General Dwight D. Eisenhower Announces He Has Been Called to Washington by President Roosevelt and General George C. Marshall to Begin the Planning of Operation Overlord – “D-Day”

He says this in his farewell letter to Free French Leader Henri Giraud, once an American favorite but who had been squeezed out of power by Charles de Gaulle

Ike regrets Giraud’s demotion, but stresses his new work doing the “very many and important tasks you have in creating a balanced military fighting machine. Again permit me to express my regret and to wish you every success.”

Henri Giraud commanded the French 9th Army during the Battle of France and was taken prisoner on May 18, 1940. He escaped confinement in Konigstein, Germany in April 1942 and made his way to Vichy. He supported Petain’s National Revolution but refused to collaborate with the Germans. Giraud escaped and was picked up by a British submarine and taken to Gibraltar on the eve of the Allied landings in North Africa. The Americans, who were put off by Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Free French, were anxious to find an alternative to him and planned to install Giraud as governor and commander of French military forces. Though the British, who knew De Gaulle was popular in France, were more circumspect about him than the Americans, the Allies bestowed the title of Civil and Military Governor of French North and West Africa on Giraud. The Free French refused to accept the imposition. De Gaulle and Giraud were summoned to Casablanca for the conference in January 1943.

The Casablanca Conference was held at the Anfa Hotel in Casablanca in French Morocco from January 14 to 24, 1943, to plan the Allied European strategy for the next phase of World War II. In attendance were President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Also attending were the sovereign of Morocco Sultan, and representing the French, both Generals Charles de Gaulle and Henry Giraud. There Roosevelt insisted the French reach an accommodation or lose American support. Roosevelt and Churchill effected a public rapprochement between Giraud, who was effectively the French Military and Civil Commander in Chief, and de Gaulle, but the two men remained at odds.

On February 6, 1943, Lt. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was named commander of the Allied armies in the African theater of operations (Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco), based on a decision made by President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill at Casablanca. Previously, Eisenhower’s command was limited to U.S. forces in North Africa.

The upshot of the negotiations at Casablanca was an Allied understanding that a program to equip the French Army should be started immediately. In a February 23, 1943, letter to Giraud, Eisenhower first stressed the United States Government’s desire and policy to equip the French forces properly as fast as shipping be allocated for that purpose. The principle of a rearmament had been recognized by the American government and made the subject of an explicit statement Eisenhower had made on behalf of the U.S. government.

In May 1943, de Gaulle was fighting for pre-eminence among the expatriate French factions based in North Africa, and the Americans were backing Giraud. On June 3, 1943, the French Committee of National Liberation accepted an arrangement under which generals Giraud and de Gaulle would serve as co-presidents. Two weeks later, General Eisenhower, for the purpose of coordinating military operations with the French Army based in North Africa, met with both generals and insisted that the control of the French forces remain in the hands of Giraud. Although Eisenhower tried to deliver this message gently, his point angered General de Gaulle, who viewed Eisenhower’s demand as a breach of French sovereignty. By autumn, de Gaulle had won the power struggle for leadership of the Free French movement, but the Americans and British were not resigned to the result.

De Gaulle made an attempt to reassure the Allies that he could be trusted by winning some credit with Eisenhower. The two men met at the end of 1943 to sort out a serious difficulty that had blown up over the deployment of French forces in Italy. In November, a French Expeditionary Force of two French divisions had been sent to Italy to join the American Fifth Army. This French force, formed out of the regular French army in North Africa, had been armed by the Americans. It gave the French their first opportunity to play a serious role in the war. The next French division to go to Italy was assumed to be one of the original Free French divisions commanded by Diego Brosset, but since his unit had been equipped by the British it was difficult to integrate into an American army. Giraud had done nothing to re-equip it with American matériel because he did not want to divert resources from what he saw as ‘his’ and not de Gaulle’s divisions. When the American high command refused to accept the Brosset division as is, Giraud offered another division of the regular army, the 9th Colonial, one supported by Eisenhower. But De Gaulle overruled this decision. This was not merely a skirmish against Giraud: it would have been a terrible blow to the morale of the Free French officers to be excluded from the fighting in Italy. Giraud was forced out of the co-presidency in November 1943. Eisenhower in turn overruled de Gaulle and threatened to suspend the entire French rearmament program. All the ingredients of a major crisis were in place.

In mid-December Giraud wrote Eisenhower confirming French refusal to send the 9th Colonial, and Eisenhower responded expressing concern at the decision. Eisenhower notes that Giraud had originally proposed the 1st Motorized Infantry Division under General Diego Brosset, but that since they were equipped with British equipment, it would be overly cumbersome to create useful supply lines. This caused the French to change course and re-equip Brosset, which pleased Ike. But Giraud was on the way out and in a matter of months would be gone.

On the last day of December, Eisenhower wrote his farewell letter to Giraud, and this is that very letter. In it, he expresses his regret, and also informs Giraud that he (Ike) was being called home urgently. This would prove to relate to Operation Overlord. Typed letter signed, on his Allied Force Headquarters letterhead, December 31, 1943, to Giraud. “An emergency situation has arisen which demands my immediate presence in Washington. I truly regret leaving without the opportunity for telling you goodbye, especially as upon my return here I will remain possibly only a few hours before leaving for the United Kingdom.

“I have just learned that you are re-arming the Brosset Division with American equipment as rapidly as possible. Nothing could be better news to me. It evidences again your readiness to sacrifice some of your own desires in order to promote the best interests of France and of complete understanding among the Allies.

“Permit me to congratulate you upon the acquisition of General de Lattre de Tassigny as a subordinate. He called on me recently and made a most favorable impression. I feel sure that in him you have a man to whom you can turn over much of the field work in the organizing, training and fighting of the French Forces to leave you free for the very many and important tasks you have in creating a balanced military fighting machine. Again permit me to express my regret and to wish you every success.”

The emergency Ike mentions related to planning of Operation Overlord, the Allied Landing in France. On January 2, 1944, Ike arrived in Washington. General George Marshal had ordered him to rest before beginning the planning for Operation Overlord, but the trip was hardly relaxing. Ike met with Marshall and President Roosevelt about Overlord. He and Mamie paid a hurried visit to son John at West Point and then spent a few days alone together. When Eisenhower arrived in London two weeks later, it was a great relief. Finally, he could get to real detailed planning!

Ike threw himself and his staff into planning the Allied invasion of France. Hitler had had four years to fortify the French coast, and predictions of Allied casualties were high. But Ike and his commanders grew steadily more confident that spring. Allied bombing was having an impact in the West and the Red Army steadily gained ground in the East. On June 1, Ike moved his command post from London to Portsmouth, where he lived in a tiny trailer that he christened “my circus wagon.” It was here that he gave the go-ahead for a June 5 landing which was called back due to bad weather. Ike’s meteorologist forecast a brief window of clear weather for June 6. Sensing that it was now or never, in the early morning of June 5, Ike gave the order, “OK, let’s go.” Operation Overlord occurred on June 6, 1944 – D-Day, and was a great success.