D-Day: Eisenhower and Leadership on the Eve of Invasion

Backcountry Notes ^ | June 5, 2009 | Jay Henderson

[jay1949]

Sixty-five years ago, Gen. Eisenhower prepared himself for D-Day with hope and trepidation. Having made the decision to go earlier on the day of June 5, he spent time during the afternoon with the paratroopers who would be the first to leave for France. Although he said that he found it hard to look men in the eye on the eve of battle, knowing that many of them would soon be dead, he forced himself to the task - - it was his responsibility; ultimately, all of what would happen the next day, for better or for worse, was his responsibility. Unlike many leaders, then and now, Eisenhower did not display narcissistic self-promotion and breezy self-confidence. Confidence and optimism, yes; and also great humility.

So Ike went among the men on the eve of battle, shaking hands, looking them in the eye, exchanging words of encouragement. Privately, back at his quarters, he wrote a note to be released in case the landings went badly. Eisenhower wrote in his own hand that "any blame or fault . . . is mine alone." His anxiety was such that he mis-dated the note "July 5." And at one point, he remarked to his assistant, "I hope to God I know what I'm doing."

He did.

[Retain Mike]

My source for the number 29 is My Three Years with Eisenhower by Captain Harry C. Butcher, which actually is his day by day diary. The entry is found under Portsmouth, June, 6, 1944. Leigh-Mallory reported 21 American and 8 British missing.

[DieHard the Hunter]

(grin!) I can imagine that Churchill would probably want to go ashore himself — unlike most of Britain’s post-war Prime Ministers Churchill was the real deal, having been a soldier who fired shots in anger: he took part in Britain’s last mounted cavalry charge, in his younger days, and escaped from a Boer POW camp as well.

He also trained the entire Royal Family in the use of the Thompson machine gun, having set up a firing range at Buckingham Palace. And he’d had built a bunker which he would occupy should the Germans have landed. It was equipped with Tommy guns, too: he fully intended to go down fighting.

He was, as you say, a difficult man but in a very practical way.

I’ll be able to find a good use for Eisenhower as an example of Leadership: he also had to deal with Patton, whom he outranked after the Army was reorganized but to whom he had been junior prior thereto. Navigating that situation would have been very interesting.

[The Shrew]

I'm believing you RM. Here's a link that says that 17 C-47 Skytrains were shot down on D-Day.

C-47's

Regards,

TS

[married21]

“I am old enough to remember how many D-Day survivors from Omaha Beach simply couldn’t talk about it, even 20 years later.”

True: My dad never talked about it. He also would never go to fireworks displays on July 4th. He said he saw enough “rockets red glare” on D-Day.

We knew his D-Day story, anyway, because he still had the write-up for his Navy Cross medal. President Truman himself presented the medal to Dad in a ceremony upon his return to the US. Dad was an ensign whose assignment was to detonate mines on Omaha Beach so the troops could land. When he and his men were done, he started rescuing soldiers who were foundering in the sea as they were coming ashore, and he carried wounded men to safety.

As far as he was concerned, he wasn’t doing anything heroic, he was just following orders.

[Interesting Times]

Stephen Ambrose wrote (in D-Day, June 6, 1944), that the overall casualty rate among airborne troops was "perhaps ten percent," much lower than the 50% Air Vice Marshal Leigh-Mallory had anticipated, but still incredibly high for one day of combat. Ambrose noted that the casualty rate cannot be stated with precision because the airborne records do not distinguish between D-Day losses and those suffered in the ensuing days and weeks.

link

[zot]

I can’t answer your question, but the C-47’s dropped their troops from 400 feet above ground level at night (!) which would minimize their exposure to heavy anti-aircraft guns.

The loss of gliders seems small, but “accounted for” probably includes the gliders that crashed on landing with more or less lethal results.

[jay1949]

“As far as he was concerned, he wasn’t doing anything heroic, he was just following orders.”

In the circumstances, that may still qualify as heroic. Machine gun fire tends to raise the degree of difficulty considerably, I would think.

[Pistolshot]

A good book for research on the relationship between Patton and Ike is Stanley Hirshson's General Patton:A Soldiers Life.

Although it is from Patton's point of view during the war, there is a lot of reference to between the war years. Ike was a good organizer, but not so much for being in the trenches, and knew a good fighter(Patton) when he saw it. Patton was a fighter who demanded his subordinate commanders be as close to the front as possible.

[DieHard the Hunter]

(grin!) Cheers for that, mate! I’m going to the library tomorrow.

[Pistolshot]

Churchill was not real enthusiastic about a cross channel invasion. His influence cast the start of the war in Europe to the invasion of North Africa, into Italy and his continuing insistence on going through the Balkan area as in WW1.

After the debacle at Anzio, Ike was more for an attempt at Western Europe than extending his supply lines from Britain to the Dardanelles.

[DieHard the Hunter]

Churchill seemed to be stuck on the Dardanelles. Probably his WW-I experience with Gallipoli.