I SS Panzer Corps

The German High Command was still locked in confusion about what to do with the panzer reserves. By mid-afternoon on 6 June, it was clear that the Normandy landing was in fact no feint. Although the Germans did not have precise information, Allied records showed that 55,000 men were firmly established ashore in five main bridgeheads. Only in the late afternoon were the first orders for counterattacks issued to the panzer reserves. The 21st Panzer Division was already in action north of Caen against the British bridgeheads. Accordingly, the Hitlerjugend and Panzer Lehr Divisions were ordered to move against the British beaches. They were under the command of "Sepp" Dietrich's I SS Panzer Corps.

The Leibstandarte Division remained in Belgium to counter the threat of an Allied landing in the Pas de Calais, the region that so dogged Hitler. In the meantime, the Das Reich and the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Divisions began moving northwards from southwest France. Despite their determination, it would be at least a week before they managed to reach the invasion front. It would also be six days until Hitler finally agreed to release II SS Panzer Corps from the Eastern Front. Far from being able to hammer the Allies with a knock-out blow, the Germans ended up committing their reserves piecemeal in a desperate bid to shore up a crumbling front.

Confusion reigns

While Dietrich was easily able to establish contact with his old comrade, Witt, he nevertheless had great problems in trying to link up with the 21st Panzer Division or the remnants of the infantry divisions resisting the British north of the large Norman city of Caen.

Dietrich and other staff officers from the Waffen-SS crisscrossed the German front in order to try to pull together some sort of cohesion. All during the night they worked out various formulae for counterattack plan after counterattack plan. But all of their plans were rapidly overtaken by events. The commander of the 21st Panzer Division could not be found at his command post, and this would frustrate further plans to mount a joint attack with the Hitlerjugend Division.

Of even more concern was the fact that the arrival of the Hitlerjugend Division was still stalled because of the chaotic conditions on the roads. The Panzer Lehr Division was even farther behind, and would not arrive at the front for days. In the meantime, thousands more Allied troops and tanks were rapidly pouring ashore.

The planned mass panzer attack for the following day had to be scrapped. The most that could be expected was for the Hitlerjugend Division to go in, with support from 21st Panzer. The first kampfgruppe of the Hitlerjugend Division to reach the front was based on the 25th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment, commanded by the famous SS-Standartenführer Kurt "Panzer" Meyer.

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