Talk:Walter Model

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[edit] Picture

Added picture of him. I took it from German wikipedia, i suppose it is legimate to do so? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 84.251.151.185 (talk • contribs).

If the image in the German Wikipedia is a free image, then the answer is yes. RashBold (talk · contribs) 21:53, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Who was his adjutant?

"Furthermore, he appointed a Waffen-SS officer as his adjutant at Army Group North in 1944"

Is there any citation available for this?

In 1981 I interveiwed Herr Walter Thomas, a German historian, who claimed to have been Model's adjutant while the 2nd SS Panzer Corps was in R&R at Arnhem

He claimed to have been shielded by Model from Gestapo officials who suspected his involvement in the Assassination plot, due his NOT being in either the SS or the Party

He was demoted after the Wacht am Rhein and was not with Model's staff when he committed suicide.

As an aside, he also confirmed that not only did Model believe that the Arnhem paratroopers were sent to kidnap him (and he presumed other Generals as well) but that when the Market Garden plans taken from a British Glider (NOT a dispatch rider) were handed to him, he dismissed them as fakes, and didn't bother even to read them to see if they matched up with the situation on the ground until day 3

Model also refused to believe reports of the XXX Corps' advance until he received a dispatch from Bittrich, which included an American paratrooper's helmet & a mudguard from a British armoured car

Finally, Herr Thomas said that Model was so impressed by the bravery of the 1st Paras, that he wanted to personally offer them an honourable surrender, but was persuaded that it was too dangerous

In the event a junior officer called Bischoff (sorry don't know his rank, I missed it out in my notes) was sent, leading to the famous "I'm sorry, we don't have the facilities to take you all prisoner" answer

Sadly, the only publication for all of this is an old school magazine, so is Original Research and unsuitable for the main article, but I thought some might find it interesting chrisboote 12:22, 9 August 2007 (UTC)

The adjutant business is from Newton, Hitler's Commander, p.269: "Leaving East Prussia... Model happened to comment at Fuhrer headquarters that, having been on extended leave, he lacked a personal adjutant. When Hitler's SS liaison, Hermann Fegelein, heard this, he immediately offered Model a young Waffen SS officer for the post. Asking only about the officer's field experience, Model accepted him without ever considering how such a selection might jar the sensitivites of his staff." The officer himself isn't named, unfortunately. This is in turn sourced from Walter Görlitz, Model: Strategie der Defensive, p.163. I haven't been able to get access to Görlitz's book, which is in German in any case.

Thanks for the Market Garden anecdote about Model. It sounds plausible, since he was the type of person who would be bull-headed enough to back his first impressions despite evidence to the contrary. I agree it probably counts as OR though. -- Hongooi 12:39, 9 August 2007 (UTC)

I will be in Germany in October, I presume the Görlitz book will be in the Bundesarchiv? If so, i will make a side trip to read it. I DO speak German 8-) chrisboote 15:05, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

Ding! Just re-read the para in Newton. WAFFEN SS is of course very different from SS! Checking my Notes, Herr Thomas was on Fegelein's staff, possibly as a driver, after serving in the Florien Geyer Cavalry Division, so that fits.

chrisboote 12:11, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Spelling of his given name

It actually was Walther, with an "h". The spelling of hids name at the top should be corrected. Ojevindlang (talk) 22:10, 21 May 2008 (UTC)