What if Hitler hadn't taken a sleeping pill prior to D-Day?

I imagine this AH has been covered before however here we go... what if Hiltler had been able to release all SS Panzer Divisions from their reserve positions in France?

Would this have impacted on the invasion particularly in respect to the tied down US troops on Omaha Beach?

Had the Allies built in the Panzer divisions intervention in respect to expected casualties and progress?

Justa thought...;)
 
Surely the main factor inhibiting redeployment of the Panzer divisions was Operation Fortitude, second was Allied Air Power and third was resistance activity.

And which SS Panzer Division do you think could have reached Omaha beach on D-Day anyway?
 
So the panzers would have had no impact?

If they had moved D-Day or soon afterwards their main impact would have been on the ammunition expenditure of the Tactical Air Force. There were literally thousands of sorties flown to deal with just that eventuality that returned to base without expending their payload. It would have been of great advantage to the Allies if they had tried to move then as they would have been destroyed there instead of later at Falaise.
 

burmafrd

Banned
The weather was quite good for the day after D Day and the fighter bombers would have had a field day. Also most roads and bridges had been taken out by the order for the invasion beaches to be isolated- it would have taken at least 24 hrs for the nearest panzer division to get anywhere near the beaches- and the fighter bombers would have been all over them like bees on honey.
 

Markus

Banned
We have talked about this before. IIRC at the end of d-day the Allies had more tanks in the area, than the Germans could have had, even if the Pz-Divs had been send ASAP. Which still would not have been soon enough, as allied air supremacy made movement in daylight next to impossible.
 
IIRC even after Hitler woke up and learned of the Normandy invasion, He still refused to release the Tanks, believing Normandy to be a Feint, and the real invasion still to come at Calais.

As Such his waking a little earlier would have made no difference.
 
IIRC even after Hitler woke up and learned of the Normandy invasion, He still refused to release the Tanks, believing Normandy to be a Feint, and the real invasion still to come at Calais.

As Such his waking a little earlier would have made no difference.

I agree totally. Hitler was firmly convinced that Normandy was a diversion.

Even if he had released the panzers, there was still the question of deployment: von Rundstedt wanted to use them in a defense-in-depth strategy while Rommel wanted to use them on the beaches. With Allied air supremacy over Normandy, they would have been nothing but targets.
 
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