Bob Carruthers - Hitlers Wartime Orders: The Complete Fuhrer Directives 1939-1945

THE COMPLETE

FRTHER DIRECTIVES 1939-1945

Edited and introduced by

BOB CARRUTHERS

This edition published in 2018 by

Pen & Sword Military

An imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd.

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Barnsley

South Yorkshire

S70 2AS

Copyright Coda Publishing Ltd. 2018.

Published under licence by Pen & Sword Books Ltd.

ISBN: 9781473868724

eISBN: 9781473868748

Mobi ISBN: 9781473868731

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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H ITLERS orders and directives form a powerful primary source record of the conduct of the Second World War at the strategic level. They provide a compelling insight, from the German perspective, into how Hitlers war was planned and fought by the all-powerful Supreme Commander.

However, it is vital to understand that the man issuing the strategic decrees and orders in the Second World War was a complete novice who had never risen above the rank of private. It is sobering to consider the fact that, during the Second World War, Hitler was learning the role of Supreme Commander. In order to overcome his lack of practical experience he relied upon his political skills and his gamblers instinct to exercise an iron grip on the German military machine. In order to comprehend Hitler as Supreme Commander we must first take account of his service as a soldier in the Great War.

In July 1914, the news of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand reached Munich. There followed a few days of high tension, then, on Saturday 1 August 1914, in response to the news of Russian mobilisation, came the order for the mobilisation of the German war machine. The Great War had begun. For Adolf Hitler, what he described as the most memorable period of his life had now commenced. Faced with the prospect of that titanic conflict, it seemed to him that all of his past fell away. With a wistful pride, Hitler, in the pages of Mein Kampf , looked back on the days of war with a warm enthusiasm and a delight that fortune had permitted him the honour of taking his place in that heroic struggle.

In 1914, the state of Bavaria still maintained its own standing army, however, in the event of war, the Bavarian army formed a component part of the Imperial German Army. As such the Bavarian army took its marching orders from Prussia and, although it still maintained its own recruiting and logistical systems based in Munich, it came firmly under the direct control of Berlin. It is no surprise therefore that Hitler was part of the cheering crowd on Munichs Odeonsplatz, where he was famously photographed by Heinrich Hoffmann on Sunday 2 August 1914. In the infamous photograph Hitler can be clearly seen waving his hat enthusiastically and welcoming the news that war had been declared on Russia the day before. Shortly following the dispersal of the Munich crowd Hitler volunteered for service in the Bavarian army. He dashed off an application for permission to enlist in a Bavarian regiment and was directed to report himself immediately at the nearest barracks. Despite having been declared unfit for Austro-Hungarian service only the year before, Hitler, despite not being a German national, had somehow succeeded in obtaining permission to join the List Regiment.