But the Allies did have armour of their own ...
Not much of it made it to the beach in the American sectors and that's mostly I'm thinking of.
But the Allies did have armour of their own ...
I can definitely see Rommel back in the field by the 18th. However, the 352nd was informed by High Command to expect resupply but that was most likely to be put off in order to resupply the 91st Air Lander due to ongoing exercises for the defense of Cotentin from an allied invasion.
Wonderful !
Immediate counter-attacks into the teeth of all that naval air support and all those aircraft.
What could possibly go right for the Germans ?
Not much of it made it to the beach in the American sectors and that's mostly I'm thinking of.
Panzers on the beach, especially when the Allies are landing, not only creates a hellscape for men lacking armor of their own but also forces naval artillery to fire point-blank on their own people. The panzers can also shell out into the water and try to knock out craft before they land additional troops.
The operative phraseIn the few times that Panzers were near Ships, the Panzers came up short
Dragon then hit and destroyed about 25 German tanks near Varaville, courtesy of accurate shore based observation
The operative phrase
Supplies were also shared with 'real' German Units such as the Air Landers and the Parachuters on the Peninsula. The idea was to share the supplies for both but due to high consumption, the supplies were to be sent to the Air Landers in order to maintain readiness status.IIRC, the supplies were on hand and due to be dispersed within a few days.
Not really given that forces would be stuck on the beaches, which were generally too close to the defenders to risk fire. In special cases like Omaha destroyers virtually beached themselves to shoot at bunkers that were slaughtering the invasion force, which goes to show the extremes that were needed to actually hit beach targets. With the Panzers right there on the high ground shooting down from concealment, beach forces aren't going to either have spotters on the ground or they will be unable to actually see the targets given the fire raining down on them. The heavy floating guns were only really useful inland after the beaches were taken and forces could deploy with battalion level attached spotters.Which you'd have during a D-day with Panzers near the beaches, as well as said panzers being attrited over time by bombardments prior to D-day.
NORMANDY
Shore fire-control parties with the assault Infantry were unable to bring fires on beach defenses because of communication failures, separation from troop commanders, or fear of firing on own troops. Without effective contact with shore fire-cortrol parties and under strict orders not to fire without clearance from these parties, ships could do nothing but stand by, helpless to intercede.
A commander of a tire-support division of destroyers off Omaha Beach said:
...It was most galling and depressing to lie idly a few hundred yards off the beaches and watch our troops, tanks, landing boats, and motor vehicles being heavily shelled and not be able to fire
a shot to help them just because we had no Information as to what to shoot at and were unable to detect the source of the enemy's fire.7
......
Naval guns also played an important and continuing role once the assault forces had penetrated the beach defenses in all amphibious operations. On Sicily and at Salerno and Normandy, German strategy featured prompt armored counterattack, with the objective of defeating the assault before a significant buildup ashore could be effected. German armor, in contrast to coastal defense guns and beach defense systems, nearly tipped the balance on Sicily and at Salerno and was also a major factor in containing the Allied bridgehead in Normandy until D plus 41. Had Hitler released the reserves which were being held out of the Normandy battle in anticipation of another Allied invasion in the Pas de Calais area, the Normandy invasion might have failed.