The Allied landings in 1944 had all the prospects for disaster.
Churchill thought he would be woken up to be told of massive casualties.
Eisenhower prepared a somber broadcast announcing that the enterprise
had failed.
The specter of failure was always present. After a failed landing the
Nazi regime would have regained the ascendant. New, terrifying bombs and
rockets were ready to be launched. Long-distance submarines were in the
final stage of development. The last million Jews of Europe were listed
for deportation and death.
Failure at Normandy could have given Hitler the chance of continuing to
rule western Europe, particularly if the United States, bloodied and
defeated in Normandy, had decided-after two and a half years of focusing
on Europe-to turn all its energies to the ever-growing demands of the
Pacific, leaving Europe to its own devices. Had that happened, I doubt
if I would have been alive to write this book, or free to express my
opinions without fear of arrest.
--Martin Gilbert