1. Werner von Blomberg
~ Became Hitler's first field marshal in 1936. Spent WWII in
obscurity due to differences with Hitler and Göring.
2. Hermann Göring
~ The most infamous of the Generalfeldmarschalls, Göring was
actually the first and only Reichsmarschall, the highest military
rank of the Greater German Reich. Reichsmarschall was a special
rank intended for Göring making him the most senior commander in
the Army and Air Force.
Commander of the Luftwaffe, and one of the main leaders of Nazi
Germany.
3. Walther von Brauchitsch |
~ Commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht in the early years of World
War II. Promoted to Generalfeldmarschall in 1940 and one of the key
commanders at the battle of Moscow.
4. Albert Kesselring
~ German Generalfeldmarschall who commanded Army Group C during
World War II. One of the most respected and skillful German
generals, he was nicknamed "Smiling Albert" or "smiling
Kesselring". His 20 month long retrograde defence up the Italian
peninsula ensured his place as one of the best commanders in the
war.
5. Wilhelm Keitel
~ Remebered as the Commander who signed the surrender papers to the
allies at the end of the european war. Commonly refered to as
Lakaitel ("Lackey-tel") by his colleagues for meekly following
Hitler's orders wthout question.
6. Günther von Kluge
~ Led 4th Army in the ardennes offensive culminating in the fall of
France. Served as commander, German forces, West after von
Rundstedt's illness.
7. Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb
~ Promoted to Field Marshall following his sucess in breaking
through the maginot line in France, he was subsequently relieved by
HItler after the seige of Lenningrad and never used again.
8. Fedor von Bock
~ Attained the rank of field marshall for his sucesses during the
campaigns of France and the low countries as comdr, Army Group
North. Killed in an allied bombing raid in Hamburg in May
1945.
9. Wilhelm List
~ Comdr-in-chief of eastern front army group A in 1942. Sentenced
to life imprisonment but eventually released in Dec 1952.
10. Erwin von Witzleben
~ Was appointed Commander-in-Chief West in 1941 but retired due to
illness. Was implicated in the july plot and sentenced to death by
hanging.
11.Walther von Reichenau
~ Reichenau commanded the 6th Army during the assault on USSR,
taking Kiev and Kharkov. A active anti-semite, he supported
extermination of the jews vigorously. A favourite of Hitler, he was
killed when the plane carrying him crashed in Leipzig.
12.Erhard Milch
~ Little known fieldmarshall who was Air inspector general of the
Luftwaffe after the defeat of France. He was removed from office
and spent most the war after 1944 under Albert Speer.
13. Hugo Sperrle
~ Comdr, Eagel Legion during the invasion of Poland. Led German Air
Fleet 3 against France and was made Generalfeldmarschall of the
Luftwaffe in July 1940 before the Battle of Britain.
14. Gerd von Rundstedt
~ One of the apolitical generals of the Wehrmacht, he was one of
the more capable generals who fought with distinction on both the
eastern and western fronts during the war, and towards the end of
1944, frequently urged Hitler to make peace rather fight a futile
war.
15. Erwin Rommel
~ Also know as the desert fox, Rommel was a highly respected and
charismatic leader. Comdr of the 7th Panzer div during the
blitzkrieg campaign in France in early 1940, his division earned
the nickname Gespenster-Division 'ghost division' for its speed and
surprise it was consistently able to achieve. Converting the 15th
Panzer Div into the Deutsches Afrika Korps, he led the famed Div in
the African campaigns to capture Tobruk, which fell in 21 June
1942.
Throughout his tour, despite having shortages of armour and air
support, he still routed numerically superior allied forces by
using the speed of his advance and the might of his 88mm flak guns
to counter british armour. Towards the end of the african
campaigns, he inflicted the first defeat on the Americans during
the battle of Kasserine Pass, dispelling the belief that the Afrika
Korps was a spent force. Subsequently re-assigned to command the
channel defences, he was implicated in the July Plot to kill
Hitler. He took poison and was given full ceremonial honours at his
furneral.
16. Georg von Küchler
~ One of the more political generals, he was comdr Army Group North
after von Leeb and charged with the capture of Lenningrad. He was
sacked when the red army broke through the blockade and von Küchler
requested a withdrawal to save his troops.
17. Erich von Manstein
~ Perhaps the most prominent of comdrs in the Wehrmacht, von
Mainstein was a master tactician. A champion of blitzkrieg tactics,
he suggested the 'sickle cut' manoeuvre to outflank the French in
1940, salvaged numerous counterattacks to relief the Wehrmacht on
the eastern front during the height of the red army
counter-offensive. He was also made comdr of army group don during
the seige of Stalingrad to relief the 6th army. But the operation
failed because Hitler refused to allow any breakout simultaneously
with Army Group Don's offensive.
Made comdr of the newly formed Army Group South, Mainstein planned
a couter-offensive into the weakened soviet lines. In quick
succession, Army Group South defeated the soviets at Krasnograd and
Barvenkovo and culiminated in the third battle of Kharkov. During
Operation Citadel to crush the Kursk Salient, Mainstein achieved
most of the objectives for his part in the campaign but the battle
was lost due to the almost complete failure of Army Group North to
meet theirs.
Marshal Georgy Zhukov, who led the Soviet defense at Kursk, praised
Manstein by recalling that as the German Commander of the southern
sector he displayed considerable talents in using his troops.
In one of his many acts of defiance, he disobeyed Hitler and
ordered the withdrawal of the 11th and 42nd Corps (consisting of
56,000 men in six divisions) of Army Group South to break out from
the "Korsun Pocket", which occurred on February 16/17th.
Eventually, Hitler accepted this action and ordered the breakout
after it already took place.(ironic) He was eventually dismissed
after one too many arguments with Hitler over combat tactics on the
eastern front.
He survived the trials of post-war Germany and was called by the
West German Chancellor as senior defence advisor. He died on 13
June 1973 and was buried with full military honours.
18. Friedrich Paulus
~ Comdr, 6th Army, given the unceremonious promotion to
fieldmarshall in the hopes he will hold Stalingrad to the death,
Paulus eventually capitulated hours after his promotion and became
a vocal critic of the Nazi regime in capitivity.
19. Ewald von Kleist
~ General recalled from retirement to command Panzergruppe von
Kleist during the France campaign under Heinz Guderian. I March
1944, he disobeyed a direct order and ordered a withdrawal of 8th
Army from the advancing Soviets to prevent the complete
annihilation of the div. He was extradited to Russia for trial and
sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. He eventually became the
highest ranking officer to die in capitivity in 1954.
20. Maximilian von Weichs
~ Comdr of 2nd army, he led them during the campaigns in Kiev and
Smolensk and then Vyazma and Bryansk. Weichs was put in leader
reserve after insisting that the flanks of the 6th army was too
thin and open for counter-attack. He retired on Mar 25, 1945 and
owing to illness, was never convicted.
21. Ernst Busch
~ Played a major role in the Western offensive, leading the 16th
Army on several successes. He died in British capitivity at the end
of the war.
22. Wolfram von Richthofen
~ Played a minor role in WWII as Luftwaffe fieldmarshall. He
retired on medical grounds in 1944 and died in American captivity
in 1945.
23. Walther Model
~ Assigned nuermous positions in the course of the war, he was the
youngest Generalfeldmarschall ever to be promoted. Comdr-in-chief,
west and Comdr, Army Group North, he eventually committed suicide
before he could be captured by American forces.
24. Ferdinand Schörner
~ Comdr, 98th Moutain Regiment, he fought extensively in the the
balkans and Poland. After the war he was actually charged in both
Russia and West Germany for war crimes. He was eventually released
in 1963, dying a free man in 1973.
25. Robert Ritter von Greim
~ The last and final generals to be promoted to the rank of
Generalfeldmarschall, he fought with distinction during the war and
was famed for his exploits during operation Citadel where his
superior tactics assisted the Luftwaffe in the bombing of the Orel
Bulge. For this he received the swords to the Knight's Cross.
Towards the end of the war, he flew into beseiged Berlin in a
Fieseler Storch with Hanna Reitsch to pursuade Hitler to leave. He
was captured my American forces who extradited him to Russia. On
the way, he committed suicide.