How Mrs Rommel’s birthday do helped us win the war
THE nation’s most distinguished soldier has revealed a little-known factor that helped Britain gain a crucial foothold during the invasion of Normandy – Rommel was away at his wife’s birthday.
In a rare public speaking engagement, D-Day veteran Lord Bramall offered a fascinating insight into the fateful landings – and how the absence of the famed Nazi general hamstrung German defence efforts. The retired Field Marshal shared his wartime memories before a sell- out crowd at the close of the Chalke Valley History Festival, sponsored by the Daily Mail.
A former Chief of the Defence Staff, who oversaw victory over Argentina in the Falklands War, the 92-year-old confessed he still retained an ‘enthusiasm for the fray’ by 1944. He described being filled with ‘a tremendous mixture of excitement and apprehension’ before D-Day, and being impressed by the ground won in the early stages of that great offensive.
Only later, he said, did the reasons for the Germans’ relative disarray become clear.
‘Rommel was away at his wife’s birthday,’ he said to roars of laughter, ‘while the commander of 21 Panzer was in Paris with his mistress, so very luckily they got off to a bit of a slow start.’
Lord Bramall also expanded on the quality gap between British and German small arms and uniforms. ‘ In every respect the Germans had better equipment than we did.
‘God knows our clothing was as appalling as it could be. It got saturated in the rain ... the boots were terrible, we all had to buy our own. But the Germans had marvellous