Reichenau, Field Marshal Walther von

The Oxford Companion to World War II | 2001 | 700+ words | Copyright

Reichenau, Field Marshal Walther von (1884–1942),German Army officer who served as a staff officer during the First World War. As Blomberg's chief of staff in East Prussia, he became head of the defence ministry's Wehrmachtamt (armed forces office) when Blomberg became minister of defence in January 1933. Promotion followed quickly and by 1935 Reichenau was a lt-general. He commanded the Tenth Army (renamed Sixth Army) in the Polish campaign of September– October 1939 and was promoted general before leading it during the fighting which led to the fall of France. He personally accepted the surrender of King Léopold and the Belgian Army in May 1940 and was promoted field marshal that July. His Sixth Army, as part of Rundstedt's Army Group South, performed well during the German invasion of the USSR in June 1941 (see BARBAROSSA) and in September 1941 it took Kiev. In December 1941 he succeeded Rundstedt, but died of a heart attack the following month. By that time his early approval of Hitler had long turned to scepticism and then distrust.

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I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. " Reichenau, Field Marshal Walther von." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. " Reichenau, Field Marshal Walther von." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O129-ReichenauFildMrshlWlthrvn.html

I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. " Reichenau, Field Marshal Walther von." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O129-ReichenauFildMrshlWlthrvn.html

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