Gerd von Rundstedt
Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt (
December 12,
1875 â€"
February 24,
1953) was a
Field Marshal of the
German Army during
World War II. He was one of Germany's most competent generals and is remembered for remaining apolitical throughout his career.
Born in
Aschersleben, in today's
Land of
Saxony-Anhalt, into an aristocratic
Prussian family, von Rundstedt joined the
Army in
1893, then entered Germany's elite
military academy in
1902 – an institution that accepted only 160 new students annually and weeded out 75% of the students through exams. During
World War I he rose in rank until
1918 when he was a major and was
chief of staff of his
division.
After the war Rundstedt rose steadily in the small 100,000 man army and in
1932 was appointed commander of the
3rd Infantry Division. Later that year he threatened to resign when
Franz von Papen declared
martial law and ordered his troops to eject members of the
Nazi party from state government offices. He was just as upset by the growing power of the Nazis and eventually resigned in October
1938.
In September
1939 World War II began and von Rundstedt was recalled to lead
Army Group South during the successful invasion of
Poland. Turning to the west, he supported
Manstein's "armored fist" approach to the invasion of
France and this was eventually selected as
Fall Gelb. During the battle he was placed in command of two
panzer divisions, three
motorized infantry divisions and 35 regular infantry divisions.
By
May 14 1940, the armored divisions led by
Heinz Guderian had crossed the
Meuse and had opened a huge gap in the Allied front. General von Rundstedt had doubts about the survivability of these units without infantry support and asked for a pause while they caught up; this has given rise to the misconception that the halt that allowed the British to evacuate the Continent at
Dunkirk was of Rundstedt's making. In fact, Hitler's decision to halt his forces was political driven by his hope that Britain and Germany would more readily be able to conclude a peace treaty if he allowed the escape of what remained of the British Continental forces.
Von Rundstedt was promoted to Field Marshal on
July 19 1940 and took part in the planning of
Operation Sealion. When the invasion was called off, von Rundstedt took control of occupation forces and was given responsibility to develop the coastal defences in the
Netherlands,
Belgium and France.
In June
1941 von Rundstedt took part in
Operation Barbarossa as commander of Army Group South, where he led 52 infantry divisions and five panzer divisions into the
Soviet Union. At first his progress was slow but in September they captured
Kiev with 665,000 Russian prisoners. After this he moved east to attack
Kharkov and
Rostov. He strongly opposed continuing the advance into the Soviet Union during the winter and advised Hitler to call a halt but his views were rejected.
In November Rundstedt had a
heart attack but refused to be hospitalized and continued the advance, reaching Rostov on
November 21. A counter-attack forced the Germans back. When Rundstedt demanded he should be allowed to withdraw, Hitler became furious and replaced him with General
Walther von Reichenau.
Hitler recalled von Rundstedt to duty in March
1942, placing him once again in command of the west. There he formed the defensive system known as the
Atlantic Wall, permanent fortifications along 1,700 miles of coastline. After the
D-Day landings in June
1944, von Rundstedt urged Hitler to negotiate a peace settlement with the Allies. Hitler responded by replacing him with General
Günther von Kluge.
As a result of the
July 20 Plot, which outraged Rundstedt, he agreed to join
Guderian and
Wilhelm Keitel on the
Army Court of Honour that expelled hundreds of officers suspected of being opposed to Hitler. This removed them from the army
court martial and turned them over to
Roland Freisler. Many were executed.
In mid August von Kluge's front collapsed and von Rundstedt was once again placed in command in the west. He quickly rallied the troops just in time to fight
Operation Market Garden, winning the battle of Arnhem. Although he was Commander of the Western forces during the offensive to retake
Antwerp which failed against hopeless odds in what would be known as the
Battle of the Bulge, he was opposed to that offensive from its inception and essentially washed his hands of it. He was relieved of command once again in March
1945 after telling
Wilhelm Keitel that Hitler should make peace with the Allies, rather than continue to fight a hopeless war.
Rundstedt was captured by the
US 36th Infantry Division on
May 1 1945. While being interrogated he suffered another heart attack and was taken to Britain where he was held in captivity. He was charged by the British as a war criminal but never faced trial because of his poor health. In a sad twist of fate, both his wife and only son died while he was imprisoned awaiting trial. He was released in July
1948 and lived in
Hanover until his death in 1953.
Note: As can be seen in both photographs reproduced here, although a Field Marshal, von Rundstedt preferred to wear the silver bullion collar patches of an infantry regiment colonel-in-chief with his otherwise regulation Marshal's uniform.
*
Günther Blumentritt,
Von Rundstedt: The Man and the Soldier (1952)
*
Charles Messenger,
The Last Prussian: A Biography of Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, 1875-1953 (London:
Brassey's,
1991) ISBN 0080367070
*
B.H. Liddell Hart,
The German Generals Talk (New York:
William and Morrow,
1948), chap. 7
*
von Rundstedt website
