@ PLAN D
Hello Gentlemen,
this might clarify some things!
Rundstedt was recalled to active duty in March 1942 as Commander in Chief West once more. Hitler's "divide and rule" policy, however, meant that Rundstedt, to his frustration, had direct authority only for defending the coast of occupied western Europe against invasion. A further problem was the low quality of troops assigned to him, with better formations being constantly moved to combat crises in other theatres. Matters improved when Hitler issued his Directive No. 51 in November 1943 and gave greater priority to the defence of the West. Even so, Rundstedt was suspicious of Erwin Rommel's appointment as commander in chief of Army Group B, since he did not consider him suited to such a high command. The main point of issue between the two was the location of the panzer reserves, but, in fact, the argument was more between Rommel and Leo Geyr Von Schweppenburg, who commanded them under the umbrella of Panzer
Group West. Although Rundstedt 's compromise solution of allotting some armour to Rommel to deploy close to the coast satisfied neither Rommel nor Geyr, Rundstedt and Rommel did make good their differences before the invasion took place.
Rundstedt kept an open mind regarding where the invasion would take place, believing that it could come anywhere between Boulogne and Normandy. Like the other German commanders, he thought that it would be mounted in May and was taken by surprise when OVERLORD began, having been about to set out from his headquarters in Paris on an inspection of the south-western part of the Cotentin Peninsula. He was content to give Rommel a free hand over the conduct of operations and devoted much of D-day to persuading Armed Forces High Command (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht3/4OKW) to release Panzer Group West to him. He was not prepared, however, to allow Rommel to use the two panzer divisions positioned north of the Seine, for fear that the main invasion was still to come. It soon became clear to both Rundstedt and Rommel that, having failed to prevent the Allies from establishing a beachhead, it was imperative to withdraw from Normandy to a more defendable line. They argued this to Hitler at Margival, near Soissons, on 17 June, but Hitler refused to listen. Rundstedt continued to pressure OKW over withdrawing his forces, so much so that on 3 July he was replaced by the more pliable Field Marshal Hans Günther von Kluge.
I know all this because i am a warrior tank commander in the british army and the tactics we use today we have taken from the germans during WW2 as they were the leading taticians in that time.
Questions, problems, quiries?