Smiling Al

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He was nicknamed Smiling Al for his most constant and visible trait. Albert Kesselring had a smile on his face even when he was a prisoner of war facing a potential death sentence for committing war crimes. He was an eternal optimist.

Unlike most of the stern, rather humorless German officer corps, he wasn’t descended from a long line of military men. His family was full of school teachers, farmers and priests. He was also a commoner from Bavaria rather than an aristocratic Prussian Junker.

Kesselring volunteered for the army and did well in his officer training without being splashy or spectacular. He spent World War I in staff positions; not on the front lines winning medals. A performance review today would probably say something like, “plays well with others” and “has good organizational skills”.

But when an organization is in crisis, it needs a Kesselring. After World War I, the German Army was limited to 100,000 men. General von Seekt, head of the German General Staff, needed an officer to take charge of reorganizing this small force to fit within its tiny budget. Any officer with staff training could do the job. What Seekt needed was a strong leader who wouldn’t needlessly antagonize others.

Smiling Al was just what he needed. Kesselring was confident enough to withstand bullying by superiors, subordinates and politicians but sufficiently easy-going to persuade them to support his objectives. He did such a good job with the army reorganization that he was involuntarily transferred to the civilian predecessor of the Luftwaffe.

At the time, the prototype Luftwaffe was staffed by ardent Nazis and a bunch of pilots. They needed a competent leader who could organize the back office on a budget even tinier than the army’s. Kesselring accepted the challenge. He also got his pilot’s license at the age of 48 so that he could better understand what the pilots needed in their planes.

He facilitated the development of two iconic planes, the Messerschmitt ME-109 and the Junkers Ju-87 Stuka dive bomber. His biggest failure was losing the argument on developing long-range bombers. The Allies didn’t make that mistake and eventually pounded Germany into the ground.

When World War II began, Kesselring took command of Luftwaffe forces in the invasions of Poland, France and the Low Countries, and then Russia. But in November 1941, he was given a new command as C-in-C South based in Rome. His instructions were to coordinate the southern war effort with the Italians, starting with fixing the supply lines to North Africa.

Germany was increasingly doubtful of Italian competence and reliability. Italian egos were tetchy at being displaced in their own theater of operations. Smiling Al’s easy-going attitude soon smoothed ruffled feathers and fixed the supply bottlenecks.

Then Erwin Rommel and the Africa Corps arrived in North Africa. Rommel had a reputation for not playing well with others. He did his own thing, his own way, and ignored orders he didn’t like.

Kesselring’s job as C-in-C South devolved into being a mediator trying to save a really bad marriage. The Italians disliked and distrusted Rommel and Berlin. Berlin distrusted Rome and occasionally was exasperated with Rommel. Rommel complained about Rome and Berlin. Kesselring was pummeled from all sides as first North Africa and then Sicily was lost.

By 1943 with half of Italy in Allied hands, the Italians surrendered. Kesselring was left to sort out the mess as the Italians stopped cooperating and the Germans officially occupied Italy. Kesselring organized successive defensive positions that allowed the Germans to withdraw toward the Alps. He also protected the art and architecture of Rome, Florence and other historic sites by withdrawing troops and declaring them open cities.

As the Germans retreated, Italian partisans stepped up their activities. In retaliation, the Germans carried out reprisal executions of known partisans and civilians. One such event was the Ardeatine massacre of 335 civilians. The murders were carried out by SS troops taking their orders directly from Berlin but overall command remained with Kesselring.

He was prosecuted for war crimes and sentenced to death in 1947. The sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment and he was released in 1952 due to his failing health. After his release he devoted his time to veterans groups. One such group was Der Stahlhelm which was full of diehard Nazis. The connection permanently tarnished Kesselring’s reputation and still overshadows his accomplishments.