Generaloberst Franz Halder, Chief of the General Staff, Supreme Command of the German Army, 1938-1942

Born Würzburg, Germany, 30 Jun 1884; entered 3 Royal Bavarian Field Artillery Regt, 1902; Second Lt, 1904; attended Artillery School, Munich, Germany, 1906-1907; attended Bavarian Staff College, 1911-1912; promoted to Lt, 1912; Ordnance Officer, 3 (Bavarian) Infantry Corps Headquarters, 1914; General Staff Officer, 6 (Bavarian) Div, 1915; Capt, 1915; Staff Officer, German 2 Army Headquarters, 1917; General Staff Officer, German 4 Army, 1917; General Staff Officer, Bavarian Cavalry Div, 1917; General Staff Officer, Supreme Commander, East, 1917; Staff Officer, German 15 Reserve Corps Headquarters, 1917; Staff Officer, Army Group Crown Prince Rupprecht, West, 1917; Adjutant, Bavarian General Staff, 1918; Training Branch, Reichswehr Ministry, 1919; Tactics Instructor, Staff Courses, Munich, Germany, 1921; Officer Commanding 4 Mountain Battery, 7 Artillery Regt; Maj, 1923; Director of General Staff Training, Munich, 1927-1929; Lt Col, 1929; Chief of Staff, Wehrkreis, the Divisional Military District of the German Army, Westphalia, 1931; Col, 1931; Maj Gen, 1934; General Officer Commanding, German 7 Div, 1935; Lt Gen, 1936; Commander, German Army Manoeuvres Staff, 1936; Head, Training Branch, General Staff of the Army, 1936; General of the Artillery, 1938; Chief of the General Staff, Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH), Supreme Command of the German Army, 1938; awarded Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, 1939; suffered nervous collapse, having been forced to alter plans at the last moment for a German winter offensive in the West, 1940; Col Gen, 1940; instructed staff to formulate plans for an Eastern offensive, 1940; removed from office following the failure of German advances in the East, 1942; arrested by the Gestapo on suspicion of complicity in the Jul assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler's life, 1944; dismissed from the German Army, 1945; imprisoned at Flossenburg and Dachau concentration camps, 1945; prisoner of war, United States, 1945-1947; released, 1947; Head, Historical Liaison Group, Historical Division, US Army, 1948-1961; awarded Meritorious Civilian Service Award of the USA, 1961; died 2 Apr 1972; Halder's journal first published in translated form, 1950.