Rundsted, Gerd von
Field Marshal
The Summer of 1940 was to mark the summit of Gerd von Rundstedt ' s career.
One of the Wehrmacht's most respected and senior Generals, von Rundstedt had been called from retirement to command German Army Group A in Poland, and later in France.
Commanding the principal Army group, comprising the bulk of the German armies, and including the elite Panzer and SS units, Rundstedt had been responsible for the principal operations that had secured stunning victories in these early campaigns.
Though benefitting from exceptional subordinates,such as Manstein and Guderian, Rundstedt's flawless execution of the offensives established him as a commander of the first rank, and assured him of his Field Marshal's baton.
Following his victorious entry to Paris in June 1940, Rundstedt was to remain in France for most of the remaining years of war, preparing, with Rommel, the Atlantic defences, and directing the German Armies in the West, during the battle of France in 1944.
Rundstedt was dismissed from his command by Hitler not once but twice, firstly for a tactical retreat while serving briefly on the Eastern Front, and again in 1944, for expressing his belief that Germany could no longer win the war.
Reinstated on both occasions Rundstedt's last command was the ambitious, but ill-fated, second Ardennes offensive, better known as the Battle of the Bulge.
He retired in March 1945, and was one of the very few German Field Marshals not charged with war crimes.
