Weltkriegschaft

Chapter III: Part IX

Chapter III: The Lion’s Den

Part IX

July 15, 1936

“Right here, Mein Führer.”

On the pavers outside the sprawling new headquarters of the Luftwaffe, Adolf Hitler’s entourage parted as an aide led him to a spot directly in front of the main entrance. Part of a large Wehrmacht delegation, Field Marshal Werner von Blomberg strained to get a view of the proceedings. One of the pavers was missing, revealing a steel mesh underneath. Several Luftwaffe men had a cart nearby, which they wheeled into position. On it was a bronze plaque that exactly fit the square meter gap in the sidewalk. The airmen carefully lifted it off the cart and into the space between Hitler and Ernst Sagebiel, the building’s architect. The two men each grasped a side and with difficulty lowered the plaque into position.


The Reich Air Ministry Building upon completion.


Flashbulbs went off and the six hundred onlookers broke into applause. “The Reich Air Ministry Building,” Sagebiel proclaimed, “is now officially complete.” An Army band struck up a spirited rendition of the Deutschlandlied.

Work on the massive structure had begun a mere seventeen months earlier, but thousands of workers toiling almost round-the-clock had finally finished it. More than 250 meters long, it covered nearly an entire city block along Berlin’s Wilhelmstrasse. The modernist travertine-faced edifice was the largest office building in the whole of Europe -- seven stories, 2,800 rooms, 7 kilometers of corridors, more than 4,000 windows and 112,000 square meters of floor space. Though some Luftwaffe personnel had actually moved into the partially-completed building the previous October, only now, with this symbolic act of completion, was the Reich Air Ministry Building ready to accommodate its full capacity -- some four thousand bureaucrats and their secretaries.


Final architectural model of the entire building.


“Field Marshal,” Hitler called, eyeing von Blomberg steadily, “let us tour your new offices first. They are closest to this entrance, yes?”

The former War Minister was caught off-guard. “Yes, Mein Führer. The task ahead is a great one, but we -- I -- shall perform the duties of this new command to the utmost.”


Werner von Blomberg, staff photo.


For the past five days, von Blomberg had been serving in Berlin again, just blocks from his former offices at the War Ministry. Following the dissolution of HGr.KdoAN on July tenth, several Luftwaffe officers had arrived at the Royal Palace in Brussels to take him by plane to Berchtesgaden. Despite his brightening of fortunes since the second capture of Paris, he had lived in constant fear of final punishment. Before boarding the plane to Germany, he had drafted two brief letters to be posted to his daughter and to his staff in the event of his imprisonment or execution. When he arrived at the Berghof, however, he found not a Special Court or firing squad, but rather the Führer himself standing alone in the Grosse Halle. He had offered the former War Minister what amounted to an apology, explaining that his case had been referred by the SD to an Army Court and dismissed for lack of evidence. He had then briefed von Blomberg on Operation Löwengrube, which had come as a great surprise -- normally, secret operations became a sort of tacit common knowledge among the highest Wehrmacht officers.

To date, the minutes of Hitler’s discourse to his generals on the June ninth -- which had come to be known as the Scholl Memorandum -- had only been circulated to twelve people in the whole of Germany.

In it, Hitler made the case for an invasion of the British Isles. Further, the Scholl Memorandum had outlined the Führer’s plans to achieve autarky and his intent not to accept peace until Britain, France and the Soviet Union were irrevocably crippled. Finally, the memorandum called for the abolition of the War Ministry -- to be replaced by a Head War Command with direct control over the entire Wehrmacht.

Hitler had led him into his private study. “I would like to ask you to --”

“It would be my honor, Mein Führer.”

“-- to head the transition staff, responsible for keeping a smooth continuity of operations between the various service high command staffs and the incoming Hauptkriegskommando.”

And so von Blomberg now led the Führer’s entourage through the broad hallways of the Air Ministry Building. They ascended two flights of stairs to the third level. At the landing, two long corridors joined in a T-shape. Many office doors were recessed into the walls in each direction. The building had not yet been properly soundproofed, and the clatter of many boot heels echoed on the air for some time.


Reliefs of parading soldiers adorned the walls of the Reich Air Ministry Building.


The Honor Hall -- used for select Luftwaffe ceremonies and functions.


“These are our offices, Mein Führer.”

Only a third of the projected Luftwaffe staff were to occupy the Reich Air Ministry Building, making room for the stripped-down Heer, Kriegsmarine and Hauptkriegskommando staffs that would also reside there for the foreseeable future. von Blomberg’s transition staff would be charged with ensuring that Luftwaffe missions, naval coastal patrols, supply chains and communications security procedures were all maintained. They would work closely with the War Ministry staff and with the HKK staff on the floor directly above them to ensure that responsibilities and authority were transferred carefully and seamlessly. To that end, most elements of the Grand General Staff had already been rolled into HKK, and the ineffectual General von Amsberg reassigned to his former post as head of the Infantry School. von Blomberg’s team was studying how best to utilize the resources of a general staff that had been thoroughly demoralized and mismanaged in the wake of the Beck Affair.

In addition, the transition staff was responsible for phasing in the new combined-arms protocols drafted by the Grand General Staff for use in the invasion. It was a need articulated in a paper drafted by Bayerlein as: “Urgent and inescapable. The current mechanisms are too imprecise for the demands that would be placed upon them in an invasion.” That is, if an an operational commander requested more tanks, planes or supplies, there had to be a simple procedure for doing so. As it had always been, the commanding general of an army was de facto commander of his army’s section of frontage. If he needed Geschwader-level air support, he had to request it from OKH, which would request the appropriate forces from OKL. Only after receiving personal permission from Göring would orders be released to the actual unit command. What Bayerlein had called for was a radically simpler system. The commander of an Operating Area, or Kampfsektor, would submit the request to HKK, and HKK would send orders to the appropriate tactical command.

That, at least, was the theory. From von Blomberg’s discussions with von Küchler, it seemed that even Hitler himself well recognized the ambition of this bold reorganization. Despite the foresight shown in restructuring the Wehrmacht to better carry out Löwengrube, much of the Officer Corps was practically in riot. Needless to say, it was very much uncertain whether the reform would ultimately strengthen or weaken Germany’s military.

“Very good, very good.” Hitler emerged from one of the offices off the leftward corridor. “How many men are on the transition staff?”

“One hundred, Mein Führer,” von Blomberg said, trying to tinge his voice with a request for more. “And half as many secretaries.”

Hitler’s reply was silenced by the echoing sound of a booted person racing up the staircase just behind them.

“Heil Hitler.” A well-polished man came into view, stopping just shy of the Führer. He flicked a cold glance at von Blomberg, before launching into a rambling apology.

“-- had I only known that you were in the building -- surely would have -- did not tell me -- only pleasure -- many apologies --”

The Warlord silenced him with a hand. “Thank you General Milch.”

Generalleutnant Erhard Milch, State Secretary for the Reich Air Ministry, had overseen much of the Luftwaffe’s buildup, and was now the ranking officer that regularly worked in the building. His relationships with both the transition staff and HKK staff were frosty at best. The Luftwaffe officers, taking after Göring, had fiercely opposed this infringement upon the sovereignty of their service, and Milch was first among them. Thanks to Milch’s staff, there had been what amounted to bureaucratic war the moment the other staffs had begun moving into the building.


Generalleutnant Erhard Milch, 1936.


“Mein Führer,” Milch gasped, “there are many important things to show you on the second level. Much news.”

“We shall get to the Luftwaffe offices in time, general. I shall speak to you at length then.”

Milch pretended not to hear the last part. “Though Luftwaffe losses have spiked for the month of June -- perhaps attributable to the recent administrative confusion in Berlin -- our pilots have reported increasing success against the British.”

von Blomberg could not restrain himself from cutting in. “To what, then, do you attribute the increased successes, Generalleutnant?”

But he could instantly tell that Milch had dodged him, as he cooly addressed Hitler. “We believe it is because of pilots. Because the RAF committed so much of its strength to the Battle of France, and took such staggering losses, recovery is now very difficult. For in addition to the thousand British planes lost to them in that campaign, several hundred of their best pilots have been killed. Those who are now defending the skies of southern England have considerably less experience. This makes them easier to kill, only to be replaced by even less able pilots, which is an advantage, even in the face of other... difficulties.”

Hitler smiled. “Generally favorable for Löwengrube, then?”

“Sperrle reports that if the status quo is maintained, the RAF will not pose a threat.”

It was true. As Generalmajor Hugo Sperrle wrote in a July memorandum to Göring, “ADGB has had its combat capacity reduced to levels too low to significantly impact our operations.” Despite the current animosities, von Blomberg sincerely hoped that the air war would be enough. If Britain could see reason and offer terms, perhaps Hitler could be convinced to abandon his determination in the Scholl Memorandum not to accept peace until the British Empire had been irreparably crippled.

“Good.”

“In fact, Mein Führer, with your leave I have made something possible for you to do. Come to the operations room, and we can patch your voice through to the pilots who are at this very moment flying over Kent to take the war to the enemy. I am certain that encouragement from their Führer would mean a great deal to them.”

This seemed to Hitler a fair idea, and the entourage set off at once back down the stairs, leaving only von Blomberg and his adjutant.

Major Lemm turned to his superior ruefully. “It is terrible that they are following Göring against you in this. In a sense you have a better claim to be Father of the Luftwaffe.”

von Blomberg grunted noncommittal. Perhaps not a better claim, he thought, but it had been he who had as Defense Minister detached the Army’s Department of Military Aviation to the civilian Air Ministry in 1933, marking the birth of the Luftwaffe as an independent service.

They began to walk down the central corridor towards von Blomberg’s new office.

Lemm paced beside him. “This web of grudges is getting to be intolerable. The men on one floor hate those above them, and those on another hold little love for those above them but hate those below. They should never have put everyone together like this!” He laughed as he unlocked the office door. “I can hardly even keep track of the childishness anymore.”

The former War Minister took off his coat, setting it down on the back of his chair. “It’s not so hard really, Kurt. von Rundstedt, von Fritsch and most of their supporters dislike Bayerlein. They see him as an upstart -- rash, inexperienced and lowborn. Those same people also dislike to a lesser degree von Küchler and Hausser -- to say nothing of myself, whom they also dislike -- because of their political leanings. Hausser and von Küchler seem to get along, though. Generalleutnant von Kleist likes von Küchler but dislikes Hausser passionately, while von Weichs holds exactly the reverse sentiments. Göring probably doesn’t truly hate much of anyone but acts like he hates everyone, Liebmann and von Rundstedt like each other, but now von Rundstedt acts like he doesn’t, because of Liebmann being sacked. The navy men think that all of us are mentally displaced because of all the intrigue, and just try to stay out of it.”

“Really?”

“Naturally the Kriegsmarine weren’t keen on submitting themselves to an organization steered by Army officers. Of course they demand representation in the executive, but Raeder has personally ordered that they table such bickering until the invasion is over.”

“May I speak freely Field Marshal?”

“You may, Kurt.”

“Are you not at all upset that about who he picked?”

“What do you mean?” Inwardly, von Blomberg knew exactly what his adjutant meant.

“That Hitler named Bayerlein Chief of Staff of HKK.”

von Blomberg took his seat and thought for some time. “No, Kurt. Even though there are more capable men for the job, I am thankful not to have been ruined by the accusations against me. I have no room to be upset.”

“But I do think that the generals would have taken this all much better had von Küchler been named sole chief of HKK. If I had served as long as you, Field Marshal, or some of the others, I think that I would be rather resentful too to hear that Bayerlein has been given the job.”

The Field Marshal saw all too much truth in Major Lemm’s words. Following the announcement that Bayerlein would be Chief of Staff of HKK, an unsigned note had arrived at the Reichschancellery, written, it was said, in von Rundstedt’s hand, threatening the resignations of multiple generals if the man who had been an over-lieutenant barely two years before were to be awarded a baton. It was intolerable, the note continued, that Bayerlein, who had never commanded men in battle before the start of the current war should now be in charge of its prosecution. Hitler had read the situation wisely, and only named him an Acting General. This did little to quiet the rumblings in the Officer Corps.

von Blomberg tried desperately to find reason for optimism. “von Küchler is still going to be HKK Chief of Operations, though. In most ways the two will be equals, and in some ways von Küchler will be even more powerful.”

“Speaking truly, Field Marshal, I do not think that will appease the likes of von Rundstedt. Men who have never had very much over their own heads will buck at this terribly.”

von Blomberg nodded. “True. But I suppose that is a symptom of the way that the Hauptkriegskommando is organized. The service structures aren’t being torn out, they’re just having more bureaucracy layered on top. And the fact that it’s a bureaucracy actually mandated by Hitler to meddle in the jealously guarded affairs of the services is a formula for trouble. Each of the three branches is to retain its Commander-in-Chief as Chief of Operations. von Fritsch took the news with admirable equanimity, as did Raeder.”

“And Göring?”

“Göring. Göring has been less accommodating, as you well know, but I am personally more pleased about that. His reluctance to commit his air force to direct support of ground operations in Belgium and France -- and his outright refusal to detach units to the control of any other commander -- has earned him bitter animosity from the Heer. For months, Hitler has infuriated the generals by coddling him. Subordinating him to HKK has been a brilliant concession, and the nominal loss of stature for him should please the generals greatly. With Luftwaffe units ultimately controlled by HKK now, ground commanders can be assured of getting the support they feel they need.”

Lemm bit his lip. “What about the Abwehr?”

“It seems that it is to be also subsumed into HKK as a top-level subcommand on parity with the armed services. But Bayerlein has little pretension to experience as an intelligence man and will probably give Canaris a free hand.”

“That, at least, is reassuring. Perhaps there is yet some hope.” Lemm smiled wryly.

von Blomberg managed a hopeful grunt.

“How much time do we have to do all this?”

“What do you mean?” This time it was a sincere question.

“The expected date for the exercises in the north sea.”

“As soon as practicable.”

“Yes, but what did Hitler at least say?” Lemm opened his eyes wide, fearing that he had been too direct.

“No, that is exactly what he said.”

“Is the Wehrmacht in a position to be ready in time?”

“I would like to believe so. More and more divisions can now be shifted to the north as fighting abates. Resistance cannot hold much longer now.”

Indeed the collapse in France was nearly complete. Remnants of Blanc’s 4ème Armée still fought on in the High Black Forest, but were by now totally and securely surrounded and thought to be desperately short of ammunition and supplies. von Küchler had ordered deferral of a frontal assault in the hopes of minimizing casualties.

Scattered battalion-sized units held on to pockets in the Loire and Rhône river valleys, but these would, General von Rundstedt assured his superiors, soon be annihilated. The rest of France had been abandoned by the French army and national government. Thus, the rest of Heeresgruppe A was slowly working its way south and west largely unopposed, taking control of the country département by département. The day before, German panzers under Oberst von Manteuffel had reached the Mediterranean shore at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer.


Germany distributed propaganda in France, trying to turn the population against the government which was claimed to have abandoned it.


“Yes, Kurt, I would like to believe so...”

For some time the two men sat -- comprehending the enormity of the task before them. In however many months the invasion would come, hundreds of thousands of German soldiers would need to be massed and trained. Divisions would have to be rotated back to Germany for rest, refit and replacements. Deceptions, contingencies and logistics would need to be worked out to the last detail. More than a thousand Rhine barges would be assembled, along with the 12,000 to 15,000 additional men needed to crew them. Hundreds of larger vessels were already either under construction in German shipyards, being built for surrogates under foreign contract, or on purchase through neutral nations. Unnumbered tons of food, fuel and ammunition of all types would be stockpiled, and plans drawn up to keep them flowing steadily across the Channel in support of the invasion.

And all this was to be accomplished with a Wehrmacht rife with discontent and internal power struggles -- discord and vanity. Consigned to squabbling in this vast shell of an office building. And if it failed now, he realized, much of the blame would fall upon him. Hitler had tasked him with a labor that might prove impossible.

The phone on Major Lemm’s desk rang abruptly. He answered. “The Führer wishes to come back up to tour the HKK offices with you.”

von Blomberg just stared at him.

“Field Marshal?”

“Tell them he can come up. Help me back into my coat, Kurt, I am tired.”