The Last Prussian
Page 1
THE LAST PRUSSIAN
A Biography of Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt
General Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt.
THE
LAST PRUSSIAN
A Biography of
Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt
CHARLES MESSENGER
Pen & Sword
MILITARY
First published in Great Britain in 1991
Reprinted in this format in 2012 by
Pen & Sword Military
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
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Copyright © Charles Messenger, 1991, 2011
ISBN 978 1 84884 662 3
The right of Charles Messenger to be identified as author
of this work has been asserted by him in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
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available from the British Library
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Contents
LIST OF MAPS
CHRONOLOGY
Introduction
Introduction to the New Edition
1.
Early Life
2.
The First World War
3.
The Weimar Years
4.
Enter Hitler
5.
Poland
6.
Assault in the West
7.
Invasion Talk
8.
Russia 1941
9.
Return to France
10.
Normandy and the Bomb Plot
11.
Recalled Once More
12.
The Last Battles
13.
Prisoner of War
14.
War Criminal
15.
The Twilight Years
16.
The Reckoning
APPENDIX ONE THE VON RUNDSTEDT FAMILY TREE
APPENDIX TWO DECORATIONS AWARDED TO GERD VON RUNDSTEDT
SOURCE NOTES
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
SYMBOLS
The formation symbols shown below have been used in this book. Where special symbols have been needed, these are shown in the Key to the appropriate map.
LIST OF MAPS
MAP 1. Imperial German Corps Boundaries up until November 1918.
MAP 2.
Battle of the Marne.
MAP 3.
The Eastern Front 1915–1917.
MAP 4.
Wehrkreis Boundaries 1921–1935.
MAP 5.
Wehrkreis Boundaries 1939.
MAP 6.
The Drive to the Channel, May 1940.
MAP 7.
Russia, 1941.
MAP 8.
German Dispositions in the West, 6 June 1944.
MAP 9.
The West, September–December 1944.
Gerd von Rundstedt Chronology
12 December 1875 Born, Aschersleben
1 April 1888 Entered junior cadet college at Oranienstein
Spring 1890 Entered higher cadet college at Lichterfelde
22 March 1892 Appointed Portepee Fähnrich in 83rd Infantry Regiment, Kassel
17 June 1893 Commissioned Lieutenant, 83rd Infantry Regiment
1 October 1896 Adjutant, 3rd Battalion 83rd Infantry Regiment, Arolsen
1 October 1900 Adjutant, 83rd Infantry Regiment, Kassel
1 October 1901 Promoted Senior Lieutenant (Oberleutnant)
22 January 1902 Married Luise (Bila) von Goetz
21 January 1903 Hans Gerd born
1 October 1903 Student Kriegsakademie, Berlin
1 April 1907 Attached Grosse Generalstab, Berlin
24 March 1909 Promoted Captain on the Grosse Generalstab
1 October 1910 HQ XI Corps, Kassel
1 October 1912 Company commander 171st Infantry Regiment, Colmar
30 July 1914 Chief of Operations (1a), HQ 22nd Reserve Division, Western Front
Autumn 1914 Fell sick
28 November 1914 Promoted Major
1 December 1914 Military Government, Antwerp
1 April 1915 Chief of Staff, 86th Infantry Division, Eastern Front
July 1915 Fell sick
5 September 1915 Chief of Administration and Logistics (1b), Military Government, Warsaw
1 November 1916 Chief of Operations HQ XXV Reserve Corps, Eastern Front
1 October 1917 Chief of Staff HQ LIII Corps, Eastern Front
1 August 1918 Chief of Staff XV Corps, Western Front
December 1918 Grosse Generalstab
1 October 1919 HQ Wehrkreis V, Stuttgart
1 May 1920 Chief of Staff HQ 3rd Cavalry Division, Weimar
1 October 1920 Promoted Lieutenant Colonel
1 March 1923 Promoted Colonel
1 October 1923 Chief of Staff Wehrkreis II and HQ 2nd Infantry Division, Stettin
1 May 1925 Commander 18th Infantry Regiment, Paderborn
1 October 1926 Chief of Staff Gruppenkommando 2, Kassel
1 November 1927 Promoted Major General
1 October 1928 Commander 2nd Cavalry Division, Breslau
1 March 1929 Promoted Lieutenant General
1 February 1932 Commander Wehrkreis III, Berlin
1 October 1932 Promoted General of Infantry and Commander-in-Chief Gruppenkommando 1, Berlin
1 March 1938 Promoted Colonel General
1 November 1938 Retired and appointed Colonel 18th Infantry Regiment
May 1939 Appointed to head Arbeitstab von Rundstedt
23 August 1939 Commander-in-Chief Army Group South, Eastern Front
1 October 1939 Commander-in-Chief East
25 October 1939 Commander-in-Chief Army Group A, Western Front
19 July 1940 Promoted General Field Marshal
1 October 1940 Commander-in-Chief West
10 June 1941 Commander-in-Chief Army Group South, Eastern Front
5 December 1941 Führer-Reserve OKH
15 March 1942 Commander-in-Chief West and Army Group D
2 July 1944 Führer-Reserve OKH
5 September 1944 Commander-in-Chief West
9 March 1945 Führer-Reserve OKH
1 May 1945 Captured, Bad Tölz
10 July 1945 To England
15 May–
19 August 1946 Nuremberg
12 January 1948 Death of Hans Gerd
23 July 1948 To Germany
29 August 1948 Formally declared a war criminal and discharged from the Wehrmacht
1 January 1949 Formally presented with detailed war crimes charges
5 May 1949 Declared medically unfit to plead and released from captivity
4 October 1952 Death of Bila
24 February 1953 Died, Hannover
Introduction
If there was one man who appeared to personify the traditional Prussian image, it was General Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt. During the Second World War, the Western Allies widely regarded him as the most outstanding of the German generals, while those Germans who strove to remove Hitler and all he stood for, but did not know von Rundstedt well, looked to him to provide the lead in any military action which might be taken against the régime. They viewed him as the personification of all that was good about the Prussian Junker class, but never forgave him for not taking an active part in resistance to Hitler, an attitude which exists in Germany to this day.
It is, however, surprising that no one has examined von Rundstedt in any depth until now. True, there have been two biographies of him. One was by his erstwhile Chief of Staff, Günther Blumentritt, but this, as will be seen, was written for a particular purpose, and begged more questions than it answered. The second, by that distinguished military historian John Keegan, was a slim volume, part of a large paperback series on the Second World War, which allowed the author neither the time nor the scope to explore his subject in any depth. Von Rundstedt, too, has had numerous entries, ranging from a few lines to complete chapters, in various biographical dictionaries and essay collections. Some have been grossly inaccurate, relying largely on Allied wartime propaganda for their facts, but the general verdict has been that he was an enigmatic character and it has been left at that.
As with my earlier biography of Sepp Dietrich, Hitler’s Gladiator, this has not been an easy biography to write. Von Rundstedt kept no diary and wrote no autobiography. Nevertheless, the discovery of some of his letters to his wife and of the majority of the annual efficiency reports made on him have gone some way towards helping to establish his inner character. Even so, typical of his class, he was never one to reveal his innermost thoughts willingly and it has often only been possible to surmise the rationale behind some of his actions. What, however, has made this study especially rewarding for me has been the opportunity to examine events which were often comparatively well known from a fresh perspective. In some cases, this has caused me to alter my views on them. In order to get the significance of Gerd von Rundstedt’s life story and military career into perspective, I have perforce had to set it against the broad canvas of the whole course of German history since the turn of the century, with special emphasis being placed upon the tempestuous years of the Hitler era. Across the face of that canvas, von Rundstedt’s own contribution runs like a thread (more visible at some times than at others) through the coarser weave of his country’s story.
As is inevitable with a book like this, it could not have been written without the help of numerous individuals and institutions. With regard to the latter, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the assistance given by the follow-ing – Berlin Document Centre; Bundesarchiv, Koblenz; Bundesarchiv-Militdmrchiv, Freiburg am Breisgau; Deutsche Adelsarchiv, Marburg; Deutsche Dienstelle (WASt), Berlin; Imperial War Museum, London (Departments of Documents, Printed Books and Photographs); Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King’s College, London; Institut fir Zeitgeschichte, Munich; The London Library; National Archives, Washington DC (Military Archives and Textual Reference Divisions); Public Record Office, London; Wandsworth Public Library, London (Battersea and West Hill branches).
In terms of individuals, my most grateful thanks go to the following: Antony Beevor, Klaus Benseler, Tom Bower, Stephen W Bumball, Miss R Campbell (Librarian, St Antony’s College, Oxford), Peter Calvocoressi, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Clements MC, Elizabeth Crookenden, Philip J Davies, the Editors of the Eastern Daily Press, Glamorgan Gazette and Westmorlazd Gazette for publishing my letters, Jean Feather, R M Forrester (Honorary Secretary The Ambleside Oral History Group), Helmut Guetler, Professor Nigel Hamilton, P J Holt-Wilson, Joseph Hutchinson, J lorweth Davies (Assistant Director of Education, Mid Glamorgan County Council), Dr Tom Jefferson, Colonel Vincent M Lockhart USAR (Retd), Charles A Lusby Sr, David Littlejohn, my elder daughter Emma Messenger, R A Nightingale, the late ‘Bunny’ Pantcheff, Jonathan Prickett of The History Bookshop, London, Ernie Ridgway, Professor Doktor Jurgen Rohwer of the Bibliothek für Zeitgeschickte, Stuttgart, Ian Sayer, The Rt Hon Lord Shawcross GBE PC, Matthew Barry Sullivan, Professor Telford Taylor, Elgiva Thomas, Olive Wilson, and Professor Earl F Ziemke.
I would, however, like to single out Lothar Schaefer for special mention. As with Hitler’s Gladiator, Lothar was of invaluable help, both in translation of German documents and in research at various German archives. He also acted as a most perceptive sounding board for my ideas and theories.
Finally, very special thanks are due to three of Field Marshal von Rundstedt’s grandchildren. Barbara Papanastassiou answered numerous questions by letter, while Oberstleutnant Gerd von Rundstedt and his wife Catharina, in the company of his brother Eberhard, warmly entertained my wife and myself at their house. The brothers not only told me much about their grandfather, but also allowed me to inspect his archive and copied numerous documents and photographs for me. All three grandchildren have enabled me to put much flesh on the bones of my subject and without their help it would have been immeasurably more difficult, if not impossible, to probe the depths of the Field Marshal’s character. It remains for me to sincerely hope that they will not feel that their generosity towards me was misplaced.
London, 1990 CHARLES MESSENGER
Introduction to the New Edition
Since The Last Prussian was first published twenty years ago there have been a number of excellent studies of German field marshals of the Second World War, the most recent being General Mungo Melvin’s superb biography of Erich von Manstein. These have helped us to further understand how these doyens of the ancien regime operated under Hitler’s thrall. Even so, I see no reason to make any radical changes to what I originally wrote on von Rundstedt, whom I continue to consider to be the epitome of the traditional Prussian officer corps, with all its virtues and its failings. I have, however, corrected a number of minor errors and misprints. To this end I am most grateful to all those who took the trouble to write to me with helpful and constructive comments after reading the original edition. My deep gratitude must also go to Jamie Wilson of Pen & Sword Books for making this new edition possible.
London, 2011
CHARLES MESSENGER
1
Early Life
THE NAME Rundstedt is derived from the German for ‘round town’ or fortress. The family that bears it has traditionally been part of the Uradel, the ancienne noblesse of the Prussian aristocracy, membership of which requires documentary evidence that the family’s lineage stretches back to at least the year 1350. A Berengarus de Ronstede is recorded as early as 1109, and a century later his descendant Rudolphus de Ronstede was alive.1 Berengarus was Grand Steward to the Bishop of Halberstadt, which lies north-east of the Harz Mountains, and it was in this region that the family largely settled. One branch acquired an estate near Stendal, just west of the River Elbe and some seventy miles west of Berlin, in 1331. Gerd von Rundstedt’s side of the family was descended from Rudolphus. By the end of the 16th century, it had established itself in two estates, Badingen and Schönfeld, near Helmstedt, midway between Brunswick and Magdeburg. During the Cold War years after 1945, Helmstedt became well known as one of the few official crossing points over the Inner German Border, but the von Rundstedt estates themselves lay just inside East Germany and so were lost to the family in 1945.
Apart from managing their estates, the von Rundstedts, like their fellow members of the nobility, also pursued the military profession, serving both in the armies of the German states and as mercenari
es. Thus, a Hans von Rundstedt reached high rank in the service of William of Orange during his wars against the Spanish in the 16th century. Two hundred years later, a Joachim von Rundstedt was with the Hessians in the English service in Scotland at the time of the rising of the Young Pretender, more popularly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie. The Hessians, though, took no part in the fighting. On the direct line of descent to Gerd von Rundstedt was Gebhard von Rundstedt, who served in the Swedish Army. The Swedish monarch to whom he offered his sword was Gustavus Adolphus, the Lion of the North, and one of the great military captains of history. That he should have done so was because German states were being ravaged at that time by the Thirty Years War. The von Rundstedts, coming as they did from the Mark of Brandenburg, one of the centres of the Reformation, were, and still are, devout Lutherans and their religion was under grave threat from the forces of the Counter-Reformation. Gustavus, a champion of Protestantism, was seen as the one hope for the German Protestants and many flocked to his colours, taking part in his famous victories. Gebhard himself survived the war, dying in 1651.
Brandenburg itself was ruled by the Hohenzollern family whose head was the Elector. The Thirty Years War left the state drained, but not for long. In 1654, Charles X ascended the Swedish throne and, determined to emulate his cousin, embarked on wars of aggression against Denmark and Poland. He overran both countries, but died before he could consolidate his gains. The Elector of Brandenburg, however, gave his support to the Poles in return for the Duchy of Prussia and proved to be the only real winner when peace treaties were signed in 1660. Forty years later the Swedes tried again, this time under Charles XII, but after some spectacular victories he met his match at Poltava in 1709, during an attempt to invade and overcome Russia. Brandenburg, whose army was beginning to gain a reputation, acquired more territory as a result, this time Swedish Pomerania. In the meantime, in 1701, Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg, sought and was granted the permission of the Holy Roman Emperor, to whom all German states owed allegiance, to title himself King of Prussia. His accession was to create a new force in Europe and one in which the von Rundstedt family would become deeply entwined.