Chapter 188 Volume 5, Chapter 33, Preparations for Overlord's Battle Plan

Grim memories of the plan to cross the English Channel The commanders' offensive forces increase Mulberry artificial port! !Airborne Forces Offensive Plans Waterproofing of Various Vehicles Fire Plans for Naval Bombardment March 11th I Called General Marshall to Train Forces for Amphibious Operations Offensive Start Day and Assault Moment Last Deployment and First Target Naval Missions Air Offensive Deception Means The Germans were deluded. The whole of the south of England was one huge barracks. Thoughts arising from practical experience can be a constraint or a stimulus.After reading the above-mentioned volumes, the reader will understand that although I have always hoped to cross the Channel with the United States and directly attack the German coastal defense front in France, I do not think this is the only way to win the war. At the same time, I realize that Such an attack would be a very difficult and dangerous endeavor.The terrible price that we had to pay in the lives and blood of so many men during the great offensive during the First World War is still etched in my heart.Our memories of the battles of the Somme and Pachandale, and of the many small frontal attacks against the Germans, have not been forgotten by the passage of time or by reflection.After a quarter of a century of translating from the original, I still believe that reinforced concrete fortifications with modern firepower and manned by well-trained and hard-nosed soldiers can only be conquered by a well-timed surprise attack, or by a detour around the flank the enemy, or use some new mechanized weapon like a tank.The superiority of bombing, however terrible it may be, cannot finally decide the outcome of the battle.The defending army could easily deploy another line of defense behind their first line, while the middle ground controlled by the artillery would become impassable because it was filled with huge craters.This is the mature experience gained by the French and the British between 1915 and 1917 at great cost.

[1] The Somme, in northern France; Pachandale, a village in the west of Leth.translator Since then, new factors have emerged, but they do not all account for the same problem.The firepower of the defensive side was greatly enhanced.Minedfields on land and in the sea have grown enormously.On the other hand, as the attacking side, we have air supremacy. We can drop a large number of paratroopers behind the enemy's front line, especially to block and cut off the communication lines that the enemy relies on to dispatch reinforcements for counterattack. Throughout the summer months of 1943, General Morgan and his Allied Liaison Staff studied this plan meticulously.In a previous chapter I have described how this plan was presented to me during my voyage to Quebec to attend the meeting of the quadrant.At the time, the plans were largely approved, but one feature still needed to be negotiated.The size and scope of the initial assault on the beaches of Normandy was bound to be limited by the number of landing craft available.General Morgan's instructions were to plan to use three divisions for the assault, followed immediately by two divisions.He therefore proposed to land the three divisions on the coast between Caen and Carentin.He had originally advocated the landing of a part of the force north of Carentin, nearer Cherbourg, but later he thought it unwise to disperse such a small force.The mouth of the Ville River near Carentin was a swamp, so it was bound to be difficult for the attacking flanks to maintain contact.No doubt he was right.Of course I would have liked to launch a more aggressive attack on a wider front, but ten months before the offensive we were not sure we would be able to acquire enough landing craft.

Since there were no important ports on this coast, Mountbatten's staff had to propose the construction of artificial ports.The resolution of the Quebec Conference affirmed this need and clarified the related issues.I keep asking about the development of this program.The plan was actively pursued by a committee of experts and representatives of the various services, convened by Brigadier General Bruce White of the War Department, himself a distinguished civil engineer.It was a major endeavor, and great achievements are due to the work of many people, especially Major General Sir Harold Warner, who was tasked with coordinating the work of many parties involved.

Mention must also be made of Pluto, the submarine oil pipeline that first ran from the Isle of Wight to Normandy and later from Dungeness to Calais.This design and many others are largely due to Mountbatten's staff.In order to overcome the powerful obstacles and minefields that the enemy protected the beach, we came up with many wonderful ways, but due to space limitations, we cannot describe them all.Some are installed on our tanks to protect the driver; others are used on landing craft.All these matters interest me personally, and I have a hand in them when it seems necessary. General Morgan and his staff were satisfied that the Conference of Quebec had approved their proposal.Troops can now start training, and at the same time can start crafting their specialized equipment.For this reason, Morgan was entrusted with greater authority than a staff officer was accustomed to wield.

The discussions concerning the appointment of General Eisenhower as Supreme Commander and General Montgomery to command the Expeditionary Force have been described before.Eisenhower's lieutenant was General Ted Air Force.Lee | Vice-Admiral Mallory commanded the Air Force, and Admiral Ramsey commanded the Navy.General Eisenhower brought in General Biddle Smith and made him chief of staff, and General Morgan was made deputy chief of staff. Eisenhower and Montgomery disagreed on one very important feature of the plan.They require the use of stronger troops on a wider front to carry out assaults in order to quickly obtain a larger bridgehead, and then organize troops within this bridgehead to make breakthroughs.Another point, which is also important, is to occupy the various piers of Cherbourg earlier than originally planned.They demanded that the initial attack use five divisions instead of three.Of course, this is entirely true.General Morgan himself had advocated expanding the size of the original landings, but insufficient manpower and material resources had been obtained.But where can more landing craft be transferred from now?The landing craft in the Southeast Asian battlefield have been requisitioned.Landing craft in the Mediterranean were sufficient to transport two divisions, but these had to be used in Operation Anvil, a naval assault on southern France that would coincide with Operation Overlord to draw German forces from the north.If the manpower and material resources of the anvil battle plan are weakened, then this campaign will not be able to contain the enemy.

A final decision was not made until March, when Eisenhower met with the British Chiefs of Staff.The chiefs of staff of the United States Armed Forces had agreed to allow Eisenhower to speak on their behalf.He had just arrived here from the Mediterranean side recently, so he fully understood the Anvil plan, and now that he was the supreme commander of the Overlord plan, he was the most qualified to weigh the needs of the two campaigns.Therefore, the meeting agreed that a ship capable of transporting a division of troops should be allocated from the anvil battle plan for Overlord.The solution to transporting the ships needed for another division was to postpone Overlord until the June full moon period.New landing craft produced during that month will make up the difference.As for the additional troops required, one division each was provided by the United Kingdom and the United States, bringing the total to five divisions.The United States also agreed to provide naval support for one of its additional divisions.Thus, the naval forces allocated to this campaign are roughly 80 per cent British and 20 per cent American.Planning work is now actively proceeding on this revised and much improved basis.

Immediately after my return from Marrakech I was busy with the many technical aspects of Project Overlord.On the other side of the English Channel, the entire front line was covered with obstacles, and the enemy's defenses were built and heavily deployed.The enemy is waiting for us, but do they know where, when, and how we will attack?At least as far as our fighters can provide air cover, the enemy has no flanks for our troops to maneuver.Our ships are more vulnerable than ever to enemy coastal artillery, since they can be targeted with radar.And after our troops have landed, they must continue to receive supplies, and at the same time they must repel enemy air and tank counterattacks.I am constantly looking for ways to overcome the dangers we face.

Prime Minister to General Ismay and Sir Edward Bridges January 23, 1944 In view of the many ways in which our lives will be affected by the preparations for the Battle of Overlord, and in order to keep the whole development in check, I propose the establishment of a weekly committee, to be chaired by myself.This committee will replace the Anti-Submarine Warfare Committee, which can now instead meet every two months. Please send me your suggestions regarding the selection of this new committee. At this time, I heard that the Mulberry Harbor project was experiencing difficulties, so I called a meeting on January 24th.According to the plan, a breakwater was to be set up in each division's offensive area (gooseberry plan).This means there will now be a total of five breakwaters, two of which will be incorporated into the Mulberry Project in due course.On the advice of Admiral Tennant, who was in charge of the operational aspects of Project Mulberry, it was agreed that all breakwaters should be made of sunken ships, although this would have meant using more ships.The ships, traveling under their own power, were able to reach the scene quickly and sink in place, thereby providing a certain amount of cover almost immediately.All these wrecks can be laid out in four or five days.To complete the phoenix concrete submersible tanks needed for the Mulberry Artificial Harbor, it will be hauled across the channel in batches, but it will take at least fourteen days.There is such a shortage of tugs that I ordered an investigation.The Admiralty wanted wrecks up to eight thousand yards long.

Almost all of the wrecks used were seventy old merchant ships and four scrapped warships.Since the British are doing most of the work of constructing the Mulberry Harbor, I think we have reason to expect the Americans to assist us in providing the wrecks.At my suggestion, they complied, and finally provided nearly half of the amount.As for the rest, preparations for the installation of the twenty-three floating docks of the Whale Project are well underway, but technical difficulties have been encountered with regard to the horn, the steel outer breakwater, which must be approved by the Admiralty solved problem.

I think special attention and support should be given to the offensive plan of the Airborne Forces. Prime Minister to General Ismay, Transfer to the Chiefs of Staff Committee January 28, 1944 I am very dissatisfied with the current plan for the transport of airborne troops for Operation Overlord.There are now four parachute divisions available, but it has been heard that there are only enough aircraft to transport one of them.This was not due to lack of production, but because the deadline by which everything must be ready had been fixed for March 15th.One hundred and ten Stirling and Albimar aircraft will be produced between March 15 and May 15, of which ten Stirlings and forty Albimars .All of these aircraft should be operational.Also, I asked you to check how many aircraft the Air Force Coast Defense Corps has available.I think it is clear that, with great effort, we can secure General Eisenhower a much more adequate number of aircraft.

2. General Eisenhower should be asked how many airborne troops he wishes to be simultaneously engaged in combat at the beginning of Operation Overlord.In the meantime, I would like you to give me a written report on how many planes we are going to provide him with according to the current plan.I will chair a meeting next week to look at the situation and consider how we can meet General Eisenhower's demands. With regard to the appointment of various commanders, there was a new impetus.The double-decker tanks capable of floating ashore, which had been successfully used in the Mediterranean battlefield, would definitely be useful again now.In addition, for ordinary vehicles with tracks and wheels, it is necessary to install waterproof equipment so that they can rely on their own power to ford several feet of water to shore.But, as is customary, the numbers of vehicles of all kinds required by the Army appear to have been greatly exaggerated. Prime Minister to Ministers of Production and Ministers of Armaments January 25, 1944 Please report immediately whether it is possible to produce 300 double-decker tanks by the end of April. 2. What is the situation of waterproof equipment materials? 3. As far as I understand, General Montgomery has submitted to the Quartermaster Department a list of the supplies he would like to receive as a priority.Please show me the list and please include your comments on whether it is possible to satisfy his wishes. prime minister to general montgomery January 31, 1944 You spoke to me about the material of the waterproofing equipment, and now every effort is being made to produce the necessary quantities.Of course, not all of these vehicles need to be installed with waterproof equipment. There are 100 varieties of these 200,000 vehicles, and each variety is a separate project.A good number of these vehicles will not be available until three or four months after the landings have begun, by which time, we hope, troops will not have to wade ashore.At the current stage of the war, one need can often only be met at the expense of another need. Therefore, when making various preparations for the Overlord Operation Plan, one must be good at choosing and strive for perfection.I know you will remember this. Two. My biggest concern is that, if possible, you must have enough transport aircraft to airlift two divisions for your airborne troops.It would be beneficial if a fixed date could be fixed.For the Ministry of the Air Force and the Ministry of Aircraft Production, the date for the completion of the target has been stipulated. For example, March 15th is the date for the supply of a certain aircraft (such as the Albemarle), etc., there will be 180 deliveries by then. cross.However, if an additional two-month deadline is accepted, provided that the aforementioned missions remain unaffected, then by May 15th this batch of aircraft alone will amount to 270 aircraft instead of 180. cross.I have no doubt that similar developments can be made in many other necessities.I am fully aware of the various claims made on the training issue, however, it is the pilots who need to be trained, not the aircraft.if highly skilled pilots are available (such as from the Naval Air Corps), they can practice using existing aircraft in stock; this way, until the moment of attack, the rest of the Air Force can practice with aircraft that are being produced .Please let us know about this when we meet. I am most interested in the plans concerning the firepower to be employed at the beginning of the bombardment, especially with regard to naval firepower. Prime Minister to First Sea Lord February 20, 1944 You will remember that in my memorandum to the Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces I have repeatedly emphasized the great importance of having a bombardment squadron or fleet in the Battle of Overlord.Once the air cover is established, the combat effectiveness of the battleship will be fully displayed.Velocity cannons are particularly well suited for destroying concrete bunkers.You have informed me of the arrangements you are undertaking and I consider it necessary to proceed with the utmost diligence. 2. I had a meeting with Admiral Cook (of the U.S. Navy) yesterday, and he showed me the photos of the attack on Kwajalein Island in the Marshall Islands.He also emphasized bombardment at short distances (say, two thousand yards).I don't think it would be convenient to do that with the beaches we're facing now.But the greater the firepower that can be employed in bombardment, the greater the effect.Now is the time to use the Ramirs-class cruisers; and, as I mentioned, the men needed for these ships can be brought in from other ships to take charge of the bombardment during the actual landing, and when it is over, You can return to your original position. 3. I propose to convene a meeting of the National Defense Committee next Monday, February 28, to discuss this aspect of the Overlord Operation Plan.Meanwhile, I hope you can give me a report. As a result, the naval bombardment force consisted of six battleships, two large ironclads, and twenty-two cruisers, in addition to a large number of destroyers and smaller craft.Of the ships mentioned above, two-thirds were British. I urgently want General Marshall to know that every effort is being made to support his long desired program.For this, I send a telegram as follows: Prime Minister to General Marshall (in Washington) March 11, 1944 After returning from Marrakech, I have carefully reviewed the following aspects of the Overlord campaign: 1. The Mulberry Artificial Harbor Project and all related aspects; 2. Means of delivery for airborne assault forces, including methods of attack using gliders; 3. Squadrons carrying out bombardment along the coast; 4. Deployment of the Air Force Command. I have chaired a series of meetings in which either Ike or Biddle have attended, respectively. I'm satisfied that things are going well.Ike and Biddle will probably tell you that they too were relieved.As time drew near, I was hardening on the campaign, that is to say, that I wished to attack within the reach of manpower, even if the constraints we had laid down in Moscow were not fully realized.I hope we will have the opportunity to talk soon.Sincerely best wishes. Once the size of the expeditionary force has been determined, rigorous training can begin immediately. One of the great difficulties we have encountered is to find enough training places.The camps of the British and American troops were largely separated, with the British in the south-east of England and the American troops in the south-west.The inhabitants of the coastal regions do well when they are subjected to various inconveniences.A British division, with corresponding naval units, had undergone all its early training at Murray Firth, Scotland.The winter storms had tempered them for the arduous struggles of opening day. The Joint Operations Staff, originally led by Admiral Mountbatten and later General Laycock, had long ago created the theory and practice of amphibious operations.They must now be taught to all concerned, coupled with the rigorous overall training necessary for modern warfare.Of course, all of this has long been carried out in live-fire exercises of various sizes by the British and American forces. Many officers and men fought for the first time, but all of them behaved like tried and tested troops. All the lessons learned from previous large-scale maneuvers, and of course from our tragic experience at Dieppe, have been applied to the final general exercises of the armed forces.The general exercise ended in early May.All these activities cannot go unnoticed by the enemy.We did not object, and were deliberately trying to attract the attention of the enemy watch in the Pas de Calais, because we wanted to convince the Germans that we were about to come across the Pas de Calais. As new intelligence about the enemy came in, our plans had to change to fit the new situation.We already know the general disposition of the enemy's troops and their principal fortifications, as well as their batteries, strongholds, and trenches along the coast.But after Rommel assumed command in late January, signs of important additions and improvements to the original defense began to appear.In particular, we must survey any new obstacles that may be erected in order to find solutions. Constant aerial reconnaissance keeps us informed of activities across the English Channel.Of course, there are other ways of scouting the enemy.We send teams out on multiple voyages in small boats to clarify doubts, measure the depth of water near the coast, check for new obstructions or measure the slope and geology of beaches.All these activities must be done in the dark, approaching the destination quietly, reconnaissance secretly, and withdrawing in time. There is an intricacies to be decided, and that is the selection of the attack to start and the time of the scheduled attack, at which point the leading attacking ships must arrive at the beachhead just in time.The timing of many other actions must be reorganized according to this moment.We agreed to approach the enemy's coast by moonlight, as it would be helpful to our ships and airborne forces.After dawn and before the scheduled attack time, a short period of time is needed to give orders to small ships on how to evacuate and conduct accurate covering bombardments.But if the interval between daybreak and the moment of attack is too long, the enemy will have more time to recover from the surprise of the surprise attack and to shoot at our landing troops. Then there is the issue of tides.If we landed at high tide, underwater obstacles would hinder our progress; if we landed at low tide, the troops would have to trek a long way across the bare beach.There are many other factors that must also be considered.It was finally decided to make the landing about three hours before high tide.But the whole problem doesn't stop there.There is a forty-minute difference in tide rise and fall between the beaches on the east and west coasts, and there is an underwater reef within the beach area where the British troops landed.Each beach area must determine its own attack time, which varies from area to area by as much as eighty-five minutes. Only three days in each lunar month are fully requisite.The first three-day cycle after May 31st, General Eisenhower's scheduled date, was June 5th, 6th, and 7th.Therefore, June 5th was chosen. If the weather were unfavorable on any of these three days, the entire operation would have to be postponed for at least two weeks. In fact, if we were to wait for the full moon, it would have to be postponed for a full month. By April, our program was nearly complete.The British Second Army, commanded by General Dempsey, was to land three divisions on the beaches north and northwest of Caen.Two or three hours before landing, prepare to land an airborne division in the northeast of Caen to occupy the bridges on the lower reaches of the Orne River while covering the troops on the eastern flank.On the British right, General Omar Bradley's First U.S. Army would land a division on the east coast of the Weir Estuary and another division to the north.The latter division would be supported by two divisions which had been airborne a few miles inland in advance.Each army group had a division on board for emergency reinforcements. The first targets of the attack included Caen, Bayeux, Isigny and Carentin.With these targets in place, the American forces would advance across the Cotentin Peninsula while storming north in order to capture Cherbourg.The British will cover the American flank from enemy counterattacks from the east, while expanding its positions south and southeast of Caen, where we can build airfields and use armored forces.We hope to reach the line of Falaise-Avranches within three weeks after landing, and, together with the powerful reinforcements that will have landed by then, break through to the east to attack Paris, advance to the northeast to attack the area around the Seine, and march to the west. To capture the ports of Brittany. These plans depend on our ability to consistently and rapidly build up forces on the various beachheads.In order to coordinate all these intricate movements of ships, a special agency was set up at High Command at Portsmouth, with subsidiary inter-service liaison offices at the various ports from which troops embarked and departed.This allowed commanders stationed on distant shores to control the flow of supplies to their beachheads.A similar agency controls incoming supplies by air.The adequate supply and expansion of large troop units on the French beachheads became a major feature.These beachheads could soon become as busy as a major port. The task of the navy is to transport the army safely across the English Channel, and to support the landing by all available means; and the subsequent task is to see to it that reinforcements and supplies will arrive in time, in spite of all dangers from the sea and from the enemy.Admiral Ramsay commanded two special fleets, one British and the other American.The East Road Special Fleet is commanded by Admiral Wei'an, which will control all naval operations in the British landing area.Admiral Kirk of the U.S. Navy will undertake the same combat mission in support of the U.S. First Army.These two special fleet commands have a total of five assault fleets under their jurisdiction, and each fleet transports a division of combat troops. At the same time, they each have specially equipped ships to provide close support to the landing troops.This is the backbone of the offensive force.Surrounding and covering these assault forces were powerful allied navies and air forces. The ports from which the troops embarked and departed stretched from Felixstowe in the east to Bristol Bay in the west, and from these ports the ships were to be escorted along the coast to an assembly point near the Isle of Wight.The huge fleet will sail from here to Normandy.Because of the overcrowding of our southern ports, and in order to reinforce our plans to confuse the enemy, the Navy's heavy bombardment ships will only assemble at the Firth of Clyde and Belfast. While submarines and light surface craft also pose a threat when approaching enemy shores, mines are the main danger, and mine clearance therefore draws our special attention.An enemy line of mines traversed our approach to the coast, and we could not foresee how the enemy would place more obstacles in our assault zone at the last moment.Ten separate shipping lanes through the mine line had to be cleared to allow the passage of the assault convoy, and then the entire sea had to be searched.Twenty-nine mine-sweeping fleets have been concentrated, so that the total number of ships is about 350. As already discussed in an earlier chapter of this volume, Bomber Command was tasked with conducting large-scale offensives; their offensive operations had been going on for many weeks now.The Allied Tactical Air Force, commanded by Air Admiral Leigh Mallory, not only supported heavy bombers in disrupting enemy lines of communication and isolating the area of ​​operations, but had to defeat the enemy's air force before the land campaign could begin.For three consecutive weeks before the start of the offensive, German airfields and installations were bombed with increasing intensity.At the same time, the dispatch of our fighter jets lured the enemy planes who were unwilling to fight to come out to fight.As far as the assault itself is concerned, the primary task of the air force is to cover our naval ships and convoys from attack by sea or air, and secondly to disable the enemy's radar installations; Send fighter jets to provide cover for ship berths and beaches.The three airborne divisions, together with several contingents, had to be flown safely to their destination in the dark of night, the contingent's task was to incite and encourage the burgeoning resistance movement. The bombing to cover the first landings was a major factor. Before the opening day of the offensive, the preliminary air attack on the enemy's many coastal batteries was not limited to those controlling the beachheads to be invaded, but, in order to confuse the enemy, included the batteries along the entire French coast.On the eve of Offensive Day, a swarm of British heavy bombers was to attack the ten most important batteries that might prevent the landing.At dawn the next day, medium bombers and ship fire would take their place, guided by drop bomb observers.About half an hour after daybreak, American heavy and medium bombers would bombard enemy fortifications with all their might.The increased firepower will also be augmented by a large number of artillery and rockets of various types on board naval assault ships. Of course, our planning is not limited to the work we actually want to do.As the enemy must know that a large-scale invasion is being prepared, we must also conceal the place and time of the attack, so that the enemy will think that we will land at other places and at other times.This aspect alone involves a great deal of planning and concrete action.Sightseeers were banned from the coast; censorship needed to be strengthened; letters were stopped after a certain period of time; embassies were prohibited from sending coded telegrams, and even their diplomatic pouches were delayed. Our main tactic to confuse the enemy was to pretend that we were about to cross the Strait of Dover and invade the mainland.It is inconvenient even today to describe the various methods employed at that time to confuse the enemy, but some obvious ones we employ are: pretended concentration of troops at Kent and Sussex; ; Landing exercises on beaches near these ports; radio telegram sending and receiving activities are becoming more and more frequent.We did more aerial reconnaissance of the places we weren't going to than the places we were actually going.The final result is excellent.The German High Command has no doubts about the signs we have deliberately shown them.Rundstedt, commander-in-chief of the German Western Front, also firmly believes that the Strait of Calais is our goal. [1] The five ports are Dover, Sandwich, Hastings, Romney and Hyde.translator The concentration of the assault force with 176,000 soldiers, 20,000 vehicles, and tens of thousands of tons of supplies was an arduous task in itself, because they had to be transported out within the first two days after landing.This was largely handled by the War Office and the Railway Authorities, which did an excellent job.Troops were transported from permanent camps across England to the southern counties, stationed in the region stretching from Ipswich to Cornwall and the Bristol Channel.The three airborne divisions scheduled to drop into Normandy before the assault at sea were assembled near the airfields from which they were to take off.The various troops were transported from their rear assembly points to their camps in front of the assembly area near the coast in the prescribed order of boarding.At the various staging camps they are divided into detachments according to the number of men that can be carried by the boats and ships that transport them.Here, each soldier will accept the orders given to him.Once the order is received, no one is allowed to leave the camp.The various camps are located near the boarding point.These locations are ports or beachheads that are hard ground, or concrete, where troops can board small ships.Here, they will rendezvous with naval ships. All these sea and land operations seemed impossible to escape the attention of the enemy.We had many targets that could attract enemy planes to attack, so we took adequate precautions.We had nearly seven thousand guns and rockets, and more than a thousand anti-aircraft balloons, to cover a large number of soldiers and ships, but there was not even a trace of the Luftwaffe.Compared with the situation four years ago, this is a world of difference!The British National Guard have waited patiently all these years for their moment to do something meaningful, and now they have.Not only did they fill out the air and coast defense departments, but they also took over many day-to-day and police duties, thereby replacing other soldiers into combat. In this way, the whole of southern England became one huge barracks, full of well-trained soldiers with orders, eager to cross the sea to fight the Germans to the death.