Google Earth Community: The battle of Stalingrad

Friedrich Paulus

Picture : militaryhistoryonline.com
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Generaloberst Friedrich Paulus had joined the German army in 1910. He had risen to the rank of Captain during the First World War, and had been largely involved in work as a staff officer. He married well, winning the hand of a beautiful young woman of the Romanian nobility, Elena Rosetti-Solescu, whose friends called her "Coco".

Paulus served both in the Balkans with the Alpenkorps, and at the Battle of Verdun
He stayed in the post-war Reichswehr, rising as high as Major before Hitler came to power. Paulus had a strange fixation for a soldier. He despised dirt, bathed and changed uniforms several times in a day, even on the rare occasions he ventured into the field. He grew professionally as an excellent staff officer, contenting himself with sand-table models of various battle-field scenarios.

However, on at least one occasion he was called upon to command a battalion during a field exercise. Paulus's performance was found lacking, and a superior noted in an evaluation, "This officer lacks decisiveness!" The following is a direct quote from his commanding officer of the time. As it turns out, this statement is indicative of what could be expected of him as a soldier.

"A typical Staff officer of the old school. Tall, and in outward appearance painstakingly well groomed. Modest, perhaps too modest, amiable, with extremely courteous manners, and a good comrade, anxious not to offend anyone. Exceptionally talented and interested in military matters, and a meticulous desk worker, with a passion for war-games and formulating plans on the map-board or sand-table. At this he displays considerable talent, considering every decision at length and with careful deliberation before giving the appropriate orders."
With the advent of Hitler and the expansion of the German army, Paulus moved steadily up the ranks of officers attached to the General Staff. By the outbreak of war in 1939, Paulus was a Major General, and on the staff of Gen. Walther von Reichenau's 10th Army. Von Reichenau was probably the very antithesis of Paulus. An ardent Nazi, coarse and unkempt, he loathed routine paper work, preferring duty in the field. During the Polish campaign, he set an example for his troops by swimming across the Vistula river. He was perfectly content to let Paulus handle the organizational duties, and as a result, his army was running as efficiently as a Swiss watch.

Renamed the 6th Army for the 1940 campaign in the West, von Reichenau and Paulus spearheaded the attack through Belgium, establishing their army as one of the elite of the Wehrmacht. Theirs was among the forces which pinned the British Expeditionary Force and the Remnants of the French Army against the sea at Dunkirk. Chosen for the cross-channel invasion of Britain, Paulus worked up the operational details for an amphibious assault by the 6th Army.

With the cancellation of Operation Sea-Lion, Paulus found himself back in Berlin, under Gen. Franz Halder, working up operational plans for Operation Barbarossa. To work with the chief of the German General Staff was a plum of a career opportunity for him. He impressed Halder with his intellectual precision, his meticulous preparations and staff work. Ironically, Paulus laid down the basic operational plans for the ultimate fate of the 6th Army, as well as his own.

With the dismissal of Field Marshal von Rundstedt as Commander, Army Group South, Field Marshal von Reichenau was moved up from 6th Army to replace him. Von Reichenau recommended his old deputy to be the new commander of the 6th Army. It was intended that von Reichenau would assist Paulus through the transition and change of command. But von Reichanau died of complications from a heart attack and stroke (largely brought on by the stress of the Russian campaign) on Jan 17, 1942. At the age of 51, Paulus had achieved his life's ambition - command of an army in the field.

Source : http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/stalingrad/commanders.aspx

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Fieldmarshal Von Paulus, commander of German troops in the city, is captured by the Soviet army.

Picture : http://serbianguard.com/efotke19big.htm

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http://panorama.volgadmin.ru/8_eng.html

biografie : http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/biografien/PaulusFriedrich/index.html

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Paulus.html

http://experts.about.com/e/f/fr/Friedrich_Paulus.htm

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