★★★ Experiences from the Invasion Battles of Normandy A. Preliminary Remarks 1. Experiences fulfill their purposes only when they are quickly brought to the attention of the troops. This happens from time to time through the medium of individual teletype messages. 2. The following experiences summarize what has happened so far. It is left to the... Continua a leggere →
World War II Invasion of Normandy 1944 – The other side [III] Interrogation of Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel
★★★ Questionnaire presented by US interrogators to Generalfeldmarschall (General Field Marshal) Wilhelm Keitel, Chief of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW, Supreme Command of the German Armed Forces), concerning German plans for counter attacking against the Allies after the Invasion of Normandy. Question: 1. What were the successive plans considered by the OKW: a) 6 Jun... Continua a leggere →
World War II Invasion of Normandy 1944 – The other side [II] Interrogation of Generaloberst Alfred Jodl
★★★ Questionnaire presented by US interrogators to Chief of the Operations Staff of OKW, Alfred Jodl, concerning German plans for counter attacking against the Allies after the Invasion of Normandy. Invasion and Normandy Campaign 1. Question: What was Hitler’s personal influence on the construction and installation of the coastal defenses in the West? How far... Continua a leggere →
World War II Invasion of Normandy 1944 – The other side [I] Interrogation of Generalleutnant Rudolf Schmetzer
★★★ Interrogation of Generalleutnant [Lieutenant General] Rudolf Schmetzer concerning the construction of German defenses in Normandy, France. A) Fundamentals 1) Commands and organization of fortress engineers The sector corresponded exactly to the extent of command of the LXXXIV. Gen.Kdo [Generalkommando - Corps Headquarters], the coastal front of which reached from a point northeast of Caen to the border between... Continua a leggere →
Behind Enemy Plans: A Process-Tracing Analysis of Germany’s Operational Approach to a Western Invasion
★★★ No plan survives contact with the enemy. —Field Marshal Count Helmuth von Moltke the Elder Sixty-four years after Moltke’s observation, two mid-level German commanders, faced with the herculean task of changing the course of history on an early June 1944 morning, failed in their duties. In using structured and qualitative analysis to examine German... Continua a leggere →
D-Day, A Year Too Late?
★★★ In April 1942, General George C. Marshall, the U.S. Army’s Chief of Staff, went to London with a set of plans to bring about the defeat of Germany in northwestern Europe. Operation Bolero detailed a rapid buildup of U.S. forces in England, and Operation Sledgehammer foresaw an emergency 1942 landing in France should the... Continua a leggere →
D-Day: planning and execution
★★★★ A cross-channel attack to initiate the European Campaign remained the linchpin of American strategy for taking the war to Germany and defeating its armies in the field. This approach remained the centerpiece of Allied strategy despite the feared casualty rate from a dedicated German resistance, and the fact that the nei-ther the British allies... Continua a leggere →
Patterns of War: A Re-interpretation of the Chronology of the German-Soviet War 1941–1945
★★★★ IntroductionThe Soviet-German War 1941–1945 was unprecedented in the scope of its size and scale, covering a vast geographic area and utilizing millions of people, horses, and machines, as well as a huge scale of destruction of population and property.[1] This has posed a challenge to historians to both understand the war and then portray... Continua a leggere →
