This week, seventy years ago, the German Führer interrupted his speech to the German Reichstag, where he gave Britain one last chance to surrender, and named twelve new Field Marshals in recognition of the Wehrmacht’s overwhelming success in the recently completed campaign against France, Belgium, Holland and Great Britain.  Der Führer created more Field Marshals on this single day than had been created in any two decades in German history.  Of course, the conquest of France, Belgium, and The Netherlands in such a short time was also the greatest triumph in the history of German arms.
    Three Luftwaffe Generals were bestowed with the honor while the remaining nine came from the Army.  In addition, since Luftwaffe Chief, Hermann Göring, was already a Field Marshal, and with his ego, could not remain one among many, a new title was created for him - Reichsmarshal.    
    The three new Luftwaffe Field Marshals were Albert Kesselring, Erhard Milch and Hugo Sperrle.  The Luftwaffe had contributed significantly to the German victory in this campaign. Ironically, Field Marshal Milch’s father was Jewish.  From this time onward Milch would be involved in aviation production, which he messed up pretty badly, causing his country to lose the air superiority it had achieved.  After unsuccessfully attempting to flee Germany at the end of the war, he surrendered to British General Derek Mills-Roberts, by presenting his field marshal’s baton. The general was so disgusted by what he had seen at Bergen-Belsen, that he broke the baton over the field marshal’s head. In 1947 he was tried by the U. S. Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in prison at Landesburg Prison. This sentence was later commuted so that he was released in 1954.
    Of the three, only Albert Kesselring would seriously participate in future combat. Field Marshal Sperrle remained in France until relieved of his command in August 1944. Until then, he enjoyed all that France had to offer a conquering German Field Marshal - wine, women and food - growing fat and indolent in the process. He, along with ten generals, Field Marshals Wilhelm von Leeb and George von Küchler and Admiral Otto Schniewind were charged with war crimes and tried at Nuremburg. Only he and the Admiral were acquitted of all charges.
    Field Marshal Kesselring (“Smiling Albert”) would participate in Operation Barbarossa. In November of 1941 he was given command of all operations in the Mediterranean Theater, which included North Africa. He is credited, by all, with conducting a masterful defense of the Italian Peninsula during the Allies’ Italian Campaign. After the war, he was tried by a British military court, in Italy, for his involvement in the murder of 335 Italians in the Ardeatine Caves in Rome, convicted and sentenced to die by firing squad. Eventually, his sentence was commuted and in 1952, he was released from prison. He died, in 1960, at the age of 74. The story of the Ardeatine Caves Massacre is recounted in the 1973 movie “Massacre in Rome,” starring Sir Richard Burton, which was based on the book, “Death in Rome,” by Robert Katz.
    Headquarters’ men Wilhelm Keitel and Walther von Brauchitsch were also rewarded with the coveted baton. Von Brauchitsch was Commander-in-Chief of the Army (Heere) and as such was head of Oberkomando Heere - OKH. After the failure to capture Moscow, and subsequent counteroffensive by the Red Army, he had a heart attack and was relieved/retired by Hitler. Although arrested and charged as a war criminal, he died before he could be tried.
    Keitel was not so lucky. He was head of Oberkomando Wehrmacht - OKW - all German armed forces. However, as the war wore on, he became more subservient to Hitler, who became less rational. His nickname was “Lakaitel” because he seemed like Hitler’s lackey. He was also referred to as the “nodding donkey.”  On May 8, 1945, he executed the surrender documents on behalf of the German Reich, at a ceremony over which Soviet Marshal Georgiy Zhukov presided.  He was among the first group of defendants to be tried at Nuremberg. He was convicted and sentenced to hang. On October 16, 1946, the sentence of the Court was executed.
    Within a year, new field marshals Gerd von Rundstedt, Feodor von Bock, Baron Wilhelm von Leeb, Walther von Reichnau and Gunther von Kluge would be leading Axis armies against the Soviet Union in the greatest offensive in history - Operation Barbarossa.
    Von Rundstedt was the senior, and most respected, German general. He had commanded Army Group South in the Polish Campaign. His Army Group A had delivered the knock out punch in the Battle of France. In Operation Barbarossa, he commanded Army Group South, which attacked through the Ukraine. In addition to German soldiers, his command would include two Romanian Armies, an Italian corps, two Hungarian divisions and a Slovakian division. Although Army Group South captured Rostov-on-the-Don on November 21, 1941, after a week, he felt it prudent to shorten his lines and withdraw behind the River Mius for the winter. When Hitler learned of the retirement order, he became furious and countermanded it.  When the Field Marshal received the Fürher’s order, he replied, in writing, by asking that it be canceled, saying, “Should confidence in my leadership no longer exist, I beg to request someone be substituted who enjoys the necessary confidence of the Supreme Command.” Within the hour, he had been replaced by Field Marshal von Reichenau. On March 10, 1942, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief West, with his headquarters in Paris. He held that position until July 2, 1944.  After explaining the deteriorating situation, in France, to Keitel, on July 1, 1944, Keitel wailed, “What shall we do?  What shall we do?”  Von Rundstedt replied, “Make peace, you fools!  What else can you do?” and hung up. He was relieved of his command the next day. On September 1, 1944, he was reappointed to that position, only to be, once again, relieved of command on March 11, 1945, following German failure to destroy the Ludendorff Railway Bridge over the Rhine River at Remagen, Germany. He was arrested and charged with war crimes. In May 1949, he was released, because of ill health, never having been tried. Within four years he was dead.
     During the invasion of Poland, Walter von Reichnau had commanded Tenth Army, which had been a part of von Rundstedt’s Army Group South. He commanded Sixth Army during the invasions of France and the Soviet Union, again under Field Marshal von Rundstedt. He was only commander of Army Group South for a month and a half before he died, of natural causes.
    Feodor von Bock commanded Army Group B during the Battle of France. It had been tasked with the invasion of Belgium and The Netherlands. During the Polish Campaign, he had commanded Army Group North. In Operation Barbarossa, he was given command of the strongest German force - Army Group Center - with the most important objective - Moscow. After the great victory at Kiev, which resulted in the capture of more than 650,000 Soviet soldiers, he advocated a continuance of the advance toward Moscow, even though the soldiers and equipment were exhausted and the army was not prepared for the coming Russian winter. After another great victory in October, he again advocated that the advance continue, even though the first snows were falling and the roads were now rivers of mud. After the Red Army launched its Winter Offensive, on December 5, 1941, and disaster loomed for his command, he asked to be relieved for health reasons. After Field Marshal von Reichnau’s death, Field Marshal von Bock was given command of Army Group South, which he held until relieved on July 15, 1942, again for “health reasons.”  He, his wife and daughter, were killed on May 5, 1945, when the car in which they were traveling to Hamburg was attacked by a British plane.
    Field Marshal Günther von Kluge was named to succeed Field Marshal von Bock as commander of Army Group Center. Before that, he was commander of Fourth Army. As Fourth Army’s commander, he issued the order that, “Women in uniform are to be shot.” He also led the Fourth Army during the invasions of Poland and France. In Poland, it was a part of von Bock’s Army Group North, but for the French campaign it, and von Kluge, were transferred to von Rundstedt’s Army Group A. On October 27, 1943, he was seriously injured in a car crash. Upon his recovery, he was named to replace Field Marshal von Rundstedt as Commander-in-Chief West, on July 2, 1944. After the failed attempt on Hitler’s life on July 20, he received a summons to go to Berlin. Fearing the worst, he drove to Verdun, where many of his comrades from the First World War lay, and on August 19, 1944 bit a cyanide pellet.
    Baron von Leeb had commanded Army Group C during the Battle of France, stationed opposite the Maginot Line. He would command Army Group North during Operation Barbarossa. His Army Group’s objective was Leningrad. By all accounts, Field Marshal von Leeb did not advance as quickly as he could have and did not make proper use of his armor. However, just as he was poised to make the final assault on Leningrad, he received an order from Hitler to desist, because the city was to be starved into submission. When, in January 1942, he was denied permission to withdraw II Corps from a position of threatened encirclement at Demyansk, in Russia, he resigned. After the war he was arrested, tried for war crimes, convicted and sentenced to prison for three years.
    Wilhelm List commanded the Fourteenth Army, in von Rundstedt’s Army Group South, during the invasion of Poland. During the Battle of France, List commanded the Twelfth Army, also in von Rundstedt’s Army Group A. In the spring of 1941, he commanded the German troops which, along with Hungarian, Italian and Bulgarian troops, invaded and conquered the Kingdoms of Yugoslavia and Greece. After Field Marshal von Bock was relieved of command of Army Group South, that Army Group was divided and Field Marshal List was given command of Army Group A, consisting of the German Eleventh, Seventeenth and First Panzer and Fourth Romanian Armies, which he held until September 9, 1942, when he was relieved of command. Its objective was the recapture of Rostov-on-the-Don and the Caucases oilfields. After the war he was arrested and tried before a United States Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, accused of taking and shooting hostages and partisans. He and seven others were convicted. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, which sentence was commuted in 1952. He died in 1971.
    During the Polish Campaign, Erwin von Witzleben commanded the First Army, stationed in the West, tasked with protecting the Reich from attacks by the British and French, while the Germans finished Poland. After the successful completion of the French Campaign, he was named Commander-in-Chief West, which he held until leaving, a year later, for health reasons. He was an ardent antI-Nazi and an active participant in the failed plot to kill Hitler. After its failure, he was arrested, tried, sentenced to die, and executed, the same day, by hanging from a meat hook in Plötzensee Prison in Berlin. His execution was filmed so that Hitler could watch. In the movie “Valkrie,” he is portrayed by David Schofield.
    At a ceremony in the Reich’s Chancellery, der Führer presented batons to the nine new Field Marshals of the Army (Heere) and the Reichsmarshal’s baton to Luftwaffe Chief Hermann Göring. The three new Luftwaffe field marshals were presented with their batons after the Battle of Britain had died down, on September 4,1940.
    Each baton was a work of art, with the recipient’s name and date inscribed near the top, in its own personalized case. The shafts of the army batons were covered in red velvet, while those of the Luftwaffe were covered in blue velvet. The shaft of the Reichsmarshal’s baton was ivory, embossed with 20 gold eagles and 20 platinum crosses, with platinum endcaps encrusted with 640 small diamonds. In addition to the batons, the officers also wore shoulder boards of gold braid adorned with crossed batons. The Field Marshals were issued interim batons for everyday use, which were similar in appearance to a riding crop.

Mr. Wimbrow writes from Ocean City, Maryland, where he practices law representing those persons accused of criminal and traffic offenses, and those persons who have suffered a personal injury through no fault of their own.