Walter Model

File:Walther.jpg

Walter Model

Otto Moritz Walter Model (IPA /'mo:dəl/) (January 24 1891 – April 21 1945) was a German general and later a field marshal during World War II.

Born in Genthin, Saxony-Anhalt, he was noted for his defensive skills and was nicknamed "Hitler's fireman". Model was known under the German General Staff as a loyal follower of Hitler.

Model served as an infantry officer in World War I and was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class in 1915; in 1919, he was one of 4,000 officers who remained in the Reichswehr. He was promoted many times during the period of Hitler's rise to power and again during the Second World War. During the Polish and French campaigns in 1939 and 1940 he served as a corps and army chief of staff. In the Russian campaigns from 1941 until 1944 he served in as a division, corps, and finally army commander.

As commander of the XXXXI Panzer Corps, Model spearheaded Operation Typhoon, the leg of Operation Barbarossa intended to take Moscow. During the assault, Model's forces captured important bridgeheads leading to Moscow and reached within 20km of the city before the Red Army forced his troops back.

In January 1942 Model was appointed commander of the 9th Army and, shortly thereafter, awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross. During the Battles of Rzhev, Model's army trapped and destroyed large numbers of Russian troops and successfully defended the area until 1943 when Hitler ordered a withdrawal. For his defensive skills he was awarded the Swords to the Oak Leaves of the Knight's Cross following the withdrawal from Rhzev.

In 1943 Model was appointed commander of Army Group South and led the northern assault on Kursk during Operation Citadel. Model was opposed to the operation as well as to Hitler's orders to stand fast under all circumstances. Hitler later allowed Model to withdraw, and he managed to break out of the Oryol, which the Russians were about to retake.

In January 1944 Model was assigned commander-in-chief of Army Group North on the Eastern Front. In March he was promoted to field marshal, making him the youngest Generalfeldmarschall in German military history. He commanded Army Group Narva, created out of Army Group North to prevent a Soviet breakthrough to the Baltic Sea in what became the Battle of Narva.

In mid-August Model was transferred to the west as Commander in Chief West and concurrently as Commander in Chief of Army Group B. Upon Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt's return as Commander in Chief West in early September, Model retained command of Army Group B, a post he kept until the the group's final dissolution in April 1945. As Commander of Army Group B, Model helped stem the Allied advance during Operation Market Garden.

Believing that a field marshal should not surrender, Model committed suicide by shooting himself in the head in a wooded area near Lintorf, Ratingen, on April 21 1945, before he could be captured. He is buried in the Soldatenfriedhof Vossenack, a German military cemetery located near the town of Vossenack, Germany.