Hitler's Commanders (19 page)

On August 2, Colonel General von Falkenhorst was found guilty on seven of the nine charges and sentenced to death, even though the British record of the trial admits that he was a benevolent commander who did what he could to mitigate the suffering of the occupied people. It must be remembered that, at this time, the passions of the war had not died down, and the world was still rightly shocked and outraged by the Nazi atrocities. Even then, however, General Falkenhorst was separated from the other “war criminals”; he was to die a soldier’s death—by firing squad; he would be spared the traditional execution of a criminal—death by hanging: the death suffered by Goering, Keitel, Jodl, Joachim von Ribbentrop, and others. Falkenhorst did not die, however. His execution was delayed, and his sentence was eventually reduced to 20 years’ imprisonment. He served less than half of this, and on July 23, 1953, was released, ostensibly for reasons of health. He moved to Detmold, where he was living in retirement in 1957. He died at Holzminden on June 18, 1968. His son-in-law was Major General Erich Dethleffsen.
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hugo sperrle
, the son of a brewer, was born in Ludwigsburg, Wuerttemberg, on February 2, 1885. He joined the Imperial Army as a Fahnenjunker (officer-cadet) in 1903 and was commissioned second lieutenant in the 8th Wuerttemberg Infantry Regiment about a year later. He was promoted to first lieutenant in 1913 and became a captain in late 1914. He was in an artillery spotter training course when World War I broke out.

Sperrle did not distinguish himself in the Great War, but he did compile a solid record in that conflict, where he specialized in aerial reconnaissance. He served as an aerial observer with the 4th Field Flying Detachment (
Feldfliegerabteilung 4
). Later, after undergoing pilot training, he led the 42nd and 60th Field Flying detachments and the 13th Field Flying Wing, before assuming command of the Air Observers School at Cologne. At the end of the war he was officer-in-charge of all flying units attached to the 7th Army on the Western Front. After the Kaiser fell, Sperrle promptly joined the Luettwitz Freikorps and commanded its aviation detachment. In 1919, he was one of the 180 former aviators selected for retention in the 4,000-man Officer Corps of the Reichsheer.

Back in the infantry, Captain Sperrle served on the staff of Wehrkreis V at Stuttgart (1919–1923), in the Defense Ministry (1923–1924), and with the 4th Infantry Division at Dresden (1924–1925). He also maintained his commitment to aviation and underwent secret advanced flight training at the clandestine German air base at Lipetsk, Russia, in 1928. He made at least two trips to the United Kingdom to observe Royal Air Force displays. After he returned to Germany, Sperrle (who physically resembled a bear) continued to make steady if unspectacular progress. He spent four years on the General Staff in the Reichswehr Ministry (1925–1929), was promoted to major (1926) and lieutenant colonel (1931), and served as commander of III Battalion, 14th (Baden) Infantry Regiment in Kontanz (in extreme southwestern Germany), from 1929 to 1933. From October 1, 1933, until the end of his army career, Sperrle was commander of the 8th (Prussian) Infantry Regiment at Frankfurt/Oder. Sperrle joined Goering’s Luftwaffe as a full colonel on April 1, 1934, and was placed in charge of the 1st Air Division; simultaneously he held the office of commander of Army Aviation, and his territorial responsibilities included the city of Berlin (see appendix IV for the Luftwaffe chain of command and unit strengths). Sperrle was thus well placed to assume a prominent role in the emergence of the Luftwaffe when Hitler decided it was time to openly defy the Allies and renounce the part of the Treaty of Versailles that prohibited Germany from having an air force.

On March 9, 1935, Hitler announced the existence of the Luftwaffe to the entire world. Sperrle was among the first army officers officially transferred to the Luftwaffe. Initially in charge of flying units in II Air District (
Luftkreis II
), his previous aviation experience gave him a tremendous advantage over most of his peers. As a result he was promoted to major general and named commander of Luftkreis V, headquartered at Munich, on October 1, 1935. He was already one of the leading figures in the Luftwaffe when the Spanish Civil War erupted.

For Germany, the campaign began on July 26, 1936, when a delegation from General Francisco Franco, the commander of the rebel forces, arrived in Berlin. Prevented from crossing the Mediterranean by the Loyalist Navy, Franco urgently needed transport aircraft to ferry his troops from Morocco to the Spanish mainland. Goering was enthusiastic about the venture, and that same day Hitler agreed to provide 20 Ju-52 transports, complete with crews, to the pro-Fascist rebels. Initially, Army Lieutenant Colonel Walter Warlimont was in charge of the German military mission to Spain, but in late October Hitler decided that the situation required a separate Luftwaffe command. It was christened the Condor Legion, and Hugo Sperrle was named its first commander. Traveling under the alias of Sanders, he arrived in time for the formal activation of the Legion on October 31.
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Sperrle’s new command initially consisted of one bomber squadron (
Staffel
), a fighter squadron, a naval air squadron, and one heavy and one light anti-aircraft battery. Although assigned to support rebel ground units, Sperrle was responsible only to General Franco and thus held rank equivalent to an air theater commander. Both by necessity and by design, he did considerable experimenting with combat tactics, formation flying and organization, and airplane models while commander of the Condor Legion. Most of the Luftwaffe tactics used in the Second World War were developed in Spain. Although his primary duty was to support rebel ground forces, Sperrle managed to distinguish himself in a number of ways. On November 15 he personally led the attack that destroyed the Republican naval base at Cartagena and forced the enemy fleet to put to sea to escape destruction. He also designed a plan for the ground battle of Madrid, which probably would have ended the war had it not been for the incompetence of the Italian corps commander, General Mario Roatta. Sperrle also pioneered the concept of the Fascist terror raid. At Guernica, for example, his bombers killed hundreds of Spanish civilians by plastering the town with high-explosives, while his fighters strafed fleeing townspeople, in clear violation of the laws of warfare. “Guernica,” Fletcher wrote, has “become a synonym for Fascist brutality in Spain.”
4
Sperrle, however, never received so much as a verbal reprimand for this attack.

After supporting Franco’s ground forces on their drive to the Bay of Biscay and helping wipe out the last Loyalist resistance in northern Spain, Sperrle turned command of the Condor Legion over to Major General Helmuth von Volkmann on October 31, 1937, and returned to Germany a hero.
5
He had been promoted to lieutenant general on April 1 and on November 1, 1937, was advanced to the rank of general of flyers. On February 1, 1938, he assumed command of Luftwaffe Group 3, which was redesignated 3rd Air Fleet in February 1939. Sperrle led the 3rd for the rest of his career.

Headquartered in Munich, Hugo Sperrle was in charge of all Luftwaffe units, bases, and operations in southern Germany, including those in the Austrian border area. At this time Hitler was planning his Anschluss: the annexation of Austria into the Third Reich. The Fuehrer hoped to bluff and bully Austrian Prime Minister Kurt von Schuschnigg into handing over his country without a fight, so he made sure that the physically intimidating Sperrle was present throughout the negotiations. Richard Brett-Smith described him as a “huge, solid, ferocious-looking man” and Hitler described Sperrle and Army General Walter von Reichenau as “my two most brutal-looking generals.”
6
Sperrle’s heavy-jowled face seemed to be frozen in a permanent scowl, which, coupled with his huge bulk and numerous decorations, made him look sinister. His presence, along with Hitler’s overbearing tactics, had the desired effect. On February 12, 1938, Hitler met with Schuschnigg at Berchtesgaden and extracted from him a virtual surrender of Austrian sovereignty. A month later, Hitler formally annexed Austria and entered Vienna in triumph on March 14. Sperrle took part in the occupation of Austria but soon turned over the Luftwaffe’s territorial administration of the region to the newly formed 4th Air Fleet under General Alexander Loehr, the former commander-in-chief of the Austrian Air Force.

After the Anschluss, Sperrle commanded the bombing demonstrations aimed at intimidating Czechoslovakia into giving up the Sudetenland. He was unsuccessful in this effort but no doubt impressed the British and helped influence them into signing the Munich accords in September 1938. Czechoslovakia, deserted by her allies, was compelled to abandon the Sudetenland in October. This move cost Prague its border fortifications and its only real hope of preserving its independence. Six months later, Hitler occupied the rest of the country without a fight. Along with Loehr, Sperrle directed the Luftwaffe’s part in the occupation of Czechoslovakia.

When Hitler invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, 3rd Air Fleet supported Colonel General Ritter Wilhelm von Leeb’s Army Group C in guarding Germany’s exposed western frontier. The Allies, however, failed to take advantage of the Wehrmacht’s weakness here. Soon, Poland was conquered and the bulk of the victorious invasion force was on its way back to the West.

During the invasion of France in May 1940, Sperrle’s 3rd and Colonel General Albert Kesselring’s 2nd Air fleets controlled some 3,400 aircraft. Kesselring supported von Bock’s Army Group B, while Sperrle supported the main thrust—von Rundstedt’s Army Group A, which included the bulk of the panzer units and the main assault forces. When the decisive Battle of Sedan began on May 13, Sperrle controlled the lion’s share of Germany’s combat aviation forces: General Ulrich Grauert’s I Air Corps, General Bruno Loerzer’s II, Ritter Robert von Greim’s V, and Major General Baron Wolfram von Richthofen’s VIII, as well as General Hubert Weise’s I Flak Corps. At the last minute, Sperrle attempted to change the Luftwaffe’s plan of operations from a series of attacks by small formations to one massive all-out attack against the French positions near Sedan; however, General Loerzer ignored his orders and did not pass them on to the squadrons.
7
Why Sperrle wanted to throw away carefully prepared plans made over a period of weeks in favor of a single hasty attack is a mystery, but apparently he panicked at the last minute. Had he been obeyed, he might have endangered the success of the entire campaign. As it worked out, General Guderian, the commander of the panzer spearhead, could not have been more pleased with the close air support he received at Sedan.

The breakthrough at Sedan led to the drive to the English Channel, the destruction of the best French divisions in Flanders, and the forced evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk. Luftwaffe support of the panzer and motorized units was superb, despite the fluid nature of the battlefield. Sperrle redeemed his near blunder at Sedan and was awarded the Knight’s Cross on May 18, two days before Guderian’s tanks reached the sea near Abbeville.

France surrendered on June 21, 1940. On July 19, at ceremonies in Berlin, Hitler promoted Sperrle to field marshal, along with Kesselring and Erhard Milch and a dozen army generals. Sperrle completely bypassed the rank of colonel general.

There is no doubt that Hitler was partial toward Sperrle and solicitous of his feelings and welfare. Sperrle returned the affection, at least until 1943. Though not a party member, he supported the Nazis’ aims and never waivered in his loyalty to the Fuehrer, although he occasionally objected to his strategic plans. Neither Hitler nor Goering, however, paid very much attention to the advice given by the brewer’s son; that would cost them dearly in the days ahead.

Meanwhile, Hitler tried to eliminate Great Britain from the war by diplomatic means. When these efforts failed, the Battle of Britain began in earnest. Sperrle’s 3rd Air Fleet was now stationed in France, south of the Seine, and included Richthofen’s VIII Air Corps (mostly Stukas), von Greim’s V (primarily bombers), and Kurt Plugbeil’s IV (night fighters, bombers, and dive-bombers). He also received Major General Werner Junck’s 1st Fighter Command,
8
which included 300 Me-l09 single-engine fighters and 130 Me-110 twin-engine fighters.

The all-out effort to defeat the Royal Air Force (RAF) began on “Eagle Day,” August 13, 1940. Sperrle’s zone of operations was eastern England, where the RAF had its major fighter bases. Third Air Fleet suffered heavy casualties, especially in its dive-bomber squadrons. Richthofen’s VIII Corps had to be withdrawn from the battle on August 19; indeed, primary responsibility for the campaign was shifted from Sperrle to Kesselring that day, as the single-engine fighter units of the 3rd Air Fleet were transferred to 2nd Air Fleet (north of the Seine). In compensation, Sperrle received the decimated Me-110 squadrons of the 5th Air Fleet, which was operating out of Norway.

The German tactics over England were costly but were having their effect on the British by early September. For the first time, the RAF was weakening. Sperrle, out of the main battle, primarily concentrated on night bombing raids, especially against Liverpool, over which he had some success. He was not allowed to attack London—yet.

One of the most fateful meetings in the history of the Luftwaffe took place between Goering and his two principal air fleet commanders at The Hague on September 3. Goering suggested that the current tactical plan of concentrating on smashing the RAF and its bases be abandoned in favor of large-scale bombing of London, the hub of the British war effort. He wanted to know if the RAF had been sufficiently weakened to allow his own air fleets to accomplish this task without undue risk to the bomber force.

Sperrle advocated the destruction of the British Fighter Command, correctly asserting that it was still a force to be reckoned with. Kesselring, optimistic as usual, believed Luftwaffe intelligence reports that the British had only a few fighters left. Sperrle, on the other hand, was not by nature an optimistic man. He estimated that the British had about a thousand fighters and strongly urged that the battle continue exactly as it was being fought. The pressure on the British must not be relieved, he shouted. The argument became heated, but Goering—under pressure from Hitler—ruled against Sperrle in the end. The first major attack on London took place two days later, and the British capital superseded the RAF as the primary target of the Luftwaffe. British Fighter Command quickly recovered and was never again threatened with annihilation, as it was in early September 1940. The decision to focus on London instead of against the RAF airfields was one of the decisive turning points of the entire air war.