LEADERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND COMMAND: RETHINKING D-DAY

LEADERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND COMMAND: RETHINKING D-DAY

Also by Keith Grint and published by Palgrave Macmillan Leadership (0-333-96387-3)

LEADERSHIP, MANAGEMENT and COMMAND RETHINKING D-DAY KEITH GRINT Palgrave macmillan

Keith Grint 2008 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2008 978-0-230-54317-1 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London wn 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2008 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin's Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-36064-2 DOl 10.1057/9780230590502 ISBN 978-0-230-59050-2 (ebook) This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. 10 9 8 17 16 15 7 6 14 13 5 12 432 1 11 10 09 08 Transferred to Digital Printing 20 II

Contents List of Figures, Maps and Photos Acknowledgements vi viii Part One Leadership, Management and Command at D-Day 1 1 Problems, Understanding and Decision-Making 3 Part Two Leadership and Wicked Problems 19 2 Western Allied Strategy: the Boxer and the Karateka 23 3 Allied Air Strategy 59 4 Planning to Mislead 80 5 German Strategy: Hard Shell, Soft Shell 116 6 Allied Ground Strategy 135 Part Three Managing Tame Problems 151 7 Mobilizing the Anglo-Canadians, the Commonwealth, and the Volunteers 153 8 Mobilizing the Americans: Technology and the Iceberg 181 9 Mobilizing the Germans: the Wehrmacht and the SS 211 10 Managing Logistics: 'Bag, vomit, one.' 234 11 Technologies 264 Part Four Commanding in Crises 305 12 Commanding 307 13 The Airborne Assaults 322 14 The Amphibious Landings 350 Part Five Retrospective 415 15 Post-D-Day 417 Notes 429 Bibliography 484 Index 493 v

List of Figures, Maps and Photos Figures 1.1 Typology of problems, power and authority 16 2.1 Weather forecast for 5 June 1944 58 4.1 Divisions of the 15th Army sector, Calais region 107 6.1 Invasion Plan H Hour Plus, Omaha Beach, 116th RCT 139 6.2 Omaha Beach, cross section 141 6.3 Comparison of German tanks facing US and UK forces, 15 June-25 July 1944 145 10.1 Distribution of German Divisions, 1944 235 Maps 6.1 Arromanches Artificial Port (Mulberry B) 136 6.2 Development of the lodgment: 21 st Army Group forecast of operations as of 26 February 1944 140 13.1 Allied assault routes, 6 June 1944 324 13.2 101 st Airborne Division drop pattern, 6 June 1944 334 14.1 Sketch map of military advance, 6--30 June 1944 352 Photos 3.1 Gun emplacement at Longues Battery 3.2 Observation post at Longues Battery 3.3 Longues Battery from the west 4.1 Ruskin Rooms, Knutsford, Cheshire 6.1 Bluffs opposite Dog White, Omaha Beach 6.2 Typical road in the bocage, near Balleroy 10.1 Beach-hardening mat, Lepe, Hampshire 10.2 View over Arromanches from St Come 74 74 75 85 142 146 245 251 VI

LIST OF FIGURES, MAPS AND PHOTOS VII 10.3 Remains of floating harbour at Arromanches 251 11.1 Anti-tank 'hedgehog' 265 11.2 AVRE Spigot 270 11.3 Churchill Tank 281 11.4 Sherman Firefly Tank 283 11.5 Sherman M4 Tank 284 13.1 Bridge over Merderet River at La Fiere 331 13.2 St John's Bridge, Lechlade, site of Exercise Mush by 6th Airborne in preparation for assault on Pegasus Bridge 337 14.1 'True Glory' House, D-Day 1944 363 14.2 'True Glory' House today 363 14.3 Utah Beach, near Exit 5 374 14.4 Pointe du Hoc, gun emplacement 377 14.5 Looking east from Pointe du Hoc along Baker Sector 377 14.6 Pointe du Hoc, shattered gun emplacement 378 14.7 Pointe du Hoc from west showing Rangers Memorial 380 14.8 Looking west from WN-71 onto Dog Green at Vierville 394 14.9 29th Division monument built into WN-71 at junction of Charlie and Dog Green 397 14.10 Leaderless American troops under the cliffs at Colleville sur Mer 398 14.11 Exit E-1, Omaha Beach, looking south 403 14.12 WN-64, Exit E-1, Omaha Beach 404 14.13 Exit E-1, overlooking WN-64 from the north 404 15.1 American cemetery at St Laurent 418 15.2 British cemetery at Bayeux 420 15.3 German cemetery at La Cambe 423 15.4 Easy Red, Omaha Beach, from the American cemetery 428

Acknowledgements This book has been in the making for over eight years. It began life as the final chapter to one of my previous books, The Arts of Leadership, but, like Topsy, it just grew. It has sat on various floors and computers half finished for about five of these years and only recently have I managed to find the time and motivation to finish it - thanks to Stephen Rutt for providing the last piece of the jigsaw. Many people have helped me in this marathon journey. Institutionally I would like to thank the ESRC, Templeton College and the SaId Business School at Oxford University, Lancaster University, and Cranfield University at the Defence Academy of the UK. Individually I would like to thank Mike Harper for many conversations about D-Day and his old unit; Hal Nelson for showing me round Normandy the first time; whoever the German train guard was that arrested me in 1971 in Germany for not having the appropriate papers and whose stories of his capture on D-Day by the British passed the small hours of the night away waiting for the next train; Sapper Anderson for his marvellous conversations, memories and letters about D-Day+2 when he arrived there; Connie Woolgar for alerting me to the role of the German-speaking British Commandos on D-Day; David Benest and Peter Gray at the Defence Academy for trying to put me straight on the military road to D-Day; Tara Moran for helping select the cover and keeping me organized; the many recipients of my various witterings over the years; Katy for providing the music via Past Perfect; Richie for advice on small arms; and finally Sandra, Beki, Simon and Kris for putting up with yet another holiday built around a book - sorry guys and gals! I would like to thank HMSO for permission to reproduce the maps. Vlll