Otto Moritz Walter Model Biography

Birth of Otto Moritz Walter Model

Awarded the Iron Cross, 1st class

Appointed Captain

Assigned to the staff of the Guard Ersatz Division, which fought in the German Spring Offensive of that year

1 of 4,000 officers who remain in the Reichswehr

Involved in the bloody suppression of the 1920 communist uprising in the Ruhr

Appointed Commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 2nd Infantry Regiment

Appointed Lieutenant Colonel

Introduces the Youth Training Programme, Reichskuratorium

Introduces the Youth Training Programme, Reichskuratorium

Appointed Colonel

Appointed Commander of the 2nd Infantry Regiment

Appointed Major General, heads section 8 in the Army General Staff

Visits Spain & evaluates tactics & weapons used by both sides during the civil war

Sent as a spy to check the defensive fortifications along the Sudeten border

Appointed Chief of Staff of IV Corps

Appointed Brigadier General

Chief of Staff, IV Corps during the invasion of Poland. Appointed Chief of Staff of the Sixthteenth Army

Appointed Chief of Staff of the Sixteenth Army

Chief of Staff of IV Corps during the invasion of Poland

Enters Prague

Appointed Commander of the 3rd Panzer Division

Appointed Commander of the 3rd Panzer Division

Appointed Lieutenant General

Appointed Lieutenant General

Appointed Panzer General

Appointed Panzer General

Captures the Bug Bridge leading to Brest Litovsk

Leads an encirclement of Russian troops between Orel & Briansk

Captures the Bug Bridge leading to Brest Litovsk

Appointed Commander of XXXXI Panzer Corps

Appointed Commander of XXXXI Panzer Corps

Model must fight to keep the bridgeheads on the Volga near Kalinin

The assault on Moscow is resumed. Model captures the bridges of the Moscow reservoirs in support of the 4th Army

Model must fight to keep the bridgeheads on the Volga near Kalinin

Reaches within 20km of Moscow before the Red Army force Model back

Reaches within 20km of Moscow before the Red Army force Model back

Reaches within 20km of Moscow before the Red Army force Model back

When the 3rd Battle for Rhzev ends the Russians have casualties of 380,000 dead. Leads the Summer Offensive in the Rzhev sector

Appointed Commander of the Ninth Army

Appointed Commander of the Ninth Army

Consolidates the front during the retreat from Moscow

Traps a large number of Russian units, the line is closed with 26,000 Russians dead. Begins to attack the Russians in order to hold Rzhev & stop the Russian advance

Appointed Colonel General

Appointed Colonel General

Awarded the Oak Leaf to the Knights Cross

Russian forces are trapped & then destroyed

The German Armed Forces (Wehrmacht) 1942 strategic summer offensive in southern Russia between 28 June and 24 November 1942.

The operation was a continuation of the previous years Operation Barbarossa, intended to knock the Soviet Union out of the war.

and involved a two-pronged attack against the oil fields of Baku as well as an advance in the direction of Stalingrad along the Volga River, to cover the flanks of the advance towards Baku.

The Russians lose 42,000 men. The 4th Battle for Rhzev begins

The 4th Battle for Rhzev begins

Hitler postpones Opertation Citadel to July

Model opposes the operation. Hitler plans a summer offensive to take the Russian salient around Kursk

Gets Hitler to rescind his no wothdrawal command & withdraws from the Orel. A Russian thrust breaks through & threatens the Ninth Armys main supply depot at Orel

Appointed Commander Army Group South

Appointed Commander Army Group South

Hitler agrees to withdraw from the Rhzev sector. Germany retains possession of Rhzev

Model prepares for the withdrawal from Rhzev

The Russians lose 42,000 men. Awarded the Swords to the Oak Leaf for the withdrawal from Rhzev

Awarded the Swords to the Oak Leaf for the withdrawal from Rhzev

Leads the northern arm of the siege of Kursk

Final day of the abortive siege of Kursk as the Russians launch a counter-offensive

Hitler cancels Operation Citadel

The Russians begin an assault & force the Ninth Army on the defensive

The Russians begin an assault & force the Ninth Army on the defensive

Forbidden by Hitler to make any withdrawals

Appointed Fuhrer Reserve senior Commander

Appointed Fuhrer Reserve senior Commander

Creates Army Group Narva out of Army Group North. Created to prevent the Soviet breakthrough into the Baltic

Appointed Commander of Army Group Narva

Appointed Commander of Army Group Narva

Appointed Commander of the Army Group North, Jan-March

Appointed Commander of the Army Group North, Jan-March

Appointed Commander of the Army Group North, Jan-March

Appointed Commander of the Army Group North, Jan-March

The siege of Leningrad is officially lifted

The 16th & 18th Armies are ordered back to the Panther Line. Luga is liberated by the Russians

Luga is liberated by the Russians after the Battle of Riga

Appointed General Feldmarschall, the youngest in German military history

Appointed General Feldmarschall, the youngest in German military history

Appointed Commander of the Army Group Ukraine

Appointed Commander of the Army Group Ukraine

Reaches his new HQ with orders to hold the Carpathian Mountains

Reaches his new HQ with orders to hold the Carpathian Mountains

The Red Army begins its offensive against Army Group Centre

Appointed Commander of the Army Group Centre

Appointed Commander of the Army Group Centre

Army Group Centre loses 28 Divisions, the way to Poland is open to the Red Army

Awarded Diamonds to the Knights Cross

Appointed Commander of Army Group B

Appointed Commander of Army Group B

Appointed Supreme Commander of the West

Appointed Supreme Commander of the West

The final pocket of resistance in the Falaise Gap is removed by the Alies

Arnhem was a victory for the Germans (albeit tempered by their losses further south) and a major defeat for the British army.

Model moved his headquarters to Arnhem and was re-establishing defences in the area and co-ordinating the reorganisation of the scattered units so that by the time the Allies launched Market Garden there would be several units opposing them.

The Allies withdrew from the southern bank of the Rhine and the front stabilised on "the island" between the Rhine and Waal rivers.

Model moved his headquarters to Arnhem and was re-establishing defences in the area and co-ordinating the reorganisation of the scattered units so that by the time the Allies launched Market Garden there would be several units opposing them

Reverts to just Commanding Army Group B

Reverts to just Commanding Army Group B

1st day of the Battle of Arhem

Model arranged for units to be sent straight to the units in action in order to avoid long-winded logistics, and rushed in specialist street fighting and machine gun battalions. Each day of the battle, the German military strength increased whilst the British supplies diminished. By 21 September, the fifth day of the battle, German forces outnumbered the British by 3:1 and continued to increase

Halts the Allied advance

Although the Germans counterattacked in October they were repulsed and subsequently the front line in The Netherlands would not move until after the winter

At a conference Model presses for the "small solution", Hitler refuses

The closest the Germans get to Antwerp is Dinant, well to the east of the Maas. Ordered by Hitler, Model prefers just to take out the US salient at Aachen

The closest the Germans get to Antwerp is Dinant, well to the east of the Maas

Hitler orders the "small solution", the battle is lost & Germans retreat into Germany

Final day of the Battle of the Bulge, gives way to the Allied advance

The Allies encircle Models Army. Model holds out for 18 days until handing over 300,000 troops. Hitler refuses to let Army Group B withdraw. Hitler orders the destruction of the Ruhr, Model refuses

Shoots himself in woods near Rattingen, buried where he had shot himself under an oak

Death of Otto Moritz Walter Model, commits suicide

Shoots himself in woods near Rattingen, buried where he had shot himself under an oak. Death of Otto Moritz Walter Model, commits suicide