EARLY LIFE /WORLD WAR ONE The future Feldmarschall was born in the small West Prussian town of Genthin, near Magdeburg, on 24 January, 1891. His background was neither aristocratic nor militaryoriented; rather, the men of his middle- class family had been Lutheran schoolmasters for three generations, and aside from an uncle in the infantry had no particular connections with the military. [2] Sickly and small as a child, Model was reportedly an introvert in school. He joined the German Army in February, 1909, as an ensign-cadet in the 62 Infantry Regiment, and was promoted to Second Lieutenant in August, 1910, and posted to the 52 Infantry Regiment. [3] Model went to war against France with the 52nd in August 1914, and was badly wounded in the shoulder near Sedan in May, 1915. This action earned him the Iron Cross, First Class, for bravery. He spent some time in staff assignments, then returned to combat in 1916 outside Verdun, where he was again severely wounded. His exemplary performance attracted the attention of his division commander, Prince Oskar of Prussia, and during his recuperation he was appointed to the General Staff in Berlin, an unusual distinction for an officer who had not attended the War Academy. After doing well in various staff assignments Model returned to action as a company commander with first the 52nd , and then the Life Guards, at which time he was shot in the shin and again relegated to staff work. Model was promoted to Captain in March, 1918, and resumed active service with the Guards Replacement Division and subsequently the 36 Reserve Division. BETWEEN THE WARS Following the Great War's end Model was retained in the post-Versailles 100,000 man Reichsheer, serving in a variety of troop and staff assignments with the 14 Infantry Regiment. As a company commander charged with quelling a socialist workers' putsch in the Rhineland, he and his unit were interned for a time by the British when they were forced to retreat into the British Zone of Occupation. He married Herta Huyssen in 1921 and eventually fathered three children (two daughters and one son -- his son later became a Major General in West Germany's Bundeswehr). Model spent three years (1925-1928) as a company commander in the 8 Infantry Regiment, during which time he gained notoriety as a hard taskmaster, always very tough on both himself and his subordinates. By 1928 Model was teaching military history and tactics at the War Academy, and attracted significant professional attention by publishing in 1929 a well-received manuscript on the famous 19th century Prussian army reformer, von Gneisenau. In 1930 he was appointed head of the General Staffs Gruppe fur Kriegstechnik, and was charged with developing motorization concepts. Model spent part of 1931 in the Soviet Union studying various technical aspects of the Reichsheer's secret rearmament program, and was promoted to Lt. Colonel in 1932, when his name first appeared on the Army List of the General Staff. By 1933, the year the National Socialists assumed power in Germany, he was a battalion commander in the 2 Infantry Regiment, and in 1934 took command of that regiment with his promotion to Colonel. [4] In 1935 Model was appointed chief of Section 8 of the General Staff (the Abteilung fur techniscbe Fragen), where he again concentrated on issues involving the rearming Wehrmacht's motorization. Despite various (probably jealous) aspersions by certain colleagues about his being an infantry officer "misappointed" to a technical section, his energy and quick mind brought him distinction in his new post. His expertise and forceful personality also made a favorable impression in various Nazi Party circles, where he came to the attention of Reichsminister Goebbels, who thought highly of him. [5] Model spent time observing the fighting in Spain in 1937, and favorably impressed Hitler in 1938 while leading a mock infantry attack on simulated Czech field fortifications. That year brought his promotion to Major General, and appointment in November as Chief of Staff of IV Corps in Dresden. He was with the troops occupying Prague in March, 1939. The Fuhrer's Fireman Field Marshal Walther Model Introduction Pre-World War II WWII 1939-1943 The Fuhrer's Fireman and 1944 Battle of the Bulge into 1945 Conclusion Bibliography Footnotes Back to Table of Contents -- Against the Odds vol. 1 no. 4 Back to Against the Odds List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2003 by LPS. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com * Buy this back issue or subscribe to Against the Odds direct from LPS.