The assault would be met on the beaches and any penetration made was to be broken at the coast line. The enemy's policy for the defense of occupied coasts was, therefore, built upon two basic principles and one assumption.Ī. It was also designed to minimize dangers arising from German weakness in the air and on the sea.Ĥ. The German plan for defending Europe was devised so as to exploit two great advantages possessed by the defender of a sea front, namely: (1) the weakness and vulnerability of an assaulting force during the landing period, and (2) the slow rate of tactical build-up possible, with sea communications, as compared with that permitted by a well developed system of land communications. Of these, forty-one divisions were static coastal defense troops, while about nineteen were mobile field divisions in reserve. (See CTF 122 NEPTUNE Monograph of April 1944, revised, Folios J, K, and L.).ĭivisions, thirty-seven operational Infantry divisions, and ten Infantry divisions in training. The approximate location of the various German divisions on the eve of the invasion, and of boundaries of German Armies in France, is shown in the sketch after Section 1 of this Chapter. Except where otherwise noted, all materials in the section on the enemy situation have been taken from: (1) XFPM 11, or 17 April 1944 (2) XFPM 12, of 26 December 1943 (3) ON 1, Paragraph 11 and 12 (4) ON 1, Appx. On the eve of the invasion (), Army Group D consisted of some 60 divisions, made up of seven operational Panzer divisions, three Panzer divisions in training, two Parachuteġ. The mobile reserves, directly under command of Army Group D, were situated as close to the coast as possible, usually 20 to 100 miles inland and invariably at main communication centers. Static divisions were assigned to the command of the appropriate army commanders. The German dispositions in the West provided for manning the various coastal sectors with static infantry, while the mobile divisions were held in reserve for counter attack purposes. The Nineteenth Army held the Mediterranean coast and the Italian frontier. The First Army held the Biscay Coast from the Loire to the Spanish frontier.ĭ. The Seventh Army held the western channel coast and the Brittany Peninsula from the Seine to the Loire.Ĭ. The Fifteenth Army held the eastern channel coast from the Rhine to the Seine.ī. Under C in C West (CinC Army Group D), the area to be defended was divided between four armies.Ī. 1 The military force assigned to him to accomplish this task comprised Army Group D. The defense of France and the Low Countries against Allied invasion was entrusted to the German "Commander in Chief West", Field Marshal von Rundstedt.
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