World War II Database

Son of a school teacher, Kesselring was a WW1 veteran (artillery regiment cadet and later balloon observer) who transferred to the Luftwaffe in 1933. In 1936, he became a member of the general staff at the Luftwaffe. During the first years of WW2, Kesselring commanded air units during the Polish and French Campaigns. He also played active roles in the Battle of Britain. In 1941, his command broadened to include land forces. He oversaw the evacuation of Axis personnel in Tunisia in 1943, and later was appointed commander in chief of Italy and Army Group C. In the winter of 1943 he withdrew his forces to the Gustav Line south of Rome, and defended Monte Cassino with 15 divisions aided by gun pits, concrete bunkers, machine-gun turrets, barbed-wire, and minefields. He was injured in an automobile accident in October 1944, but returned to command in the last stages of the war.

After the war ended, he was captured on 6 May 1945. He was sentenced to death based on war crimes (namely for the massacre of 320 Italian prisoners) on 6 May 1947, though the sentence would later lighten to become a life sentence. He would eventually be released due to health reasons in October 1952. He published an autobiography, A Soldier to the Last Day, in 1953. Kesselring passed away in 1960 in Bad Nauheim, Germany.

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Visitor Submitted Comments

1. Hobilar says:
   27 Sep 2007 01:32:10 AM
   
   Kesselrings transfer to the Luftwaffe ad been against his will, but once there he applied himself to the job. He learnt how to fly (at the advanced age of 48) and would often pilot himself around his command. Smiling Albert Kesselring commanded Air Fleet 2 (Luftflotte 2)during the Battle of Britain.

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