This is week (June 6) includes the 79th anniversary of D-Day, the greatest military landing ever. There are many stories to be told about the Allies’ invasion of Normandy including one about a quiet skirmish several days before the landing. The firepower was provided by words rather than bullets.
As the Allies prepared for the invasion across the English Channel, anxiety was high. American General Dwight Eisenhower, the overall joint invasion commander, had lots to worry about including a call he received from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The Prime Minister informed Eisenhower that he planned to personally be a part of the invasion. Eisenhower protested. He did not want the responsibility of protecting an allied Head of Government from being obliterated by a stray cannon shell. Churchill, who earlier in his career had Naval administrative experience as First Lord of the Admiralty, argued that as Prime Minister he had the right to be on board a British Navy ship.
What to do? In skirmishes the combatants are often forced to make sudden decisions. Eisenhower used the heavy artillery: He called King George VI. As the story goes, the monarch did not like Churchill’s plan either. The king assured the general that he would handle the situation. George in effect knee-capped Winston telling the Prime Minister that he had heard about his D-Day plans. Then came the explosion. George VI told Churchill that he wanted to go along with him.
No Prime Minister wants to risk bringing his king to battle, so Churchill symbolically waved the white flag. During the invasion, both men heard details about the landings from the sidelines, where they needed to be.
Several historians would write about the incident, with various degrees of interpretation. Most notable was Stephen Ambrose. By the time of the landings’ 50th anniversary in 1994, Ambrose had made a name for himself as a Professor at the University of New Orleans. He had written profusely about the war and had a link with Eisenhower as a source.
Through that connection New Orleans shipbuilder Andrew Higgins would be sanctified. Eisenhower, as quoted by Ambrose, credited Higgins as being the person who won the war for the Allies.
While there will always be discussion about exactly who said what about whom, there is no question that the New Orleans region was a perfect laboratory for building a boat that could carry troops from a ship in the ocean to landing on a beach. Higgins explained that he was inspired by the swamp boats he saw working the shallow waters of Louisiana. Lake Pontchartrain’s shorelines would become a model for the Normandy beaches.
Because of Ambrose’s influence the National World War II Museum would be built in a building that once housed Higgins activities. A new hotel across the street is called The Higgins.
Cities would be remembered for different roles in the war. Philadelphia, because of its shipping capacity toward the Atlantic, would be known as the Arsenal of Democracy. Three thousand mails to the west, San Diego would be the major departure port for the Pacific War. New Orleans, because of the museum, is emerging as the war’s archive.
Nearby, close to the Four Seasons Hotel, is an imposing nine foot statue of Churchill flashing a V for victory sign. Significantly he is wearing a naval officers cap. His passions always belonged with the war ships. No matter what the king would say.
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