Bock, Field Marshal Fedor von (1880–1945),German Army officer who, as the son of a Prussian general, was born and bred to his career. He detested National Socialism, but supported Hitler's military aims. ‘Tall and thin, he was a humourless, ambitious, arrogant, opinionated, and energetic zealot’ ( S. W. Mitcham,
Hitler's Field Marshals and their Battles, London, 1988, p. 145). Unlike many high-ranking German officers during the Second World War, he gained first-hand experience of commanding infantry in battle when he served as a battalion commander in 1917–18, winning what was then Germany's highest decoration, the Pour le Mérite.
Between the wars Bock rose rapidly in rank. He was promoted general on 1 March 1938, commanded the forces which occupied Austria later that month, then Army Group North in the
Polish campaign, and Army Group B during the fighting which led to the
fall of France. Promoted field marshal in July 1940, he was appointed C-in-C Army Group Centre for the invasion of the USSR in June 1941 (see
BARBAROSSA) which destroyed
Red Army formations at
Bialystok–Minsk,
Smolensk, and
Briansk–Vyazma, and at the end of November got to within 32 km. (20 mi.) of
Moscow. But Bock's forces suffered heavy casualties when Stalin launched his counter-offensive, and on 19 December, the day Hitler took personal control of the war on the Eastern Front from
Brauchitsch, Bock returned home on sick leave (he had stomach ulcers) and was replaced by
Kluge.
Bock's sick leave did not last long for on 17 January 1942
Reichenau, the C-in-C Army Group South, died and Bock was ordered to replace him. At the end of May he inflicted a heavy defeat on
Timoshenko's force before launching the second phase of Hitler's offensive (BLUE) towards the Caucasus the following month (see
German–Soviet war, 4). The plan included the division of the Army Group into A and B, with Bock taking command of B. But Bock deviated from Hitler's plan and BLUE was delayed, and in mid-July Hitler gave command of the newly activated Army Group B to General Maximilian von Weichs instead.
Bock's prestige in Germany was so great that the pretence was maintained for some time that he still held his command, but he was never employed again. On 4 May 1945 he was killed when his car was shot up by a British aircraft.
