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(Kennedy McConnell was an R.A.F. electrical engineer working on the Turing designed "Bombe" decoding machines. In 2003 he produced a professionally filmed lecture series, which has been copied on to videotape and DVD. The full series, comprising approximately seven hours of detailed historical analysis, can be viewed at Dundee Central Library. There are additional copies of the film at the Bletchley Park Trust, the Scottish National Museum, the Imperial War Museum and the National War Museums of America, Australia, and Canada. An abstract of Part 5 follows).

BATTLE FOR CAEN
Montgomery failed to reach Caen by the end of D-Day. However, he realised that the city must be captured to unblock the route to the east. Consequently, he launched three offensives during June and July 1944. The first two were beaten back by panzers and the British sustained heavy losses in men and tanks. Ultra warned before the third assault, code named ‘Operation Goodwood’. that Rommel had organised a ten miles deep defensive zone. Three British armoured divisions were badly mauled. Caen was occupied on 10th July but Rommel prevented a breakthrough by retaining Bourguebus Ridge on east side of the River Orne.

WESTERN BREAKOUT
Runstedt was sacked by Hitler on 2nd July 1944 for suggesting that making peace was his only realistic option. Replacement was von Kluge. Rommel was badly injured on 17th July when his staff car was strafed by a Typhoon. Ultra confirmed that the concentration of panzers in the Caen sector had left the western end of the German front weakly defended. Consequently, Bradley was able to launch an American offensive, code named ‘Operation Cobra’, at St.Lo on 25th July. After intensive bombing of the panzers, Patton broke through the remaining defences and made rapid progress to reach Avranches by 30th July. Kluge realised that the German forces were in danger of being trapped but Hitler refused to allow him to retreat to the east.

FALAISE POCKET
Ultra reported on 3rd August that Hitler had ordered Kluge to launch a panzer attack from Mortain to Avranches. Objective was to reach west coast and cut off the American spearhead. This incredible plan was doomed because Bradley was forewarned by Ultra and mounted a counter attack. Hitler still refused permission for Kluge to withdraw. Result was that 100,000 German troops were trapped in the Falaise pocket. Allied air and ground forces attacked incessantly and enemy losses were disastrous. Only 20,000 escaped. Kluge was blamed by Hitler, so he committed suicide. His replacement was Field Marshall Walter Model.

OPERATION DRAGOON
Code name for American and French landings on Riviera coast on 15th August 1944. Operation was planned originally to coincide with D-Day landings but shortage of tank landing craft caused long delay. Objectives were to relieve pressure on Allied forces in Normandy and gain access to ports of Marseilles and Toulon. Resistance was slight and Ultra reported on 17th August that Hitler had ordered Model to organise withdrawal to Swiss frontier. Both ports were captured by 28th August. Allied north and south fronts met at Dijon on 12th September.

SCHELDT ESTUARY
British troops captured the port of Antwerp with the docks intact on 4th September 1944. Ultra revealed that Hitler had ordered that Scheldt Estuary be fortified and resolutely defended to prevent access to the docks. Eisenhower and Montgomery ignored these Ultra warnings and drove on towards the Rhine. Allied armies had still to rely on supplies being transported 350 miles by road from Cherbourg. Consequently, the Allied offensive stalled. Canadian troops started clearing the 50 miles long Scheldt Estuary on 13th October but suffered 13,000 casualties against stubborn resistance. Antwerp was not operational until 28th November.

MARKET GARDEN
Code name for a massive airborne operation mounted by Montgomery on 17th September. Objective was to outflank the Siegfried Line. Battle plan was for American paratroops to capture key bridges over canals at Eindhoven and Nijmegen.

British paratroops were to seize and hold bridge at Arnhem until relieved by armoured and infantry divisions. Ultra warned that two panzer divisions were refitting in Arnhem area but this intelligence was ignored by Montgomery. The RAF insisted that the dropping zones were located eight miles from target to avoid anti-aircraft fire. Model happened to be stationed near Arnhem and rapidly organised heavy attacks on the lightly armed paratroops. Airborne reinforcements were delayed by bad weather. Communication broke down because radios failed to work. Panzers prevented British tanks and infantry from reaching Arnhem in time to rescue hard pressed paratroops. Despite desperate resistance, the operation had to be aborted on 25th September. Several thousand men escaped across the Rhine but the wounded were abandoned. Allied casualties and POW totalled 10,000.

BATTLE OF THE BULGE
Allied commanders were deluded by their success during Autumn of 1944. They concluded that Germany would be defeated by Christmas. This euphoria caused them to ignore repeated Ultra reports of movement of panzers, infantry and aircraft to the Ardennes area during October and November. Consequently, the American front line in the Ardennes was poorly defended and vulnerable. Germans achieved tactical surprise when their Ardennes offensive began with a heavy artillery barrage on 16th December 1944.

Hitler’s objective was to recapture Antwerp and drive a wedge between the British and American armies. Two panzer armies made rapid progress during initial stages of the battle because Bradley had failed to provide adequate defence. Another factor was the bad weather which grounded the Allied air forces. Eisenhower reacted by rushing armoured and infantry reinforcements to the front. The enemy advance was halted a few miles short of the River Meuse. The distended shape of the front lines at that stage resulted in the description: ‘The Battle of the Bulge’. German commandos dressed as American soldiers caused havoc behind the American lines. Those captured were shot as spies. The key junction town of Bastoigne was surrounded on 20th December and attacked repeatedly. General McAuliffe, commander of the 101st American airborne division, refused to surrender. The Bastoigne garrison held out until Boxing Day 1944 when Patton lifted the siege.

The Allies mounted counter attacks from the north, west and south on 3rd January 1945. Heavy fighting continued in severe winter weather until 28th January. The Americans suffered heavily with 80,000 dead, wounded or missing. Their sacrifice is commemorated by a magnificent war memorial situated on a hill overlooking Bastoigne. The Germans lost 100,000 men. They also lost 800 tanks and 1,000 aircraft.

FATAL GAMBLE
The Ardennes offensive was Hitler’s last gamble. Against the advice of his most experienced generals he had squandered irreplaceable resources which could have been saved to defend Germany against the inevitable Allied onslaught.

WASTED WARNINGS
From D-Day to the Ardennes, Ultra kept the Allied commanders informed of enemy tactics and strategy. Most decoded Enigma signals reached them within less than twenty four hours. Unfortunately, many vital warnings were disregarded. These top level blunders allowed the Germans to reorganise their defences and prolonged the campaign.

Kennedy McConnell via Dundee Central Library

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