Walter Model

Otto Moritz Walter Model (IPA: [ˈmoːdəl]; 24 January 1891 – 21 April 1945) was a German <a href="/facts/Generalfeldmarschall/IYEvNyD5">Generalfeldmarschall</a> during <a href="/facts/World_War_II/2efV5L1U">World War II</a>. Although he was a hard-driving, aggressive <a href="/facts/Panzer/q02x8f5L">panzer</a> commander early in the war, Model became best known as a practitioner of defensive warfare. His relative success as commander of the <a href="/facts/9th_Army_(Wehrmacht)/uWzUKGhG">Ninth Army</a> in the battles of 1941–1942 determined his future career path.
Model first came to <a href="/facts/Hitler%2527s/3zyXG1L8">Hitler</a>'s attention before World War II, but their relationship did not become especially close until 1942. His tenacious style of fighting and loyalty to the Nazi regime won him plaudits from Hitler, who considered him one of his best field commanders and repeatedly sent him to salvage apparently desperate situations on the <a href="/facts/Eastern_Front_(World_War_II)/W05zyTMj">Eastern Front</a> as commander of <a href="/facts/Army_Group_North/b9TKdpFF">Army Group North</a>, <a href="/facts/Army_Group_North_Ukraine/kVko2Lew">Army Group North Ukraine</a> and
<a href="/facts/Army_Group_Centre/LDSkfH0z">Army Group Centre</a>.
In August 1944 Model was sent to the <a href="/facts/Western_Front_(World_War_II)/ax9PCQyF">Western Front</a> as commander of <a href="/facts/OB_West/5G9xY7A0">OB West</a> and <a href="/facts/Army_Group_B/K2uL5Yk7">Army Group B</a>. His relationship with Hitler broke down by the end of the war after the German defeat at the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_the_Bulge/GaWpNaw5">Battle of the Bulge</a>. In the aftermath of the defeat of Army Group B and its encirclement in the <a href="/facts/Ruhr_Pocket/xH2v2W4j">Ruhr Pocket</a>, Model took his own life on 21 April 1945.

Walter Model open-in-new

Walter Model