In early June 1944, poor weather conditions plagued Allied invasion planners.
Garrett M. Graff is a historian and the author, most recently, of “When the Sea Came Alive: An Oral History of D-Day,” from which the following is excerpted.
As June began and the first invasion ships were putting to sea, the Allied commanders decamped for Portsmouth on England’s southern coast and daily meetings at the British naval headquarters at Southwick House, where they’d make the final decision on whether to proceed. Preliminary forecasts for the invasion period were ominous — potentially historically bad. The channel was experiencing storms strong enough to devastate the invasion fleet long before it arrived in France.The whole north Atlantic Ocean area appeared to be filled with a succession of depressions, any one of which could blow into violence.
As I came out of Southwick House about midnight, Air Chief Marshal Tedder passed, lighting his pipe. He turned to me and, smiling, said, “Pleasant dreams, Stagg.” He knew that there could not even be sleep. Through the trees, we could see that the sky was almost clear and everything around was still and quiet.Maj. Gen. Francis “Freddie” de Guingand, chief of staff to Gen. Montgomery:
Lt. Robert Dale, flying officer, weather reconnaissance unit, RAF Station Wyton, Royal Canadian Air Force:
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