D-Day: Eisenhower and His Paratroopers

self | June 6, 2023 | Self

[Retain Mike]

General Dwight D. Eisenhower arrived in London January 2, 1944 to command Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) and to direct the last five months of planning for D-Day; the most difficult and complicated military operation ever attempted. Eisenhower’s study of leadership skills required he ignore opportunities for fear and doubt, which inevitably arise as strain and tension wear away endurance. He persevered to present confidence and optimism to those around him. For that reason, he brought with him a confident, battle tested team that had led successful landings in North Africa, Sicily, and Salerno, despite experiencing German counterattacks nearly driving the Allies into the sea on the last two beaches. He was able to select his own division commanders, to enlist the help of the French Resistance, and to direct the strategic bombers for a campaign isolating the area of assault by destroying the French and Belgian railroads. These achievements called for extraordinary skill in persuading and directing the military/political alliance.

Ike’s leadership also required sustaining unprecedented initiatives in the face of well-reasoned apprehensions. The air assault exemplifies the frightful uncertainties plaguing this “Day of Days”. The night before D-Day, 20,400 American and British paratroopers were scheduled to drop behind the Normandy beaches from 1,250 C-47 aircraft plus gliders. No other initiative offered greater rewards and risked greater tragedies. This massive assault was to be attempted just seventeen years after Charles Lindberg flew the Atlantic solo for the first time.

To the last moment Ike's air commander, British Air Chief Marshall Leigh-Mallory, saw only tragic forebodings reinforced by memories of American paratroop failures in North Africa, Italy and Sicily, and the German catastrophe on Crete. The German losses there were so severe that Hitler forbid any further massive air assaults. Leigh-Mallory anticipated over half the planes and gliders would be destroyed before reaching the drop zones with surviving paratroopers fighting isolated until they were killed or captured.

The unescorted air transports would arrive over Normandy the night of June 5 in three streams from 160 to 300 miles long; thereby allowing the Germans up to two hours to reposition night fighters and anti-aircraft artillery for maximum slaughter of the transports. Most pilots were flying their first combat mission, and many would make multiple trips that night. Leigh-Mallory had received specific intelligence the German 91st Air Landing Division, specialists in fighting paratroopers, and the 6th Parachute Regiment inexplicably moved into the area around St. Mere-Eglise, where the American divisions were scheduled to land. The question arose whether these movements meant the deception plan for D-Day directing attention to Pas de Calais was breaking down.

Despite ongoing doleful estimates, Ike remained strategically committed to the airborne assault. In the American sector it would enable the seaborne infantry to get through the causeways behind Utah beach and allow the early capture of Cherbourg. Without port facilities, the limited logistic support across the beaches could doom the entire invasion. In the British sector the paratroopers would secure the vulnerable left flank of the entire invasion by destroying or capturing seven bridges needed by the Germans for a counterattack by the bulk of their armor. They would also silence a German heavy artillery battery that could devastate the Sword Beach landing.

At the same time, Eisenhower was devoted to the men. Since arriving in England, he had visited over 50 divisions, airfields, and ships as well as countless other facilities and personally talked to hundreds of men. The evening before D-Day, Eisenhower left SHAEF headquarters at 6 PM and traveled to Newbury where the 101st Airborne was boarding for its first combat mission. Ike arrived at 8 PM and did not leave until the last C-47 was airborne over three hours later.

In My Three Years with Eisenhower, Navy Captain Harry C. Butcher says, "We saw hundreds of paratroopers with blackened and grotesque faces, packing up for the big hop and jump. Ike wandered through them, stepping over, packs, guns, and a variety of equipment such as only paratroop people can devise, chinning with this and that one. All were put at ease. He was promised a job after the war by a Texan who said he roped, not dallied, his cows, and at least there was enough to eat in the work. Ike has developed or disclosed an informality and friendliness with troopers that almost amazed me". The famous picture of Eisenhower supposedly forcefully delivering last minute encouragement to the troopers actually involved talking about his experience working in a store when he was a kid.

In Crusade in Europe, General Eisenhower says, "I found the men in fine fettle, many of them joshingly admonishing me that I had no cause for worry, since the 101st was on the job, and everything would be taken care of in fine shape. I stayed with them until the last of them were in the air, somewhere about midnight. After a two-hour trip back to my own camp, I had only a short time to wait until the first news should come in”.

One of the first D-Day reports was from Leigh-Mallory with news only 29 of 1,250 C-47's were missing and only four gliders were unaccounted for. The paratroopers were badly scattered because of cloud cover, errors in marking drop zones, and German antiaircraft fire. However, the Germans were unable to exploit the resulting chaos. The troopers found each other and formed units to accomplish their objectives.

That morning Leigh-Mallory sent Ike a message frankly saying it is sometimes difficult to admit that one is wrong, but he had never had a greater pleasure than in doing so on this occasion. He expressed regret for finding necessary an analysis adding to Ike’s personal burdens during those last tense days before D-Day and congratulated him on the wisdom and courage of his command decision.

Today we rest in the comfort of historic certainty and can never understand the courage required to live into and through this history. The above represents only one of many crushing uncertainties Eisenhower persevered through. Planning discussions often aroused the specter of Gallipoli, the Somme, and Passchendaele, where the British incurred murderous losses for gains of only yards. And this time the allies were intending to undertake an amphibious and air assault much more daunting than any campaign of WW I.

Partial bibliography:

Crusade in Europe by General Dwight Eisenhower

My Three Years with Eisenhower by Captain Harry C. Butcher

The Secret Life of Stewart Menzies Spymaster to Winston Churchill by Anthony Cave Brown

D-Day by Steven E. Ambrose

Summary of the 6th Airborne Division engagements https://www.dday-overlord.com/en/d-day/air-operations/commonwealth

Top 10 Deadliest Battles of World War I http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-bloodiest-battles-of-world-war-i.php

Battle of Messines (1917) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Messines_(1917)#Casualties

Invasion of Normandy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Normandy

The Battle of Messines, 1917 https://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/messines.htm

The Battle of Messiness helps one appreciate the anxieties aroused from memories of Gallipoli, the Somme and Passchendaele, where the British suffered catastrophic losses for gains of only yards. By some historian assessments, the most successful attack by British forces in WW I was the Battle of Messines in 1917. The battle lasted June 1-12, and involved 216,000 men of whom 24,562 became casualties. They attacked on a five-mile front and penetrated 10 miles.

Taking this battle as a starting point, the Normandy invasion from five beachheads established a lodgment about 10 miles deep on a 40 miles front. The effort required 50 days. Therefore, a WW I veteran could make an optimistic estimate of about 400,000 casualties, and that after completely disregarded the fact D-Day landings were significantly more hazardous than any offensive attempted on the Western Front. By July 24 the allies had incurred about 120,000 casualties.

Picture of Eisenhower http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/pings?more=330525619

D-Day Pictures http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2009/06/05/the-65th-anniversary-of-d-day-on-the-normandy-beaches/#

D-Day: Presidential radio address to the nation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jeI3vwz3p4 https://www.history.com/speeches/franklin-d-roosevelt-delivers-d-day-prayerHistory in Audio Form: The D-Day Broadcast of George Hicks https://www.dday.org/2019/10/03/history-in-audio-form-the-d-day-broadcast-of-george-hicks/

JUNE 6, 1944: THE GREATEST DAY OF THE 20TH CENTURY http://usdefensewatch.com/2017/06/june-6-1944-the-greatest-day-of-the-20th-century-2/

List of German World War II night fighter aces https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_German_World_War_II_night_fighter_aces

Complete Broadcast D-Day NBC https://archive.org/details/NBCCompleteBroadcastDDay/CBD-440606_NBC0730-News.mp3

Dwight Eisenhower D-Day Speech https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/eisenhower-s-speech-to-troops-on-d-day

Franklin Delano Roosevelt https://www.history.com/speeches/franklin-d-roosevelt-delivers-d-day-prayer

D-Day: King George VI’s 1944 Speech To The Nation In Full http://www.forces.net/d-day/d-day-king-george-vis-1944-speech-nation-full#:~:text=This%20is%20the%20stirring%20speech%20made%20by%20King,in%20the%20early%20hours%20of%20June%206th%201944.

Blood on the risers LYRICS (Gory gory what a helluva way to die https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5HtVYr9aKRM

Band of Brothers https://www.bing.com/search?q=band+of+brothers+episodes&qs=LS&pq=band+of+brothers&sk=EP1LS1&sc=8-16&cvid=57EEFCF395284EC4B90640D80CE5BD3D&FORM=QBLH&sp=3&ghc=1

Ray Lambert, D-Day Medic, Omaha Beach (Full Interview) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEXWJ3Jk4x4

D-Day Paratrooper Tom Rice (Full Interview) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhgnZiJdvlk Tom Rice, a paratrooper with the famed 101st Airborne Division, jumping into Normandy on June 6, 1944. On June 5, 2019 – at the age of 97 – he once again jumped into Normandy, landing near the exact same location he landed 75 years prior.

Dick Winters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxJAtzQnyLM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K4MzCs1qE0

American airborne landings in Normandy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_airborne_landings_in_Normandy

D-Day 24 Hours (D-Day As It Happened) https://www.youtube.com/@D-Day24Hours-sm5pe

Normandy Speech: President Reagan's Address Commemorating 40th Anniversary of Normandy/D-Day 6/6/84

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Leb7ynduCU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEIqdcHbc8

In his book D-day Steven E, Ambrose he said,” Others heard the news broadcast on loudspeakers during their night shifts on assembly lines around the country. Men and women paused over their machines, prayed, and returned to work with renewed dedication. Across the United States and Canada, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the Arctic to the Gulf Coat, the Church bell rang. Not in triumph or celebration but as a solemn reminder of national unity and a call to formal prayer. Special services were held in every church and synagogue in the land. Pews were jammed.”

[Retain Mike]

I wrote this essay to be my contribution to remembering D-Day. I had much more contact with such men growing up than my peers, because about age twelve my dad began taking me out golfing on the weekends. Those men were in their 30’s and 40’s at that time and in the midst of careers and families. Parts of conversations about the WW II would occur as asides to a main subject. There were no war production plants our town, so it seemed everyone had served. Without exception I remember they seemed to regard that time as a rite of passage into adulthood. Of course, though I was not privy to the more private discussions they had with other veterans.

I cannot remember any paratroopers, but in college I often ended up as a dishwasher at the country club. I noticed the chef always limped as he moved around the kitchen. When he saw my puzzled look, he said he got the limp from a wound received when he was with the Rangers at Pointe De Hoc. He said he might have recovered better, but they weren’t relieved for two days and he was mustered out.

Here in real life was one of the men portrayed in the Longest Day. This is just one story among so many I remember and so many more I have forgotten. As a result, when the time came, I volunteered for the Navy officer program and ended up in Vietnam. It was simply my turn.

[ansel12]

Airborne to that.

[sasquatch]

Walter Munk did tide and wave calcs. for D-Day and other landings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Munk

[bigbob]

Very well done, thank you for writing and sharing it.

I’ve always been impressed with how Ike, despite all the actual uncertainty and an infinite number of ways things could go wrong, projected a sense of calm and confidence. No one could have been more immersed in the planning or more aware of the risks, but as a leader he know the importance of the role he and only he, could play. How much of a different it made is impossible to know, but I’ll always believe it was significant.

[If You Want It Fixed - Fix It]

We should not exempt anyone from the draft, only fight a war or policing action with a draft, and require everyone in political office to not exempt their family from the draft. And we should not take only the youngest for the draft.

If we are not all going to fight and suffer, and pray and bind together because of that, then the war or policing action isn’t worth the lives lost or taken.

Vietnam taught our leaders to not draft, so the Gulf War and Iraq Afganistan put all the burden on too few, who suffer today while everyone and the government has forgotten and moved on to the next chess move or passionate fight.

Nothing calms the passion to fight like bullets whizzing tge ears and mortars coming in. That’s what family needs to know, every family, in every office.

The laborers are few.

[After Hours]

Thank you!

Well written and researched. I’m afraid we could not even come close to the courage and leadership shown during WWII.

Sorry to be a downer, but by today’s standards, I doubt we could even generate enough power to run 24/7 manufacturing operations as they did then.

[Does so]

Recalling a story told by an Airborne pair years ago.

He and his companion were at a Florida CAF air show and told of the pair parachuting into an open field on D-Day. Nearby Wehrmacht soldiers behind a fence motioned for the two to approach them.

Seeing the two were in a hopeless situation, and about to become German prisoners, they complied. When they passed the fence, they saw a sign (in German) that showed they’d landed in a minefield!

[ansel12]

“”Vietnam taught our leaders to not draft””

I don’t think it did, but what did WWII teach our leaders about the draft?

[When do we get liberated?]

We could do that, no problem!!!

Of course, they will be in China.....

[ABN 505]

There is a famous picture of Ike talking to a group of Paratroopers just before they loaded and took off ,my Dads platoon Sgt.[Bill Boyle] is in that picture along with his Ist. Lt.from the 502nd PIR. My dad stayed in touch with many of those guys for years, my Dads Boots and dog tags are now on display along with Bill Boyles Uniform in the Carenten Historical Airborne museum in France now.

[Inspectorette]

A moving tribute to the courage of these young men, thank you for this wonderful essay.

[Retain Mike]

You are welcome.

[Retain Mike]

You are welcome.

[SunkenCiv]

"It isn't the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Retain Mike.

Ike's air commander, British Air Chief Marshall Leigh-Mallory, saw only tragic forebodings reinforced by memories of American paratroop failures in North Africa, Italy and Sicily, and the German catastrophe on Crete. The German losses there were so severe that Hitler forbid any further massive air assaults.

Sidebar: Hitler was a spineless tactical moron -- Crete was wrapped up by the Germans in just 13 days, with the turning point happening on the second day, and the British POWs and naval losses were considerable.

[Monkey Face]

Thanks for this article.

I’ve never known anyone who would talk to me about WWII, and that’s probably just as well because I wouldn’t have known what questions to ask.

But I did read a lot, and I was a brand new bride when Viet Nam was in full swing, so I was a military wife. It was only after we went to Germany in the late 60’s that I began my search for history of the war there.

Of course I read as much as I could about the beginnings of the men in Europe and Japan who were so greedy for land and power that they started wars. These days, I have three types of books on my library shelves — History of the war in Europe, history of the war in the Pacific and church doctrine.

My take is that we could not have won had it not been for God interceding. And He blessed all those who sacrificed their lives for the generations they would never see. It is so in every war.

‘Face

;o]

[M Kehoe]

Stand up, hook up, shuffle to the door.

5.56mm

[SunkenCiv]

Don't be silly, WWII started because the rest of the world had it in for Germany and Japan. They were acting in self-defense!

[Monkey Face]

Yeah...so I heard.

I have several books on conspiracy theories that seem much more plausible than anything else I’ve been told. It was actually started in order to set in place the beginnings of the One World Order.

The information is there if you care to look for it....