Pride before a fall
Sir: I agree with many of Milton Shulman's points (Teaching the truth about the war', 28 September) but Field Marshal von Rundstedt is not the proper source. The originator of the sickle-cut was Field Mar- shal von Manstein and Rundstedt was only the executioner. The first stop of the advancing Panzers was at Arras where there was a feeble counter-attack by French and also British troops. The stop was unnecessarily long. On 22 May, Rundstedt gave the order to cleanse the situation around Arras but there was nothing to be cleansed.
The crisis was only at higher staff level. Rommel with the 7th Panzers had already pushed forward and the 5th Panzers occu- pied the Loretto height, and whoever held this height possessed France. The 10th Panzers should have occupied Dunkirk but were put in reserve. In the meantime, the Austrian corporal had lost his nerve. Hitler had stopped the Panzer columns of the 4th Army 15 km. from Dunkirk. On 24 May High Command gave the order that the 4th Army was no longer under the command of Rundstedt. This was the death blow to the idea of the sickle-cut which was based on swift movements. The war was lost because the British could not be annihilated, and escaped. It was one of the greatest blunders the Austrian corporal made.
But why? The idea of the water-filled canals was an excuse. Hitler wished to deni- grate High Command in order to tell them that he was the Fiihrer. From there origi- nated the hubris to attack the Soviet Union which was indeed preparing to attack Ger- many. I was an intelligence officer later, and cannot understand why Bletchley Park does not open its archives to tell the world that the Red Army was preparing a thrust into Central Europe. Moreover, after read- ing Andrew Gimson, I must say that he does not know history when he says that German resistance was a bit late (`The lure of the East', 28 September). He should read Hans Rothfeis (who was Jewish): Die deutsche Opposition gegen Hitler. Resistance started much earlier and was stymied by the actions of Chamberlain in the fall of 1938. Gerhard Lorenz D-30559 Hannover, Muthesiusweg 27, Germany
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