Extracts 'Eye-Witness D-Day'

Discussion in 'German' started by Pat Curran, Aug 17, 2018.

  1. Pat Curran

    Pat Curran Administrator
    Staff Member

    Oct 20, 2012
    2,547
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    Co. Kilkenny, Ireland
    Hi All,

    I have been reading 'Eye Witness D-Day - The Story of the Battle by Those Who Were There' by Jon E. Lewis and wish to share some of the personal accounts therein with Forum readers. The accounts sometimes have dates and locations mentioned, but often they are just general impressions of day to day life during the Normandy Campaign. Regardless, they are all poignant in nature. Readers are welcome to add information regarding individuals or units as we progress through the stories.

    Gunther Bloemertz, Luftwaffe [p144-145]
    'Our destination lay somewhere south of Paris, and no one but the Kapitan knew which airfield it was. As the Eiffel Tower thrust itself needle-like out of the mist over the French capital, we climbed higher and then, with the squadron leader ahead, dived with increased speed.

    'We'll land here,' he called through to us as we flew low across the dry earth of an airfield. 'Still much too far from Paris,' grumbled one of the night birds. But we landed all the same. The shining hulls of American bombers were drawing across the sky above us.

    'Where's our Sprit, Herr Major?' called the Kapitan from his cockpit as the Airfield Commander approached. This elderly officer could scarcely have seen a single aircraft land on his field in the whole war. Now he pointed significantly at the bombers.

    'There's Sprit,' he said.

    'We've got to have Sprit, Herr Major, Sprit - I repeat - otherwise we give up!' The Chief jumped angrily from his machine.

    'I have orders to fly operational sorties against the invasion from the your airfield. Your field has eighty thousand litres of petrol in its tanks for this purpose. My aircraft must be tanked up within an hour. We are armed for the sortie, and Le Bourget is sending ammunition for subsequent operations.'

    'Yes, I have eighty thousand litres of A3 here. You can have that.'

    'What! A3? eighty thousand litres of A3? That's crazy! You can drive your car with A3, Herr Major, but our aircraft won't get off the ground with it.'

    We stood round in dismay, thirsty men standing before a pool of poisoned water.

    So we didn't fly on.'


    Editor's note:
    The absence of the Luftwaffe over Normandy was a particular curse for those Wehrmacht and Waffen SS units making their way to the front, left completely at the mercy of Allied airpower. These units included the crack Panzer divisions, Lehr and 12th SS, which Berlin, after much prevarication, had agreed to mobilize in the afternoon. For Panzer Lehr it was a sacrificial journey.

    I presume the reference to 'Le Bourget' is referring to another German airfield. Anyone able to deduce any information from the narrative?

    Thanks,

    Pat
     

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