'Across the Havoc of War, a Great General'

Participants in war have little time or inclination to express their opinions of an enemy. At the apex of government, Prime Minister Winston Churchill's tribute to Gen. Erwin Rommel (quoted above) before the British House of Commons in January 1943 stands out as one of the few daring and deserving national pronouncements of any conflagration. On the other hand, my estimate of the enemy from platoon and company levels on the fighting front in the Italian Campaign was different in character. Only the peace and good will of the postwar era opened the way to an interesting relationship with a number of notable German generals of wartime fame.

If one looks back down the generational trail, it becomes apparent that war is a variable phenomenon in human history. In the centuries of historical conflict, national relationships have regularly bounced back and forth, with friends becoming enemies, opponents becoming allies, epoch by epoch.

In 1945 the War Department sponsored the preparation of a history of the U.S. Army and its Air Force in World War II. A group of historians was assembled to write the history of the service, including the operations of the entire establishment as well as those of the field forces. Initial estimates envisioned the preparation of a hundred volumes. The authors would be given access to all of the Army's records and to enemy records as well. President Roosevelt and senior Army officials gave the project their full support.

One of the overriding considerations in developing the story from "the other side of the hill" was the requirement to arrange for extensive interrogation of senior enemy participants. Preeminent in this phase of cooperation was the study conducted by Col. Harold E. Potter, Chief of the Historical Section of the U.S. Army's European Theater of Operations.

Col. Potter assembled a unique group of senior German generals, all free of involvement in ongoing Nuremberg proceedings in war crimes cases. Among them were such noted individuals as Heinz Guderian, Albert Kesselring, Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin, Hasso Eccard von Manteuffel and Guenther Blumentritt.

With Col. Potter as a conduit, 1 began the process of touching base with selected individuals. My approaches were both official and personal. As editor of the Cavalry Journal and its later incarnation as Armor, I was attracted to the possibilities of appropriate material for the magazine.

Obviously, my first target was Gen. Heinz Guderian, recognized as Germany's leading tactician in the field of armored warfare-author of a 1937 book on mechanized warfare, commander of tank forces in German campaigns in Poland, France and Russia, and Army chief of staff in the closing months of World War II. I hoped to persuade him to do a piece on mechanized warfare in the postwar era.

Guderian responded favorably to my request, sending me an article on "The Role of the Tank in Future Ground Warfare." Despite a caveat that he was "not up to date with the technic of the fighting tank," his article was well accepted by Armor's readership, while his celebrity enhanced the journal's professional standing. On the private side, he graciously signed my copy of his memoir, Panzer Leader.

My approach to Field Marshal Albert Kesselring was close to home in both professional and personal senses. In October 1944, I had joined the 88th Infantry Division on the front line in Italy's North Apennines Mountain. I was, of course, completely unaware that Kesselring was commander in chief of German forces in Italy. And certainly it was unlikely that he was personally aware that I was the leader of the 2nd Platoon of Company G, 2nd Battalion, 350th Infantry, and, on the night of October 20, led my platoon in a sharp firefight on the slopes of Mount Grande, knocking out a German halftrack towing an antitank gun and possibly pushing his troops back a bit toward the Po Valley and Bologna.

Nevertheless, our personal situations led me to send a copy of his recently published book, Memoirs of Field Marshal Kesselring, to him in Germany in the hope that he would sign it.

I was more than pleased by the in- scription he penned to me. As he phrased it, "In war, bitter ene- mies, in peace, hon- orable friends. To observe the soldier's creed, I heartily shake your hand."

Although I was an ocean and continent removed from my handshake with Field Marshal Kesselring, I had a more direct opportunity to consummate a personal greeting with another senior German officer from the Italian campaign. Gen. Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin commanded the XIV Panzer Corps in Italy in 1943 in Monte Cassino operations, and the Fourteenth Army in North Apennines operations in 1944. The Apennines actions involved the American II Corps, including the 88th Division, and embraced such significant terrain features as Mount Grande, Mount Fano, Mount Adone and Monterumici, all objectives where I was progressively involved as platoon leader, company commander and battalion staff officer.

Gen. von Senger visited the U.S. Army Center of Military History in Washington, D.C., in the mid-1950s at a time when I was a historian in the World War II branch of the Histories Division. I was immensely pleased to join him for lunch at the Officers Club at Fort McNair. Von Senger had a distinguished career. He had studied at Oxford and was a Rhodes Scholar, which explained why he spoke such beautiful English. Obviously our conversation centered upon operations in Italy in 1944, and especially those of the North Apennines sector. He proved to be well attuned to the central front and II Corps operations, and spoke highly of the fighting abilities of the 88th Division's "Blue Devils." My visit with Gen. von Senger was singularly appealing.

My connection with notable German generals was rounded out along two paths, one confined to correspondence, the other to limited personal contact.

Like most of his fellow officers, Gen. Guenther von Blumentritt was a veteran of World War I and was involved in a merry-go-round of World War II assignments that took him to Poland, France and Russia as well as within Germany. We exchanged letters on several occasions and he sent me a short article for publication in Armor.

Gen. Hasso Eccard von Manteuffel was especially noted for his major role in the Battle of the Bulge, Hitler's counteroffensive and final effort to reclaim the initiative from the Allies on the European continent in 1944. He had held numerous assignments as commander of armor units from division up to army levels. As had Gen. von Senger, he visited the United States in the 1970s, and the Center of Military History was a special stopover on his itinerary.

At that moment the Center was quartered in Tempo C, one of three temporary World War II buildings located just outside of Fort McNair's wall. Brig. Gen. James Lawton Collins Jr.. the Chief of Military History, designated me to meet and greet Gen. Manteuffel and escort him to the Chief's office on the building's second floor.

At the appointed time I took position on the curb at our office's entrance and opened the car door when our distinguished visitor arrived.

I was surprised to see that Gen. Manteuffel was quite short and of slight figure, but I was well aware of his battlefield reputation. The fiveminute escort left little time for anything more than courteous pleasantries as we made our way to Gen. Collins' office.

The closing door brought an end to my fascinating connections with senior German generals of World War II.

Are public tributes to enemy leaders appropriate during wartime? Was Winston Churchill's tribute to Gen. Rommel, at a moment when the "Desert Fox" was giving British forces a difficult time in North African battles, an acceptable move?

In my opinion, it called attention to what Allied forces were up against and might well have inspired them to renewed efforts against a worthy opponent.

Is it appropriate for wartime victors to deal substantively with a defeated enemy's leaders within the lingering aura of wartime surrender? How much time should elapse before the door is opened? Should it remain closed in tribute to those who fell on the field? These are considerations that rest with officials, time and events.

Certainly the onset of peace, the development of information from highly placed opponents, a shift in national identities, the expansion of professional qualifications, all tend to mitigate in favor of steps to broaden national and individual inclinations. Perhaps we may say without reservation that substantive benefits derive from official and personal relationships with those from the other side of the hill.

WILLIAM GARDNER BELL has written and edited numerous works on military history, including secretaries of War and secretaries of the Army: Portraits and Biographical Sketches.

Copyright Association of the United States Army Mar 2004
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