| Erich von Manstein was born in Berlin on 24th November 1887 as a member
of the Lewinski family member, but was adopted by the childless von Mansteins
who were related to the Lewinski family. Both families had a Prussian military
tradition, and Erich carried on the family's military tradition by joining
the Cadet Corps and later the 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards in 1906. Here
he became adjudant of the regiment's Fusilier battalion, and was promoted
to Lieutenant after entering the War Academy in 1913. During WWI he served
in the 2nd Reserve Regiment of Guards in Belgium, East Prussia and South
Poland, and after being wounded in November 1914 after charging a Russian
position, he served on the staffs of armies commanded by General von Gallwitz
and von Below. In the summer of 1915 he took part in the offensive in North
Poland. In the spring of 1917 he saw fighting in Verdun, at the river Somme
and the Aisne. He continued to serve on the Western front until the Armistice. |
| During the post-war years von Manstein held various staff and regiment
appointments, and was involved in planning the new German army which was
allowed to have a 100.000 men. Taking consideration of new tactics and
weapons, one of his suggestions was the introduction of the Sturmgeschütz,
assault guns, as close support weapons for infantry units. In 1936 he had
risen to Major-General and became deputy to General Beck, Chief of the
General Staff. With the dismissal of Baron von Fritsch in 1938 he was transferred
to Liegnitz as commander of the 18th Division, and later that year he took
part in the occupation of the Sudetenland. On general mobilization in 1939
von Manstein became Chief-of-Staff of von Rundstedt's Army Group South,
which he served through the Poland campaign. |
| With von Rundstedt he went to the Western front, where he became involved
in the creation of an offensive plan. The Army High Command had more or
less duplicated the Schlieffen plan used during WWI, and von Manstein attracted
attention with his unortodox proposal to attack the enemy in the flank
on a very narrow front through the wooded Ardennes. By a single but powerful
drive to the Channel coast the Anglo-French army would be separated from
its less mobile supports in the interior. Although von Manstein was posted
away from the Army Group due to objections by the Army High Command, his
original but daring idea was adopted by Hitler to whom von Manstein had
personally delivered it. Manstein was promoted to General and awarded the
Knight's Cross after leading his XXXVIII Infantry Corps through the victorious
French campaign which ended within six weeks. |
| In March 1941 von Manstein became commander of the 56th Panzer Corps
and led an armored dash from East Prussia towards Leningrad during operation
Barbarossa. Although his rapid advance resulted in the conquering of vital
bridges, more victories could have been obtained for Army Group North if
he had not been slowed down in order to wait for other formations to catch
up. In September he was given command of the 11th Army in South Russia,
where he conquered the Crimea and destroyed the Russian counteroffensive
at Kerch. Only after a prolongue siege of 250 days the city of Sevastopol
could be captured and von Manstein was promoted to Field-Marshall. Together
with the huge Karl siege artillery units he was entrusted to take Leningrad,
but the encirclement of the 6th Army at Stalingrad made it necessary to
make von Manstein commander of Army Group Don to relieve the surrounded
Army. Von Manstein realized that not only the 6th Army was at stake, but
also von Kleist's Army Group A in the Caucasus. His proposal to withdraw
the 6th Army was rejected by Hitler, and an attempt to open a corridor
to Stalingrad almost carried off, bringing his panzer divisions to within
35 miles of the 6th Army. A large offensive by the Russians forced Manstein
to withdraw Army Group Don 200 kilometres through bitter winter conditions
to Rostov in order to protect the corridor for Army Group A. |
| As the Russian winter offensive continued moving towards the city of
Kharkov, the German forces retreated and were regrouped. The exhausted
Russians were subsequently defeated after the most brilliant German counteroffensive
of the Russian campaign. Von Manstein was awarded the Oak Leaves to his
Knight's Cross for the victory and the recapture of Kharkov. In the summer
of 1943 von Manstein took part in the last German offensive in the east:
operation Citadel. Manstein proposed a quick offensive to eliminate the
salient and regain the initiative on the eastern front, but Hitler favoured
much more preparations. As a result the Russians got months to create strong
defensive positions, resulting in a hard battle when the offensive started.
Soon Hitler called off the Kursk offensive, although von Manstein argued
in vain to continue the operatio despite slow progress. With the Red Army
having the militairy initiative, von Manstein had to take Army Group South
through a number of difficult defensive battles, including the withdrawal
behind the Dnieper. |
| His ceaseless advocacy of operational freedom of movement meant to
Hitler the surrendering of ground without the guarantee that it could be
recaptured. His fears might be well-founded in the case of other commanders,
but Manstein stood alone in possesing the skill to wage that dangerous
form of warfare. At the end of March 1944, the difficulties with Hitler
over the conduct of operations accumulated into the relieve of his command.
Hitler explained that the days of strategic manoeuvre were over, and that
a defensive war would be fought by fortified cities fighting to the last
man and bullet. Through awarded the Swords to the Knight's Cross, von Manstein
was replaced by Field Marshal Model and not employed again. Regarded by
many as the greatest field commander of WWII, his removel aided Russia
rather than Germany. |
