Panzers near the coast

[Hagen]

What if Rommel did have the Panzer Divisions near the coast on D-Day. Would it have made any difference to the success of the landings? Or would the Allied air forces and naval guns carried the day in this situation also?

[Tom Houlihan]

The quick response is that it probably would have made the landings harder, but it probably wouldn't have stopped the invasion overall.

The Allied air forces still would have picked off the bulk of the armor, but at least some more of it would have arrived near the coast in the first hours of the invasion. The casualty count for the Allies would have been a lot higher.

It's an entirely fantasy scenario, but picture all the films you've ever seen of the beaches. Now superimpose several Panzer platoons driving down the various beaches in echelon formation. Even just one platoon per beach. Can you imagine the havoc? Naval gunfire support would be hesitant, as they'd be afraid of killing friendlies, just like the air support.

[Helmut Von Moltke]

An even more intresting 'what if' would be if the Rundsdedt/Schweppenberg plan of holding the Panzer Divisions for defense would have looked like. It is generally well known what happened at Caen with the I. SS-Panzerkorps and 21. Panzer-Division, despite Adolf Hitler's compromise with Rundsdedt/Schweppenburg and Rommel's plans. Again a fantasy scenario, but imagine all the 7 Panzer Divisions in defense mode, still generally intact?

K