D-Day: Eisenhower and His Paratroopers

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. Eisenhower’s study of leadership skills required he never express the apprehension and doubt, which inevitably arise as strain and tension wear away endurance. He was determined always to present confidence and optimism to those around him. 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. Roosevelt, Churchill, and the Combined Chiefs of Staff granted him complete operational control, but these achievements called for extraordinary skill in persuading and directing the military/political alliance. When it came to execution though, his admirals and generals had full authority.

Eisenhower said, “We cannot afford to fail”. The D-Day invasion was all or nothing. There was no alternative plan. The soldiers would either move forward from the beach or they would be driven into the sea, so badly shattered the AEF could not attempt the landing again. If that happened the Germans could transfer over 40 divisions to the eastern front.

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, Sicily and Italy, 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 on their first hop. 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 troopers would enable the seaborne infantry to get through the causeways behind Utah beach, destroy preregistered artillery targeting Omaha and Utah, 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 two American paratroop divisions were badly scattered that night 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, formed small mixed units, and accomplished most of their objectives. The British division of airborne and glider troops landed better organized and accomplished their night 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.

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 failed in the only amphibious assault attempted. On that day, the allies were intending to undertake an amphibious and air assault much more daunting than any campaign of WW I. Of that day even Joseph Stalin was compelled to say, “This is unquestionably a brilliant success for our allies. One must admit that the history ofc wars does not know of an undertaking comparable to it for breathe of conception, grandeur of scale, and mastery of execution"

We now rest in the comfort of certainty and can never understand the courage required to live into and through this perilous history.

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

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.

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jeI3vwz3p4 https://www.history.com/speeches/franklin-d-roosevelt-delivers-d-day-prayer

https://www.dday.org/2019/10/03/history-in-audio-form-the-d-day-broadcast-of-george-hicks/

http://usdefensewatch.com/2017/06/june-6-1944-the-greatest-day-of-the-20th-century-2/

Here is Roosevelt’s prayer on D-Day. I have a hard time imagining anything like this happening today. Wouldn’t huge masses feel they had been “triggered” and wouldn’t mass hysteria erupt on social media?

My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest-until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home – fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas – whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them – help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too – strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other; Faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog." -- General DDE

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Project Vigil: D-Day 2014, The saluting boy on Omaha beach [07/29/2014]
D-day landing sites - then and now. [06/18/2014]
PETER LUCAS: Obama's D-Day (satire) [06/16/2014]
'They Left the Vivid Air Signed with Their Honor' [06/10/2014]
Scenes From D-day Then and Now [06/08/2014]
Who Says Obama Can't Do Two Things At Once: the Gum Slinger [06/08/2014]
D-Day + 70 Years: Looking For The Right Words [06/08/2014]
(Military Officers Association of America) The Voices of D-Day [06/07/2014]
D-Day Veteran who sneaked off to Normandy returns to Portsmouth [06/07/2014]
Here is President Reagan's remarkable speech at Point du Hoc on the 40th anniversary. [06/07/2014]
Moral Narcissism in a Week of Anniversaries [06/07/2014]
For the Boys of Pointe du Hoc [06/06/2014]
President's Speech Commemorates D-Day Anniversary [06/06/2014]
Remembering D-Day in 18 Photos [06/06/2014]
Yogi Berra, D-Day Vet, Honored on 70th Anniversary [06/06/2014]
Obama shows respect to fallen WWII vets (chewing gum)! [06/06/2014]
Pope Francis honors each of the soldiers of D-Day [06/06/2014]
Rose petals rain on Lady Liberty in D-Day tribute [06/06/2014]
Tribute For D-Day (vanity) [06/06/2014]
D-Day veteran reported missing by care home staff is found in Normandy [06/06/2014]
Star Treks Scotty was one of the thousands of brave men to fight on this day 70 years ago. (trivia) [06/06/2014]
A list of a few D-Day Documentaries available on Youtube. [06/06/2014]
'I've never missed my grandfather more': Obama leads tributes to D-Day heroes... [06/06/2014]
93-year-old WWII paratrooper marks D-Day with encore jump [06/06/2014]
The eyes of the world were upon us on "the longest day" [06/06/2014]
Pope Francis pays tribute to 'heavy sacrifice' of soldiers on 70th anniversary of D-Day landings [06/06/2014]
A D-Day Veteran Politely Declines Obama Invitation [06/06/2014]
D-Day: Hove veteran defies ban for Normandy trip [06/06/2014]
The real lessons of D-Day [06/06/2014]
D-Day at 70: When Order Triumphed Over Evil [06/06/2014]
Watch: Awesome Tribute by Airline Gate Agent for WWII Vets On Their Way to France for D-Day [06/06/2014]
Vanity: Typical Google: Just link to commemorate D-Day [06/06/2014]
70th Anniversary of D-DAY - A Spiritual Analogy [06/06/2014]
President Commemorates Anniversary of Normandy Invasion [06/06/2014]
The American Flag Daily: Overlord [06/06/2014]
Obama:'America's claim' written by those who served on D-Day (sez "hit singles" prez) [06/06/2014]
70 years on, D-Day veteran recalls WWII as an adventure, too [06/06/2014]
Dame Vera Lynn "We'll Meet Again" [06/06/2014]
Obama is a pygmy compared with the wartime leader Roosevelt [06/05/2014]
Ronald Reagan's Normandy Speech [06/06/2013]
Ronald Reagan: The boys of Point du Hoc [06/06/2011]
Ronald Reagan: These are the boys of Point-du-Hoc, D-Day Remembrance [06/06/2010]
6/6/84: President Reagan Speaks at D-Day Anniversary Ceremony ("Boys of Pointe du Hoc") [06/06/2010]
Reagan's Speech on the 40th Anniversary of D Day [04/09/2010]
President Reagan's Tribute at the U.S. Cemetery Above Omaha Beach [06/06/2009]
President Ronald Reagan's speech on the 40th anniversary of D-Day (VIDEO) [06/06/2009]
Ronald Reagan's Speech on 40th Anniversary of D-Day ( Video ) [06/06/2009]
President Reagan's Remarks at a Ceremony Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion [06/05/2009]
Washington Post Claims McCain Wildly Exaggerated D-Day, says Soviets better [09/28/2008]
Ronald Reagan Speech on the 40th Anniversary of D-Day [06/06/2006]
President Reagan Omaha Beach 1984 Speech [06/06/2006]
James Doohan's (Scotty) World War II Service (Rest in Peace) [07/20/2005]
Twenty years ago, Reagan came up big in Normandy [06/07/2004]
Twenty Years Ago Today - President Reagan At Omaha Beach [06/06/2004]
Ronald Reagan: Message for the Allies -- I will not fail thee nor forsake thee [06/06/2004]
"Ronald Reagan, D-Day.....and the War on Terror" [06/05/2004]
"These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc" (Reagan speech at Normandy, June 6 1984) [06/05/2004]
Ronald Reagan D-Day speech June 6, 1984 [06/05/2004]
Ronald Reagan - D-Day 1984 [06/05/2004]
Ronald Wilson Reagan: 40th Anniversary of D-Day Address [06/04/2004]
Reagan lauded heroism of D-Day Rangers [05/29/2004]
40th Anniversary of D-Day (reagan speech from 1984) [06/06/2003]

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