Albert Kesselring

German military leader

• Born: November 20, 1885
• Birthplace: Marktsteft, Bavaria, Germany
• Died: July 16, 1960
• Place of death: Bad Nauheim, West Germany (now Germany)

Kesselring was one of Germany’s more effective military commanders during World War II, particularly during the 1943-1944 Italian Campaign. He was instrumental in building the Luftwaffe, or German air force, into a viable component of the German war machine.

Early Life

Albert Kesselring (KEHS-sehl-rihng) was born in the Kingdom of Bavaria, part of Otto von Bismarck’s German Empire. His family was Protestant and of middle-class origin. Kesselring’s father was a state employee holding a post as a school supervisor. At the age of nineteen, Kesselring entered the Bavarian officer corps. By the outbreak of World War I, he had risen to the rank of captain in the artillery and had seen action on the western front. During the course of the war, he was promoted and served first on a divisional staff and, later, on the staff of corps. Kesselring was one of the bright officers of the General Staff, who during the Weimar Republic drew up secret plans for the establishment of the German air force. This planning during the 1920’s for the Luftwaffe was forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles, but Kesselring carried forward his plans while posted to the training section of the Truppenamt, which was part of the old General Staff. It was during this service that he acquired a reputation as an able planning and operations officer. Not politically active, Kesselring nevertheless welcomed the rearmament stance of the Nazi Party. When Adolf Hitler and the Nazis were called on to form a government in 1933, Kesselring, now a colonel, responded to a call from Hermann Göring to accept a post as chief of administration in the air ministry under the direction of Erhard Milch, the state secretary of the department.

Life’s Work

Kesselring was now ready in 1933 to participate fully in the rearmament of Nazi Germany. At first, outwardly holding a civilian appointment, he turned his attention to putting his ideas concerning a Luftwaffe into practice. Officially resuming his military rank when Hitler renounced the Treaty of Versailles in 1935, Kesselring found his relations strained with Milch. Kesselring favored an air force of fighters and ground support aircraft over a Luftwaffe weighted in favor of a strategic heavy bomber force. His views brought him into conflict with some members of the military high command. After the death of General Walther Wever, in May, 1936, Kesselring was appointed the first chief of staff of the air force. As the chief, he submitted his conceptual views for the utilization of a modern air force to his colleagues and superiors, as he rapidly expanded the Luftwaffe. As chief of staff, Kesselring sent units of the air force to participate in the civil war in Spain in November, 1936. The members of the Condor Legion, as the units were named, gained invaluable combat experience in support of the Spanish fascist forces. Kesselring’s ideas did not meet with approval, and, as a result of deteriorating relations with Milch, Kesselring was transferred, in 1937, to an operational command. As matters grew worse, he resigned. His period of resignation was brief, and Kesselring was soon reappointed to operational command, with his concepts subsequently approved in February, 1939.

When war broke out in September, 1939, Kesselring was in command of Air Fleet I in action against Poland. Acting in close concert with the panzer groups, the Luftwaffe gave an added dimension to the Blitzkrieg, or lightning war. It was Kesselring who ordered the heavy bombing of Warsaw, destroying much of the old city center. After the rapid fall of Poland, Kesselring’s command was transferred to Air Fleet II. It was Kesselring who led the Luftwaffe in its action against the Dutch, Belgians, French, and British in the dark days for the Allies of May and June, 1940. Kesselring again demonstrated his closely coordinated use of the air force in support of the fast-moving panzer divisions. He ordered the destruction of Rotterdam to break the will of the Dutch and commanded the air force in its attack on the British forces retreating across the Channel at Dunkirk, although failing to prevent their escape. In recognition of his success and leadership in the invasion of the West, Kesselring was promoted to general field marshal of the air force on June 30, 1940.

After the surrender of France, still in command of Air Fleet II, Field Marshal Kesselring led the Luftwaffe in offensive operations during the Battle of Britain , from August to October, 1940, in an intensive campaign against the enemy’s air bases in southeast England and aircraft production centers throughout the British Isles. As Göring and the German High Command shifted their strategy to inflicting maximum bombing on London, the Luftwaffe began to suffer high losses.

When Hitler’s attention shifted to the Soviet Union, Kesselring was transferred to command the Luftwaffe in the central region in support of the invading German armies in the summer of 1941. After the initial success of German arms in Russia, Kesselring and the air fleet under his command were transferred to the Mediterranean area in December, where the field marshal was appointed commander in chief of the German armed forces in the southern region.

Kesselring, who was a thorough planner and had exceptional skill in managing people, now was called on to use all of his considerable diplomatic abilities to cajole and motivate the Italians to maximize their efforts. Considering his poor opinion of the condition of the Italian armed forces, this was no mean feat. In particular, the field marshal was able to charm the fascist leaders, including Benito Mussolini, and tried to bolster Italian resolve against the British and later the Americans. Kesselring was also able to develop a positive working relationship with Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Rommel, as the highly successful commander of the Afrika Army Corps, was technically under Kesselring’s control but largely independent. Kesselring attempted to sustain Rommel’s troops by heavy air attacks on the strategic island of Malta and by ferrying troops by air across the Mediterranean. When the German forces retreated out of Libya into Tunisia and Rommel had been recalled, Kesselring assumed command as the Germans evacuated their African beachhead. It was during this period, 1942-1943, that Kesselring became commander in chief of all German forces along the European periphery of the Mediterranean.

After the Allied invasion of Sicily and Italy in the summer of 1943, Kesselring took direct control of efforts to stop the advance of the British and Americans up the peninsula of Italy. His forces, particularly after Italy’s surrender, fought a series of brilliant defensive actions for much more than a year. The Allied advance to the north was slowed particularly before Monte Cassino, as Kesselring’s troops fought tenaciously and resourcefully. Using what planes he had and his armor to great advantage in the rugged terrain of Italy, he superbly slowed the Allied advance to a crawl. Kesselring was named the supreme commander in Italy in October, 1943, after the fall of Rome.

In October, 1944, Kesselring was injured and for several months of recuperation was out of action. On recovery of his health, Kesselring was transferred from Italy to command the collapsing German front in February, 1945, and succeeded Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt as commander in chief in the West and southern region of Germany in March, 1945. He surrendered his command to the Allies on May 7, 1945, loyal to his soldier’s oath to Hitler to the end.

Following the war, Kesselring was tried, convicted, and sentenced for his part in the shooting of several hundred Italian hostages in the Ardeatine Caves near Rome in 1944. This action, ordered by Kesselring in retaliation for attacks on German forces by Italian partisans, resulted in a death sentence by a British court in Venice in May, 1947. Clemency was granted, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and he was released on grounds of ill health in October, 1952. Kesselring, on his release from custody, was elected president of the Stahlhelm, a German veterans’ organization. He was actively involved in veterans’ affairs until his death in Bad Nauheim in July, 1960, at the age of seventy-four.

Significance

Kesselring was well respected by his peers, who were his opponents. He was a military leader who believed that excellent results could only come through proper planning. He was open to innovation and showed considerable resourcefulness in developing strategies for the specific use of the air force in support of the ground forces and in the general use of airpower to terrorize his opponents, including the disruption of enemy communications and transportation networks. The field marshal was a tenacious commander and made use of whatever resources were at hand. Loyal to a fault, despite entreaties from Hitler’s opponents he fought on, even when the German cause was hopeless. Kesselring was a worthy opponent and demonstrated considerable ingenuity in the defense of the German position in Italy.

Bibliography

Ansel, Walter. Hitler and the Middle Sea. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1972. Chapter 26 examines Kesselring’s role in the Mediterranean campaign in late 1941 and early 1942. The entire book is a well-written study.

Higgins, Trumbull. Soft Underbelly: The Anglo American Controversy over the Italian Campaign, 1939-1945. New York: Macmillan, 1968. This work, as its title implies, covers the debate over what strategy to use against Hitler’s fortress Europe. It analyzes the American and British view of Kesselring’s efforts to impede their military efforts in Italy.

Jackson, William Godfrey F. The Battle for Italy. New York: Harper & Row, 1967. Written by General Jackson, it is a balanced account of the fight for Italy. Sets forth the Allied view of Kesselring’s tenacious efforts to prevent the Allied advance up the Italian boot.

Kesselring, Albert. The Memoirs of Field-Marshal Kesselring. Translated by Lynton Hudson. 1953. New ed. Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 1996. Published after his release from prison, Kesselring’s remembrances are a fairly straightforward account of his participation as a military commander of both air and ground forces during World War II. This updated edition includes a new introduction.

MacDonald, Charles B. The Last Offensive: The United States Army in World War II. Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army, 1984. An excellent account for the student of military history. From the American perspective, it reviews Kesselring’s efforts to stem the Allied advance in the last days of the war.

Macksey, Kenneth. Kesselring: The Making of the Luftwaffe. New York: D. McKay, 1979. This work details Kesselring’s role in the development and buildup of the German air force. It is a well-written analysis of the pivotal leadership brought by Kesselring to the building of Germany’s air fleets.

Niderost, Eric. “Quest for the Eternal City.” World War II 18, no. 2 (July, 2003): 38. Describes the capture of Rome by Allied forces after facing fierce German resistance. Includes discussion of Kesselring’s role in the battle.

Westphal, Siegfried. The German Army in the West. London: Cassell, 1951. An excellent account of German military action. It gives a good overview of this sector of the fighting.