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Sea Lion |
a novel by Steve Barrett | ||
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"Relieve me of my command" |
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In chapter 10 I have a scene where General Heinz Guderian is reprimanded by von
Kleist and the former asks to be relieved of his command. Much of this is based
on the actual events described by Guderian in his autobiography, Panzer
Leader. Guderian's resignation was accepted by a shocked von Kleist but was
almost immediately refused by von Rundstedt, as described in my novel.
The dialogue I have used in this episode is a mixture of that reported by Guderian in Panzer Leader and partly implied from information in that book, in Hitler's Generals (Kenneth Macksey being the author of the Guderian essay therein) and others. The misunderstanding as to the source of the halt order is described by Macksey in his article (and implied by Guderian himself). The concept of ordering a "deep reconnaissance in strength" was indeed the way that this tricky situation was dealt with, although in reality the advance was ordered to halt before the retreating forces could be completely routed. Guderian states in his book that he considered that the 24th May 1940 order to stop the advance of his tanks was to have "...a most disastrous influence on the whole future course of the war." Click here to return to the "Inside Stories" main page. |
