined Chiefs of Staff at the Quebec
Conference that August. By now the cross-Channel invasion had received a new code
name, Overlord. To safeguard it and to ensure that the Germans did not significantly
reinforce Normandy, especially with mobile divisions, an elaborate deception plan,
Bodyguard, was drawn up. This presented threats to Norway and the Balkans, and
also tried to concentrate German attention on the Pas de Calais and the Belgian
coast. Another plan aimed to deceive the Germans into believing that the cross-
Channel attack would take place before the end of 1943. To this end a large
amphibious exercise was carried out on the English south coast in early September,
but the Germans were not fooled.
The need to tie down German troops gave added justification for the campaign
in Ital)!. Eisenhower's precipitate announcement of the Italian surrender provoked a
rapid German reaction. The landings at Salerno were fiercely opposed; the Germans
also set about disarming the Italian armed forces. Thousands of Allied prisoners of
war who had been held in Italy suddenly found themselves free. Many managed to
reach the Allied lines, including Generals O'Connor and Neame, who had been
captured during Rommel's spring 1941 offensive in Libya. Others were recaptured
by the Germans. By virtue of a daring glider coup de main, the Germans also
succeeded in rescuing Mussolini, who was being held in a ski resort in the Abruzzi
mountains east of Rome. Before September was out, Mussolini had raised his banner
once more in northern Italy, declaring it a socialist republic, but it was never to be
more than a puppet state.
The virtual vacuum which existed in the days immediately succeeding the Italian
surrender caused Churchill to look again at the Balkans. He wanted to seize the
Dodecanese in the Aegean, hoping that this would both threaten the Balkans and
finally bring Turkey into the war on the Allied side. The Americans, suspicious of
THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE WEST

his motives, would not go along with the plan, and so it had to be an entirely British
effort. Troops were landed on some of the smaller islands, although they were foiled
on Rhodes, the largest, where the Italian garrison surrendered to the Germans. Only
very limited air and naval support was available. This meant that the British
garrisons were virtually isolated and by the end of October the Germans had
captured the islands.
At Salerno the Allies had to beat off heavy German counter-attacks before the
beachhead could be secured. On 16 September, however, Montgomery's Eighth
Army, advancing from the south, linked up with Fifth Army and the Germans
began to withdraw northwards. The debate between Rommel and Kesselring over
British troops come ashore whether to defend north or south of Rome had not yet been resolved, with
from a landing craft tank
Kesselring commanding Army Group C south of Rome and Rommel remaining
(LeT) at Salerno,
September 1943. The initial with Army Group B in northern Ital~ Kesselring, however, had begun to construct
landings were achieved at defences, using the mountains south of Rome. These became known as the Gustav
little cost, but the Germans Line. After a Hitler conference at the end of September, Rommel was ordered to
reacted fiercely when the
pass two divisions across to Kesselring, who was instructed to hold the Allies as
Allies were consolidating
their beachhead prior to long as possible on the Bernhard Line, subsidiary defences in front of the Gustav
advancing inland. Line. Thus it would seem that Kesselring was winning the argument, but not for

17°
 NORTH-WEST EUROPE AND ITALY 1944

another month did Hitler appoint him commander-in-chief in Italy and move The British Eighth Army-'s
Rommel to other duties. advance northwards towards
the Gustav Line. Track links
The Allies advanced with Mark Clark's predominantly American Fifth Army
were often fitted to the glacis
in the west and the British Eighth Army in the east. But southern Italy is blessed with plates of both Allied and
numerous lateral river lines, especially on the Adriatic side. These bought Kesselring German tanks to increase
valuable time as he was able to force the Allies to halt and conduct set-piece river frontal protection.

crossings. Not until mid November did Mark Clark penetrate the Bernhard Line.
With winter now upon them, the Allies were unable to break through the Gustav
Line, although Montgomery did penetrate it, before being forced to halt because of
heavy casualties.
Fearing stalemate, Eisenhower, still Supreme Allied Commander in the
Mediterranean, decided that the only way to capture Rome was by outflanking the
Gustav Line through an amphibious operation, with Anzio, fifty miles south of
Rome, being selected as the target. However, the bulk of the amphibious shipping
in the Mediterranean had to be returned to Britain in preparation for Overlord.
Furthermore, the Big Three - Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin - meeting at Tehran
at the end of November 1943, had confirmed that Overlord must take priority over
Italy, from where veteran British and US divisions, earmarked for the Normandy
landings, were already being withdrawn. In addition, it had also been agreed that
there would be landings in the south of France, using troops currently fighting in
Ital~ The Anzio landings therefore appeared to be the one chance of striking a
decisive blow in Ital~ Thus they were allowed to go ahead, with the date 22 January
1944 being selected. The amphibious shipping used would have to be returned to
Britain two weeks later.

17 1
THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE WEST

The end of 1943 saw much reorganization in the

the western Allies' Mediterranean camp. Wladyslaw
Anders' II Polish Corps replaced the British divisions
sent home for Overlord. Fifth Army, which was
providing the Anzio force, received Alphonse Juin's
French Expeditionary Force, composed largely of
indigenous troops from north-west Africa. Italy was
becoming a very cosmopolitan theatre, with
Canadian, South African and Indian divisions, as
well as Italians, now fighting on the Allied side.
Personalities at the top also changed, largely
because of Normand~ Morgan had recommended
that the supreme commander for Overlord be an
American, with British single-service commanders-
in-chief under him. Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay,
who had overseen the evacuation from Dunkirk, was
made naval commander and Sir Trafford Leigh-
Mallory, who had played an important part in the

German paratroops occupy

the ruins of the monastery
on top of Monte Cassino
after its bombing by Allied
aircraft on 15 February 1944.

17 January: General Clark orders

a frontal attack to seize river
crossings and break the Gustav
Line. By 11 February the attacks
are called off with little progress

Allied troops advance over the

floor of the Liri Valley
overlooked by a well concealed
enemy in the hills

German artillery fires on the Allied

advance accurately guided by
observation posts on surrounding hills

15 February: a second assault is ordered

and as a precaution it is decided to
destroy the Monastery of Monte
Cassino. By 20 February the attack had
failed

16th February: the ruins are

occupied by German paratroops,
and is turned into an almost
impregnable stronghold

17 2
 NORTH-WEST EUROPE AND ITALY 1944

Allied front lines:

CD 22 May 1944

_®~MaY1944 N

4 June 1944

17 June 1944

end of December 1944

t l00km
I
i
23 April 1945
100 miles

173
THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE WEST

Battle of Britain when in command of No. 12 Group, was air commander. Another
British airman, Sir Arthur Tedder, who had been Eisenhower's air commander in
the Mediterranean, was made Deputy Supreme Allied Commander. Not until the
beginning of December was the decision made over the Supreme Allied Commander
himself. Up until then the general belief had been that General George C. Marshall,
chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, would take on the role. Certainly he had
impressed everyone, including the British, and was desperately keen to do the job.
But Roosevelt had come to rely on him too much and, in the end, would not release
him. The mantle therefore fell on Eisenhower, by now was well experienced in
conducting coalition campaigns. The ground force commander for Overlord took
a few days longer to select. Eisenhower wanted Alexander, who was commanding
the ground forces in Italy and with whom he got on well. Churchill, however, had
other ideas. He wanted the dynamic and thrusting Montgomery; and so it was to be.
Both Eisenhower and Montgomery made it their top priority to examine the
COSSAC plan and both of them, especially Montgomery, disliked it. The three-
division frontage was too narrow. They therefore insisted that the initial landings
must be made by five divisions, with airborne divisions used to secure the flanks of
the beachhead. The additional amphibious shipping, especially the Landing Ships
Tank (LST), identified as the crucial item, would just have to be found.
Across the other side of the English Channel the Germans, too, were preparing
for the inevitable. Up until autumn 1943 Hitler had given little priority to the defence
of the west. France and the Low Countries were garrisoned by low-grade divisions.
Others were sent there to recover after fighting on the Eastern Front, but no sooner
had they been refitted and brought back up to strength than they were sent back to
Russia. This was intensely frustrating for C-in-C West, Gerd von Rundstedt, but
his complaints that he had too few troops to guard the 1,600 miles of coastline that
was within his command fell on deaf ears. Hitler believed that the so-called Atlantic
Wall, which had been under construction since 1941, was sufficient to repel
the invader, even though work on it had progressed slowly and it was still very
incomplete.
Not until the autumn of 1943 did Hitler begin to wake up to the threat. This was
in part thanks to a lengthy report that von Rundstedt submitted to him. He pointed
out that a rigid defence in the form of the Atlantic Wall could not be maintained for
any length of time and that the outcome of the battle depended on mobile reserves.
He had a mere three Panzergrenadier divisions, two of which were still forming to
fulfill this role. Hitler's response was to issue a directive calling for reinforcement of
the west. He also dispatched Rommel on a tour of inspection.
Rommel was regarded by von Rundstedt and many other senior German
commanders as a 'young cub', who had not experienced the 'real war' on the Eastern
Front and had distinguished himself merely in minor theatres. Rommel, on the other
hand, believed that those who had spent their time fighting the Russians had little
comprehension of the vast amounts of weaponry that the western Allies had at their
disposal. There was, thus, mutual antipathy between von Rundstedt and Rommel,

174
 NORTH-WEST EUROPE AND ITALY 1944

although relations did improve as time went b~ Rommel presented his report to von
Rundstedt at Christmas time. He believed that if the Allies were allowed to establish
a lodgement the battle would be lost. Consequently, they had to be defeated on the
beaches. This meant that the mobile reserves had to be deployed well forward,
especially in the Boulogne-Somme sector, which Rommel reckoned was the most
likely invasion target. Von Rundstedt was not so sure, believing that it was essential
to confirm that the landings were the main Allied attack before the armour was
totally committed.
Rommel's view provoked an argument with Geyr von Schweppenburg,
commanding Panzer Group West, which contained all the mobile reserves. He
believed even more strongly than von Rundstedt in a central reserve which could
react once the main Allied attack had been identified. Eventually, von Rundstedt
compromised, allotting one third to Rommel's Army Group B, which was now
responsible for the defence of northern France and the Low Countries, a third to
Army Group G, covering southern France, with the remainder held centrally: Hitler,
however, now intervened. The Allied deception measures served to maintain his
doubts as to where the invasion might come. While he accepted that the Pas de Calais
was the most likely objective, and that Normandy was also a possibility, invasion
might come anywhere. Thus, so as to maintain personal control over events, he
insisted that the central mobile reserves must be under his direct control. As for
Rommel, he worked tirelessly during the early months of 1944 to strengthen the
beach defences of northern France.
While the Overlord staffs in Britain wrestled with the myriad pieces of jigsaw
that made up one of the most comprehensive operational plans in military history,
in Italy eyes were turned on Anzio. The landings duly took place, but there was a
failure to exploit the initial surprise gained, partly because Mark Clark's orders did
not make it clear whether this should be done before the beachhead had been
properly secured. One of the noticeable features of the German army during
1939-45, as it had been during 1914-18, was its ability to mount immediate counter-
attacks after losing ground in an attack. It did so now and successfully kept the Allies
pinned on the beachhead for the next four months. This meant that some of the
amphibious shipping had to be retained here instead of returning to Britain for
Overlord. Indeed, the last LSTs required for the Normandy landings did not arrive
back until just a bare few weeks before they took place.
Failure at Anzio also meant that the doors to the Gustav Line remained locked
and there was no other option but to attack it frontall~ The fighting itself centred
on Monte Cassino; amid appalling weather and in rocky and bleak terrain a series
of attacks were launched against it. The defenders, German paratroops and
Panzergrenadiers, resisted fiercely, as French, New Zealanders, and then Indians
flung themselves against it, but with little success. It was the same for the Americans
attacking to the south. Such were the casualties that British and Dominion
formations were beginning to run short of infantr~ This was a problem that the
British would also face in north-west Europe and Montgomery would be eventually

175
THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE WEST

Multiple-launch rocket forced to go as far as disbanding infantry divisions. As it was, in Italy the problem
systems were used by both provoked Mark Clark to accuse his British subordinates in Fifth Army of lacking
sides. FROM TOP: German
drive, not appreciating that the US manpower barrel was still relatively full and that
Sd Kfz 251 rocket variant,
US rocket-firing Sherman, he could afford to be more profligate.
Soviet Katyusha system, While the assaults on Monte Cassino continued, Alexander drew up a new plan,
German Nebelwerfer. Diadem. The objective was Rome and it meant switching the bulk of the Eighth
Army to the western side of the Apennines for a more concentrated punch through
the Gustav Line. In conjunction with this, there would be a break-out from
Anzio to cut the German lines of communication
running northwards to the Italian capital. There was
to be a concerted air campaign too, also aimed at
communications, under the apt code name of Strangle.
Alexander could not mount this attack until May, and
was unable to do so without using the troops
earmarked for Anvil - the landings in the south of
France. The Americans, especially, wanted these to
coincide with Overlord. The Combined Chiefs of Staff
agreed on Diadem, however, which meant postponing
Anvil until after Overlord had taken place.
Alexander launched his offensive on the night of
11/12 Ma~ The Poles attacked Monte Cassino, but they
made little headwa~ Likewise, although British troops
got across the Rapido river, they could not exploit their
bridgeheads. In the Fifth Army sector the progress was
better, with the French breaking through the Aurunci
Mountains, believed by the Germans to be impassable.
This provided the key to the Gustav Line and
Kesselring ordered a withdrawal to a subsidiary
defence line, but not before the Poles had again
attacked Monte Cassino, which the Allies finally
secured after four months of some of the grimmest
fighting in western Europe during the war. Increasing
Allied pressure now forced further German
withdrawals and on 23 May the US VI Corps finally
broke out of Anzio, linking up with Fifth Army two
days later. The plan now was for Fifth Army to thrust
eastwards in order to cut off the withdrawing
German Tenth Army, but Mark Clark became
mesmerized by Rome and instead advanced
northwards. Kesselring managed to hold him for a few
days in the Alban Hills, but he then received permission
from Hitler to evacuate the capital, entered by
the Allies on 5 June. This triumph was quickly
 NORTH-WEST EUROPE AND ITALY 1944

overshadowed, however, by the Normandy landings, which took place on the Poster emphasizing the role
following da~ played by the British Empire
in the war. It was in Italy
As the preparations for Overlord became ever more advanced it was increasingly
especially that
difficult to conceal them from the Germans. Consequently, the emphasis on deception Commonwealth troops
became more pronounced. A mythical British Fourth Army was created in Scotland made up a significant part of
to maintain the threat against Norway, while in south-east England the 1st US Army the British Eighth Army. The
noticeable exception was
Group (FUSAG), which had a real commander in George S. Patton, was designed to
Australia, whose troops
make the Germans believe that the Pas de Calais was the main objective, with were withdrawn to fight
Normandy being merely a subsidiary attack. Besides wearing down the Luftwaffe, against the Japanese after
the Allied air forces, including the strategic bombers, diverted from their pounding the battle of El Alamein had
been won.
of Germany, engaged in a lengthy campaign against communications in northern
France. The purpose of this was to hinder the deployment of German reinforcements
to Normand~ The French Resistance was also primed to assist in this.
In spite of concerns over the weather, which forced Eisenhower to make a last
minute postponement of the landings by twenty-four hours, the Allied forces
stormed ashore on the morning of 6 June. The weather had, in fact, helped the
deception plan, since the Germans did not believe that the landings would take place
that day and many key commanders were absent from their posts. This and the
overwhelming Allied air supremacy and massive weight of supporting naval gunfire
enabled all five beachheads to be secured by the end of the day, with no fewer than
155,000 men landed. The only real problem was that congestion within the

177
THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE WEST

ABOVE: Some of the OPPOSITE: An artist's

specialized armour used by impression of the landings
the Allies for the Normandy on Omaha beach, where,
invasion. The DD or Duplex because their landing craft
Drive Sherman (ABOVE LEFT) were launched too far from
was used in the initial the coast, the troops had
landings. The tank was most difficulty in getting
driven through the water ashore.
by a propellor attachment
fitted to its rear. The
Sherman Crab (ABOVE
RIGHT) was fitted with a
At midnight British
flail attachment for clearing airborne troops land
around Ranville and
lanes through minefields, seize vital bridges and
establish flank
while the Churchill carpet defence
layer (RIGHT) laid a track
over boggy ground. Other
types included flamethrower
tanks, armoured recovery
vehicles, various types of
bridgelayer tank, tanks with
explosive hoses (another
method of creating lanes in
minefields), and special
assault engine tanks with
fascines for dropping into
ditches and a 165mm gun
X II
for engaging concrete 002 Can [!] 86 Fd
strongpoints. xx X
lZ!3Can
~69
xx
lZ!Sl Highland X
X ~lSl
~4
I
I
xxx
~I - - - - - - - - - - - - -

-+-
CROCKER

D-Day 6 June 1944

airborne landing routes
N
--. marine landing routes

initial Allied advance

German counter-attack

:.", German retreat

~ .Allied front lines

 NORTH-WEST EUROPE AND ITALY 1944

2
1.30 am: US airborne troops land in groups
around the St Mere Eglise area

3
6.31 am: US 4th and 90th divisions land at
Utah beach

6.36 am: US 1st and 29th divisions

land but run into severe resistance
and suffer high casualties

5
7.25 am: British 7th, 49th and
50th divisions land, pushing
towards Bayeux

7.35: am British 51st

and 3rd Canadian
divisions land

7.45 am: British 3rd

division lands and
~7 Fd breaks through
stiff resistance to
H meet with the
6th Airborne
;6
i6cT -eJil~T division

:xx
~29
XXX
0v---~
GEROW

US FIRST ARMY
BRADLEY
\

179
THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE WEST

General Dwight D. beachheads slowed the advance out of them. This meant that the final D-Day
Eisenhower. As supreme objectives, notably the city of Caen, had not been reached by the end of the da~ It
Allied commander for
also enabled the one mobile formation in the area, 21st Panzer division, to deploy,
Overlord he faced a tough
test. Not only did he have to although it was not in a position to counter-attack before the day ended.
weld the British and The German dilemma was uncertainty whether Normandy represented the only
Americans into one, but also Allied landings or whether the main blow would be against the Pas de Calais.
their ground, naval and air
Certainly, Hitler believed the latter and refused to release the mobile reserves from
elements.
Panzer Group West until late in the afternoon. Likewise, von Rundstedt would not
allow the two Panzer divisions located north of the Seine to be switched to
Normand~ When the mobile reserves did begin to deploy, the effects of the Allied
air interdiction campaign and Resistance attacks on key bridges, combined with the
continual presence of Allied aircraft overhead, meant that their moves took
considerably longer than anticipated and they were committed piecemeal. This
meant that no really co-ordinated and effective counter-
attack against the beachheads could be launched and
the Panzer formations found themselves committed to
helping the infantry hold the ring.
But not all went the Allied wa~ Much of the
Normandy terrain is made up of bocage - small fields
enclosed by hedge-topped banks. While the Allied
forces had been highly trained for actually getting
ashore, not enough account had been taken of the
claustrophobic nature of the bocage, which favoured
defensive operations. The Allied armour, especiall~ was
nonplussed by this. Outgunned by the German Panther
and Tiger tanks, and highly vulnerable to sniping anti-
tank guns, it suffered severel~ The fighting also revealed
that, compared to the Germans, Allied combat
organization and tactics were still overly rigid.
Normandy thus saw the Allies learn the hard way as
they slowly inched forwards. Indeed, it became a matter
of simply wearing down the defenders.
Montgomery now concentrated on drawing the bulk
of the German armour eastwards to the British Second
Army front so as to enable the Americans to break out
in the west. He did this by a series of attacks around
Caen. The Germans, notably the fanatical youngsters of the 12th SS Panzergrenadier
Divison (Hitlerjugend), offered fierce resistance and Caen itself did not fall until five
weeks after D-Da~
Even so, the unrelenting pressure on the Germans was slowly beginning to tell.
Pleas to Hitler by von Rundstedt and Rommel for infantry reinforcements so that
the Panzer formations could be withdrawn from the line to mount a concerted
counter-attack fell on largely deaf ears. They then proposed evacuating Normandy

180
 NORTH-WEST EUROPE AND ITALY 1944

altogether in favour of a new defence line on the River Seine, but Hitler rejected this Gerd von Rundstedt,
out of hand. Indeed he sacked von Rundstedt, replacing him by von Kluge, recently Commander-in-Chief West,
discusses plans for
recovered from his motor accident in Russia.
countering the Allied
Then, on 17 July, Rommel was gravely wounded by a marauding Allied fighter. invasion with Hitler. In spite
Three days later came the attempt on Hitler's life at his headquarters at Rastenburg of von Rundstedt's pleas for
in East Prussia. In Paris the military governor, Karl von Stuelpnagel, arrested Gestapo reinforcements, it was not
until it was almost too late
and SS men, but his action was premature. In Berlin Josef Goebbels, ascertaining
that the Fuhrer released
that Hitler had survived the bomb blast, organized the Wachbattallion them, faced as he was with
Grossdeutschland, an army guard unit stationed on the outskirts, to surround the continuous and mounting
Reserve Army HQ. The key plotters, who occupied senior positions in this, were Soviet pressure in the East
and the need to keep the
arrested and summarily executed.
Western Allies tied down in
Most of the senior German commanders engaged in active theatres had been Italy.
approached, but largely took the attitude of von Manstein, who declared: 'Prussian
field marshals do not mutiny!' They were too bound by
their oath of loyalty to Hitler, whatever they personally
thought of him. In any event, they were engaged in
what was now a desperate struggle against the Allies on
all fronts and this took priority. Some, however, were
implicated through their knowledge of the plot. Thus,
von Kluge was recalled at the beginning of August, but
committed suicide on his way back to Germany.
Rommel, too, was eventually forced to take his own life
after his family was threatened.
On 25 July, five days after the attempt on Hitler's
life, the Americans began their break-out from
Normandy. The assault was preceded by an attack on
the German positions by Allied heavy bombers, a tactic
that had been previously employed in the fighting
around Caen. While it certainly numbed the defenders
for a time, 'carpet bombing' was a two-edged weapon.
It tore up the ground to such an extent that it restricted
the attacker's mobility and, as happened on 25 July,
caused casualties to his own troops. Even so, after six
days the break-out had been achieved and the time had
come to release the newly landed Third US Army under
Patton through the gap.
The Allied forces were now reorganized into two army groups - Bradley's 12th
and Montgomery's 21st. While Montgomery had been the Allied land commander
for Overlord, Eisenhower had always intended to take charge once the break-out from
Normandy had been achieved, and this is what he now began to do.
Patton's forces quickly advanced west into Brittany, as well as south and east,
with Montgomery's forces also pressing out of Normandy in an attempt to trap the
German Seventh Army. Much of this was destroyed from the air around Falaise, but

181
THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE WEST

The airborne assault during elements did manage to evade encirclement. Nevertheless, the German forces had
the Dragoon landings in the lost cohesion and they withdrew rapidly eastwards. The liberation of France was
south of France~ 15 August
now really under wa~
1944. The 1st Airborne Task
Force was an Anglo-US On 19 August the Allies secured their first lodgement over the River Seine, west
formation~ whose role was of Paris, and on the same day the French Forces of the Interior (FFI), an amalgam of
to drop inland from the all the Resistance groupings, rose against the Germans in the capital. Six days later
beaches in order to provide
the Allies entered Paris, with Charles de Gaulle arriving that evening to forestall a
immediate depth to the
beachhead. plan by French Communists to seize control. But while liberation provoked intense
joy among people who had been under Nazi rule for four years, there was a dark side
to it. The desire to punish those who had collaborated with the Germans was strong
- many young women suffered public humiliation by having their heads shaved. There
is no doubt, too, that some used this as cover to settle private scores. Indeed, the scars
of the Occupation are still carried by France to this da~
By the time Paris had been liberated the Germans were facing a new threat in
France. The Allied landings in the south of the country had taken place on 15 August
and the US Seventh and French First Armies began to advance rapidly northwards.

r82
 NORTH-WEST EUROPE AND ITALY 1944

In the north, however, as the Allied onrush eastwards continued, a new problem was How rocket-firing
rapidly emerging. The Allied supplies were still coming through Cherbourg. The Typhoons operated against
German armour. They
reason for this was that Hitler had declared all the Channel and French Atlantic ports
aimed their eight 60lb anti-
Festungen (fortresses to be defended to the last). Siege operations had to be mounted tank rockets from a shallow
to reduce them and when they were finally captured the port installations had been dive. They were not
wrecked. To overcome the problem of ever-stretching supply lines, the Americans especially accurate against
tanks, but they did affect the
organized the Red Ball Express, an endless conveyor belt of trucks operating between
morale of the German tank
Normandy and the front. But as the distance between the two increased, these trucks crews, who would
consumed more and more of the fuel they were carrying and shortages began to sometimes abandon the
appear. vehicles in the face of an
attack by Typhoons.
For the moment, though, the advance continued, with the British liberating
Brussels on 3 September and, far to the south, French troops entering Lyons on the
same day. By now Eisenhower was firmly in control and issued a directive the
following day. While Montgomery was to pursue the German armies into the Ruhr,
Bradley was to advance to the Saarland. Montgomery, conscious of the growing
logistics problem, protested that a broad front advance could not be maintained.

,,--~~ ~'
,,; "

/',,""'"

~-~-- --- -- -- ._--- - - - ------ - - --- - --- ----

THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE WEST

This marked the beginning of a controversy which was to dog the Allies throughout
the remainder of the campaign in north-west Europe. While Montgomery's argument
was militarily sound, Eisenhower also had to consider the political implications. A
narrow-front advance would involve just one army group, leaving the others, which
included the newly formed US 6th advancing from the south, out of the limelight.
This would undoubtedly cause a major rift in Anglo-US relations and Eisenhower
was determined to avoid this at all costs. His broad-front strategy therefore prevailed.
On 11 September American patrols crossed the German border near
Luxembourg, but such were the Allied fuel shortages that everywhere the advance
was grinding to a halt. This at last gave the near-shattered Germans a chance to draw
breath. Allied hopes of a quick victory in the West began to fade, but there was still
just a chance of striking a decisive blow.
Early in the year the First Allied Airborne Army had been formed in Britain.
Three of its divisions - one British and two American - had taken part in the D-Day
US troops advance through a
landings. Some twenty plans for its employment during the subsequent fighting in
heavy mortar barrage during
Operation Cobra;, the break- Normandy and beyond had been considered, but none had come to anything.
out from Normandy. Montgomery now proposed to Eisenhower that elements of this be used in an
 NORTH-WEST EUROPE AND ITALY 1944

operation designed to turn the German flank by

thrusting across the Lower Rhine in Holland. No
fewer than three airborne drops would be made
to secure bridges over canals in the Eindhoven
area, the River Maas at Grave and River Waal at
Nijmegen, and, finally, that over the Rhine at
Arnhem. At the same time XXX British Corps
would advance into Holland, linking up with the
airborne forces in turn.
Operation Market-Garden was launched on
17 September. At first all went well, with the US
82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions seizing the
Eindhoven, Grave and Nijmegen bridges, and
quickly linking up with XXX Corps at
Eindhoven. At Arnhem, however, the dropping
zone was a good six miles from the bridge. There were also two SS Panzer divisions The Red Ball Express in
refitting in the area after fighting in Normand~ Allied intelligence had not operation. On 29 August
1944 alone 5)958 trucks
appreciated the significance of this, but they soon made their presence felt on
delivered 12)342 tons of
the British 1st Airborne Division and the Polish Parachute Brigade which reinforced supplies to the forward
it. These did manage to seize the Arnhem bridge, but came under increasing troops. However, the trucks
pressure from the more heavily armed Waffen-SS men. Worse, north of Eindhoven themselves consumed on
avemge30~OOOgallonsof
XXX Corps found its advance restricted to what was virtually a single road, with
fuel per day.
wet, low-lying country on either side. German attacks into its flanks slowed its
progress, as the paratroops at Arnhem found themselves engaged in an ever more
desperate battle.
Eventually XXX Corps reached the Rhine and managed to link up with the
Polish paratroops, but it was unable to reach 1st Airborne Division, only a fifth of
which was able to escape across the river. Market-Garden has often been criticized
as being overly ambitious, but its failure was narrow. Even so, it represented the last
opportunity for the western Allies to end the war in Europe in 1944. Against a
congealing defence, skilfully conducted by von Rundstedt, whom Hitler had recalled,
the Allied advance towards the upper Rhine became increasingly hard. The
Americans, in particular, fought a fierce battle to capture the first significant German
town, Aachen, and then another in the Huertgen Forest to its east.
By the late autumn most of the French Atlantic and Channel ports had been
liberated, although Dunkirk would hold out until the very end of the war. But these
were still a long way from the front. True, the city of Antwerp had been captured in
early September, but its port, one of the largest in western Europe, could not be used
because the Germans still held both banks of the River ScheIdt on which it lies. An
operation was mounted to clear them from the Breskens pocket on the south bank.
This was followed, on 1 November, by landings on the island of Walcheren at the
mouth of the river. It was secured after a week's fighting in appalling weather. The
ScheIdt then had to be cleared of mines. Even so, the port of Antwerp was open for

I8S
THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE WEST

A truck bogged down in the business and receiving supply ships before November was out. It was, however, too
mud during an American late to affect Allied fortunes in 1944.
withdrawal in the opening
In Italy, too, the Allies found themselves deadlocked once more by the end of the
days of the Ardennes
counter-o ffensive. year. The euphoria resulting from the liberation of Rome soon evaporated. The
advance continued north of the capital but had to be halted when it reached the River
Arno. This was because the forces earmarked for Anvil had now to be withdrawn,
together with a significant proportion of 15th Army Group's artiller~ An army
corps from Brazil, which had entered the war in August 1942, and an American black
division, the first such combat formation to be created in the US Army, replaced the
Anvil contingent, but neither had any previous combat experience. Even so,
Alexander still believed that he could break through Kesselring's next major belt of
defences, the Gothic Line, which took maximum advantage of the Apennines.
Alexander mounted his assault against the Gothic Line on 12 September. Over
six weeks' bitter fighting, often in heavy rain, saw the US Fifth Army make one
penetration into the mountains before casualties and the impossible conditions
forced it to a halt. In the east, the British Eighth Army found itself once more faced
by an endless succession of river lines. It crossed these, one after another, amid
worsening weather. Pushing through the Gothic Line, its advance was increasingly
separated from its neighbour by the Apennines. By late December it was exhausted
and could do no more. Alexander, now promoted Mediterranean theatre
commander, therefore halted all offensive operations until the spring.

r86
 NORTH-WEST EUROPE AND ITALY 1944

As he did so, his attention was diverted to newly liberated Greece, where a tussle Members of the US 1st
for power between Communist and non-Communist Resistance groups had erupted Infantry Division during the
German withdrawal from
into all-out civil war. British forces had to be sent from Italy to bring the fighting to
the Ardennes. Known as the
an end and oversee the establishment of an effective government. Big Red One, from its
Back in north-west Europe, 1944 did not, as in Italy, go out with a whimper. divisional symbol, this
Since the early autumn Hitler had been planning an ambitious counter-offensive. Its formation was a veteran of
the Torch landings and the
object was to split the British from the Americans by thrusting towards Antwerp. In
Tunisian and Sicilian
this way he hoped to be able to buy time in the west so as to be able to concentrate campaigns. It landed on
on stemming the now inevitable Russian offensive across the River Vistula and Omaha Beach on D-Day
towards Berlin. Both von Rundstedt and Model, his subordinate now in charge of and thereafter fought its way
across France and into
Army Group B, blanched when Hitler told them what he had in mind and proposed
Germany. During the
a more modest attack to trap the Americans around Aachen. Hitler, however, would Ardennes fighting it
have none of it. He did, however, agree to postponing the offensive from 25 operated on the northern
November until mid December. shoulder of the German
"bulge'.
The Ardennes, where the attack was to be launched, was considered by the
Americans as a quiet sector and was manned by divisions fresh from the United
States and others recovering from the bitter combat in the Huertgen Forest. During
the early part of December the Allied intelligence agencies, including Ultra,
identified a growing number of indicators pointing to an attack, even though the
German security was tight, with all deployments being done under the cover of
darkness. But while the indicators were there, the commanders, convinced that the
THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE WEST

Battle of the Bulge

16-24 December 1944
German attacks
16-20 December
German paratroop
drop
............. US front lines

Waffen-SS troops of Sixth in their sector operated fallback position was the
Panzer Army, against them, especially River Meuse and
distinguishable by their after snow fell. Shortage of Montgomery's forces
camouflaged uniforms, after fuel was another problem. deployed to secure and
ambushing an American To their south Hasso von defend the bridges over it. As
column during the opening Manteuffel did better, but it was, the German offensive
days of the Ardennes his failure to capture stopped short of the river.
counter-offensive. Sepp Bastogne told against him By this time its long open
Dietrich's men found that since it stood astride vital flanks made it vulnerable to
the hill and wooded terrain supply routes. The Allied a counterstroke.

Battle of the Bulge counter-attack

26 December 1944-7 February 1945

Allied counter-attacks

188
 NORTH-WEST EUROPE AND ITALY 1944

i
5 miles

----~_.rr--...;--,r__- 50°

oxxx VIII

xxxx
[lJ
PATrON

,-J

Allied front line, 15 December 1944

Gerrm1ll Paratroop drop zone, night of 16 December 1944

THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE WEST

Chrismas 1944 in the

Ardennes. Conveniently
camouflaged by the snow,
these Shermans prepare to
advance during Patton s
counter-stroke into the
German southern flank.

days of major German offensives were long gone, refused to take them seriousl~
As the tanks and guns of Hasso von Manteuffel's Fifth and Sepp Dietrich's Sixth
Panzer Armies moved into position, Hitler arrived at one of his now many field HQs
to supervise the attack personall~ Indeed, in the course of two days he lectured all
commanders down to and including corps level and insisted on dealing directly with
Model's staff, bypassing von Rundstedt entirel~
On 16 December, after an early brief artillery barrage, the offensive opened. Fog,
so often an attacker's ally, was present. The American defenders were taken totally
by surprise and chaos began to reign, helped by infiltrators in American uniforms
and jeeps, who altered signposts and cut telephone cables. For the next two days the
attack made good progress, but then a number of factors started to take effect. Snow
began to fall, making it difficult for the heavy German tanks to manoeuvre in the
 NORTH-WEST EUROPE AND ITALY 1944

narrow and twisting Belgian lanes. An astute US engineer battalion also slowed their
progress by blowing bridges in Sixth Army's attack sector, forcing the Panzers to
make time-consuming detours. They also failed to secure a vital US fuel dump. In
von Manteuffel's sector the key communications centre of Bastogne, reinforced by
paratroops of the veteran 101st Airborne, refused to fall. Finall)) the weather cleared,
enabling Allied air power to resume its dominance of the skies.
Montgomery stepped in and took control of the northern half of the newly
created German salient. In the south, Patton, anticipating that his Third Army
would be required, switched its axis through ninety degrees and was ready when the
order came to relieve Bastogne. By the 23rd Sixth Panzer Army had been halted and
three days later Bastogne was relieved. But Hitler had already departed, realizing
that he had shot his last bolt in the West.
 CHAPTER NINE

- - -....---;:..;.=:==::=::;;;.-.t@:.~:===';':05--1 .....- - -

IN RETROSPECT

TANKS OF THE US SEVENTH ARMY enter Nuremberg,

20 April 1945. The destruction, which was largely the
result of the sustained Anglo-American strategic bombing
offensive against Germany, was typical of almost every
large German town and city. Indeed, so much of the
country's infrastructure had been destroyed that
sustaining the German people in the immediate aftermath
of their defeat was to'prove a hard task for the Allies.
THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE WEST

IN RETROSPECT

HE SECOND WORLD WAR in Europe was very much more total than its
T predecessor. The territory over which the fighting on the ground took place
encompassed an area many times that of 1914-18. In Europe alone, it extended
from the extreme north of Norway to the Italian toe and from the English Channel
to the River Volga. In Africa the combat reached the extreme south of Abyssinia
and stretched the length of the northern coastline. It was significantly more
ferocious in nature, not just because weapons were more destructive than they had
been during the Great War, but because this was a war between ideologies as
opposed to empires.
Civilians were very much more in the firing-line, not just because they were
subjected to prolonged air-bombing campaigns, but also because often the onrush
of battle reached them before they had time to flee
their homes to safety. There was, too, the
Holocaust, which caused the deaths of some six
million of Europe's Jews. As for military
casualties, those in the West were proportionately
less than they had been twenty-five years earlier,
mainly because the prolonged and costly trench
offensives of the Western Front 1914-18 did not
take place. In the East, it was very different. The
Soviet armed forces suffered over eight million
fatalities and lost nearly four million others as
prisoners of war. That the German armed forces
lost 3.5 million killed on all fronts is, as much as
anything, an indication of the relative value
attached to human life. But the fact that the bulk
of German deaths was on the Eastern Front was
also an indicator of the ruthlessness with which
the war there was conducted by both sides.
Given the degree of emancipation of women
Knocked out Soviet tanks that 1914-18 had triggered, it would be natural to suppose that the female cause would
and rubble-strewn streets be further advanced during the Second World War. This, however, is true only to a
provide some impression of
degree. The increased technology made greater demands on industry; which led to a
the severity of the final
battle for Berlin. greater need for women factory workers in some countries, notably America, Britain
and the USSR. By the same token, more women joined the armed forces. In the West,
however, the anathema against women actually engaging in direct combat persisted,
although, especially on anti-aircraft gun sites, they did everything except actually fire
the gun. The Red Army had no such sensitivities, and neither did the partisans. It is,
however, a curious fact that even when Germany had its back to the wall, Hitler still
largely believed that a woman's place was at home.

210
 IN RETROSPECT

Land warfare between 1939 and 1945 saw the pendulum swing back in favour An American White
of the offence. Ever more efficient internal combustion engines and the development halftrack passes the body
of an unknown German
of effective radio communications saw to this. Between them they restored fluidity
soldier. More than five and
to the battlefield. True, there were periods of static warfare, particularly in Italy, but a half years of war cost the
these were caused by the terrain and the weather and not usually by bankruptcy of German nation the lives of
means or ideas to break through. But the increased pace of operations meant that three and a half million
of its soldiers, sailors, and
commanders at all levels had to be very much more quick thinking than they had
airmen, and two million of
been twenty-five years before. They also realized, especially the Germans, that one its civilians.
of the keys to victory lay in the closest co-operation among all arms - infantry,
armour, artillery and engineers.
The last vestiges of the traditional one-dimensional appearance of the land
battlefield also quickly disappeared. The advent of aircraft in the first decade of the
twentieth century had begun this process, but by 1939 ground-force commanders
were fully appreciating that, without enjoying a measure of air superiority at least

over the battlefield at the outset, the prospects of victory were much diminished.
Thereafter, close air support and aerial interdiction, two air-power roles which had
been developed during 1914-18, helped to ensure success on the ground, with
improved air-ground communications making air forces that much more responsive.
This multi-dimensional approach was further enhanced by the employment of
airborne forces, although, apart from on Crete, they were never decisive when
employed on their own. Properly used, with the guarantee of an early link-up by
ground forces, they were a valuable member of the all-arms orchestra.
Navies, especially on the Allied side, also played their part. Indeed, between 1942
and 1944 amphibious operations dominated western Allied strategy in the European

211
THE SECO D WORLD WAR IN THE WEST

Without doubt, the most theatre, as they did in the Pacific. The landing of troops on hostile shores was
horrific aspect of the Second developed into a fine art, entailing the development of special weapons, in particular
World War in the West was
armoured fighting vehicle variants to assist them to get off the beaches. Naval fire
the concentration camps.
These inmates are seen support also helped the ground forces, especially during the early days in Normand~
shortly after liberation. For The new mobile warfare of 1939-45 placed an ever-increasing strain on logistics,
some of them this came too with fuel becoming the most vital commodit~ The greater multiplicity of weapons,
late; they were already dying
especially rapid-fire types, meant added problems for ammunition resupply: Where
and nothing could save
them. road and rail networks were sparse, as in Russia the supply difficulties were immense,
especially during the winter months, at least for the Germans. It was for this reason
that their armies were without winter clothing when they were halted before
Moscow in December 1941. The Russians did not have quite the same problem.
Indeed, the German General Hasso von Manteuffel noted: 'Behind the tank
spearhead rolls on a vaste horde partly mounted on horseback. Soldiers carry sacks
on their backs filled with dry crusts of bread and raw vegetables collected on the
march from the fields and villages. The horses feed on the straw from the roofs of
houses - they get very little else. The Russians are accustomed to carryon for as long
as three weeks in this primitive way when advancing.'
In contrast, the soldiers of the western democracies, with their industrialized
societies and relatively high standard of
living, had greater expectations in the
field. Hot food, suitable clothing, an
efficient mail service, and rest and
recreation centres were all considered to
be important for the maintenance of
morale. This and greater weapons and
equipment sophistication meant that,
while it took just two men on the lines of
communication to support a Russian in
the front line, the American combat
soldier required eight. This was one
reason why the Allies, especially the
British, suffered from a shortage of
infantry towards the end of the war.
The higher expectations of the
American and British soldier have caused
some to declare that their fathers who
fought in the trenches during 1914-18 had
much greater sticking power and could
endure a much higher loss rate before
becoming combat ineffective. Those who
fought at Tobruk, Monte Cassino, and
Bastogne would be the first to dispute
this. The truth of the matter was that

212
 IN RETROSPECT

their generals had personally experienced the slaughter of the Western Front in the
Great War, and they were determined not to subject the new generation of young
men to the same horrors. Consequently, whenever possible they relieved units in
combat sooner rather than later. When they were forced to remain longer in the front
line than was desirable, there is no evidence to suggest that units showed any less
endurance than they did during the Great War on the Western Front.
Another significant aspect of the Second World War in Europe was the
treatment of casualties. Such were the improvements in medicine (notably the
availability of penicillin) and casualty evacuation, which now included rescue by air,
that a British soldier wounded in action had a twenty-five times better chance of
survival than his predecessor of 1914-18. The same did not apply to the Red Army,
with its primitive medical facilities, although the situation did improve as the war
went on. The experience of the Great War also led to greater understanding of battle
fatigue, with sympathetic treatment enabling a large proportion of British and
American sufferers to return to combat fully restored in health. In the dictatorships
of Germany and Russia, the problem was regarded as a military rather than medical
one. Consequently, battle fatigue cases often continued to suffer harsh treatment.
Overall, it was the influence of national leaders on the war that so often dictated
its shape. The dictators - Hitler and Stalin, and also Mussolini for a time - exerted
an iron grip on its conduct. Stalin dominated entirely through fear: the firing-squad,
penal battalions, and the labour camps of Siberia constantly hung like a noose over
his military commanders. Hitler could always play the trump card that his generals
had been duped into swearing personal loyalty to him. His early blitzkrieg successes
also gave him the confidence to overrule his military commanders, who, during the
early part of the war, had often expressed doubts over his strateg~ Increasingly, he
sacked those who objected to his diktats. But Churchill, too, loved to meddle in
military affairs and it took a strong military chief of staff, Alan Brooke, to keep him
within the bounds of what was feasible. Even so, as the British forays into the
Balkans showed, Brooke was not always successful. The leader who was most
amenable to military advice was undoubtedly Roosevelt, who became heavily
dependent on his Joint Chiefs of Staff, notably their chairman, George C. Marshall.
Sadly, Roosevelt was to die just weeks before the final victory over Nazi German~
But for the victorious Allied forces, in both East and West, who stood over the
ruins of the Third Reich in May 1945, these reflections were for the future. They were
conscious that the war with Japan continued and that some of their number, even
now, were being redeployed to the Pacific. Amid a numbed and sullen population,
and long columns of ex-concentration camp victims, former German conscripted
foreign workers, refugees and newly liberated prisoners of war, there was much to
do to resolve the chaos brought about by over five and a half years' destructive war.
There were, too, differences in the agenda for postwar Europe between the Soviet
Union and that of her western allies, and these were already becoming apparent.

---'-f1::~~~.~.:==il' -

21 3
THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE WEST

SOME LEADING COMMANDERS

AMERICAN infantry brigade, Panama; 1925-6 attended

Command and General Staff School, Fort
OMAR N. BRADLEY (1893-1981) Leavenworth; 1927-8 Army War College;
1915 Commissioned into Infantry; 1917-18 1929-33 military assistant to Assistant
company commander Stateside; 1924-5 Secretary of War; 1933-9 Personal
student Infantry School, Fort Benning; Assistant to Gen MacArthur, when Army
1925-8 battalion commander, Hawaii; Chief of Staff and Military Adviser to
1928-9 Command and General Staff Filipino govt; 1940--41 regimental executive
School, Fort Leavenworth; 1929-33 officer and battalion commander; 1941
instructor Infantry School; 1933--4 Army corps then army chief of staff; 1941-2
War College; 1934-8 tactics instructor West Deputy Chief of War Plans Division, War
Point; 1938-9 G-1 (personnel) Division, Dept; 1942 Chief of Operations Division,
War Dept; 1939--41 Assistant Secretary of War Dept, then Commanding General US
General Staff; 1941 Commandant Infantry Army European Theatre of Operations;
School; 1941-2 commanded and trained 1942-3 Allied commander Torch landings
82nd and 28th Divisions; 1943 deputy and Commanding General Allied Forces
commander and commander II Corps in HQ North Africa, Supreme Allied
Tunisia and Sicily; 1943--4 Commanded US Commander Mediterranean; 1944-5, and
1st Army in Britain and Normandy; 1944-5 Europe; 1945-8 US Army Chief of Staff;
commanded 12th US Army Group NW 1950-52 Supreme Allied Commander
Europe; 1945-8 Head of Veterans' Europe; 1953-61 President of USA.
Association; 1948-9 US Army Chief of
Staff; 1949-53 Chairman Joint Chiefs of GEORGE C. MARSHALL (1880-1959)
Staff. 1902 Commissioned into Infantry; 1907-10
attended Command and General Staff
MARK CLARK (1896-1984) School, Fort Leavenworth, then instructor;
1917 Commissioned into Infantry; 1917-18 1912-16 company commander USA and
company and briefly battalion commander Philippines; 1917-18 divisional staff officer
until wounded, then Supply Section HQ 1st and Chief of Operations First US Army,
US Army, France; 1928 infantry brigade France; 1919-24 chief aide to Gen Pershing;
executive officer; 1929-33 National Guard 1924-7 Exec. Officer 15th Infantry,
Division instructor; 1933-5 Command and Tientsin, China; 1927-32 Assistant
General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth; Commandant Infantry School, Fort
1935-6 Assistant Chief of Staff G-2 Benning; 1932-3 battalion and regimental
(Intelligence) and G-3 (Operations) at commander; 1933-6 Chief Instructor
division and corps; 1936 Army War Illinois National Guard; 1936-8 brigade
College; 1937--40 Assistant Chief of Staff commander; 1938-9 Chief of War Plans
G-2/G-3 at divisional HQ; 1941-2 served Division then Deputy Army Chief of Staff;
GHQ rising to Chief of Staff Army 1939--45 Army Chief of Staff; 1945-6
Ground Forces; 1942 commanded II Corps President Truman's personal representative
then made Deputy Supreme Allied in China; 1947-9 Secretary of State for
Commander for Torch landings; 1943--4 Foreign Affairs; 1950-51 Secretary of
Commanded US 5th Army North Africa State for Defense.
and Italy; 1944-5 commanded 15th Army
Group, Italy; 1945-7 Commander US GEORGE S. PATTON (1885-1945)
Troops Austria; 1947-9 commanded US 6th 1909 Commissioned into Cavalry; 1916
Army; 1949-52 Chief, Army Ground took part in Mexican Expedition; 1917-18
Forces; 1952-3 C-in-C United Nations Post Adjutant HQ American Expeditionary
Command and Far East. Force then commanded light tank brigade
before being wounded; 1919-20 Infantry
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (1890-1969) Tank School; 1923--4 Command and
1915 Commissioned into Infantry; 1917-18 General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth;
trained young officers and commanded 1924-8 corps and divisional staff USA and
tank training school; 1919-21 Infantry Hawaii; 1928-31 Office of Chief of
Tank School; 1922--4 Executive Officer Cavalry; 1931-2 Army War College;

2I4
 SOME LEADING COMMANDERS

1932--4 cavalry regiment executive officer; division, corps, and army level on Western
1935-7 Head of G-2 (Intelligence) Front; 1919 Staff College; 1920-27 staff;
Hawaiian Dept; 1938--40 executive officer, 1927 Student Imperial Defence College;
then commanded cavalry regiment; 1940-2 1920-32 commandant of School of
armoured brigade and divisional Artillery; 1932 instructor Imperial Defence
commander; 1942 commanded I Armored College; 1934-5 infantry brigade
Corps and Desert Training Center, then commander; 1935 Inspector of Artillery;
commanded Torch landings Morocco; 1943 1936 Director Military Training; 1937
commanded II Corps in Tunisia and 7th commanded Mobile Division; 1938 Anti-
Army in Sicily - removed from command Aircraft Corps commander; 1939--40
after slapping shell-shocked soldier in commanded II Corps, France and Flanders;
hospital; 1944-5 commanded 3rd Army in 1940--41 C-in-C Home Forces; 1941-6
NW Europe; 1945 appointed to command Chief of Imperial General Staff.
15th Army but killed in car accident in
German~ BERNARD MONTGOMERY (1887-1976)
1908 Commissioned into Royal
BRITISH Warwickshire Regiment; 1914 badly
wounded, France; 1915-18 served on
HAROLD ALEXANDER (1891-1969) brigade, divisional and corps staffs,
1911 Commissioned into Irish Guards; Western Front; 1920 Staff College; 1921-6
1914-18 regimental service Western Front; brigade and divisional staff then company
1919 Allied Relief Commission Poland and commander; 1926-8 instructor Staff
commanded Baltic Landswehr; 1922-6 College; 1929-34 regimental duty including
battalion commander, including Chanak battalion command in Egypt; 1934-7
Incident; 1926 Staff College; 1930-32 instructor Indian Staff College; 1937-8
Imperial Defence College; 1934-8 brigade infantry brigade commander; 1938-9
commander, India, including Frontier divisional commander Palestine during
campaigns; 1938--40 commanded 1st Arab Rebellion; 1939--40 commanded 3rd
Division and I Corps; 1940--42 C-in-C Infantry Division, France and Flanders;
Southern Command, Britain; 1942 1940-42 corps commander and
Commanded British Forces Burma, then commanded South-Eastern Army, England;
First Army in Britain; 1942-3 C-in-C 1942--4 commanded Eighth Army North
Middle East; 1943--4 commanded 15th Africa, Sicily, Italy; 1944-6 commanded
Army Group in Tunisia, Sicily, Italy; 21st Army Group; 1946-8 Chief of
1944-5 Supreme Allied Commander Imperial General Staff; 1948-51 Chairman
Mediterranean; 1946-52 Governor-General Western European Union Chiefs of Staff
of Canada; 1952--4 Minister of Defence. Committee; 1951-8 Deputy Supreme Allied
Commander Europe.
CLAUDE AUCHINLECK (1884-1981)
1902 Commissioned, later joining 62nd ARCHIBALD WAVELL (1883-1950)
Punjabis, Indian Army, including service in 1901 Commissioned into Black Watch and
Tibet; 1914-18 served at regimental duty, served South African War and India;
Egypt and Mesopotamia; 1919 divisional 1909-10 Staff College; 1912-14 Directorate
staff, Kurdistan; 1920 Indian Staff College; of Military Operations; 1914-16 served on
1927 Imperial Defence College; 1928-30 brigade staff (wounded) and GHQ France
battalion commander, India; 1930-32 and Flanders; 1916-17 British military
instructor Indian Staff College; 1932-6 representative to H Q of Grand Duke
brigade commander India, including Nicholas in Caucasus; 1917-20 liaison
Frontier campaigns; 1936-8 Deputy Chief officer, staff of Allied Supreme War
C-in-C of General Staff India; 1938--40 Council, corps chief of staff Palestine;
district commander India; 1940 1921-30 War Office and divisional staff;
commanded IV Corps in England, northern 1930-34 infantry brigade commander;
Norway, V Corps, England, then Southern 1935-7 commanded division; 1937-8
Command; 1941-2 C-in-C Middle East; commanded British forces Palestine during
1943-7 C-in-C India. Arab Revolt; 1938-9 C-in-C Southern
Command, Britain; 1939-41 C-in-C Middle
ALAN BROOKE (1883-1963) East; 1941-3 C-in-C India and briefly
1902 Commissioned into Royal Artillery; Supreme Allied Commander South-West
1914-18 served mainly on artillery staff at Pacific; 1943-7 Viceroy of India.

21 5
THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE WEST

GERMAN ERICH VON MANSTEIN (1885-1973)

1906 Commissioned into 3rd Foot Guards;
WALTER VON BRAUCHITSCH (1881-1948) 1914 severely wounded on Eastern Front;
1900 Commissioned into 3rd Guards 1915-18 army group, army and divisional
Regiment of Foot, but then transferred to staffs; 1919 involved in planning post-
Guards Field Artillery; 1910-12 War Versailles army; 1920-34 regimental duty
Academy; 1914-18 Served on divisional and staff; 1934 district chief of staff; 1935
and corps staffs; 1919-32 battery and head of army general staff operations
artillery battalion commander, and staff, branch; 1936 deputy army chief of staff;
rising to Maj Gen; 1932 Inspector of 1938 divisional commander; 1939 Chief of
Artillery; 1933-7 divisional and corps Staff Army Group South, Poland; 1940
commander; 1937 Commander 4th Army corps commander during campaign in West;
Group; 1938 Army C-in-C; 1941 Retired. 1941 Panzer corps commander for invasion
Died in British captivity. of Russia then commanded Eleventh Army;
1942 command of Army Group Don (later
WILHELM KEITEL (1883-1946) South); 1944 dismissed; 1949 tried by British
1901 Commissioned into Prussian Field for war crimes and sentenced to 18 years'
Artillery; 1914 wounded; 1915-18 served imprisonment, later reduced; 1953 released.
on divisional and corps staffs; 1919-26
battery and artillery battalion commander; WALTHER MODEL (1891-1945)
1926-33 head of organization branch in 1910 Commissioned into 52nd Infantry
Truppenamt; 1933 district infantry Regiment; 1914-18 regimental and staff
commander; 1934 divisional commander; duty on Western Front; 1919-35 staff and
1935 Chief of Armed Forces office in War regimental duty; 1935-8 general staff,
Ministry; 1938-45 Chief of OKW; 1945 Berlin; 1938 chief of staff IV Corps, and in
found guilty of war crimes at Nuremberg Polish campaign; 1939-40 chief of staff 16th
and executed. Army, campaign in West; 1940-41 Panzer
division and corps commander, including
ALBERT KESSELRING (1883-1960) invasion of Russia; 1942-4 commanded 9th
1904 in Bavarian Artillery; 1914 Western Army Eastern Front; 1944 commanded
Front; 1915-17 Artillery staff France; Army Group North, Army Group N.
1917-18 divisional, corps, and army Ukraine, Army Group Centre; 1944-5
staffs, Eastern Front; 1922-31 briefly C-in-C West then of Army Group B.
Truppenamt; 1932 commanded artillery Committed suicide in Ruhr Pocket.
regiment; 1933 transferred to Air
Ministry; 1936 chief of staff Luftwaffe; ERWIN ROMMEL (1891-1944)
1937 Commander 3rd Air Region; 1938 1912 Commissioned into 124th Infantry
commander 1st Air Fleet including Polish Regiment; 1914-16 served on Western Front
campaign; 1940 commander 2nd Air Fleet and twice wounded; 1917-18 served with
in West and for invasion of Russia; 1941 mountain troops in Romania and Italy;
C-in-C Mediterranean; 1944 C-in-C Italy 1919-35 regimental duty and infantry
and Army Group C; 1945 C-in-C West; instructor; 1935-7 instructor at War
1947 tried by British for war crimes and College; 1939 commanded Hitler's
sentenced to death, later commuted to life bodyguard during Polish campaign; 1940
imprisonment; 1952 released. Panzer division commander French
campaign; 1941 commander Deutsches
GUENTHER HANS VON KLUGE (1882-1944) Afrika Korps then Panzergruppe Afrika,
1901 Commissioned into Lower Saxony Libya; 1942 commander Panzerarmee
Artillery Regiment; 1908-14 War Academy, Afrika 1943 commander Army Group
and General Staff; 1914-18 staff officer Africa, Tunisia then Army Group B, N
Western Front; 1919-34 regimental and staff Italy and France; 1944 severely wounded
duty; 1934-7 divisional commander; 1937-8 and later forced to commit suicide.
corps commander; 1938-41 commanded
Sixth (later Fourth) Army, Polish and French GERD VON RUNDSTEDT (1875-1953)
campaigns, and invasion of Russia; 1941-3 1893 Commisioned into Prussian Infantry;
commanded Army Group Centre on 1903-12 War Academy followed by staff
Eastern Front until badly injured in car appointments; 1914-18 divisional and corps
crash; 1944 C-in-C West Jul-Aug, but then staffs on Western and Eastern Fronts;
dismissed. Committed suicide. 1919-27 infantry regiment commander and

2I6
 SOME LEADING COMMANDERS

staff appointments; 1928 cavalry division 1942-3 commanded Bryansk then the Don
commander; 1932-8 district and group (later Central) Fronts; 1943-4 commanded
commander based in Berlin; 1938 Retired; 1st Belorussian Front; 1944-5 commanded
1939 recalled to plan invasion of Poland 2nd Belorussian Front; 1945-9 C-in-C of
during which commanded Army Group Russian troops in Poland; 1949-56 Polish
South; 1939-40 commanded Army Group A Defence Minister; 1956-7 Deputy Soviet
during campaign in West and thereafter C- Defence Minister; 1957-8 Chief Inspector
in-C West; 1941 Commanded Army Group Soviet Ministry of Defence, then
South on Eastern Front, but retired at end of commanded Transcaucasus Military
year; 1942-5 C-in-C West, but sacked in District; 1958--62 resumed as Chief
July; 1944 and again finally Mar; 1945. 1949 Inspector Soviet Ministry of Defence.
charged by British with war crimes but
found medically unfit to plead and released. SEMYON KONSTANTINOVICH TIMOSHENKO
(1895-1970) 1914-18 Served as machine-
RUSSIAN gunner; 1918-20 joined Red Army and
fought in Civil War, rising to command a
IVAN STEPANOVICH KONIEV (1897-1971) cavalry division before being seriously
1916-17 served as a junior artillery NCO; wounded; 1921-33 commanded a cavalry
1918-25 military commissar; 1926 attended corps and attended senior officers' courses;
Frunze Military Academy; 1927-32 1933-9 Deputy Commander, then
commanded a rifle regiment then a division; commander various military districts; 1939
1932-4 senior officers' course at Frunze commanded Ukrainian Front for invasion of
Military Academy; 1934-7 commanded Poland; 1940 commanded North-West Front
Belorussian Military District; 1937-41 corps in war against Finland then Defence
commander Mongolia then commanded in Commissar; 1941-2 on German invasion
succession 2nd Separate Red Banner Army took command of West Front then South-
in Far East, Transbaikal and Northern West Theatre; 1942-3 commanded North-
Caucasus Military Districts; 1941-2 West Front; 1943-5 acted as Stalin's personal
commanded 19th Army during German representative to various fronts; 1946--60
invasion then Kalinin Front; 1942-3 commanded various military districts; 1960
commanded West Front; 1943-4 Inspector General Soviet Defence Ministr)T.
commanded North-West then Steppe (later
2nd Ukrainian) Fronts; 1944-5 commanded GEORGI KONSTANTINOVICH ZHUKOV
1st Ukrainian Front; 1945--6 C-in-C Soviet (1896-1974) 1914-16 Served in a
Central Group of Forces in Austria and reconnaissance unit and badly wounded;
Hungary; 1946-56 C-in-C Soviet Land 1918 joined Red Army as a volunteer, rising
Forces and Deputy Defence Minister; to squadron commander and again
1956--60 C-in-C Warsaw Pact Forces and wounded; 1923-33 cavalry regiment and
Deputy Defence Minister; 1960-61Chief brigade commander, attended Higher
Inspector Ministry of Defence; 1961-3 C-in- Cavalry School and other senior officers'
C Soviet Forces Germany; 1963 reappointed courses; 1933-8 cavalry division and corps
Chief Inspector Ministry of Defence commander; 1938-9 deputy commander
Bialystok Military District; 1939-40
KONSTANTIN KONSTANTINOVICH commanded 1st Army Group on Mongolian
ROKOSSOVSKY (1896-1990) border, including action against Japanese;
1914-17 served in a Dragoon regiment to 1940-41 commanded Kiev Military District;
junior officer; 1917-21 fought in Civil War 1941 Chief of General Staff then
rising to cavalry regiment commander; commanded Reserve and Leningrad Fronts
1922-4 Far East, eventually commanding before command of defence of Moscow;
cavalry brigade. 1925-8 military mission to 1942-4 Deputy Supreme C-in-C and First
Mongolia; 1928 senior officers' course at Deputy Defence Commissar; 1944-5
Frunze Military Academy; 1929-30 commanded 1st Ukrainian then 1st
commanded cavalry brigade on Sino- Belorussian Fronts; 1945--6 C-in-C Soviet
Russian border; 1930-37 commanded zone of occupation in Germany; 1946-7 C-
cavalry division and corps; 1937-1940 in-C Land Forces and Deputy Defence
imprisoned as a result of the Purges; Minister then commanded Odessa Military
1940-41 commanded cavalry then District; 1948-53 commanded Urals
mechanized corps; 1941-2 commanded Military C-in-C District; 1953-5 Deputy
Sixteenth Army in defences of Moscow; Defence Minister; 1955-7 Defence Minister.

21 7
THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE WEST

FURTHER READING

Addison, Paul and Calder, Angus (ed.),Time to Kill: The Soldier~s Experience
of War in the West 1939-1945 (Pimlico, London, 1997)
Ambrose, Stephen, The Supreme Commander: The War Years of General
Dwight D. Eisenhower (Doubleday, N~ 1969)
Barnett, Correlli (ed.), Hitlers Generals (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London,
1989)
Beevor, Antony, Stalingrad (Viking, London, 1998)
Creveld, Martin van, Fighting Power: German and US Army Combat
Performance~ 1939-1945 (Arms & Armour, London, 1983)
Dear, I. C. B., and Foot, M. R. D. (ed.), The Oxford Companion to the
Second World War (OUP, 1995)
Erickson, John, The Road to Stalingrad (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London,
1975)
Erickson, John, The Road to Berlin (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 1983)
Graham, Dominick, and Bidwell, Shelford, Tug of War: The Battle for Italy
1943-45 (Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1986)
Greenfield, Kent Roberts (ed.), Command Decisions (Methuen, London,
1960)
Harris, J. ~, and Toase, F. N. (ed.), Armoured Warfare (Batsford, London,
1990)
Hastings, Max, Overlord and the Battle of Normandy, 1944 (Michael
Joseph, London, 1984)
Horne, Alistair, To Lose a Battle: France 1940 (Macmillan, London, 1969)
Keegan, John (ed.), Churchill~s Generals (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London,
1991)
Lewin, Ronald, Ultra goes to War: The Secret Story (Hutchinson, London,
1978)
Macksey, Kenneth, Crucible of Power: The Fight for Tunisia 1942-43
(Hutchinson, London, 1969)
Messenger, Charles, World War Two Chronological Atlas (Bloomsbury,
London, 1989
Niepold, Gerd, Battle for White Russia: The Destruction of Army Group
Centre June 1944 (Brassey's, London, 1987)
Shukman, Harold (ed.), Stalins Generals (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London,
1993)
Strawson, John, The Battle for North Africa (Scribner, N~ 1969)
Weigley, Russell, Eisenhower~s Lieutenants: the Campaigns in France and
Germany 1944-45 (Sidgwick & Jackson, London, 1981)

218