D-DAY Through German Eyes: The Most Terrifying Dawn of the War June 5th, 1944. Along the Normandy coast, German soldiers went to sleep. Field Marshal Rommel was driving home for his wife's birthday. The Luftwaffe's chief meteorologist had personally assured High Command that no invasion was possible for days. The storm made it impossible. 5,000 ships were already crossing the Channel. What followed was not just a military defeat. It was a complete institutional collapse — one of the most powerfu