32. Did Hitler’s Beauty Sleep Save the Allies on D-Day?
D-Day, June 6th, 1944, was the ultimate do-or-die moment of truth for the Western Allies in WWII. After years of painstaking preparations, involving millions of men and millions of tons of material, failure was simply not an option. While outright victory was beyond Germany’s reach by the summer of 1944, a failed Allied invasion of France might just have set the stage for a negotiated settlement, in which Hitler carved up Europe with the war’s other brutal dictator, Josef Stalin.
Germany’s only chance to beat back the Allies in Normandy depended upon an immediate armored counterattack, but Hitler had reserved to himself alone the authority to release German armor in case of an Allied invasion. However, when the first reports of an invasion arrived, as early as 4 AM on D-Day, Hitler was asleep, and his aides dared not wake him. At 7 AM, Field Marshall Rundstedt, the man on the spot, dared take the initiative by ordering two armored division into action. He was swiftly slapped down by Hitler’s HQ, telling him he had to wait for the Fuhrer’s orders. It was not until 4 PM, when Hitler finally roused himself to take action, that he authorized armor to reinforce Normandy’s defenders. By then, it was too late: the invaders had already survived the worst of it, and a beachhead had been established.