As the Luftwaffe meteorological centre in Paris had predicted two weeks of stormy weather , some Wehrmacht commanders was away from the front attending war games in Rennes , and many soldiers had been given leave . On D @-@ Day , Rommel was in Germany for his wife 's birthday and a meeting with Hitler to try to get more Panzers . The 352nd and 716th Divisions was placed on high alert after the Allied airborne landings , which had taken just after midnight behind Utah and Sword . The 2 @,@ 700 @-@ strong Kampfgruppe Meyer , near Bayeux as the divisional reserve , was sent to investigate the parachute drops behind Utah . Marcks recalled them when dawn broke and the scope of the invasion became apparent . One battalion was ordered to reinforce the German efforts at Omaha . The remainder was ordered to rendezvous with reinforcements at Villiers le Sec , 7 @.@ 5 miles ( 12 @.@ 1 km ) east of Bayeux , to launch a counter @-@ attack . Fired upon by Allied air forces , the column finally arrived in the late afternoon , at which time they was met by elements of the 69th Brigade . The British lost four tanks in the ensuing engagement but the Kampfgruppe was almost completely wiped out . Meyer was killed , and his detailed maps of German coastal emplacements fell into British hands .