Second World War
In September 1939, Witzleben, now a colonel-general, took command of the First Army, stationed in the West. When Germany attacked France on 10 May 1940, the First Army was part of Army Group C. On 14 June it broke through the Maginot line, and within three days had forced several French divisions to surrender. For this, Witzleben was decorated with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross; and on 19 July, he was promoted to Generalfeldmarschall. In 1941 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief West, but only a year later he took leave from this position for health reasons. Some sources, however, claim he was again forcibly retired at this time after criticizing the regime for its invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 in the so-called Operation Barbarossa.
Read more about this topic: Erwin Von Witzleben
Famous quotes containing the words world and/or war:
“Not in vain the distance beacons. Forward let us range,
Let the great world spin for ever down the ringing grooves of
change.”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“The war was a mirror; it reflected man’s every virtue and every vice, and if you looked closely, like an artist at his drawings, it showed up both with unusual clarity.”
—George Grosz (1893–1959)