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Walther von Brauchitsch Military person

Heinrich Alfred Hermann Walther von Brauchitsch (4 October 1881 – 18 October 1948) was a German field marshal and the Commander-in-Chief of the German Army in the early years of World War II.Born into an aristocratic military family, Brauchitsch joined the 3rd Guards Grenadier Regiment 1901. He served on the staff of several formations that fought over a dozen major battles of World War I, serving with the XVI Corps, 34th Infantry Division and Guards Reserve Corps as a staff officer before taking part in no fewer than twenty-eight notable clashes on the Western Front, including the Battle of Verdun, the Battle of Armentières, the Battle at the Aisne, and the Battle of the Lys. For his service on the Western Front, he was awarded the Iron Cross and the House Order of Hohenzollern.After Hitler's rise to power in 1933, Brauchitsch was put in charge of the East Prussian Military District, and became a very popular officer because of his kindness to the civilian Prussian population in times of local fires. Although he personally disliked Nazism, he borrowed immense sums of money from Hitler and eventually became dependent on his financial help. During World War II, Brauchitsch primarily served as Commander-in-Chief of the German Army between 1938 and 1941. He oversaw the German military campaigns in Yugoslavia and Greece, and played a key role in the Battle of France. For his part in all this, Brauchitsch became one of twelve generals who was promoted to field marshal. He was, however, dismissed as Commander-in-Chief of the Army by Hitler in 1941 following the failed Moscow offensive; he spent the rest of the war in enforced retirement, and never saw Hitler again. After World War II, Brauchitsch was arrested on charges of war crimes, but died of a heart attack in 1948 before he could be prosecuted.Brauchitsch married Elizabeth von Karstedt, an heiress from Brandenburg, in 1910. With her he had three children. They were divorced in 1938 after twenty-eight years of wedlock. He married his second wife, Charlotte Rüffer, shortly after his divorce from Karstedt.

Personal facts

Birth date	October 04, 1881
Birth place	Berlin , Germany
Date of death	October 18, 1948
Place of death	Germany , Hamburg

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