as commander in chief of German forces in
France. There he was tasked with defending
1,700 miles of coastline against Allied inva-
sion. In the course of events, Rundstedt also
had to deal with the French Resistance, the
occupation of Vichy France, and the disarm-
ing of Italian troops after the fascist regime of
Benito Mussolinicollapsed in 1943. Rund-
stedt performed all his assigned tasks capa-
bly, although in December 1943 he enjoyed
strained relations with his new subordinate,
Erwin Rommel. Specifically, their strategic
visions were at cross-purposes. Rommel, well
versed in the potential of Allied airpower,
wanted to defeat an enemy invasion at the
beach by keeping panzer units as close to the
combat zone as possible. Rundstedt, who
considered his younger associate an upstart
and distrusted his military judgment, wished
for the Allies to advance inland before de-
stroying them with 12 massed panzer divi-
sions. Their squabbling soon came to the at-
tention of Hitler, who finally decided that the
tanks should remain inland and that only he
could authorize their deployment. Hitler also
felt that any landing was likely to be a ruse,
with the main blow delivered elsewhere.
Thus, Rundstedt lost control of his only
strategic reserve in the event of attack. When
the Allies finally landed at Normandy on June
6, 1944, Rundstedt hurriedly and repeatedly
called supreme headquarters for permission
to release his tanks—only to be told by Gen.
Alfred Jodl that the Führer had taken a
sleeping pill and could not be disturbed!
Rundstedt and Rommel then traveled to con-
fer with Hitler personally, requesting to with-
draw from Normandy to more defensible ter-
rain. This plea was flatly rejected, and the two
generals fought a desperate but losing battle
to prevent American and British forces from
expanding their beachhead. On July 1, 1944,
Gen. Josef Dietrich’s crack II SS Panzer
Corps failed to dislodge the British at Caen
after heavy fighting. When Rundstedt re-
ported the failure to Berlin, Chief of Staff Wil-
helm Keitelpurportedly whined, “What shall
we do?” “Make peace, you fools,” the old
Prussian angrily retorted. “What else can you
do?” Shortly after, Hitler sacked him again in
favor of the more compliant Gen. Hans von
Kluge. Rundstedt then departed, relieved he
could not be held responsible for the disaster
that was brewing.
The impasse ended in late July when the
Americans under Gen. George S. Patton
broke through German lines at Saint-Lô and
drove inland. On July 20, 1944, a failed bomb
plot against Hitler resulted in the arrest of
hundreds of military officers, and Hitler or-
dered Rundstedt to head a special Court of
Honor to try the offenders and condemn them
to death. Shortly after, he replaced Gen. Wal-
ter Modelas commander in chief in the west
again and worked wonders sorting out the
disorganized German lines. He had hoped to
settle into good defensive positions, but by
December 1944 Hitler suddenly unveiled his
planned Ardennes offensive. Rundstedt and
other generals loudly remonstrated to the
Führer, but to no avail. He was placed in nom-
inal control of the attack, which began on De-
cember 16, 1944, but actual operations were
directed by Model, Dietrich, and Hasso von
Manteuffel. For a few days, victory seemed
close at hand pending the shift of several
panzer divisions from Dietrich’s reserves to
the south. When Hitler refused, the attack col-
lapsed. “It was a fundamental mistake to de-
ploy the panzer reserves behind the front of
the Sixth Panzer,” he sarcastically impugned,
“and to keep them there only for the purpose
of giving Colonel-General Dietrich the chance
of a magnificent victory.” Within a month,
Hitler had lost his final reserves, and the
Americans began battering against Germany’s
doorstep. Rundstedt consequently proved un-
able to prevent the capture of the famous
Remagen Bridge on March 7, 1945, and Hitler
sacked him a third time in favor of Gen. Al-
bert Kesselring. The old general remained a
passive witness to his country’s ruination be-
fore finally surrendering to the Americans
that May.
Within weeks, Rundstedt was arrested and
charged with war crimes. He was held forRUNDSTEDT, GERDVON