👉👉Do you want to support the channel? You just have to watch another video. This will help You Tube to recommend them more to new users. ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 🔴📣Other videos of interest: - ✅The Greatest Error of the Third Reich in the Battle of Normandy: th-cam.com/video/bb8ZYyghzS0/w-d-xo.html - ✅This was the Tense Meeting between Paulus and Rommel during his visit to Africa in mid 1941: th-cam.com/video/1GrgIAQpnXM/w-d-xo.html
I believe that had the war been fought as per the profesionals and not as per whim & wishes of Hitler , though the ultimate result would have been the same but the bloodshed & loss óf life woûld have been far greater .. The war started with Hitler's fanaticism and resulted in doom of the Fanatic...... But did the world learn a lesson the Answer is . ..NO.. ...
Very good piece, thank you. I think Rommel's plan would merely have delayed the inevitable German collapse on all fronts, not prevented it. It could however have saved hundreds of thousands of German soldiers at Falaise, as well as much needed equipment and material. But Hitler would probably have used such savings for the subsequent Ardennes offensive, again merely delaying the inevitable surrender.
Like today's Putin .Hitler would never accept anything but winning regardless of the cost .Sad but have similar characters in the US . Google a man called Trump .
@@jduill Hitler waiting for the Soviets to get stronger and stronger and doing nothing would have been lunacy. 1941 was Germany's only shot considering the recent purges, the general unpreperadness of the Red Army, and Stalin's trust of Hitler.
@@jduill I disagree. Had Hitler pulled off the invasion into Moscow Britain would of had to of seeked a peace treaty. Diverting part of Army Group Centre was his undoing. The oil fields could of waited. 'operation barbarossa' was the joke
@@coloradoing9172 that would be true if that was hitlers reasoning for invading the soviet union, it wasnt, you should look up the concept of Lebensraum.
What a fateful meeting. Rommel had seen his thorough efforts to make barriers against invasion partially fail, and his idea for rapid Panzer deployment ignored. He went to the meeting knowing that many at the OKW knew of or were involved in the planned move on July 20th. Rundstedt's idea of a strategic reserve was used, by default, but as Rommel warned, Allied air attacks severely depleted the counter-attack as did naval gunfire. Knowing Rundstedt, he brought a realistic overview to the meeting.
As outlined in this program the fall back that Rommel suggested would’ve enabled the Ver- mo to launch an effective counter offensive and defended a much better area of territory.
The naval guns were devastating…HMS Nelson 16 inch guns obliterated a SS motorised column forming up blowing tiger 1s tanks 50 mtrs away from where they used to be prior to the firing …
From what I've read, Rommel wanted to use his Panzer divisions immediately to drive the allies back into the sea but Hitler refused. He thought and fell for the ruse that the real invasion was to be somewhere else. Another military channel posted Rommel's post action report to Hitler after D-Day. He pointed out the advantages the allies had in men and material and how no matter the Germans fought they couldn't overcome the allies advantages.
from what i've read and seen it had virtually nothing to do with rommel.... what i've read from a few sources was that the d day invasion began and h i t l e r was sleeping when it started..... no one wanted to bother and wake h i t l e r up for whatever there reasons were.. so he slept thru the beginning of it and maybe for like the 1st two+ hours or whatever it was... and h i t l e r was the only one who could aurhorize to unleash the panzers of that division at least if not all the divisions with secial exceptions rommel was probably number 2 in command of panzer diivisions. so, rommel likely could authorize panzer release or use, but again, i've read more than once that in the case of d day it was only h i t l e r who couldve authorized it and he was sleeping...... thus, by the time d day was fully under way it was too late for them to have a chance to stop the beach invasion by the allies. many thousands and i think it was over 9 to near 10 thousand usa/ally troops were kil l e d that day, but the planning and execuion of the d day invasion was so overwhelming that it was successful.... the allies made their way on to and up the beach , into france then ultimately into germany.
I agree. Loss of control of the skies was a major part of the reason the Germans had trouble on both fronts. They couldn't move safely either troops or supplies, which limited their options.
Rommel says exactly this in his posthumous memoir. In North Africa the Allies had a cab rank of aircraft circling above the battlefield and when a target was spotted a plane would peel off and attack. The Rommel asparagus on the beach defences was because he knew Allied airpower would prevent the Germans mounting long distance counter-attacks. Which when you read Von Lucks book is exactly what happened. Allied airpower smashed them and Tiger tanks were upside down in craters.
Agreed. Any troop concentrations would have been bombed by the heavy bombers before they started to attack. The only reason the Battle of the Bulge had initial success was because the weather prevented the allied air force from flying. How can you gather sufficient troops to attack when you can only travel at night? You cannot attack only at night and hid during the day.
The Panzers held in reserve could not be released without Hitler's personal approval but was asleep and didn't want to be disturbed. He lacked self awareness to see it was his own darn fault.
Yep. And because of that, Allied Troops were able to land. Had he been awake during the time of the Invasion and Committed all his Panzer forces into trying to stop the Allied Troops from taking the beach of Normandy, History would have Talked Differently about D-Day and the Outcome of the war if Hitler Reacted on that timing
Hitler was convinced by Allied disinformation, that the real landing was coming at Calais and he was holding his tanks for that AND continued to hold those tanks for a month! So, even if he had been awakened, he would not have released the panzer reserves anyway.
The basic problem facing the German army was that the allies were landing more and more troops everyday. Had rommel withdrawn then this would not have changed. Only think that could have really made difference was to prevent these additional landings using the navy and the air force which Germany was not in a position to do. The targeting of ports using V1 bombers would had made some difference but not enough to change defeat the allied forces.
Totally agreed. Manstein's success near Kharkov in the Donezk basin was due to he had fresh reserves: Hausser's 2nd SS Panzer Corps. His counterpart Vatutin used all his forces and greatly underestimated German reserves and hence the catastrophic result. For Vatutin it was a very painful lesson. And don't forget: Manstein was able to regroup his forces brilliantly because the Soviets were very far away from dominating the skies. Contrary to that, Rommel didn't have any new magical reserves, the Allies were landing new and new troops every day and any regrouping of Rommel's forces was next to impossible due to not mere dominating but absolute Allied superiority in the skies. So Rommel was absolutely right when he was talking that any continuation of the war is senseless. But for Rommel it was easy to say - he never was at the Eastern Front and wasn't personally guilty in heinous war crimes. And for Hitler this was absolutely unacceptable - for him and his close circle it was only execution to be expected.
@dare-er7sw karma didn't get rommel he wasnt a nazi he killed himself because hittler thought he was involved with those who's conducted the bomb plot
@@colder5465 Rommel's suggestion to not have a reserve and to Dunkirk the allies at Normandy was a better suggestion. If it didn't work, well Germany lost anyway. Also, pulling back the Axis troops and using V-1 rockets had some merits.
The Germans never wanted to be in a conflict with Britain, in the first place. Operation Sea Lion was a bluff. Hitler never had any intention of landing German forces inside England. He never looked at the plans. From the early months of 1941 the Soviet Union was making a lot of noise at Germany's eastern front. By March there was 170 divisions of Soviet troops gathering here. Not hard to figure out what they were planning to do huh? Operation Barbarossa [June 1941] was a pre-emptive strike, the hope was to destroy the threat of Bolshevism forever..
@Smudgeroon74 Germany's intentions are immaterial. Without Britain's survival there would have been no bombing campaign, the germans would have been able to take North Africa and the Middle East and its oil. There would have been no navy to blockade the continent and sweep the seas. There would have been no base to launch an invasion of the continent. America would likely not have entered the war. Russia's would have lost a major supply line. The whole German army could have been used against Russia and Germany would have probably won the war.
@@Smudgeroon74 Russia did not have all those troops you mention all that close to the German border...but they had stored vast quantities of war material so that if war did start, many divisions could be quickly moved westward and armed closer to German held territory. Stalin was not eager to go to war with Germany and did quite a bit to placate Hitler, particularly with shipments of oil and precious metals...though at the same time he was moving against the weak states of Eastern Europe such as Finland and Romania. For the rest, Hitler had no real ability to bring down England and its empire. He could have hurt them quite a bit but the empire was too big, too distant...
@@Francis-m2d Hitler had no desire to bring down England and the empire. From Oct 1939 onwards he actually made 20 offers of peace to Britain. All were rejected by Chamberlain and Churchill. I'm telling you that by April 1941 the Soviet Union had 170 divisions of troops gathering at Germany's eastern front. They were getting ready to invade Europe. So Germany and her 5 allies made the first move in June 1941 - Operation Barbarossa.
@@Smudgeroon74 You make a good point about Hitler not wanting to invade England...the 20 offers of peace I doubt; but if he did, the name of the game is to do it publicly. I can remember only a single speech after the fall of France where he publicly said "I can see no reason for this war to continue." One needs to make ones peace offers public so as to put pressure on the British government. As for the 170 divisions along the border...even Manstein said that the position of the Russian forces did not look threatening but with supplies up closer to the border, they could become threatening. That is a far cry from being 'ready to invade Europe'.
..German Generals should have the freedom of command in deploying his troops..not waiting for the response from the high command.. German Command was all messed up
48 hours? The Germans had at most a day to throw the allies back into the sea. They were at their weakest during the landings and an all out offensive by the Germans was their only hope of keeping the allies from forming a beachhead.
@@AdamJRowen naval artillery or not if they were able to throw them back in the sea those first few hours it would of failed and who knows what would of happened. It had to be when they were first landing on the beaches when they were at their weakest.
Rommel was correct, the invasion had to be stopped on the beach or not at all and he wasn't given control of armored divisions closest to the beach. Remember, Hitler had no experience commanding troops and he paid no attention to the needs of the soldiers doing the actual fighting.
@@mulkanmulkan5620haha you forgot the time where Germans ruled the sea, air and land at the same time and conquered a continent and fought off 5 superpowers in a 5v1 for 6 years
Hitler became paradoxically attached to the static defence doctrine, despite the enormous success of mobile warfare in 1940. The Germans simply didn't have the numbers to defend from fortresses. Their only option was to withdraw, regroup and try and counterattack. And yes, all bombing should have been against military in Europe or embarkation ports. Again, he bombed London wasting the opportunity. As Churchill always said - "London can take it".
One of the main problems the Germans had during the early part of the invasion was that a large number of elements required permission to turn about from Calais, where they were still convinced the main invasion would come from, towards Normandy. Those crucial hours made a major difference in their defense. The German command structure required too much reliance on central command, often needing hitler’s permission. In this case, Hitler was sleeping when the invasion began, and no one wanted to wake him up in case it was just a diversion. By the time he did wake up, was informed of what was happening, and made an assessment, the beachhead had already been made. The chance of throwing them back into the sea was lost. It didn’t help that the first line of defense was the only strong line, but for poor tactical reasons, didn’t have enough ammunition to resist for long enough for reserves to appear, which as I’ve mentioned, didn’t, as they didn’t have permission to move. The control of the air by the allies forced the Germans to have to move forces during the night. The entire defense was a mess. Nothing would have succeeded. Once the allies moved in from their beachhead, it was over.
Rommel presented the only realistic plan possible though it may be he already knew the war was lost and imagined Hitler might go for it if it promised some hope of success against the western Allies...the idea was to give Hitler hope of a strong counterattack and if he wanted to believe this would lead to the collapse of the Allied invasion all well and good...but Hitler being Hitler, there was no way this idiot was going to voluntarily give up ground without a fight....even if that fight depleted his own forces and would inevitably lead to even greater defeats....
By the time of the meeting , Rommel's plan was their only sensible choice . But ultimately would not have succeeded. Allied air power was the reason it could not.
The fall back and counter attack would have faced allied air superiority all the same. Even if succeeded it would have only delayed the end of the war. I can’t see it driving the Allies into the sea.
Brilliant idea of Rommel, this was the thing to do. Lure the allies into interior than apply a strong pincer move. Also all the useless garrisons of the Atlantic should have been called to interior. This was the only reasonable thing to do. Forget the territory, this would have been temporary loss. Because you need a lot of territory to apply such a move. Getting out of the range of naval ships guns was obvious a necesity.
A vet who fought in France told that from July and August, the Germans tried to repel the invasion. Then they pulled back in September and went to the German France Border. The battle went on until March when supplies ran out. Rommel probably realized the whole thing was one big mistake on his part.
Once they were on land it was game over no matter how much they tried. The fact he only had them deployed on HIS orders and HE slept in every day until 1pm. It’s astonishing, and doesn’t seem realistic but hear it time and time again
No matter what, the Germans could not have won after the invasion of Normandy. If you add to the invasion of Normandy the Soviet counteroffensive and the strike up through Italy, Germany was fighting on three fronts against enemies who could provide men and resources at an exponential rate. Further, Hitler was a delusional leader who had put everything at stake when he decided to attack the Soviet Union - it was all or nothing for him. If taken further...assuming Germany could have held out longer, they probably would have met the same nuclear strike fate as Japn.
I think Rommel's idea were good ones and very sensible - if he'd been given the flexibility he needed he might have counter attacked strongly and prevented the allies from landing further troops - this would have made them pause and given Germany more time to reorganize. The biggest challenge of course was eliminating allied air superiority which made any plan for Germany challenging.
He had too. Lack of fuel to make his war machinery work and do you think allies were just setting there doing nothing? Hitler and wehrmacht were running out of time and resources. Operation Barbarossa had to happen. I would say freaking Italy was the burden to make Nazis lose so much time during the Balkans campaign, thus barbarossa postponed for 3 months later
Jesus. Everybody thinks they’re a know it all. None of these comments make sense. Barbarossa didn’t even make WWII a “two front war”. The allies hadn’t invaded Europe with ground forces yet. Stalin had to request that the western allies OPEN a second front and MAKE IT a two front war by landing in France. None of you know anything you’re talking about lol
Rommel's plan would not have saved Germany; like he said, nothing could. It would however have had the potential of saving German lives, stalling the offensive and giving room for negotiations.
@@KR0TE7would have been different if the allies were not able to establish a beach head. If the landing fails Germany could have transferred the division east with the knowledge no invasion until 45. Let’s not forget how long it took the allies to take Italy.
Rommel occupies an interesting historical place in that in some ways he is often overrated but in other ways incredibly underrated. Tactically, it seems he was extremely gifted, probably one of the best, but strategically, while still very capable, does not match up to Manstein or Guderian. He would be my first pick for tactician (if we're thinking fantasy football) but not in my top five for strategist. His "Infantry Attacks" memoir is legendary.
Hitler was, in his mind, drawing stick men in the air...but Rommel was thinking about the forces he should have had in Normandy...forces that were instead wasted on Hitler's attempt to conquer the Soviet Union. Hitler's folly in Russia cost the Germans 4 entire armies consisting of 20 divisions and more than 400,000 soldiers. Imagine if Rommel had all that in Normandy, especially the 4,800 German tanks lost in Russia.
Would Rommel's plan to defend the French coast be successful? Maybe, but the Allies would have off loaded more and more troops and material as Rommel's troops fought. So, the the Allies would have overwhelmed Rommel's efforts. One must understand that the Nazis did not make any mistakes in the war since they were at war for the life of Germany.
Good video! Luckily, Hitler was in command and not Rommel...he had a very good plan which might have changed the way the war was being conducted in France...although I think that it's effectiveness might be affected by a lack of air support... unless the counter attack was done at night or in very bad weather...I was not aware of such a meeting taking place, but not surprised at Hitler's reaction...thanks & Good job!
Bruh, Hitler Was too busy Sleeping at the Time of the Invasion, at the berghof，and only woke up around the afternoon to hear the news of the Invasion. He shouldn't even be in Command if he is sleeping. He shouldn't even be Sleeping at all and instead be Fully awake and Command the Panzer forces into stopping the Allies from taking the beaches of Normandy.
The Soviets had the Lucy Spy Ring sending them the German plans shortly after the German commanders got the plans. Some think it was Martin Boreman who had the plans sent to the Russians. I think they offered it to the Brits, but they turned the information down. They thought it was too good to be true. This spy ring was the reason the Russians had the plans for Operation Zitadel at Kursk - they just made layer after layer of defenses. Zhukov's fame was due to getting all these plans, and they wiped out 20 (now smaller) German Divisions. Stalin knew they had better plans and millions of more soldiers, tanks, and a gazillion artillery pieces. But the Russians still wasted men and material with no regard for casualties until the end of the war. The Germans just ran out of young soldiers. Remember that the Allies had enough troops to mount a second invasion in August, 1944, in southern France. No matter what the Germans did, they were going to get crushed.
Rommel's late June plan would have failed spectacularly. The primary German problem was the Allied buildup. A withdrawal to the Seine / Orne would not have changed that. Also, a regular withdrawal of such proportions would not have even been possible with total Allied air superiority. It was hard enough to move for small columns, and here we are talking about the movement of an entire Army Group. Also the line would be huge! Fantasy. The naval gunfire was devastating - yes. But only upto a few miles from the shore. Beyond that the Allied airpower ruled. ALso the hedgerows were much better suited to defense - far limited withdrawal, good cover from air attacks. And this is exactly what the German command did.
I agree. And then, the German Army Group in Pas de Calais could have been transferred to Normandy to bolster the battered German 7th Army. This strategy might have allowed the Germans to have contained the Allies in Normandy until the late Fall until the bad weather grounded the Allied Air Force. Ultimately, the Germans had to do something about the Allied Airforce if they were to contain the Allies in Normandy; much less "throw them back into the sea." What might have been possible for the first quarter of 1945: a thousand ME-262's deployed over the Normandy air-space to challenge the Allied Air Hegemony ???
Good use of Max Hastings material , but in the view of many, Beevor is not a true trusted or respected historian . Rather a revisionist writer , that likes to play down and criticise the heroism of the Soviets and the air offensives against German Cities. Germany had by this stage had lost the Battle for war production , relying more and more on forced labour, and failing to mobilise it's female workforce until it was too late , unlike Britain , the USSR and the USA. Furthermore the battle of the Atlantic was lost long ago , and the build up of Western allied Naval and air superiority virtually unstoppable . Don't forget that the Western allies had access to German High Command battle order & plans through "Ultra" Intelligence through the breaking of German Lorenz machine incripted messaging through the work of Bill Tutt , Newman at Bletchley Park and Tommy Flowers at Dollis Hill GPO Research Station. Finally if the war had dragged on a further 3 or even 2 months , the project Manhatten atomic bombs would have been launched on German Cities , the original intended targets. German forces were surrendering as many recognised the overwhelming Western superiority in armaments and logistics , and their own shortages of fuel , strategic materials and even foodstuffs in a shrinking Reich . Desperate 'wonder weapons ' were never going to save the day , as allied technologies and medicines from Gloster meteors to anti biotics came into play . To say nothing of the shortage of experienced Axis pilots & the growing threats of armed resistance from Yugoslavia , France, Italy and even Norway
Rommel told them to keep the panzer divisions close to the beaches because of Allied airpower. He had seen allied air power in North Africa. He was overruled. The panzer divisions were constantly attacked from the air when they tried to move after D Day. The allies probably would have succeeded anyway but a strong counter offensive with panzer divisions in a better position in the first few days would have made it much more difficult for the invasion to succeed.
No No and No. Rommel was correct Germany simply could not hold out for ever sooner or later they would have been overwhelmed. Whether these plans would have held up the Allies advance is open to debate but even if successful they would not have altered the result.
Germany was doomed for sure. As soon as the Pacific war was over all the US and allies fighting there with their Hugh amount of planes ships material etc etc would have shifted to Europe. Germany was lucky the Pacific war was going on to start with otherwise the European war would never had last as long as it did.
Allied air would have crushed any German counter offensive in Normandy. Ironically, the war might have ended sooner, and there definitely would not have been the Battle of the Bulge.
Chieftain, Military History Visualized channels have interesting historical studies showing that airpower was not as effective against armor as thought. However, it is effective against the supply chain upon which armor relies.
Now that I think of it, It is Better to Fall back so that the Panzer Forces can regroup and Attack with a Larger and More Powerful force rather than Attacking with lesser troops over a Small Area of The battlefield
At this stage of war the Allies had such a huge advantage in men and material that the only thing the Germans could do is delay the inevitable by a few days or weeks The best thing to do is either a peace negotiation or keep giving ground to Allies without.much resistance and avoid more bloodshed
The importance of the decision by the Allies for unconditional surrender cannot be overstated. Having fully mobilized against the Axis powers, it made sense to fully vanquish them to erase their ideology from the planet rather than settle for an uneasy peace that likely would have festered for years, if not decades. Yes, it most likely prolonged the war and increased total casualties. But having finished the job, it set up a new order under which the free world was able to prosper in relative peace for many decades. Unconditional surrender is not always the wisest objective. But in this case, it was.
Great video. There is absolutely no strategy that Rommel could have deployed that would've changed the outcome of the war, and Rommel knew it. 1. He understood the overwhelming allied air superiority. 2. He knew the mathematics involving tanks with the U.S. and Russia producing over 200,000 tanks EACH and the Germans producing only 25,000 tanks. Even though the German Tanks were superior, Rommel knew the allied numerical advantage was impossible for the German military to overcome. That's exactly why Rommel personally implored Hitler to negotiate a peace with the allies.
Maybe they should have just withdrawn completely in the West and allowed the Western allies to advance unhindered, focusing their efforts in the East in an attempt to hold the Soviets back as far as possible before the the inevitable collapse. Although the Yalta meeting had made it clear that Roosevelt was keen to go along with Stalin's harsh plans to divide Germany and Poland up on his terms, and Hitler was delusional, stubborn, in denial, etc.. so they were kind of between a rock and a hard place.. Despite this, I think the eventual outcome for Germany turned out to be close to the worst possible scenario, and alternative decisions along the way might have helped.
Of course at that stage of the war keeping the Soviets as far East as possible would have been the ideal strategy, but for that Hitler would need to acknowledge the war was lost.
If Romell had not visited Normandy before the allies attack, many more Americans would have survived. He saw that the beaches needed more mines and more heavy obstacles. Making many of the German soldiers get to work and stop being so complacent.
Falling back to avoid allied air attacks is a fallacy. The allies would have just built airfields to support their tactical Air Force’s. The German idea of mobile operations would have been destroyed, just further inland.
@@thedrinkinggamemaker9749 The only port that the Allies captured intact was Antwerp and the Germans hit it with I believe both V1 and V2. Killed people but had little overall effect.
A seemingly successful attack on Britain would be the worst desaster for nazi Germany. The soviet leader was waiting for that moment, in order to attack and win.
With allied air superiority. The was no pushing the allies back . With allied industrial might and supplies ensured. Germans by this stage were scrounging for resources . Fuel was limited . And the metal their tanks were being made out of were becoming of lesser quality negating their on paper superiority. Much of the German equipment was also too complex and prone to breakdown. Not a good situation with hugely interrupted supplies , resources and production. They were even facing this from 1941 in Barbarossa . They started something they could never finish .
AH should have followed Rommel's plan but supplying German forces in the face of Allied air power would have been impossible, also Rommel's strategic genius relied on unpredictability in time and the use of force this was why Churchill was so afraid of him and he probably would have defeated the Western Allies in Normandy had AH had the vision to give him full operational control of the front alone.
I agree with Ramo pull the troops back regroup put up defensive positions and later counter Attack by surprise and put a hurt on the allies, And use the V1 rockets at the seaports In London
The overwhelming Allied forces would not be stopped by any tactics after Normandy. With Russians in the East and the Allies in the West the fate was sealed. A massive pincer.
"He would have made a good regimental sergeant major." (Von Rundstedt's evaluation of Rommel.) Von Rundstedt was adhering to the Elastic Defense Doctrine of defense in depth and using maneuver, a willingness to give up ground to gain tactical advantage (which Hitler strictly forbade) and using a well-timed counterattack to 'snap' back any penetrations. It was designed in 1917 by Ludendorf to minimize casualties and preserve German manpower. Would it have stopped the Allies? Probably not but it definitely would have slowed them down and at very high cost. Instead, Hitler's ego froze German units in place and Hitler preferred a single, heavy, continuous defensive line. (Since he served in the trenches of WW1, he felt he knew more than his professionally trained generals.)
Montgomery fooled the Germans. He ordered his armies *not* to move from the Caen sector. His plan was to draw them in and destroy their armour, not take territory. He did this destroying *90%* of German armour. With the British not moving, this gave the Germans a false impression they had a chance, as the British were not moving. So they would stay as near to the beaches as possible thinking they were pushing the British back into the sea, and not pull back. Once enough German armour was drawn away from Monty's right flank (the Americans), they broke out (Operation Cobra), encircling the Germans at Falaise.
Rommel knew from the African campaign that the Allie air power was a serious problem and he knew unless those panzer divisions weren't near where the landings took place there was no chance
Hitler was a moron when it came to military decisions and strategy. His no retreat attitude really hurt German forces during WW2. His best decision was listening to the general that wanted to go through the Ardennes to attack France. Other than that, he should have let his generals make the strategic, and tactical decisions of the war, like Stalin was smart enough to eventually realise and do
@@AtlasAugustus standing fast, and not allowing for retreat to regroup, and redeploy to better defensive positions, is a little different. Just like in this video, when he wouldn't allow the redeploying of his forces. What about Stalingrad? He lost a whole army because he would not allow them to retreat and redeploy. I would say, that in most instances, just about all WW2 historians would disagree with you
@@PhoenixAscending Germany lacked oil to go back and forth with hundreds of thousands of troops that's why Hitler was basically forced to not allow any retreats
Stalin made his share of bad mistakes: not allowing his forces to escape the Kie v encirclement in 1941; and later in the Spring 1942 attack toward Kharkov when Khrushev attempted to phone him & beg for a withdrawal before it was too late. I believe Stalin did not take Krushev's call & let someone else take the call. Paradoxically, that phone call may have saved Krushev's life; he was right, Stalin did not listen & the Germans trapped several hundred thousands of troops-paving the way for the German drive to the Don River, & on to Stalingrad. The point is: Stalin made disastrous blunders too.
@@robertleache3450 yes, stalin called the shots early on, when Germany first invaded. He wised up though, realizing he was no military mind, and did not have the experience of his generals, and let his generals mostly run the war. Hitler never did realise this for himself, and thought he knew better than his generals...till the bitter end
It may have delayed the Allies, maybe long enough for Berlin to be nuked. The USA had developed the Atomic bomb to use on Germany. I never hear the discussed had the war been prolonged.
Real commanders talk LOGISTICS. All the German tactical / strategic plans that could be devised could not, in the end, over come the logistical nightmare that the United Allies could throw at the Germans. 50.000 + Sherman and 54,000 T34 tanks, just to point out 2 instances, was far more than the German war machine could tackle. I will not even go into the American / British air power that was brought to bare.
fallback to the orne river would have delayed,the allies,while more human and machine wastage forced them to cease, ,withdraw, and regroup another 50 miles and again,,while allies piled more men and machines along 3 prongs,w/o air cover,while allied aircraft attacked german supply lines
While you are factually correct, I must add the the invasion was not expected on 6th June as the sea was supposed to be rough and otherwise also German intelligence was fooled into believing that the landing will not be at Normandy
@@skrayraja Actually rommel should have stayed With his troops in tunisia at the surrender avoiding hitler altogether He would have been well treated By allies and used as propaganda Urging troops to surrender!
Hitler slept in on D-day Rommel had been refused the tanks and airsupport he needed When finally panzerLehr came they got so pummeld from the air that hardly any one of them got thru. Hitler meddled with almost all of Rommels decisions Rommel honestly didnt really have a chance.
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🔴📣Other videos of interest:
- ✅The Greatest Error of the Third Reich in the Battle of Normandy:
th-cam.com/video/bb8ZYyghzS0/w-d-xo.html
- ✅This was the Tense Meeting between Paulus and Rommel during his visit to Africa in mid 1941: th-cam.com/video/1GrgIAQpnXM/w-d-xo.html
I believe that had the war been fought as per the profesionals and not as per whim & wishes of Hitler , though the ultimate result would have been the same but the bloodshed & loss óf life woûld have been far greater .. The war started with Hitler's fanaticism and resulted in doom of the Fanatic...... But did the world learn a lesson the Answer is . ..NO.. ...
were they on weed?
Rommel was right. While it was over with what Rommel wanted to do would of slowed down the Allies it would not of stopped the end.
Very good piece, thank you.
I think Rommel's plan would merely have delayed the inevitable German collapse on all fronts, not prevented it. It could however have saved hundreds of thousands of German soldiers at Falaise, as well as much needed equipment and material. But Hitler would probably have used such savings for the subsequent Ardennes offensive, again merely delaying the inevitable surrender.
Like today's Putin .Hitler would never accept anything but winning regardless of the cost .Sad but have similar characters in the US . Google a man called Trump .
It was only a matter of time really. Hitler invading russia was lunacy.
The winter of 1943 cost them the war.
@@jduill Hitler waiting for the Soviets to get stronger and stronger and doing nothing would have been lunacy. 1941 was Germany's only shot considering the recent purges, the general unpreperadness of the Red Army, and Stalin's trust of Hitler.
@@jduill I disagree. Had Hitler pulled off the invasion into Moscow Britain would of had to of seeked a peace treaty. Diverting part of Army Group Centre was his undoing. The oil fields could of waited. 'operation barbarossa' was the joke
@@coloradoing9172 that would be true if that was hitlers reasoning for invading the soviet union, it wasnt, you should look up the concept of Lebensraum.
What a fateful meeting. Rommel had seen his thorough efforts to make barriers against invasion partially fail, and his idea for rapid Panzer deployment ignored. He went to the meeting knowing that many at the OKW knew of or were involved in the planned move on July 20th. Rundstedt's idea of a strategic reserve was used, by default, but as Rommel warned, Allied air attacks severely depleted the counter-attack as did naval gunfire. Knowing Rundstedt, he brought a realistic overview to the meeting.
Rommel had experience against the Allied Airpower. Von Rundstedt didn't. Many of Rommel's suggestions went ignored.
As outlined in this program the fall back that Rommel suggested would’ve enabled the Ver- mo to launch an effective counter offensive and defended a much better area of territory.
Another interesting post , thank you.
Ty Nordic
The naval guns were devastating…HMS Nelson 16 inch guns obliterated a SS motorised column forming up blowing tiger 1s tanks 50 mtrs away from where they used to be prior to the firing …
and the proof is that which unit had been there with Tiger tanks ?
Nice one that this has happened.
From what I've read, Rommel wanted to use his Panzer divisions immediately to drive the allies back into the sea but Hitler refused. He thought and fell for the ruse that the real invasion was to be somewhere else. Another military channel posted Rommel's post action report to Hitler after D-Day. He pointed out the advantages the allies had in men and material and how no matter the Germans fought they couldn't overcome the allies advantages.
from what i've read and seen it had virtually nothing to do with rommel.... what i've read from a few sources was that the d day invasion began and h i t l e r was sleeping when it started.....
no one wanted to bother and wake h i t l e r up for whatever there reasons were.. so he slept thru the beginning of it and maybe for like the 1st two+ hours or whatever it was... and h i t l e r was the only one who could aurhorize to unleash the panzers of that division at least if not all the divisions with secial exceptions rommel was probably number 2 in command of panzer diivisions. so, rommel likely could authorize panzer release or use, but again, i've read more than once that in the case of d day it was only h i t l e r who couldve authorized it and he was sleeping...... thus, by the time d day was fully under way it was too late for them to have a chance to stop the beach invasion by the allies.
many thousands and i think it was over 9 to near 10 thousand usa/ally troops were kil l e d that day, but the planning and execuion of the d day invasion was so overwhelming that it was successful.... the allies made their way on to and up the beach , into france then ultimately into germany.
I think Rommel knew the war was lost when Germany was defeated in North Africa and stopped on the Eastern Front.
Command of the air was a decisive factor. An effective German offensive would simply result in the Soviets reaching the Rhine.
I agree. Loss of control of the skies was a major part of the reason the Germans had trouble on both fronts. They couldn't move safely either troops or supplies, which limited their options.
Rommel says exactly this in his posthumous memoir. In North Africa the Allies had a cab rank of aircraft circling above the battlefield and when a target was spotted a plane would peel off and attack. The Rommel asparagus on the beach defences was because he knew Allied airpower would prevent the Germans mounting long distance counter-attacks. Which when you read Von Lucks book is exactly what happened. Allied airpower smashed them and Tiger tanks were upside down in craters.
@@amadeusamwater that what happen in ukraine... loss control of the skies... n the war not become on your favour 😁
Agreed. Any troop concentrations would have been bombed by the heavy bombers before they started to attack. The only reason the Battle of the Bulge had initial success was because the weather prevented the allied air force from flying. How can you gather sufficient troops to attack when you can only travel at night? You cannot attack only at night and hid during the day.
@@Machia52612 in their homeland... still exist 100 persen ready for deployment if something really big happen 😁
The Panzers held in reserve could not be released without Hitler's personal approval but was asleep and didn't want to be disturbed.
He lacked self awareness to see it was his own darn fault.
Yep. And because of that, Allied Troops were able to land. Had he been awake during the time of the Invasion and Committed all his Panzer forces into trying to stop the Allied Troops from taking the beach of Normandy, History would have Talked Differently about D-Day and the Outcome of the war if Hitler Reacted on that timing
Hitler was convinced by Allied disinformation, that the real landing was coming at Calais and he was holding his tanks for that AND continued to hold those tanks for a month! So, even if he had been awakened, he would not have released the panzer reserves anyway.
@@fazole True.
Hitler was on drugs to sleep so that's why he gave that order not to be disturbed.
@@tonyclough9844 that's the reason why Hitler is the worst Person to be Supreme Commander of The German Military.
The basic problem facing the German army was that the allies were landing more and more troops everyday. Had rommel withdrawn then this would not have changed.
Only think that could have really made difference was to prevent these additional landings using the navy and the air force which Germany was not in a position to do. The targeting of ports using V1 bombers would had made some difference but not enough to change defeat the allied forces.
Karma got Rommel and the entire German army. Karma is collective!
Totally agreed. Manstein's success near Kharkov in the Donezk basin was due to he had fresh reserves: Hausser's 2nd SS Panzer Corps. His counterpart Vatutin used all his forces and greatly underestimated German reserves and hence the catastrophic result. For Vatutin it was a very painful lesson. And don't forget: Manstein was able to regroup his forces brilliantly because the Soviets were very far away from dominating the skies. Contrary to that, Rommel didn't have any new magical reserves, the Allies were landing new and new troops every day and any regrouping of Rommel's forces was next to impossible due to not mere dominating but absolute Allied superiority in the skies. So Rommel was absolutely right when he was talking that any continuation of the war is senseless. But for Rommel it was easy to say - he never was at the Eastern Front and wasn't personally guilty in heinous war crimes. And for Hitler this was absolutely unacceptable - for him and his close circle it was only execution to be expected.
@dare-er7sw karma didn't get rommel he wasnt a nazi he killed himself because hittler thought he was involved with those who's conducted the bomb plot
@@colder5465 Rommel's suggestion to not have a reserve and to Dunkirk the allies at Normandy was a better suggestion. If it didn't work, well Germany lost anyway. Also, pulling back the Axis troops and using V-1 rockets had some merits.
Wir waren zu wenig Soldaten und hatten auch keine resursen mehr, alles in Russland verbraucht für Nix
The war was lost when Germany failed to eliminate Britain. The eventual defeat was hastened by the attack on Russia in 1941.
The Germans never wanted to be in a conflict with Britain, in the first place. Operation Sea Lion was a bluff. Hitler never had any intention of landing German forces inside England. He never looked at the plans. From the early months of 1941 the Soviet Union was making a lot of noise at Germany's eastern front. By March there was 170 divisions of Soviet troops gathering here. Not hard to figure out what they were planning to do huh? Operation Barbarossa [June 1941] was a pre-emptive strike, the hope was to destroy the threat of Bolshevism forever..
@Smudgeroon74
Germany's intentions are immaterial. Without Britain's survival there would have been no bombing campaign, the germans would have been able to take North Africa and the Middle East and its oil. There would have been no navy to blockade the continent and sweep the seas. There would have been no base to launch an invasion of the continent. America would likely not have entered the war. Russia's would have lost a major supply line. The whole German army could have been used against Russia and Germany would have probably won the war.
@@Smudgeroon74 Russia did not have all those troops you mention all that close to the German border...but they had stored vast quantities of war material so that if war did start, many divisions could be quickly moved westward and armed closer to German held territory. Stalin was not eager to go to war with Germany and did quite a bit to placate Hitler, particularly with shipments of oil and precious metals...though at the same time he was moving against the weak states of Eastern Europe such as Finland and Romania. For the rest, Hitler had no real ability to bring down England and its empire. He could have hurt them quite a bit but the empire was too big, too distant...
@@Francis-m2d Hitler had no desire to bring down England and the empire. From Oct 1939 onwards he actually made 20 offers of peace to Britain. All were rejected by Chamberlain and Churchill. I'm telling you that by April 1941 the Soviet Union had 170 divisions of troops gathering at Germany's eastern front. They were getting ready to invade Europe. So Germany and her 5 allies made the first move in June 1941 - Operation Barbarossa.
@@Smudgeroon74 You make a good point about Hitler not wanting to invade England...the 20 offers of peace I doubt; but if he did, the name of the game is to do it publicly. I can remember only a single speech after the fall of France where he publicly said "I can see no reason for this war to continue." One needs to make ones peace offers public so as to put pressure on the British government. As for the 170 divisions along the border...even Manstein said that the position of the Russian forces did not look threatening but with supplies up closer to the border, they could become threatening. That is a far cry from being 'ready to invade Europe'.
..German Generals should have the freedom of command in deploying his troops..not waiting for the response from the high command.. German Command was all messed up
48 hours? The Germans had at most a day to throw the allies back into the sea. They were at their weakest during the landings and an all out offensive by the Germans was their only hope of keeping the allies from forming a beachhead.
Forgot the naval artilleries that were on the Allie battleships?
@@AdamJRowen naval artillery or not if they were able to throw them back in the sea those first few hours it would of failed and who knows what would of happened. It had to be when they were first landing on the beaches when they were at their weakest.
All out..... you forgot that the sea n air belongs to allied forces 😁
Rommel was correct, the invasion had to be stopped on the beach or not at all and he wasn't given control of armored divisions closest to the beach. Remember, Hitler had no experience commanding troops and he paid no attention to the needs of the soldiers doing the actual fighting.
@@mulkanmulkan5620haha you forgot the time where Germans ruled the sea, air and land at the same time and conquered a continent and fought off 5 superpowers in a 5v1 for 6 years
Hitler became paradoxically attached to the static defence doctrine, despite the enormous success of mobile warfare in 1940. The Germans simply didn't have the numbers to defend from fortresses. Their only option was to withdraw, regroup and try and counterattack. And yes, all bombing should have been against military in Europe or embarkation ports. Again, he bombed London wasting the opportunity. As Churchill always said - "London can take it".
One of the main problems the Germans had during the early part of the invasion was that a large number of elements required permission to turn about from Calais, where they were still convinced the main invasion would come from, towards Normandy. Those crucial hours made a major difference in their defense. The German command structure required too much reliance on central command, often needing hitler’s permission. In this case, Hitler was sleeping when the invasion began, and no one wanted to wake him up in case it was just a diversion. By the time he did wake up, was informed of what was happening, and made an assessment, the beachhead had already been made. The chance of throwing them back into the sea was lost. It didn’t help that the first line of defense was the only strong line, but for poor tactical reasons, didn’t have enough ammunition to resist for long enough for reserves to appear, which as I’ve mentioned, didn’t, as they didn’t have permission to move. The control of the air by the allies forced the Germans to have to move forces during the night. The entire defense was a mess. Nothing would have succeeded. Once the allies moved in from their beachhead, it was over.
Rommel presented the only realistic plan possible though it may be he already knew the war was lost and imagined Hitler might go for it if it promised some hope of success against the western Allies...the idea was to give Hitler hope of a strong counterattack and if he wanted to believe this would lead to the collapse of the Allied invasion all well and good...but Hitler being Hitler, there was no way this idiot was going to voluntarily give up ground without a fight....even if that fight depleted his own forces and would inevitably lead to even greater defeats....
By the time of the meeting , Rommel's plan was their only sensible choice .
But ultimately would not have succeeded. Allied air power was the reason it could not.
The fall back and counter attack would have faced allied air superiority all the same. Even if succeeded it would have only delayed the end of the war. I can’t see it driving the Allies into the sea.
The basic problem was that a MAD MAN was in charge of everything! 😮
Very well done. I learned a few things here. 9:13
Great channel
Another must read is The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan.
Well done!👍👌
Brilliant idea of Rommel, this was the thing to do. Lure the allies into interior than apply a strong pincer move. Also all the useless garrisons of the Atlantic should have been called to interior. This was the only reasonable thing to do. Forget the territory, this would have been temporary loss. Because you need a lot of territory to apply such a move. Getting out of the range of naval ships guns was obvious a necesity.
Being out of range of naval gunfire would have put the Germans in more open country, making them more vulnerable to Allied airpower.
Full support to you ❤️❤️❤️
Ty
A vet who fought in France told that from July and August, the Germans tried to repel the invasion. Then they pulled back in September and went to the German France Border.
The battle went on until March when supplies ran out.
Rommel probably realized the whole thing was one big mistake on his part.
Once they were on land it was game over no matter how much they tried. The fact he only had them deployed on HIS orders and HE slept in every day until 1pm. It’s astonishing, and doesn’t seem realistic but hear it time and time again
Allied Airpower was so strong at that time that Romel could not have made much difference by establishing new defencive line .
No matter what, the Germans could not have won after the invasion of Normandy. If you add to the invasion of Normandy the Soviet counteroffensive and the strike up through Italy, Germany was fighting on three fronts against enemies who could provide men and resources at an exponential rate. Further, Hitler was a delusional leader who had put everything at stake when he decided to attack the Soviet Union - it was all or nothing for him. If taken further...assuming Germany could have held out longer, they probably would have met the same nuclear strike fate as Japn.
A strange game. The only winning move is not to play.
Well, one thing is for sure if I had been German fighting I would prefer to follow Rommel and his ideas. Hitler was just a common foot soldier in WW1
I think Rommel's idea were good ones and very sensible - if he'd been given the flexibility he needed he might have counter attacked strongly and prevented the allies from landing further troops - this would have made them pause and given Germany more time to reorganize. The biggest challenge of course was eliminating allied air superiority which made any plan for Germany challenging.
The whole point is that did not happen. That way it happen the way it happened and I doubt there any military strategy would’ve changed the outcome.
Gran Channel
Once Hitler opened two fronts with Barbarossa he was toast. In fact his biggest mistake was invading Poland.
Hitler thought that the Allies would let him get away with invading Poland. They were spinless in giving up other countries without a fight.
He was toast because he split his army into three sections, rather than going straight for Moscow, not to mention Stalingrad.
He had too. Lack of fuel to make his war machinery work and do you think allies were just setting there doing nothing? Hitler and wehrmacht were running out of time and resources. Operation Barbarossa had to happen. I would say freaking Italy was the burden to make Nazis lose so much time during the Balkans campaign, thus barbarossa postponed for 3 months later
Jesus. Everybody thinks they’re a know it all. None of these comments make sense. Barbarossa didn’t even make WWII a “two front war”. The allies hadn’t invaded Europe with ground forces yet. Stalin had to request that the western allies OPEN a second front and MAKE IT a two front war by landing in France.
None of you know anything you’re talking about lol
Rommel's plan would not have saved Germany; like he said, nothing could. It would however have had the potential of saving German lives, stalling the offensive and giving room for negotiations.
The allies knew by 1943 that germany would lose the war I doubt they would accept conditional surrender
@@KR0TE7would have been different if the allies were not able to establish a beach head. If the landing fails Germany could have transferred the division east with the knowledge no invasion until 45. Let’s not forget how long it took the allies to take Italy.
This whole war was an act of delusion, but the idea that any counter attack under theses conditions would’ve done anything was also delusional
what film is that in the background?
Rommel occupies an interesting historical place in that in some ways he is often overrated but in other ways incredibly underrated. Tactically, it seems he was extremely gifted, probably one of the best, but strategically, while still very capable, does not match up to Manstein or Guderian. He would be my first pick for tactician (if we're thinking fantasy football) but not in my top five for strategist. His "Infantry Attacks" memoir is legendary.
What are the film sequences used in this video?
Those Prussian Generals must have been Very frustrated by having to be ordered by a bloody Corporal on tactics on how to defeat the Invasion Armies.
very true. field marshall micromanaged by a corporal.
Hitler was, in his mind, drawing stick men in the air...but Rommel was thinking about the forces he should have had in Normandy...forces that were instead wasted on Hitler's attempt to conquer the Soviet Union. Hitler's folly in Russia cost the Germans 4 entire armies consisting of 20 divisions and more than 400,000 soldiers. Imagine if Rommel had all that in Normandy, especially the 4,800 German tanks lost in Russia.
Would Rommel's plan to defend the French coast be successful? Maybe, but the Allies would have off loaded more and more troops and material as Rommel's troops fought. So, the the Allies would have overwhelmed Rommel's efforts.
One must understand that the Nazis did not make any mistakes in the war since they were at war for the life of Germany.
Good video! Luckily, Hitler was in command and not Rommel...he had a very good plan which might have changed the way the war was being conducted in France...although I think that it's effectiveness might be affected by a lack of air support... unless the counter attack was done at night or in very bad weather...I was not aware of such a meeting taking place, but not surprised at Hitler's reaction...thanks & Good job!
Bruh, Hitler Was too busy Sleeping at the Time of the Invasion, at the berghof，and only woke up around the afternoon to hear the news of the Invasion. He shouldn't even be in Command if he is sleeping. He shouldn't even be Sleeping at all and instead be Fully awake and Command the Panzer forces into stopping the Allies from taking the beaches of Normandy.
i think rommel already knew the war was lost.
That's why he was part of the plot to kill hitler.
Bottom line Stalin learned from his early mistakes and listened to his generals...Hitler did the opposite...thank goodness for his arrogance
The Soviets had the Lucy Spy Ring sending them the German plans shortly after the German commanders got the plans. Some think it was Martin Boreman who had the plans sent to the Russians. I think they offered it to the Brits, but they turned the information down. They thought it was too good to be true. This spy ring was the reason the Russians had the plans for Operation Zitadel at Kursk - they just made layer after layer of defenses. Zhukov's fame was due to getting all these plans, and they wiped out 20 (now smaller) German Divisions. Stalin knew they had better plans and millions of more soldiers, tanks, and a gazillion artillery pieces.
But the Russians still wasted men and material with no regard for casualties until the end of the war. The Germans just ran out of young soldiers.
Remember that the Allies had enough troops to mount a second invasion in August, 1944, in southern France. No matter what the Germans did, they were going to get crushed.
Should have pulled back. And thought a war of attrition like at Hurtgen where general model inflicted massive casualties on the allies .
Rommel was Germany's best military asset. Lucky for us, Hitler and his sycophant high command did not yield to Rommel's superior military intellect.
Rommel's late June plan would have failed spectacularly.
The primary German problem was the Allied buildup. A withdrawal to the Seine / Orne would not have changed that.
Also, a regular withdrawal of such proportions would not have even been possible with total Allied air superiority. It was hard enough to move for small columns, and here we are talking about the movement of an entire Army Group. Also the line would be huge!
Fantasy.
The naval gunfire was devastating - yes. But only upto a few miles from the shore. Beyond that the Allied airpower ruled. ALso the hedgerows were much better suited to defense - far limited withdrawal, good cover from air attacks. And this is exactly what the German command did.
I agree. And then, the German Army Group in Pas de Calais could have been transferred to Normandy to bolster the battered German 7th Army. This strategy might have allowed the Germans to have contained the Allies in Normandy until the late Fall until the bad weather grounded the Allied Air Force. Ultimately, the Germans had to do something about the Allied Airforce if they were to contain the Allies in Normandy; much less "throw them back into the sea." What might have been possible for the first quarter of 1945: a thousand ME-262's deployed over the Normandy air-space to challenge the Allied Air Hegemony ???
Good use of Max Hastings material , but in the view of many, Beevor is not a true trusted or respected historian . Rather a revisionist writer , that likes to play down and criticise the heroism of the Soviets and the air offensives against German Cities. Germany had by this stage had lost the Battle for war production , relying more and more on forced labour, and failing to mobilise it's female workforce until it was too late , unlike Britain , the USSR and the USA. Furthermore the battle of the Atlantic was lost long ago , and the build up of Western allied Naval and air superiority virtually unstoppable . Don't forget that the Western allies had access to German High Command battle order & plans through "Ultra" Intelligence through the breaking of German Lorenz machine incripted messaging through the work of Bill Tutt , Newman at Bletchley Park and Tommy Flowers at Dollis Hill GPO Research Station. Finally if the war had dragged on a further 3 or even 2 months , the project Manhatten atomic bombs would have been launched on German Cities , the original intended targets. German forces were surrendering as many recognised the overwhelming Western superiority in armaments and logistics , and their own shortages of fuel , strategic materials and even foodstuffs in a shrinking Reich . Desperate 'wonder weapons ' were never going to save the day , as allied technologies and medicines from Gloster meteors to anti biotics came into play . To say nothing of the shortage of experienced Axis pilots & the growing threats of armed resistance from Yugoslavia , France, Italy and even Norway
All I can say is thank god he didn’t have nukes
Rommel told them to keep the panzer divisions close to the beaches because of Allied airpower. He had seen allied air power in North Africa. He was overruled. The panzer divisions were constantly attacked from the air when they tried to move after D Day. The allies probably would have succeeded anyway but a strong counter offensive with panzer divisions in a better position in the first few days would have made it much more difficult for the invasion to succeed.
No No and No. Rommel was correct Germany simply could not hold out for ever sooner or later they would have been overwhelmed. Whether these plans would have held up the Allies advance is open to debate but even if successful they would not have altered the result.
Germany was doomed for sure. As soon as the Pacific war was over all the US and allies fighting there with their Hugh amount of planes ships material etc etc would have shifted to Europe. Germany was lucky the Pacific war was going on to start with otherwise the European war would never had last as long as it did.
Allied air would have crushed any German counter offensive in Normandy. Ironically, the war might have ended sooner, and there definitely would not have been the Battle of the Bulge.
Chieftain, Military History Visualized channels have interesting historical studies showing that airpower was not as effective against armor as thought. However, it is effective against the supply chain upon which armor relies.
Now that I think of it, It is Better to Fall back so that the Panzer Forces can regroup and Attack with a Larger and More Powerful force rather than Attacking with lesser troops over a Small Area of The battlefield
Would like to see a what if Rommel had supplies or Rommel in Easter Europe
They threatened rommells family!!
They had to take a risk to hit on the beaches
Rommel was a strategist while Hitler was delusional.
Overlord was a incredible planning covered every aspect of a war. Only GOD could stopped it
At this stage of war the Allies had such a huge advantage in men and material that the only thing the Germans could do is delay the inevitable by a few days or weeks
The best thing to do is either a peace negotiation or keep giving ground to Allies without.much resistance and avoid more bloodshed
yes
Perhaps yes.
The importance of the decision by the Allies for unconditional surrender cannot be overstated. Having fully mobilized against the Axis powers, it made sense to fully vanquish them to erase their ideology from the planet rather than settle for an uneasy peace that likely would have festered for years, if not decades. Yes, it most likely prolonged the war and increased total casualties. But having finished the job, it set up a new order under which the free world was able to prosper in relative peace for many decades.
Unconditional surrender is not always the wisest objective. But in this case, it was.
Great video.
There is absolutely no strategy that Rommel could have deployed that would've changed the outcome of the war, and Rommel knew it.
1. He understood the overwhelming allied air superiority.
2. He knew the mathematics involving tanks with the U.S. and Russia producing over 200,000 tanks EACH and the Germans producing only 25,000 tanks.
Even though the German Tanks were superior, Rommel knew the allied numerical advantage was impossible for the German military to overcome.
That's exactly why Rommel personally implored Hitler to negotiate a peace with the allies.
Maybe they should have just withdrawn completely in the West and allowed the Western allies to advance unhindered, focusing their efforts in the East in an attempt to hold the Soviets back as far as possible before the the inevitable collapse. Although the Yalta meeting had made it clear that Roosevelt was keen to go along with Stalin's harsh plans to divide Germany and Poland up on his terms, and Hitler was delusional, stubborn, in denial, etc.. so they were kind of between a rock and a hard place.. Despite this, I think the eventual outcome for Germany turned out to be close to the worst possible scenario, and alternative decisions along the way might have helped.
Of course at that stage of the war keeping the Soviets as far East as possible would have been the ideal strategy, but for that Hitler would need to acknowledge the war was lost.
If Romell had not visited Normandy before the allies attack, many more Americans would have survived. He saw that the beaches needed more mines and more heavy obstacles. Making many of the German soldiers get to work and stop being so complacent.
Falling back to avoid allied air attacks is a fallacy. The allies would have just built airfields to support their tactical Air Force’s. The German idea of mobile operations would have been destroyed, just further inland.
What if they used V1 rockets to destroy Allied captured ports?
@@thedrinkinggamemaker9749 The only port that the Allies captured intact was Antwerp and the Germans hit it with I believe both V1 and V2. Killed people but had little overall effect.
2:46 what movie is this from?
Rommel
Hitler lost the war when He did not
ttake England, in 1940. everything after that was just the fighting
A seemingly successful attack on
Britain would be the worst desaster for nazi Germany.
The soviet leader was waiting for that moment, in order to attack and win.
Yess it is possible to throw allies back and show them another durklink if Hitler wake up early and Romel is more independent to take desigions 😎❤️
With allied air superiority. The was no pushing the allies back .
With allied industrial might and supplies ensured.
Germans by this stage were scrounging for resources . Fuel was limited . And the metal their tanks were being made out of were becoming of lesser quality negating their on paper superiority. Much of the German equipment was also too complex and prone to breakdown. Not a good situation with hugely interrupted supplies , resources and production.
They were even facing this from 1941 in Barbarossa . They started something they could never finish .
@@lukeskywalker3329 somehow it can be managed by Luftwaffe But germany has to compromise on eastern front
After Germany depleted its Air Force, the war was lost.
It's a pity the Ukrainians don't have a Desert Fox of their own!
Really difficult to understand your comments as common French and German words are so mangled.
What is Luftwaft??
AH should have followed Rommel's plan but supplying German forces in the face of Allied air power would have been impossible, also Rommel's strategic genius relied on unpredictability in time and the use of force this was why Churchill was so afraid of him and he probably would have defeated the Western Allies in Normandy had AH had the vision to give him full operational control of the front alone.
What movie are these scenes from (2:46, 3:20, 5:31)? Does anyone know?
Roger,these photos are from a twelve movie set of VHS movies called The World At WAR.
@@markpaul8178 thanks!
I agree with Ramo pull the troops back regroup put up defensive positions and later counter Attack by surprise and put a hurt on the allies, And use the V1 rockets at the seaports In London
The rockets were too inaccurate for tactical bombing.
The overwhelming Allied forces would not be stopped by any tactics after Normandy. With Russians in the East and the Allies in the West the fate was sealed. A massive pincer.
"He would have made a good regimental sergeant major." (Von Rundstedt's evaluation of Rommel.) Von Rundstedt was adhering to the Elastic Defense Doctrine of defense in depth and using maneuver, a willingness to give up ground to gain tactical advantage (which Hitler strictly forbade) and using a well-timed counterattack to 'snap' back any penetrations. It was designed in 1917 by Ludendorf to minimize casualties and preserve German manpower. Would it have stopped the Allies? Probably not but it definitely would have slowed them down and at very high cost. Instead, Hitler's ego froze German units in place and Hitler preferred a single, heavy, continuous defensive line. (Since he served in the trenches of WW1, he felt he knew more than his professionally trained generals.)
Montgomery fooled the Germans. He ordered his armies *not* to move from the Caen sector. His plan was to draw them in and destroy their armour, not take territory. He did this destroying *90%* of German armour. With the British not moving, this gave the Germans a false impression they had a chance, as the British were not moving. So they would stay as near to the beaches as possible thinking they were pushing the British back into the sea, and not pull back.
Once enough German armour was drawn away from Monty's right flank (the Americans), they broke out (Operation Cobra), encircling the Germans at Falaise.
I can't imagine what train of thought led to Hitler's decision to force Rommel to commit suicide but must have been extremely distraught over it.
Rommel was part of the plot to assassinate Hitler. Hitler saw to it that everyone connected to killing him was killed themselves.
The German defences were incomplete!!!
Hitler should have realized Germany was in trouble when a large force of Allied solders landed in France and proceeded towards Germany.
Rommel knew from the African campaign that the Allie air power was a serious problem and he knew unless those panzer divisions weren't near where the landings took place there was no chance
You are inviting us to speculate since most of us don't have militar training?
rommel said it himself the allies dominating the skies,and sea making impossible to move and deploy
Rommels plan was the best under the circumstances.
Allies Listen;Russia to the Rescue!!!🇵🇸🇷🇺
Hitler was a moron when it came to military decisions and strategy. His no retreat attitude really hurt German forces during WW2. His best decision was listening to the general that wanted to go through the Ardennes to attack France. Other than that, he should have let his generals make the strategic, and tactical decisions of the war, like Stalin was smart enough to eventually realise and do
You are categorically wrong. Hitler’s stand fast orders during December 1941 saved the whole front from another 1812 retreat
@@AtlasAugustus standing fast, and not allowing for retreat to regroup, and redeploy to better defensive positions, is a little different. Just like in this video, when he wouldn't allow the redeploying of his forces. What about Stalingrad? He lost a whole army because he would not allow them to retreat and redeploy. I would say, that in most instances, just about all WW2 historians would disagree with you
@@PhoenixAscending Germany lacked oil to go back and forth with hundreds of thousands of troops that's why Hitler was basically forced to not allow any retreats
Stalin made his share of bad mistakes: not allowing his forces to escape the Kie v encirclement in 1941; and later in the Spring 1942 attack toward Kharkov when Khrushev attempted to phone him & beg for a withdrawal before it was too late. I believe Stalin did not take Krushev's call & let someone else take the call. Paradoxically, that phone call may have saved Krushev's life; he was right, Stalin did not listen & the Germans trapped several hundred thousands of troops-paving the way for the German drive to the Don River, & on to Stalingrad. The point is: Stalin made disastrous blunders too.
@@robertleache3450 yes, stalin called the shots early on, when Germany first invaded. He wised up though, realizing he was no military mind, and did not have the experience of his generals, and let his generals mostly run the war. Hitler never did realise this for himself, and thought he knew better than his generals...till the bitter end
In my opinion the only chance they had was to defeat the Allied invasion on the beach itself
Rommel was a far better strategist than Hitler. Peace negotiation might have worked at this point in time.
Rommel was his best General
Germany has lost war for lack of resources. Because there were huge resources in allied hands that any tactics will not be enough to cover that gap
It may have delayed the Allies, maybe long enough for Berlin to be nuked. The USA had developed the Atomic bomb to use on Germany. I never hear the discussed had the war been prolonged.
Real commanders talk LOGISTICS. All the German tactical / strategic plans that could be devised could not, in the end, over come the logistical nightmare that the United Allies could throw at the Germans. 50.000 + Sherman and 54,000 T34 tanks, just to point out 2 instances, was far more than the German war machine could tackle. I will not even go into the American / British air power that was brought to bare.
fallback to the orne river would have delayed,the allies,while more human and machine wastage forced them to cease, ,withdraw, and regroup another 50 miles and again,,while allies piled more men and machines along 3 prongs,w/o air cover,while allied aircraft attacked german supply lines
အဝတ်အစားနဲ့ တဆိပ်တွေလှတယ် ခန့်ငြားတယ်
A retreat would have just bought them more time but it would remain innevitable.
i like to think in terms of lives saved and in that vein time is irrelevent
Rommel was absent celebrating his
Wifes birthday
Leaders should stay with their troops
And stay single or if married have their family with them!
While you are factually correct, I must add the the invasion was not expected on 6th June as the sea was supposed to be rough and otherwise also German intelligence was fooled into believing that the landing will not be at Normandy
@@skrayraja
Actually rommel should have stayed
With his troops in tunisia at the surrender avoiding hitler altogether
He would have been well treated
By allies and used as propaganda
Urging troops to surrender!
And went to Paris and buy
shoes for her ... while Anglo-Americans were landing
in France! He wasn't anymore the Desert Fox.
@@robertomeneghetti6215 ...last I heard- France wasn't a desert-(!)
@@daleburrell6273 I feel you did not realize the "sense", not the geography, of my comment!
I wish you all the best.
How about using a Computer that knows how to pronounce all the words in the narration?
Instead of holding the ground, they should stretch allied supply line and accelerate nuke development
Hitler slept in on D-day
Rommel had been refused the tanks and airsupport he needed
When finally panzerLehr came they got so pummeld from the air that hardly any one of them got thru.
Hitler meddled with almost all of Rommels decisions
Rommel honestly didnt really have a chance.