The Last Prussian
Page 47
21.
Shulman op cit p131.
22.
Testimony to IMT Commission, IZ ZS 129.
23.
Rommel Papers op cit p492.
24.
Ibid.
25.
Ob West War Diary, cited in Ellis Victory in the West Vol 1 pp295–6.
26.
Ibid, p296.
27.
Blumentritt op cit p238.
28.
Conference description is drawn mainly on Rommel Papers op cit pp479–80, Blumentritt pp237–8, and IZ ZS 129.
29.
Ellis Victory in the West vol 1 pp320–l.
30.
Shulman op cit p137.
31.
Blumentritt op cit p238.
32.
ETHINT 73, IWM AL 1556/2.
33.
IZ ZS 129.
34.
Bradley & Schulze-Kossens op cit p149.
35.
Warlimont op cit p438.
36.
IMT p94.
37.
Ziemke in Hitler’s Generals op cit p201 citing Domarus, Max Hitler Reden und Proklamationem 1932–1945 vol 2 p1540 (Munich, 1963).
38.
Hans Gerd von Rundstedt’s personal copy, von Rundstedt archive.
39.
Speidel op cit pp89–90, 119. Ruge op cit p209 says that the visit took place on 6 July, but he was not present.
40.
Richardson & Freidin op cit p193.
41.
Bradley & Schulze-Kossens op cit p182, 188.
42.
Macksey op cit pp 188–9.
43.
Ibid p188.
44.
Burgdorf diary entry, Bradley & Schulze-Kossens op cit p195.
45.
IMT p93.
46.
Military Intelligence Service, US Dept of Army Report B-826, op cit.
47.
IZZS 129.
48.
Interview dated 1 November 1945, LH 9/24/132.
49.
SS Report on July 20, Nordwestdeutsche Heft 1/2, 1947. English typescript in Wheeler-Bennett Papers.
50.
Military Intelligence Service, US Dept of Army Report B-826, op cit.
51.
Speidel op cit p90.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
1.
Blumentritt op cit pp241–2.
2.
Quoted by Ziemke in Barnett Hitler’s Generals op cit pp201–2.
3.
Brett-Smith op cit p180, which also gives comments on him by Rommell and Kesselring.
4.
Burgdorf diary entry 21 September 1944, Bradley & Schulze-Kossens op cit p263.
5.
Quoted Shulman Defeat in the West pp200–l.
6.
Quoted Blumentritt op cit p245.
7.
Zimmermann OB West – 9 Questions (June 44 – Mar 45) 23 October 1947, IWM AL 1556/1–2.
8.
Handwritten undated notes by von Rundstedt while a POW in England, von Rundstedt archive.
9.
Westphal The German Army in the West p17–4.
10.
Quoted Bennett Ultra in the West p133.
11.
Ibid p150.
12.
Mellenthin Panzer Battles p373.
13.
Ibid p383.
14.
Ruge op cit pp247–8.
15.
Speidel op cit pp90, 159.
16.
Letter dated 5 June 1950, LH 9/24/77. Von Rundstedt made a similar declaration at Nuremberg, IMT pp 103–4.
17.
Mellenthin op cit p383.
18.
Letter to Matthew Barry Sullivan, 26 March 1977.
19.
Mellenthin op cit p394.
20.
Quoted by Blumentritt in Collier’s 3 January 1953.
21.
Military Intelligence Service US War Department Report B-826 op cit.
22.
Quoted by Günther Reichhelm, who was on Model’s staff, in Pallud Battle of the Bulge: Then and Now p20.
23.
Westphal op cit p180.
24.
Military Intelligence Service US War Department Report B-826 op cit.
25.
Cruikshank, Charles The Fourth Arm: Psychological Warfare 1938–1945 p172 (Oxford University Press paperback, 1981).
26.
Dated 1 October 1944, printed copy in the von Rundstedt archive.
27.
CSDIC(UK) GRGG 330(G) dated 1 August 1945 The Ardennes Offensive, PRO FO 371/46780.
28.
Blumentritt Collier’s 3 January 1953 op cit.
29.
Taylor Memorandum op cit p56.
30.
Mellenthin op cit p404.
31.
Westphal op cit p 181.
32.
Ellis Victory in the West Vol 2 p179.
33.
Pallud op cit p31.
34.
Westphal op cit p 181.
35.
Richardson & Freidin op cit p224.
36.
Ibid p219.
37.
CSDIC (UK) The Ardennes Offensive op cit.
38.
Ibid.
39.
Letter to Frau Bormann, The Bormann Letters p148.
40.
Richardson & Freidin op cit p232.
41.
The first Type XXIII coastal U-boat, U2324, set out on its first operational cruise on 29 January 1945, and was followed by five more before the end of the war. Only one Type XXI ocean going U-boat, ever became operational and then not until the end of April 1945.
42.
Pallud op cit pp80–81.
43.
An Interview with Obstgrf ‘Sepp’ Dietrich: Sixth Pz Army Planning for the Ardennes Offensive 10 July 1945, US Department of the Army Historical Branch ETHINT 16, US National Archives RG 338.
44.
Ibid.
45.
Pallud op cit p29.
46.
Ibid p81.
CHAPTER TWELVE
1.
CSDIC Interrogation report on Ardennes op cit.
2.
Hitler’s Gladiator op cit p150.
3.
Pallud op cit pp63–64.
4.
Shulman Interrogation, PRO WO 205/1020 op cit, and CSDIC Ardennes Interrogation report op cit.
5.
Richardson & Freidin op cit p238 and Dietrich interview, 8–9 August 1945, US Department of the Army History Branch, ETHINT 15, US National Archives RG 338.
6.
IMT Commission transcript on von Rundstedt op cit, and ETHINT 15 op cit.
7.
The most detailed and accurate account of the postwar investigation of the massacre and the subsequent controversial trial is given in Weingartner, James J Crossroads of Death: The Story of the Malmédy Massacrea and Trial (University of California Press, 1979). See also, especially from Dietrich’s viewpoint, Hitler’s Gladiator op cit.
8.
Collier’s 3 January 1953, op cit.
9.
Liddell Hart interview, 26 October 1945, LH 9/24/132.
10.
Von Mellenthin op cit pp408–9, Westphal op cit p185.
11.
Liddell Hart interview, 26 October 1945 op cit.
12.
Crusade in Europe (Heinemann, London, 1948) p386.
13.
New York Times 8 January 1945.
14.
Wilmot op cit pp676–7 citing a fragmentary record of this conference.
15.
Bormann Letters op cit pp 155–6.
16.
Guderian op cit p385.
17.
Quoted Shulman op cit pp9–10.
18.
Gen Raus of Third Panz
er Army quoted by Seaton The German Army 1933–1945 op cit p245.
19.
Undated handwritten postwar notes, von Rundstedt archive.
20.
Quoted Bennett op cit p224n.
21.
Shulman op cit pp307–8.
22.
Ellis Victory in the West vol 2 p263.
23.
Quoted Shulman op cit p290.
24.
Original signal is in the von Rundstedt archive.
25.
Trevor-Roper ed The Goebbels Diaries: The Last Days p6.
26.
Ibid p57.
27.
Quoted Bennett op cit p221.
28.
Kesselring Memoirs p237.
29.
Interview with Dr Freiherr von Siegler, 26 November 1951, IZ 311/52.
30.
Von Mellenthin op cit p417.
31.
Trevor-Roper op cit pp 104–5, 194–5.
32.
Interview 26 October 1946, LH 9/24/132.
33.
Hillgruber in Carver The War Lords op cit p199.
34.
Ibid.
35.
Von Rundstedt’s movements during the last weeks of the war are based on letters from Hans Gerd to Editha, von Rundstedt archive. Unfortunately they give no indication of the Field Marshal’s thought processes and I have had to surmise the rationale governing his itinerary.
36.
This description of von Rundstedt’s capture is drawn from The Fighting 36th Division: A Pictorial History of the Texas Division in Combat (Battery Press, 1977), T-Patch (36 Div’s newspaper) 8 May 1945, The Stars and Stripes 3 May 1945, and letter from Colonel (Retd) Vincent M Lockhart USAR, author of T-Patch to Victory, dated 30 January 1990. Burke was also told that it was for treatment to his leg that von Rundstedt was in Bad Tölz.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
1.
The Stars and Stripes 3 May 1945.
2.
2 May 1945.
3.
New York Times 5 May 1985.
4.
PRO FO 371/46777.
5.
PRO WO 219/1200A.
6.
The evidence for his movements comes from a letter Hans Gerd to Bila dated 23 June 1945 and an entry in von Rundstedt’s pocket diary for 1946, both in the von Rundstedt archive.
7.
CROWCASS List No 1 (December 1944), PRO TS 26/876.
8.
2 September 1945.
9.
SHAEF Interrogation Report dated 3 June 1945, PRO WO 219/1963.
10.
US Strategic Bombing Survey Interview No 51 dated 25 June 1945. Copy in the von Rundstedt archive.
11.
Searches in both the National Archives, Washington DC and the Public Record Office, London failed to reveal precisely why von Rundstedt was handed over to the British. One can only surmise that it was considered that the British had a stronger claim over him, perhaps because of France 1940 or the 1942 Commando Order.
12.
Letter dated 23 June 1945 op cit.
13.
Interview Gerd and Eberhard von Rundstedt, 4 November 1989.
14.
I am most grateful to Miss Olive Wilson for drawing my attention to this.
15.
Daily Mail May 1945.
16.
I have been unable to verify this. Monty’s official biographer, Professor Nigel Hamilton, cannot recall it and points out that it is most unlikely that Monty ever met von Rundstedt in person, especially since the hospitality that he gave von Thoma after el Alamein was considered unseemly in some quarters. Letter to the Author dated 7 September 1989.
17.
Grondona, L St Clare Sidelights on Wilton Park (JRUSI December 1979) from which much of the material on von Rundstedt’s time at Wilton Park is taken. The remainder is drawn from Sullivan Thresholds of Peace pp229–231.
18.
Towards the end of July he was taken to Shenley Military Hospital for ‘observation and diagnosis’. Daily Express 26 July 1945.
19.
CSDIC (UK) Report GRGG 344 dated 21 August 1945, PRO 208/4178.
20.
CSID(UK) The Ardennes Offensive dated 1 August 1945, PRO FO 371/46780 and WO 208/4178. A further copy is to be found in the US National Archives under RG 238, Entry 160–Box 10.
21.
Letter to the author, 22 February 1989.
22.
CSDIC (UK) Report GRGG 355 dated 15 September 1945, PRO WO 108/4178.
23.
GRGG 358 dated 25 September 1945, ibid.
24.
Ibid.
25.
GRGG 355 op cit.
26.
GRGG 358 op cit.
27.
GRGG 362 dated 12 October 1945, ibid.
28.
The rather uninformative war diary of No 1 PW Camp for September – December 1945 (PRO WO 166/17820) reveals that this was the only date during the period when a sizeable batch of prisoners, 22 in all, arrived from Wilton Park.
29.
It is possible that Grondona was confusing Bassenge with General of Engineers (Pioniere) Dinter, former Chief Engineer of Army Group Vistula, who was also at Wilton Park at this time.
30.
Sullivan op cit p236.
31.
Letter to Captain Cyril Falls, 20 May 1946, LH 9/24/155–163.
32.
Sullivan op cit p236.
33.
Letter to Falls op cit.
34.
In September 1945 the total was 223. PRO FO 939/249.
35.
Interview by Mrs Jean Feather on the Author’s behalf, April 1989.
36.
PRO FO 916/1432.
37.
Sullivan op cit p236.
38.
Ibid and also Author’s conversation with Sullivan, who was Liddell Hart’s brother-in-law, 14 June 1989.
39.
Letters to the Author, 21 and 29 March 1989.
40.
Notes for History: Talk with Field Marshal von Rundstedt. 26th October, 1945, LH 9/24/132.
41.
Notes for History: Second talk with Field Marshal von Rundstedt, 1st November, 1945, Ibid.
42.
Notes for History: the Norway Move, Ibid.
43.
Letter to Kingston, 29 November 1945, LH 9/24/77.
44.
Letter to Editha von Rundstedt, 10 April 1953, LH 9/24/77. Needless to say, this file is not preserved in the Public Record Office.
45.
PRO FO 939/283.
46.
Sullivan op cit p237.
47.
This is the name inscribed on the title page of the IWM’s copy.
48.
Notes for History: (4th) Talk with Field Marshal von Rundstedt, 3 Jany. 1946 LH 9/24/132.
49.
PRO FO 939/283.
50.
The latest of these attacks is Mearsheimer, John J Liddell Hart and the Weight of History (Brassey’s, London, 1989).
51.
The escape is recounted in Williams, Herbert Come out wherever you are (Quartet Books, London, 1976).
52.
CSDIC was originally based at the Tower of London and moved to Trent Park, at Cockfosters on the northern outskirts of London, at the end of October 1939. In July 1942, it was moved to a purpose built camp at Wilton Park, with the RAF section being housed at Latimer. Air Ministry Report Intelligence from Interrogation dated 31 December 1945. Copy in Author’s archive.
53.
PRO WO 205/1020. The date of this interview report is given as 1 February 1946, but in Defeat in the West the only interviews with von Rundstedt to which Shulman refers are October 1945 and October 1946. Unfortunately, the Author has been unable to ascertain from Shulman as to exactly when and where the interview(s) did take place.
54.
Sullivan op cit p348.
55.
Typescript copy in the Sayer Archive.
56.
PRO FO 1019/51.
57.
Sullivan op cit p358.
58.
Gilbert G M Nuremberg Diary pp230–231 (Eyre & Spottiswoode, London, 1948)
59.
This account of the Commission’s examination is taken from a transcript in German, IZ ZS 129.
60.
IMT p94.
61.
Ibid, p102.
62.
13 August 1946.
63.
Neave, Airey Nuremberg: a Personal Record of the Trial of the Major Nazi War Criminals in 1945–6 p291 (Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1978).
64.
Letter to the Author, 10 February 1989.
65.
Quoted Sullivan op cit p358.
66.
Quoted Hawthorne Island Farm p41. Another account of the history of the camp is Vincent, Jeff Island Farm Camp (After The Battle No 67).
67.
PRO FO 939/97.
68.
Ibid.
69.
Sullivan op cit p351.
70.
CM 94(46) PRO CAB 128/8.
71.
Letter dated 23 December 1946, von Rundstedt Archive.
72.
Letter Editha von Rundstedt to Matthew Barry Sullivan dated 26 March 1977, and details of Topham’s will in Sunday Times 20 October 1961. Gerd von Rundstedt loaned his grandfather’s ceremonial baton, presented by Hitler and which he never liked, to the Museum of Military History at Rastatt, Baden, where it is displayed together with his Knight’s Cross with Oakleaves and Swords. Letter Gerd von Rundstedt to the Author, 20 August 1989.
73.
Original handwritten script is von Rundstedt Archive.
74.
Letter Mrs Elizabeth Crookenden to the Author, May 1989.
75.
Hawthorne Island Farm op cit p42.
76.
A Full Life pp 185–6 (Leo Cooper, London, 1974).
77.
Neither Fear nor Hope p347 (Macdonald, London, 1963).
78.
Conversation with the Author, 14 August 1989.
79.
Twice Through the Lines p185.
80.
Letters to the Author from Gerd von Rundstedt, 14 November 1989, and Barbara Papanastassiou, 14 February 1990.
81.
Letter to the Author, 25 July 1989.
82.
PRO WO 311/648.
83.
Letter to the Author, 7 September 1989.
84.
PRO WO 267/601.
85.
PRO WO 235/293, which gives a summary of the case.
86.
PRO FO 939/194.
87.
Dated 24 August 1947, PRO WO 32/15304.
88.
Letter War Office to Western Command, 8 September 1947, PRO WO 311/448.
89.
British Channel Four Television programme Jailed by the British 1982.