GERMAN DEFENCES
DR PETER CADDICK-ADAMS EXAMINES THE STRENGTH OF GERMAN UNITS DEFENDING NORMANDY IN JUNE 1944 AND FINDS THEM TO BE, PERHAPS SURPRISINGLY, OF POOR CALIBRE.
Jack Heath, serving aboard landing craft LCT-522 at Juno Beach, recalled his first sight of captured Germans at Courseullessur- Mer. About 200 prisoners of war were loaded onto his craft to take to England he later recalled: “We were shocked by the ages of some of them; they looked like children and old age pensioners, though some were tough-looking guys”. Contrary to popular understanding, prior to the Normandy invasion the Wehrmacht in France was poorly led, abysmally trained and shoddily equipped. While reinforcements rushed to Normandy after D-Day represented a different, more professional force – which led to the long, bitter and extraordinarily violent 77-day campaign – those facing the assault troops on June 6 (apart from a few Fallschirmjäger [paratroopers] and panzermen) were generally past their prime, recovering from wounds received in Russia and often not even German nationals. They were never going to defeat the invasion.
WAR HORSES
It still comes as a surprise to many that the Wehrmacht (German army component) was predomi…
