Hans Speidel

Hans Speidel (28 October 1897, Metzingen – 28 November 1984) was a World War II German general and the first German NATO Commander during the Cold War.

1914–1945


Speidel joined the German Army in 1914 at the outbreak of World War I and was quickly promoted to second lieutenant. During the war he was a company commander at the Battle of the Somme and an adjutant. He stayed in the German Army during the interwar period and was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on the eve of World War II. Speidel served in the French campaign of 1940 and in August became Chief of Staff of the military commander in France. In 1942 Speidel was sent to the Eastern Front where he served as Chief of Staff of the 5th Army Corps, and as Chief of Staff of Army Group South in 1943, by which time he had been promoted to major-general. In April 1944, Speidel was appointed Chief of Staff to Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the Commander-in-Chief of Army Group B, responsible for the defense of the French Atlantic coast. When Rommel was wounded in an air attack on his staff car, Speidel continued as Chief of Staff for the new commander of Army Group B, Field Marshal Günther von Kluge.

Speidel, a German nationalist and professional soldier, agreed with some aspects of the Nazi policies (e.g., fighting against France, reversing the Treaty of Versailles, etc.), but was appalled by Germany's racial policies. He was involved in the July 20 Plot to kill Adolf Hitler, but managed to evade Gestapo attempts to find all conspirators. He was suspected however and was eventually arrested on 7 September 1944 by the Gestapo and accused of being involved in the July Plot. Under interrogation he admitted nothing and betrayed noone. However, Rommel's son claimed his father told him Speidel had betrayed his former boss by claiming the General was involved in Operation Valkyrie. Speidel appeared before an Army Court of honour, but Gerd von Rundstedt, Heinz Guderian and Wilhelm Keitel decided not to expel him from the German Army, thus meaning he would not appear before Roland Freisler's People's Court. Rommel, in his final letter to Hitler of 1 October 1944, appealed for Speidel's release, but received no answer. He was jailed for seven months by the Gestapo, then tried to escape and went into hiding, waiting for the Allies. He was freed by French troops on 29 April 1945. Speidel was one of the inner circle of conspirators (the only one not to be executed or commit suicide), and had been delegated by anti-Hitler forces to recruit Rommel for the conspiracy - which he had cautiously begun to do prior to Rommel's injury in a Canadian strafing attack on 17 July 1944.

Post-war career
After the war Speidel served for some time as professor of modern history at Tübingen and in 1950 published his book Invasion 1944: Rommel and the Normandy Campaign before being involved in both the development and creation of the new German Army (Bundeswehr) which he joined, reaching the NATO rank of full general. He was subsequently appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Allied NATO ground forces in Central Europe in April 1957, a command that he held until retirement in September 1963.

In 1960, Speidel took legal action against an East German film studio which portrayed him as having been privy to the assassinations of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia and French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou in 1934, as well as having betrayed Field Marshal Erwin Rommel to the Nazis after the 20 July Plot in 1944. He successfully claimed damages for libel; see Plato Films Ltd v Speidel [1961] AC 1090.

In addition to his native German, Speidel spoke fluent English and French. Hans Speidel died at Bad Honnef, North Rhine-Westphalia, in 1984.

Awards

 * German Cross in Gold on 8 October 1942 as Oberst im Generstab in the general staff V. Armeekorps
 * Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 1 April 1944 as Generalleutnant and chief of the general staff of the 8. Armee