Quote:
Originally posted by =SWM= Capt. FG@Aug 31 2004, 12:45 AM
But, another reason that the Americans got off relatively easy at the beaches is because that the Führer had taken sleeping pills the previous night. He did not want to be woken up and no one dared to give the order to move the tanks without consulting Hitler first. This was a major blunder which save the live of countless, and made the operation a sucess.
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Yes, I agree. This was a big factor and it goes right back to the command structure. Army Group B had a degree of tactical control of 21st Panzer, but panzer forces as a whole came under Panzer Group West, which was directly under OKW control, which is why they needed authority to be released. And with Hitler asleep, Keitel would not make this decision.
Not only that, but the commander of Panzer Group West disagreed with the idea of forward deployment in favour of a more "classical" panzer battle inland.