Hitler: Military Commander by Rupert Matthews

Author:Rupert Matthews [Matthews, Rupert]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Arcturus Publishing
Published: 2017-08-11T07:00:00+00:00

Hitler takes the salute at army march-past, Warsaw, 5 October 1939

The Luftwaffe learnt that bombers, and particularly Stukas, were highly vulnerable to enemy fighters. The Polish air force had been destroyed within a few days, after which the bombers had been able to operate almost at will. Priority would therefore be given to the destruction of enemy airbases and aircraft on the ground. Only then would the bombers be released for close support of the army.

The conflict between army demands for close Stuka support, and the Luftwaffe’s desire to use their bombers to destroy the enemy air force first would come to be a key dispute in the planning of the attack on France. It would be crucial when the time came to fight Britain.

This complex process of studying the military lessons had barely begun when Hitler called the commanders of the armed services to a conference at OKW in Berlin. He announced the invasion of France would begin on 12 November. Brauchitsch and Halder were aghast. The plans that OKH had for invading France were contingency plans some years old. With all the effort that had gone into preparing for the operations in Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland there had been no time to update the arrangements for France with new information about roads, bridges and railways. Nor had there been any time to incorporate the lessons of the fighting in Poland into the plans. They begged Hitler for more time to prepare and to get their forces into position.

Hitler said he would think about it, but that the attack in the West must take place as soon as possible.

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