141 The Ob. West Hq At Saint-Germain-En-Laye, After the Battle, AFTER THE BATTLE
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//-->THE OB. WEST HQ ATSAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYENumber 1414 19770306154080£3.95NUMBER 141© CopyrightAfter the Battle2008Editor-in-Chief: Winston G. RamseyManaging Editor: Gordon RamseyEditor: Karel MargryPublished byBattle of Britain International Ltd.,The Mews, Hobbs Cross House,Hobbs Cross, Old Harlow,Essex CM17 0NN, EnglandTelephone: 01279 41 8833Fax: 01279 41 9386E-mail: hq@afterthebattle.comWebsite: www.afterthebattle.comPrinted in Great Britain byWarners Group Publications PLC.,Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9PH.After the Battleis published on the 15thof February, May, August and November.LONDON STOCKIST for theAfter the Battlerange:Motorbooks, 13/15 Cecil Court, London WC2N 4ANTelephone: 020 7836 5376. Fax: 020 7497 2539United Kingdom Newsagent Distribution:Warners Group Publications PLC.,Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9PHAustralian Subscriptions and Back Issues:Renniks Publications Pty LimitedUnit 3, 37-39 Green Street, Banksmeadow NSW 2019Telephone: 61 2 9695 7055. Fax: 61 2 9695 7355E-mail: info@renniks.com. Web site: www.renniks.comCanadian Distribution and Subscriptions:Vanwell Publishing Ltd., PO Box 2131,1 Northrup Crescent, St. Catharines, Ontario L2R 7S2.Telephone: (905) 937 3100 Fax: (905) 937 1760Toll Free: 1-800-661-6136E-mail: sales@vanwell.comNew Zealand Distribution:Dal McGuirk’s “MILITARY ARCHIVE”, P.O. Box 24486,Royal Oak, Auckland 1030 New Zealand.Telephone: 021 627 870 Fax: 9-6252817E-mail: milrchiv@mist.co.nzUnited States Distribution and Subscriptions:RZM Imports Inc, 880 Canal St., Stamford, CT 06902Telephone: 1-203-324-5100 Fax: 1-203-324-5106E-mail: info@rzm.com Website: www.rzm.comItalian Distribution:Tuttostoria, PO Box 395, 1-43100 Parma.Telephone: ++390521 29 27 33, Fax: ++390521 29 03 87E-mail: info@tuttostoria.it Web site: www.tuttostoria.itDutch Language Edition:SI Publicaties/Quo Vadis, Postbus 188,6860 AD Oosterbeek.Telephone: 026-4462834 E-mail: si@sipublicaties.nlIn the summer of 1940, the Oberbefehlshaber West (German Commander-in-Chief inthe West) set up his headquarters in the Pavillon Henri IV at Saint-Germain-en-Laye,just west of Paris.Above:Maurice Veillon, a local photographer, pictured a Germanwire obstacle barring access to the château on the park side.THE OB. WEST HQ ATSAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYEUNITED KINGDOMRAF Target Mapping Centre atHughenden ManorWRECK DISCOVERYThe Discovery of HMASSydney23442FrontCover:ThemainOb.Westheadquarters bunker at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, just west of Paris. Sixty years ofgrowth have wrapped the huge concreteblock in a cover of green. (Jean Paul Pallud)Centre Pages:Taken in March 1961, with noleaves on the trees and a low sun, thisphotograph from the archives of the FrenchInstitut Géographique National shows all theGerman bunkers then remaining at Saint-Germain. (IGN)Back Cover:Lieutenant John Perryman, RANSenior Naval Historian, pays tribute to the crew ofHMASSydneywhich was sunk with the loss of allhands on November 19, 1941. The wreck off west-ern Australia lay undiscovered until March 2008.Acknowledgements:For their help with the Ob.West story, the Editor would like to thank DenisBamps, Yannick Billiault, Patrick Périn, directorof the Musée d’Archéologie Nationale and hiscolleagues Laurent Cardine and Vital Drille,Josef Charita and Peter Heijkoop. A specialthanks to Henri de Rolland for his long-timesupport. For help with the Hughenden Manorstory, we thank Jessie Binns, National TrustLearning Officer, and Mary Edwards.Photo Credits:AMSG — Archives Municipalesde Saint-Germain; AVO — Archives du Vald’Oise; AWM — Australian War Memorial,Canberra; BA — Bundesarchiv; ECPAD —Mediathèque de la Défense, Fort d’IvryThe Renaissance château of Saint-Germain was built in the 16th century and reachedits present form under King François I. King Louis XIV was born there in 1638 (thecity’s coat of arms features a cradle and his birth date) and chose the city as his prin-cipal residence until 1682. King James II of England lived there for 13 years followinghis exile from Britain after the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and today still lies buriedin the local church. The château now houses the Museum of National Antiquities,which has a fine collection of archaeological material, ranging from the Palaeolithicand Bronze Age to Celtic and Gallo-Roman times.LA ROCHE-GUYONSAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYEVAUX-LE-VICOMTESituated on the left bank of the Seine river, Saint-Germain is the last station onLine A of the RER, the Paris express subway train system.2ATBCONTENTSMAURICE VEILLONTHE OB. WEST HQ AT SAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYEAfter seven months of ‘Phoney War’, theWehrmacht launched its attack in the Weston May 10, 1940 and within six weeks theNetherlands, Belgium and France had beendefeated, as had the British ExpeditionaryForce. The armistice with France was signedon June 22 and hostilities ceased three dayslater.Of the three army groups that had foughtand won the swift campaign, HeeresgruppeA was designated to remain in the West andGeneralfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedtand his staff soon established themselves atSaint-Germain-en-Laye, just west of Paris.(Heeresgruppe B was moved to the East inAugust, soon followed by Heeresgruppe Cwhich was returned to Germany in October.)By July it was clear that Britain intended tokeep on fighting so Hitler ordered his armyand navy staffs to plan for the invasion ofGreat Britain. On September 5, Heeres-gruppe A drew up the provisional instructionsfor Operation ‘Seelöwe’ which would involvetwo armies — the 9. Armee and 16. Armee —and defined the two waves of the assault. OnSeptember 14, Heeresgruppe A issued itsOrder No. 1 for ‘Seelöwe’ and on the 25thGeneraloberst Franz Halder, Chief of theGeneral Staff at the Oberkommando desHeeres (OKH, the Army High Command),came in person to the headquarters at Saint-Germain for a map exercise. This confirmedhis view that the main attack should be car-ried by the 16. Armee on the right wing.By Jean Paul PalludApart from the continuing lack of air supe-riority over southern England, it was equallyapparent that there was insufficient shippingavailable to carry the Wehrmacht across theChannel. The Kriegsmarine strongly recom-mended against the operation and on Octo-ber 12 Hitler decided to postpone ‘Seelöwe’until the following spring. In his bookVonRundstedt, the soldier and the manpublishedin 1952, Günther Blumentritt (in 1940 theOperations Officer at Heeresgruppe A)wrote that from the beginning von Rundst-edt and his staff always thought that theoperation would never be launched.BA 246/713/32Top:In April 1941, when Generalfeldmarschall von Rundstedt(left) and his staff were secretly moved to the East, the functionof Ob. West was taken over by Generalfeldmarschall Erwin vonWitzleben (right).Left:At first, Jean Paul was confident that thisseries of photos was showing the actual take-over between thetwo field-marshals, and that it had logically been taken at Saint-Germain-en-Laye. However, when investigating on the spot, itbecame clear that this was not so. Luckily, Jean-Paul’s sonMichaël had a look at the photos and recognised the location asanother famous château, that of Vaux-le-Vicomte, located nearMelun, 55 kilometres south-east of Paris.Right:The comparisonto prove it, taken in the Chambre du Roi at Vaux-le-Vicomte.3ATBBA 246/713/23BA 246/713/6Jean Paul then discovered that these pictures had been takenin March 1941 by German Kriegsberichter (war photographer)Dieck during a party held to celebrate von Witzleben’s 40 yearsin the army. The gathering took place in the central GrandSalon which rises the full height of the château under a dome.Hitler had by then decided to attack theSoviet Union and, to enable the OKH todevote its attention to planning that cam-paign in the East, on October 29 Heeres-gruppe A was designated theatre comman-der for the West. Its commander,Generalfeldmarschall von Rundstedt, wasappointed Commander-in-Chief West(Oberbefehlshaber West or Ob. West forshort) and made responsible for all the Ger-man-occupied territory in western Europe.He was placed directly under the Oberkom-mando der Wehrmacht (OKW, ArmedForces High Command).Then in April 1941 the headquarters ofHeeresgruppe A was secretly moved to theEast under the code-name ‘AbschnittstabWinter’ (on the day of the attack on theSoviet Union, it would take command of theright wing of the front under the new title ofHeeresgruppe Süd). Meanwhile in the West,the function of Ob. West was taken overfrom April 15 by the headquarters ofHeeresgruppe D. The new Commander-in-Chief in the West was GeneralfeldmarschallErwin von Witzleben who had three armiesunder his command, the 15. Armee and 7.Armee manning the coastline from Antwerpto the Spanish border and the 1. Armee incharge of the occupied portion of France.In December 1941, at his request and forhealth reasons, von Rundstedt was relievedfrom command of Heeresgruppe Süd. InMarch 1942 von Witzleben took leave of hiscommand in the West due to ill health andvon Rundstedt took over, being appointedacting commander of Heeresgruppe D andCommander-in-Chief in the West fromMarch 8. He returned to Saint-Germain-en-Laye and his position was made permanenton May 1 although letters to his wife makeclear that he was not particularly happy toreturn to active service. However von Witz-leben’s health problems were real (he actu-ally had to have an operation) but Hitler usedthem as a convenient pretext to get rid of himas he had never been a supporter of the Naziregime. After his recovery, von Witzlebenwas put in the OKH Führer-Reserve, a poolof officers unassigned but on active duty.Two weeks later, Hitler issued his FührerDirective No. 40 covering the conduct of thedefence of the West. He decreed that thedefences along the coast should be organisedin such a way that any invasion attempt couldbe broken up either before the actual landingor certainly immediately after. Strongdefences were to be built in locations suit-able for an enemy invasion, and sectors indanger of small-scale attacks were to bedefended by a series of strong points. Otherless-vulnerable parts of the coast were to bepatrolled.4It was in this same salon that TV actress andDesperate House-wivesstar Eva Longoria and basketball celebrity Tony Parkerheld their wedding reception on July 7, 2007. They had bookedthe château for two days andOK Magazinepaid two milliondollars for exclusive photos.The German party then had a meal in another luxurious salon of the château. VonWitzleben addressed his guests, among them in the forefront GeneralfeldmarschallHugo Sperrle, commander of the Luftwaffe in the West, and General der InfanterieOtto von Stülpnagel, the Military Governor of France.No banquet today in the Salon Carré but an endless stream of fascinated visitors. Allrooms of the château are furnished and open to the public and thousands of touristsflock to view its ornate treasures every year.ATBBA 246/713/37ATBBA 246/712/36Vaux-le-Vicomte château was built in1658-61 for Nicolas Fouquet, the superin-tendent of finances of Louis XIV, and isone of Europe’s finest constructions of itskind. To achieve this masterpiece, Fou-quet brought together the genius ofthree men: architect Louis Le Vau,painter-decorator Charles Le Brun andgarden designer Le Nôtre. Fouquet owedhis success as finance minister to hissuperb intelligence, his daring and loy-alty to the throne. Many were envious ofhim and nearly as many, among themJean-Baptiste Colbert who aimed atreplacing him, sowed seeds of distrust inthe young King’s mind with each passingday, combining justified criticism withcalumny. They finally succeeded in mak-ing the King believe that his minister’ssplendour was funded by misappropria-tion of public funds and in September1661, a few weeks after the festive open-ing of his château, Fouquet was arrestedby d’Artagnan, captain of the King’s mus-keteers. A specially convened emergencycourt ruled for banishing Fouquet but theKing overruled the court’s decision, com-muting the sentence to imprisonment forlife. Fouquet stayed incarcerated underclose surveillance until his death inMarch 1680. Vaux-le-Vicomte, fromwhich Louis XIV took his inspiration tobuild Versailles, remains as his legacy.Holding his field-marshal’s baton, von Witzleben inspected an honour company linedup for him in the château garden.Unfortunately these photos show very little of the grandeur of the garden designedby 17th-century landscape architect André Le Nôtre, a balanced composition ofpatterned flower-beds, water basins, fountains and canals.BA 246/712/38Von Witzleben left his command in March 1942, officially forhealth reasons but sources indicate that he was forcibly retiredfor criticising the regime. The only field-marshal to be whollyenrolled into the conspiracy against Hitler, his assignment inthe July 1944 plot was to take over supreme command of theWehrmacht once Hitler was dead. In the evening of the 20th,he went to the Bendlerstrasse block, the General Army Officeof the Wehrmacht High Command, in Berlin to take this com-mand but he quickly saw that things were going wrong andleft at 8.15 p.m., knowing that the attempt had failed. He sim-ply returned home where he was soon arrested. Part of thefirst group of accused conspirators to be brought before thePeople’s Court on August 7, he was sentenced to death andhanged at Plötzensee Prison on the 8th.5ATBATBBA 246/712/37
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