three years later, rose to
general of artillery. Kluge’s
smoothly advancing ca-
reer hit an unforeseen
bump in February 1938
when Adolf Hitler, in-
tent upon seizing control
of the military, charged
the incumbent com-
mander in chief, Werner
von Fritsch, with homo-
sexuality. Fritsch was
subsequently sacked, and
Kluge, as one of his vocal
defenders, was dismissed
along with him. However,
Hitler could not dispense
with trained professional
leaders while on the
verge of going to war, and
Kluge was recalled within
months. Just prior to the
outbreak of World War II,
he also assumed com-
mand of the Fourth Army.
During the invasion of
Poland in September
1939, Kluge demonstrated
his mastery of blitzkrieg warfare by easily
overcoming all opposition. He repeated this
performance in France the following summer,
gaining a promotion to field marshal. Kluge
again commanded the Fourth Army during
the ill-fated attack on the Soviet Union in
June 1941. He drove his tanks literally to the
gates of Moscow before a sharp Russian
counterattack threw the Germans back in De-
cember 1941. Kluge then expertly orches-
trated the construction of strong defensive
lines that checked Soviet advances. Hitler
was so pleased by his performance that he
gave the general 250,000 reichsmarks for his
sixtieth birthday in 1941. Kluge subsequently
replaced Gen. Fedor von Bock as commander
of Army Group Center during the upcoming
campaign, becoming a highly visible military
figure. For this reason, feelers were sent out
to Kluge by key elements of the anti-Hitler re-
sistance, soliciting his
support. Kluge, never an
ardent Nazi, expressed
interest in their machina-
tions but could not bring
himself to make a com-
mitment. He then re-
sumed campaigning on
the Eastern Front for the
next two years, expertly
defeating determined So-
viet offensives in the
wake of Kursk in July- Again, Kluge’s dem-
onstrated competence re-
affirmed his reputation as
one of Germany’s most
skillful commanders. Hit-
ler, who generally de-
spised military leaders,
was delighted by his per-
formance. Tragedy struck
in October 1943 when
Kluge was badly injured
in an automobile crash,
which required several
months of convalescence.
He was still recuperating
in July 1944 when Hitler summoned and dis-
patched him to France as commander in chief
of the Western Front. Before departing Berlin,
a grateful Kluge assured the Führer he that
could contain Allied forces, which had landed
at Normandy the previous June and were
since bottled up on the beachhead. But Kluge,
now a key military figure, was again ap-
proached by members of the anti-Hitler move-
ment. They tried—and failed—to win him
over. Kluge was sympathetic toward the con-
spirators, but he still lacked the intestinal for-
titude to abandon the Führer.
Kluge arrived in France on July 1, 1944,
and relieved Gen. Gerd von Rundstedtas
theater commander. He was especially leery
of Gen. Erwin Rommel, a fellow anti-Hitler
conspirator, and the two men waged a per-
sonal dispute over the conduct of military af-
fairs. However, when Rommel was injured
KLUGE, GUNTHERHANSVON
Gunther Hans von Kluge
Imperial War Museum