Читать книгу Remembering D-day: Personal Histories of Everyday Heroes - Martin Bowman - Страница 58

0415, 5 June 1944

With no basic changes to the weather pattern described the previous day, Eisenhower turns to General Montgomery and asks whether he could see any reason for not going on Tuesday, to which Montgomery replies, ‘I would say – Go!’ The other commanders agree. ‘OK’ says Eisenhower; ‘We’ll go.’ A coded wireless message sent out by the BBC instructs the French Resistance to cut railway lines throughout France. German intelligence, which had partially broken the code, warns Rommel’s HQ but in his absence it seems to have been ignored. Of 1,050 planned breaches of rail lines by the Resistance, 950 are carried out.

The Allied Commanders. Back Row L-R: Lt General Omar N. Bradley; Admiral Sir Bertram H. Ramsay, Allied Naval Commander; Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford L. Leigh-Mallory, C-in-C AEAF; Major General Walter Bedell Smith, Chief of Staff SHAEF. Seated L-R: Air Chief Sir Marshal A. W. Tedder, Deputy Supreme Commander; General Dwight D. Eisenhower Supreme Commander, and General Sir Bernard L. Montgomery. C-in-C Land Forces, CO 21st Army Group.

U.S Army

Five Fortresses of 214 Squadron operated in support of the D-Day operation in an ABC (Airborne Cigar) jamming role. A protective patrol lasting over five hours was flown at 27,000 feet starting just north and east of Dieppe and running almost perpendicular to the coastline carrying out jamming and Window dropping in conjunction with 24 Lancasters of 101 Squadron of 1 Group. One Lancaster was shot down. The patrol was outstandingly successful and earned a personal congratulation to all concerned by Arthur Harris to whom he pointed out that ‘the work carried out was of paramount importance in connection with the Invasion Forces’.