On his arrival he had assessed the existing defences in the region and immediately began the process of improving them, particularly those situated inland as he believed no more than thirty percent of the German defences were adequate.
Efter sin ankomst vurderede han de eksisterende forsvarsstillinger i regionen og var straks begyndt at forbedre dem, især dem inde i landet, da han mente, at ikke mere end 30 % af de tyske forsvarsstillinger var tilstrækkelig gode.