Das Reich

Das Reich division was supposed to arrive at Normandy at D+3.

Shadow Knights Gary Kamiya 2010

But by June 30, when the last Das Reich units finally began fighting, that chance was gone.

Shadow Knights Gary Kamiya 2010

This act of sabotage was a big part of the reason that it took Das Reich two weeks longer than it should have to arrive in Normandy.

Shadow Knights Gary Kamiya 2010

After Das Reich and other German units crossed the Loire, they were savaged by Allied fighter-bombers, which enjoyed virtually unchallenged dominance of the air.

Shadow Knights Gary Kamiya 2010

In the picturesque town of Tulle, Das Reich troops rounded up the citizenry and methodically hanged 99 innocent local men from lampposts.

Shadow Knights Gary Kamiya 2010

At 8:30 a.m. on June 8, outside Groslejac, a tiny hamlet on the Dordogne River in one of the most beautiful parts of France, Das Reich first came under fire.

Shadow Knights Gary Kamiya 2010

Confused and indecisive, German commanders did not order Das Reich to begin moving north until June 7, and it was not until dawn on June 8—D+2—that the vast convoy got under way.

Shadow Knights Gary Kamiya 2010

British intelligence assumed that Das Reich could make it to Normandy by D+3 —three days after D-Day.

Shadow Knights Gary Kamiya 2010

“Das Reich,” as the division was called, was not the invincible fighting machine it once was.

Shadow Knights Gary Kamiya 2010

Leaving this terrible charnel house behind them, Das Reich moved north again—only to face new attacks.

Shadow Knights Gary Kamiya 2010