General Eisenhower who commanded the Normandy Invasion.
Dwight D. Eisenhower was selected to be the commander of all the forces that gathered for the Normandy invasion. His easy going, mid-western ways were key in his appointment. He was seen as a man who could get along with such forceful personalities as Patton and Montgomery.
Weather was immensely important for the invasion. On the advice of the weather forecasters, the invasion was launched during a brief lull in a spell of stormy June weather. The NAZI forces did not believe that an invasion could take place that week.
As the invasion drew nearer, General Eisenhower got little sleep and smoked cigarettes constantly. He was, perhaps, the most nervous soldier of all.
As the invasion approached, he said that before the battle commences, the plan is everything. Once the battle begins, he said, all the plans are worthless.
D Day brought all the confusion that could be expected. A key flaw in the plan for first wave of soldiers, to hit the beach, was that the Captain of each group was placed at the front of the landing craft. It was felt that the officer should be in front to lead his men. As a result, all of the officers were killed or wounded immediately. The enlisted men had no officers. Many were hopelessly distant from their planned landing area. All were seasick, from a rocky crossing of the English Channel.
Fortunately, the initiative and improvisational skill that Americans were known for, enabled them to regroup and devise a battle plan on the fly. They did not wait for new orders to come from higher up.
Meanwhile, the reserve NAZI forces were frozen in place, not responding. No one dared to awake a sleeping Adolph Hitler, who would give the command to counter attack.
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