List Of German Generals In Ww2 (2024)

FAQs

How many German generals were there in WWII? ›

The Wehrmacht had a total of 3 191 general officers, including 291 admirals. Despite the heavy losses sustained, particularly during the final year of the war, including among high-ranking officers, around 2 800 survived the fighting. After 1945, they were initially in captivity, war criminals awaiting trial.

Among students of military history, the genius of Field Marshal Erich von Manstein (1887-1973) is respected perhaps more than that of any other World War II soldier.

Von Kleist. He commanded the southern front in Operation Barbarossa. He was the most important German general to understand how to defeat the USSR. He said, “This is a vast land, filled with many peoples.

Franz Halder (30 June 1884 – 2 April 1972) was a German general and the chief of staff of the Army High Command (OKH) in Nazi Germany from 1938 until September 1942. During World War II, he directed the planning and implementation of Operation Barbarossa, the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union.

Five-Star Generals and Admirals

In December 1944, the Army promoted four general officers to General of the Army: Generals George C. Marshall, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Henry H. "Hap" Arnold.

Greg Beyer argues that Montgomery, Paton, Rommel, Zhukov, Guderian, MacArthur, and von Manstein were the seven most talented generals of World War II—who utilised all the capabilities available to them to achieve outcomes.

Hitler's Brandenburgers: The Third Reich's Elite Special Forces.

Gotthard Fedor August Heinrici (German: [ˈɡɔthaʁt haɪnˈʁiːtsi]; 25 December 1886 – 10 December 1971) was a German general during World War II. Heinrici is considered to have been the premier defensive expert of the Wehrmacht.

Otto Johann Anton Skorzeny (12 June 1908 – 5 July 1975) was an Austrian-born German SS-Obersturmbannführer (lieutenant colonel) in the Waffen-SS and a war criminal during World War II.

He is known for never being defeated or captured in battle. Lettow-Vorbeck was the only German commander to successfully invade a part of the British Empire during the First World War.

Who was the best kept secret of ww2? ›

But in fact, the best-kept secret of World War II was no secret at all to Saul Gurman. As a 20-year-old U.S. Army soldier, he was aboard the British ship Rohna on Nov. 26, 1943, when it was struck by a radio-controlled missile dropped from a German plane.

United States General George Patton made his reputation in North Africa and Sicily. The Germans feared his skill and bravura. Therefore he was put in charge of the fictional 1st U.S. Army Group, a successful ruse to convince the Germans that the invasion of Europe would take place in Calais, and not in Normandy.

MacDonald described Fredendall as a "man of bombast and bravado in speech and manner [who] failed to live up to the image he tried to create." Historian Carlo D'Este has described Fredendall as "one of the most inept senior officers to hold a high command during World War II."

Founded in 1925, the “Schutzstaffel,” German for “Protective Echelon,” initially served as Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler's (1889-1945) personal bodyguards, and later became one of the most powerful and feared organizations in all of Nazi Germany.

The vast majority of those killed were enlisted and lower ranking officers. However, there were some “fallen stars” as well. Nearly 1,100 U.S. Army generals served at some point during World War II, and of those about 40 died during or immediately following the war.

The only US Army Air Force general officer captured in WW2. Brigadier General Arthur William Vanaman, U.S. Army Air Force was the only American general captured by the Germans when he bailed out of the bomber he was in when it was hit by German antiaircraft fire.

Greg Beyer argues that Montgomery, Paton, Rommel, Zhukov, Guderian, MacArthur, and von Manstein were the seven most talented generals of World War II—who utilised all the capabilities available to them to achieve outcomes.

We got 44 four-star generals right now. We only had seven during WWII, so I think we're a little overloaded to begin with,” Tuberville said.