9. Katastrophe

Summary

D-Day: The Tide Turns – Episode 9: Katastrophe
Hosted by Paul McGann | Released on July 24, 2024 | Noiser Network

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Introduction: The Calm Before the Storm

The episode opens on June 6, 1944, early morning in Herlingen, Southern Germany, focusing on Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Known as the "Desert Fox," Rommel is portrayed both as a military genius and a devoted family man. As he prepares to celebrate his wife Lucy’s 50th birthday with an exquisite pair of handmade shoes, his tranquil weekend is abruptly interrupted by a call from Hans Speidel, his second-in-command.

“There’s no such thing as work, life, balance when you’re in charge of defending the Third Reich.”
— Narrator, [00:30]

This juxtaposition sets the stage for the unfolding catastrophe of D-Day, highlighting Rommel's human side amidst the impending chaos.

German Leadership: Rommel vs. Hitler

While Rommel is momentarily away from duty, Adolf Hitler remains confined to his Berghof in the Bavarian Alps. Unlike Rommel’s proactive stance, Hitler exhibits a detached complacency, engrossed in late-night monologues and propaganda, oblivious to the brewing storm in Normandy.

“Hitler has convinced people to go along with him,”
— Historian Thomas Faber, [04:36]

The episode underscores the strained relationship between Rommel and Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, Germany's commander in the West. Despite both recognizing the critical role of Panzer divisions, their conflicting strategies create a brittle command structure unprepared for a rapid response.

“Rommel was an upstart,”
— Sponsor Voice, [08:54]

The Calm Before the Storm: German Miscalculations

German meteorologists, confident in favorable conditions, mistakenly believe an Allied invasion is unlikely amidst the harsh weather. Their complacency leads to a significant oversight: none of the German generals are present in Normandy on D-Day, as they attend a war games exercise in Rennes. This absence proves catastrophic, leaving the defenses disorganized and ill-prepared.

“So this meant that not a single German general was at his post in Normandy on 6 June,”
— Veteran Giles Milton, [11:39]

The Invasion Begins: Allied Landings on the Beaches

As dawn breaks, Allied paratroopers begin their landings, followed by a massive naval bombardment. Despite Rommel's initial dismissal, the scale of the invasion becomes unmistakably clear. The German defenses, led by determined officers like Colonel Ludwig Krug and Heinrich Seewerloh, fiercely resist the Allied advances at key locations such as Hillman and Omaha Beach.

“He waits. The first American soldiers wade into the sea. With the water still around the enemy’s knees, Cevalo squeezes the trigger.”
— Narrator, [16:05]

The episode vividly depicts the brutal resistance faced by the Allies, highlighting individual acts of valor and the grim determination of German defenders, many of whom are young conscripts from various nationalities.

German Defenders: Stories of Krug and Cevalo

Colonel Ludwig Krug at Hillman and Heinrich Seewerloh at Omaha Beach exemplify the fierce German resistance. Krug’s 300-men regiment staunchly defends their bunker complex, repelling multiple Allied assaults. Similarly, Seewerloh’s relentless defense with his MG42 machine gun earns him the nickname "The Beast of Omaha," despite his young age of 20.

“His actions will earn him a nickname the Beast of Omaha. But like so many of those he felled, Cevelo is actually little more than a boy, just 20 years old.”
— Narrator, [21:21]

These personal stories bring to light the human aspect of the conflict, emphasizing the sacrifice and youthful valor within the German ranks.

Command Breakdown: Miscommunication and Delays

As the invasion intensifies, the German command structure falters. Requests to deploy Panzer divisions are stymied by Hitler’s inaccessibility. Even when General Hans Speidel detects increasing Allied activity, his dismissive stance reflects the broader systemic paralysis.

“The most glorious man in all history. He must have his steam.”
— Historian Nicholas Oshaughnessy, [06:44]

The rigid hierarchy and Hitler’s insistence on being the sole decision-maker lead to critical delays, preventing timely defensive maneuvers that could have altered the course of the invasion.

Rommel’s Efforts and Frustrations

Finally alerted to the severity of the situation, Rommel attempts to mobilize forces, but logistical challenges impede his efforts. His late authorization for deploying Panzer divisions comes too late to make a meaningful impact on the battlefield.

“I think it's fair to say that the German response isn't as rapid as it could have been,”
— Expert, [14:57]

Rommel’s frustration is palpable as he navigates blocked transport routes and overwhelmed communication channels, underscoring the inefficacy of the Nazi command system.

The Outcome: Failure to Repel the Invasion

Despite heroic defenses, the German forces are overwhelmed by the sheer scale and coordination of the Allied assault. Critical strongholds like Hillman eventually crumble, and key decisions from central command fail to provide the necessary support. By evening, D-Day is effectively lost for Germany, marking a pivotal turning point in the war.

“What is there to say? The day is lost.”
— Narrator, [29:22]

Reflections on German Military Morale and Leadership

The episode delves into the deteriorating morale within the Wehrmacht. Senior officers view Hitler’s leadership with contempt, recognizing the flawed strategies and resource limitations. The reliance on foreign conscripts and inferior weaponry further hampers the German defense, fostering a sense of futility among the troops.

“A lot of the German Panzer divisions... looked down on Hitler as an upstart who didn’t know what he was doing.”
— Veteran, [27:33]

The narrative highlights the disconnect between Hitler’s overestimation of German capabilities and the harsh realities on the ground, leading to a fragmented and ineffective military response.

Conclusion: D-Day’s Significance and Aftermath

"D-Day: The Tide Turns – Katastrophe" concludes by emphasizing the significance of D-Day as the beginning of the end for the Third Reich. The failed defense and subsequent military purges, including Rommel’s forced suicide after the failed assassination attempt against Hitler, illustrate the unraveling of Nazi Germany’s military strength.

“If Rommel had been there right from the start, I don’t think that the outcome of D Day would have been different.”
— Sponsor Voice, [34:35]

The episode poignantly captures the decisive moments of D-Day, reflecting on the strategic missteps and leadership failures that facilitated the Allied victory and the eventual downfall of Nazi Germany.

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Key Takeaways:

• Leadership Failures: Hitler’s detached leadership and inability to delegate effectively cripple the German defense efforts on D-Day.
• Command Structure Issues: The rigid hierarchy and delayed decision-making prevent timely and effective responses to the Allied invasion.
• Heroic Resistance: Individual acts of valor by German officers like Krug and Cevelo provide a human perspective amidst the broader military strategies.
• Moral Decline: Waning morale and reliance on foreign conscripts highlight the internal weaknesses within the Wehrmacht.
• Turning Point: D-Day serves as a critical juncture that marks the decline of Nazi Germany’s military dominance in Europe.

Notable Quotes:

“The first 24 hours of the invasion will be decisive, it will be the longest day, so it is proved.”
— Rommel’s Prediction, [34:35]

“We are outmatched here. We brought a knife to a gunfight.”
— German Survivors, [25:16]

“We realised there’s absolutely no way that the Germans were going to win.”
— Inheritance from German Veterans, [26:11]

Conclusion

This episode meticulously unpacks the pivotal events of D-Day, blending personal narratives with strategic analysis to present a comprehensive picture of the Normandy Landings' complexities and consequences. By focusing on both high-level decisions and individual experiences, "Katastrophe" offers listeners an engaging and in-depth exploration of one of history’s most significant military operations.

Transcript

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[Narrator]

It's Tuesday 6 June 1944, a little after 6am in Herlingen, Southern Germany. But Field Marshal Erwin Rommel is already busy. A man of strict self discipline, Rommel is an habitual early riser. For the past six months he's been working around the clock, making Hitler's fortress Europe a reality. His particular attention has been the stretch of the Fuhrer's Atlantic Wall that runs along the Normandy coastline. He's made countless detailed inspections of the beach defenses, doing his best to ensure that should the Allies choose to land in Normandy, the Germans will be ready for them. Right now though, Rommel is 500 miles away from the Normandy coast. He's back home in Germany arranging birthday presents. Mrs. Rommel Lucy is celebrating the big five zero and her husband has made the ten hour trip to be with her. Because there's a curious contradiction about Field Marshal Rommel. This is the man they call the Desert Fox, legendary commander of the Afrika Korps, the military genius who gives the Allies sleepless nights. But he's also a devoted family man. He's got Lucy a special present, an exquisite pair of grey Suede shoes, size five and a half, handmade in Paris. Their 15 year old son Manfred is here too, on leave from the anti aircraft battery he's serving in. The boy is shot up of late. In the family photos they took over the weekend, he towers over his old man. It's a scene of domestic bliss at home at the Rommels. But the Field Marshal's vacation is about to be rudely interrupted. Just before breakfast, the phone rings. There's no such thing as work, life, balance when you're in charge of defending the Third Reich. It's Hans Speidel, Rommel's second in command and he's got some news from Normandy. Allied paratroopers have been landing throughout the night and now at the break of day, a massive naval bombardment has started just off the coast. It might be nothing. All the experts agree the big invasion won't be coming for several days at the earliest, not in this weather. And in any case, when it does Come. It will surely be in the Pas de Calais, not Normandy. Most likely this is a prelude to another foolish Allied raid like the disastrous attempt on Dieppe. Nothing we can't handle. Rommel thinks for a moment. Then he thanks Speidel for the call and asks to be kept informed of any developments. And with that, Germany's greatest military commander goes back to his weekend off, unaware that this is the day when it all unravels. After breakfast, Rommel asks Lucy what she thinks of her present. The shoes are beautiful, she tells him. Shame they don't fit. From the Noiser network. This is D Day. While Field Marshal Rommel sits down to breakfast with his family, his boss, Adolf Hitler is fast asleep. In fact, it's not long since he went to bed surrounded by sycophants. The Fuhrer was holding court late into the night. Professor Thomas Faber author of Becoming the Making of a Nazi Ever since being.

[Historian]

In power, he had got this tendency to late at night to summon people around him. He would ask them questions, but ultimately he would give these monologues that could last half a night. They were often actually dreaded by people closest to him because they knew if they were called into one of those monologues, they wouldn't get much sleep that night.

[Narrator]

Last night, Hitler's entourage included Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels, along with a group of cronies. The Fuhrer whiled away the hours, lecturing, boasting, pontificating and watching distinctly one sided newsreels. The usual diet of self aggrandizing fantasy. Goebbels stuck it out until midnight, but Hitler didn't turn in for at least another hour. Meanwhile, far away in Normandy, the first Allied paratroopers were making landfall. Currently, Hitler is staying at the Berghof, his beloved hideaway in the Bavarian Alps. Surrounded by acres of rolling farmland and boasting a commanding view of the mountains, the Berghof is an oasis of calm 700 miles away from the chaos taking place in Normandy. And here the world operates on Fuhrer time. Jonathan Trigg Author of D Day Through.

[Sponsor Voice]

German Eyes Hitler had a very, very strange working routine. So he would sleep in late and he would very rarely be up before kind of midday, but he would work until the early hours. So he was a night owl. He liked to be up at, you know, three, four, five in the morning and, and of course what that meant was that when he did finally go to bed, all his staff were told, oh, don't, whatever you do, don't wake up the Fuhrer. You know, he's not a morning person. So of course there's the invasion going on and everyone was afraid to wake the guy up.

[Narrator]

Professor Nicholas Oshaughnessy, author of Selling Hitler Propaganda and the Nazi Brand Hitler's nightmare is happening now.

[Historian]

The Allies have landed, but no one dare wake Hitler. The Fuhrer is asleep. King Redbeard is asleep in his mind.

[Narrator]

You mustn't, mustn't wake him because he's.

[Expert]

The most glorious man in all history.

[Narrator]

He must have his steam. Rather typical of Hitler in the mid.

[Historian]

To later war, how utterly disastrous he was.

[Narrator]

In any case, Hitler's attention is less focused on developments in the west than we might imagine. Professor Jeremy Black Adolf Hitler, as he.

[Expert]

Was throughout the war from the summer of 41 onwards, is concentrating on the Eastern Front. That is absolutely crucial. And the question for Adolf Hitler in 44, as far as an attack is concerned, is not primarily where the Brits and the Americans are going to go. It is primarily what is going to be the main axis of advance of the Soviet summer offensive.

[Narrator]

As far as Hitler's concerned, whatever the Anglo Americans are up to in the Channel can be left in the capable hands of his regional commanders in France. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, he of the fancy ill fitting shoes, and Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, Germany's commander in chief in the West. But getting those two to agree on military strategy could be tricky. The two men are chalk and cheese. Both personally and professionally, their relationship is strained.

[Sponsor Voice]

Erwin Rommel was a professional officer. He was a guy who led from the front. In those days, most generals would sit back from the front and command their troops via radio and telephone and so on via map boards. Rommel wasn't like that at all. Rommel was in his half track, surrounded by radio nets and so on and so on, as close to the front as he could so he could smell the cordite. Gerd von Rundstedt was the epitome of the Prussian officer class. He was born into the Prussian aristocracy. Rommel, for him was an upstart.

[Narrator]

One thing Rommel and von Rundsted do agree on is that Panzer tank divisions will be vital to defend against an Allied invasion. These units are the elite of the Nazi infantry. But precisely how to use them as a bone of contention? Von Rundstedt favors holding them back away from the coast. Let the Allies drift inland first, then smash them. Rommel thinks this is asking for trouble. The panzers need to be on hand to push invaders back into the sea. The moment they arrive, it's left to Hitler to play mediator he agrees to place some Panzer divisions near the front and keep others in reserve. Predictably, the compromise pleases no one. In any case, by early June 1944, the location of Panzas is a moot point.

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[Historian]

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To thrive in life, even with cancer. Join bank of America in helping Anne's cause. Give if you can@b of a.com supportann what would you like the power to do? References to charitable organizations is not an endorsement by bank of America Corporation. Copyright 2025. Across Northern France, the skies are gray. Strong winds race across the beaches. Surely the Allies would never invade in conditions like these. On Sunday 4 June, while James Stagg and his team are preparing their weather report for General Eisenhower, the Nazis leading meteorologists are also hard at work. And they're confident that given the state of the weather in the Channel, the invasion isn't coming anytime soon. Historian and author Giles Milton.

[Veteran]

So they looked out of their windows on the 4th of June and they thought, well, there's no way they could come in the foreseeable future. So they all left their shore bases and they went inland to meet in the city of Rennes, where ironically, they were going to hold a war games exercise of how to defend Normandy against an invasion from the Allies. So this meant that not a single German general was at his post in Normandy on 6 June, which was a huge bonus for the Allies.

[Narrator]

In fact, not everyone is busy at the staff away day. Some are pursuing extracurricular activities. The nightclubs of Paris, the spas of Baden Baden, or in Rommel's case, a cozy family get together in southwest Germany. He too is confident the invasion won't be coming for a while. Rommel has spent years facing down the Allies Based on past experience, he's convinced that an invasion will only happen at high tide with little moonlight, the very opposite of the conditions. Right now. It's a fatal miscalculation. With Rommel hundreds of miles away, celebrating his wife's birthday, his headquarters in France, the splendid Chateau de la Roche Guyon is left in the hands of his subordinates and they are making the most of it. On Monday evening, D Day minus one, Rommel's chief of staff, General Hans Speidel, is hosting a dinner party. The guests are an interesting bunch. Like Speidel himself, they've all thrived under Nazi rule, yet all of them despise Adolf Hitler. Through the fog of cigar smoke, the writer Ernst Junger presents his latest work, a 30 page outline for the future of Germany once the Fuhrer is toppled. Incendiary stuff, but it's all just talk. Soon after midnight, the guests drift off home. It's only now that Speidel learns German intelligence have picked up some potentially worrying coded messages about Allied military activity. He waves away the information. It's late, time for bed. A couple of hours later, he's awoken by fresh news from the coast. Engines can be heard now and radar is picking up ships in the Channel. But Speidel isn't interested. He fires back a dismissive message. Whatever the Allies are up to, it clearly isn't a major operation. Certainly not worth interrupting Field Marshal Rommel's family time in Paris. Von Rundstedt concurs. Around 2:40am he's told the Navy's radar screens are jammed with dots. But he isn't worried either. It could be an advancing armada or just a flock of seagulls. Either way, Von Rundstedt is wedded to the idea that any attack on Normandy will be diversionary. The Pas de Calais is where the real invasion will take place.

[Expert]

I think it's fair to say that the German response isn't as rapid as it could have been. But it's also important for them to try and work out what is going on, which is not easy to work out what scale the landing is on, which again isn't easy. And at the same time got to bear in mind, certainly as far as the central German military headquarters are concerned, they deal with information all of the time from all sorts of fronts. And it's very, very difficult to decide what priorities should be set.

[Sponsor Voice]

It's not just when they're being told, it's what they're being told. And of course what everyone's hearing is something's happening In Normandy, we're not quite sure. There's reports of landing of paratroopers and gliders, there's been some bombing and so on, and there are isolated reports of naval units and we think some landings might be going ahead. We don't know what strength, we think it's around about this area, but we're not sure. And of course all, all of their thought is, is this a diversion?

[Narrator]

But there are German officers who sense the danger. The legendary 21st Panzer Division is Rommel's favourite unit. The 1 Panzer Division stationed as the field marshal wanted by the Normandy coast. Soon after the paratrooper landings begin, Hauptmann Eberhard Vargemann, the duty officer, alerts the 21st Division to prepare itself, start the tank engines and get ready to crush the invaders. But nobody higher up the chain of command will authorize their deployment. It doesn't help that the Commander of the 21st Division, General Edgar Feuchtinger, is out on the town in Paris. Elsewhere, requests are made to summon the panzers held in reserve. Out of the question, says Central Command. Only the Fuhrer can give the go ahead to move those panzer units and he is dead to the world.

[Historian]

He's just fast asleep and no one really dares to wake him up. And several hours are lost through that. And reasonable arguments have been made that had the commanders in France, had Rommel in France, had he received authorization to move immediately with German units towards Normandy, that they could have altered the invasion.

[Narrator]

In fact, down in Herlingen, Rommel remains blissfully unaware of what's going on back in Normandy. All through the morning of June 6, four hours pass before his number two Speidel calls again with an update. By now it's almost lunchtime and the news from the French coast is a lot worse. Whatever's happening in Normandy is no joke. Forget Dieppe. This looks like the full scale invasion they've all been waiting for. Rommel turns white as a sheet and within minutes he's in the back of his staff car speeding towards normandy. But his HQ at the Chateau de la Roche Guyon is 500 miles away. It's doubtful he'll make it there before nightfall. Military high command might have laid bare the fractures and flaws that beset the Nazi war machine. But on D Day, the rank and file do their damnedest to push the invaders back into the sea, though the odds are stacked against them. Just behind Sword beach is a Nazi fortress, a bunker complex encased in concrete, surrounded by a minefield and barbed wire, and armed with a dozen deadly Gun emplacements. The Allies call it Hillman, after the British car brand. Other strongholds in the area are codenamed Daimler and morris. Behind its 9ft thick walls, Hillman acts as the HQ for the Wehrmacht's 736th Infantry Regiment, led by Colonel Ludwig Krug, a redoubtable Nazi warhorse. Allied soldiers on their way to capture Caen will have to go through Hillman first. But Colonel Krug's force of 300 men proves staunch in their defence. Within their network of bunkers, Krug's regiment is virtually untouchable. Hour after hour, the Allies are repelled, like waves crashing onto the sea wall. A little further west, at Omaha beach, there's also dogged defending. Heinrich Seewerloh's main job is as driver for a senior Nazi officer, Oberleutnant Bernand Freyking. But today his duties are very different. When American soldiers begin to land on Omaha around 6:30am, Saevalo is in a concrete bunker at the eastern end of the beach. He watches the landing craft approach, his finger resting on the trigger of an MG42, a machine gun capable of firing 1200 rounds a minute. He waits. The first American soldiers wade into the sea. Sea. With the water still around the enemy's knees, Cevalo squeezes the trigger. The MG42 does its worst. For the next nine hours, Savelo stands his ground. He burns through ammunition at such a rate that the MG42 frequently risks overheating. To give it a chance to cool, he periodically picks up his rifle. The hail of machine gun bullets is replaced by intermittent shots of deadly precision as the morning gives way to the afternoon. Cevelo has claimed countless lives. His actions will earn him a nickname the Beast of Omaha. But like so many of those he felled, Cevalo is actually little more than a boy, just 20 years old.

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Seek guaranteed [e-mail] guarantees there's no such Sturm und Drang at the Berghof. Wild young men like Heinrich Sevolo fight doggedly all morning. The Fuhrer is left to slumber. And when Hitler does finally get up, he's in a cheerful mood. There's no anger or anxiety today, no barking and gesticulating. When he learns the Allied invasion is underway, he's all confident and calm. Hitler's been waiting for this moment for two years now. His men are ready for it. He issues a typically optimistic this invasion must be crushed by sunset.

[Historian]

I think as far as Hitler was concerned, this was just some kind of invasion that was at that point inevitable. And he was kind of almost thinking, let it just come or the sooner the better, because then we can deal with was this kind of underestimation of the strength of American and British and Canadian forces in and the ability or overestimation of German defense forces. Because the real issue was that Hitler thought that an invasion could be fought off relatively easily. And that was the real miscalculation.

[Narrator]

Hitler's faith in his own military forces is total. And it's not entirely misplaced. Many of them are prepared to die for him. Sir Max Hastings.

[Expert]

I always remember interviewing Montgomery's chief of intelligence long time ago now, and he was often interviewing German prisoners and he said one day he had two German colonels in front of him and this is in Normandy. And he said, well, why do you guys keep this going? Because it's obvious the gig is up, you've lost, you know, all this is wasted motion. And they clicked their heels and they said, ah, we are German officers. We continued to fight for the fatherland to the last ditch.

[Narrator]

But other soldiers in Normandy couldn't give a fig about the fatherland. So threadbare are Wehrmacht resources that the Atlantic Wall is teeming with foreign conscripts. Poles, Ukrainians, Czechs, Russians, Georgians, Turkmens. Some of them, by the warped logic of Nazi ideology, are considered untermenschen, racially inferior, and they're treated as such. Little wonder that they surrender at the first opportunity, not merely willingly, but gleefully. For many of the Atlantic War defenders, the sheer quality as well as quantity of the Allies military kit is staggering. Some of them are still relying on First World War era weaponry. Bicycles, horses, and carts.

[Sponsor Voice]

The propaganda images of the Atlantic Wall. The classic one is the German soldier, German sentry, standing there next to an enormous gun, you know, in this huge concrete emplacement. A gun that looks as though it could fire a shot to the moon. And it probably could. I mean, it's absolutely huge. But that was in the part of Calais, so that was. That was just miles away from where. Where these guys were. So what have they got, you know, what are they equipped with? And most of them, it's a rifle. So they've got a rifle that was designed, you know, in 1898. We've got quite a few firsthand testimonies from German survivors, which really does paint a picture of just shock seeing, you know, that sort of force ranged against them and they could see what was around them on their side. So they're looking around going, we're outmatched here. We brought a knife to a gunfight.

[Veteran]

My German father in law was in Normandy. He was a wireless operator, Morse code operator in June 1944, and his stories were very interesting. He said that him and all of his men, when they saw the military hardware that was being chucked at them both in the air and from the sea, they knew immediately that the war was lost. They realised there's absolutely no way that the Germans were going to win or going to be able to even push the Allies back into the sea. And at that point, he and all his comrades, they simply wanted to give themselves up. They wanted to surrender, they wanted to survive the war.

[Narrator]

If the Germans are to have any chance of pushing back the tide, the Panzers surely are their only hope. Yet even two hours after Hitler finally gets out of bed, he still hasn't given the go ahead to deploy the reserve units. So much of the Nazi system is built around the Fuhrer's whims and caprices. His inaction infuriates Wehrmacht veterans. For senior military men, men who understand strategy, it's intolerable. To them, the propaganda image of Hitler, the military genius, is a sick joke, and one they know may cost their country dearly.

[Veteran]

A lot of the German Panzer divisions and the senior echelons of the German army, they were Prussian aristocrats from terribly grand families in East Prussia. And they. They looked down on Hitler as an upstart who didn't know what he was doing. And so you have men who fought on D Day, Prussians, one of whom notably led the only great Panzer counteroffensive on D Day itself. I mean, you only have to listen to his Name? He was Colonel Leopold Hermann von Oppeln Bronikowski. His blood was bluer than anyone else's and he, like so many, just thought that Hitler didn't know what he was doing. That to hold back the panzers was the most ridiculously inept thing that could have been done on D day itself.

[Narrator]

Eventually, at half past two in the afternoon, Hitler gives a blessing for the panzers to start moving. But it's too late. There's no way they can make it to the battlefield today. And the same is true of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. He is still sat restless in the back of a chauffeur driven car, pummeling his fist into the palm of his hand. The driver's foot is glued to the floor. The vehicle rattles along at 90 miles an hour. But it's a long way to Normandy.

[Sponsor Voice]

Imagine what, what it'd be like for him being stuck in a car. And of course the Allied air forces have been making an absolute mess of all of the transport system of northern France, so he'll have had to go on diversion after diversion, you know, so it's not, you can't go on a motorway because the motorway bridges have been knocked out and so on, they're all shattered. I imagine that the sense of frustration that he must have felt would have been just off the scale.

[Narrator]

Rommel's car stops briefly so he can make a phone call to his number two Speidel. But the update fails to lift his mood. By now the Allies have breached the Atlantic Wall and are making progress inland. If this isn't the real invasion, Rommel mutters, then God help us when it finally does come. The Field Marshal's frantic agitation could scarcely be more of a contrast to Hitler's mood. He sees no need to change his plan that afternoon, cheerfully meeting with the rulers of Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. This confident, laid back Fuhrer is far from the Hitler of popular imagination.

[Historian]

It's a great mistake that we tend to focus on the pictures, images and sounds produced by the Nazis themselves in trying to make sense of Hitler. We see the last 10 seconds of a Hitler's speech, we see the raging and spitting Hitler and that is our image of Hitler. And we somehow think that that is how Hitler always operated, how Hitler gave orders, why people fell for him. And if we look behind the scenes, we get a totally different image of Adolf Hitler. Part of the reason why the Third Reich could function for so long is because Hitler managed to persuade people to go along with him.

[Narrator]

Throughout D day, the Fuhrer remains quietly confident he's convinced this Norman attack is no more than a diversion. Keep your eye on Calais, gentlemen. That's where the real invasion will come. But on the beaches, that's an increasingly minority view. Here, the full force of the invasion is taking its toll. A sense of futility is spreading. After a day of ferocious fighting, even Hillman is finally creaking. Colonel Krug calls his commanding officer for advice. The response is dumbfounding. I can no longer give you orders, says Major General Wilhelm Richter. You must make your own decisions now. So much for the iron will of the Wehrmacht.

[Expert]

You can't help thinking that by that stage, a lot of thinking Germans must have realized that the gig was up. Must have realized that. There we were in June 1944, and the war had been going on for nearly five years. And the best of the German army was dead in Russia and the Allies were deploying overwhelming firepower and air power against them in the West. I think what's amazing is what a good show they put up.

[Narrator]

Titanic Ship of Dreams, the new podcast from the award winning Noiser Network. Join me, Paul McGann, as we explore life and death on Titanic. I'll delve into my own family story. Following my great uncle Jimmy as he tries to escape the engine room. We'll hear the harrowing tales of the victims and the testimonies of the lucky survivors.

[Expert]

I saw that ship sink and I saw that ship break in half.

[Narrator]

Titanic Ship of Dreams. Listen, wherever you get your podcasts. It's getting dark by the time Rommel finally arrives at La Roche Guion. As he and his aides stride into the chateau, they can hear something drifting through the hallway. It's music. Wagner, to be precise. And it's coming from the office of Hans Speidel. Normandy is swarming with enemy troops, the Western Front is on a knife edge and senior commanders are playing gramophone records. But Speidel seemed as relaxed now as he did at the start of the day. Over a plate of cold meat, he brings Rommel up to speed on the day's events. The deluge of invaders, the failed counter attack, the wave after wave of Allied reinforcements. The Field Marshal listens quietly. The fury of the last few hours fades with the sunlight. What is there to say? The day is lost. Perhaps if he'd been there from the start, things could have been different. Rommel, the Desert Fox. Montgomery's Bete Martin. Perhaps he could have driven the Allies into the sea. Six weeks earlier, Rommel made an ominous prediction. The first 24 hours of the invasion will be decisive, he told his aide on 22 April. For the allies as well as Germany, it will be the longest day, so it is proved. And the Third Reich's best hope for victory just missed it. It's an error he will never recover from.

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If Rommel had been there right from the start, I don't think that the outcome of D Day would have been different. However, I do think that the German response would have been quicker, it would have been far more aggressive and would have led to a far tougher fight than was ultimately the case. In particular, I think the counter attack philosophy that was central to both German tactical thinking at the time and central to Rommel's belief in how to defeat the Allied invasion would have been pressed home far more vigorously.

[Expert]

It's entirely possible the Germans could have made a better fist of it on D Day. It's entirely possible the Allies could have made a better fist of it on D Day. Given the distribution of German units on 6 June 1944 and the presence that day of overwhelming Allied air power over the Normandy beaches, as well as very large numbers of heavily gunned warships, I'm not entirely convinced as to how it could have worked out differently.

[Narrator]

As it is, D Day is the beginning of the end for Rommel. Six weeks later, a botched assassination attempt against Hitler leads to a purge of the Wehrmacht. Rommel is charged with supporting the coup, though it's far from clear he was actually involved. Hitler offers him a way out. Suicide by cyanide capsule. For the sake of Lucy and Manfred, Rommel accepts. In the next episode, the first Allied journalists report from the front lines, parachuting into France and landing on the beaches with the invasion force. Legendary war reporter Martha Gellhorn stows away aboard a hospital ship set on beating her estranged husband Ernest Hemingway to the D Day scoop. And a homing pigeon known as Gustav brings the first news of D Day to Britain. That's next time. McDonald's meets the Minecraft universe with one.

[Sponsor Voice]

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[Narrator]

A Big Mac or 10 piece McNuggets with spicy nether Flame sauce. Now available with a Minecraft movie meal and participating McDonald's for a limited time. A Minecraft movie only in theaters.