General Erich Hoepner: A Military Biography - W Chales de Beaulieu translated by Linden Lyons

This review has been submitted to Iron Cross Magazine. 

Title: General Erich Hoepner: A Military Biography
Author: W Chales de Beaulieu trans Linden Lyons
ISBN: 978-1-612-00976-6
Publisher: Casemate Publishing
Year: 2021
Hardcover
Pages: 252
Photos/Maps: 2/4 

De Beaulieu served as Hoepner’s first general staff officer during his campaign in Poland (1939) and then as his Chief of Staff during Hoepner’s campaigns in France and Russia. He therefore gained a deep insight and appreciation of both the personality and leadership style of this superb officer and panzer commander. Erich Hoepner’s career was characterized by his unwavering loyalty to the soldiers under his command, his duty to his country and the dictates of his conscience. Thus it was that he fulfilled the former with an aficionado’s skill in leading his panzers to Prague, Warsaw, Leningrad and the gates of Moscow and the latter by sacrificing his career for the welfare of his men before Moscow and his life in an effort to rid his country of Hitler. 

The author examens each of Hoepner’s campaigns individually by chapter. His focus is not simply upon the physical execution of the operations themselves but also the influence and affect of Hoepner’s personality on both the battlespace and the execution of his orders. De Beaulieu is a great admirer of Hoepners and this comes across in his evaluations; however, he is not an impartial sycophant. He is, for the most part, quite balanced in his assessment of Hoepner’s decisions; for example he discusses at some length the challenges that Hoepner faced during his drive into Belgium and makes note of errors made during the critical encounter with the Allies during the initial assault of the Dyle Line. Conversely, the author is too generous in his praise of German success against the French Cavalry Corps during the Battle of Hannut. While Hoepner prevailed in the battle, he did not succeed in destroying the French, enabling them to fight another day before Dunkirk. 

Along with Guderian, Hoepner was one of the very early proponents of an independent, self contained Panzer arm capable of deep, dramatic drives into the rear echelons of the enemy. He viewed this as the best way to unbalance and, more importantly, maintain the unbalance, of his adversaries. The author’s analysis of Hoepners drive towards Leningrad serve as perhaps the penultimate example of the effective operational use of the Panzer Arm in the hands of an expert at the peak of his prowess. 

The narrative of the book focuses upon Hoepner as leader and commander and the operational role that his forces undertook in the campaigns presented. The writing style and flow of the author makes for an easy grasp of the context. The work is lacking in sufficient maps that would have greatly facilitated the following of the operations as they unfolded. Although the narrative does give the reader a definite appreciation of the challenges of the terrain, distances, enemy forces and logistics that needed to be overcome, additional maps would have been very useful. The author undertakes, throughout the book, to present Hoepner as a real person, complete with flaws and errors. It is through this lens that the true strengths of Hoepner as both a military professional and quintessential leader are actually emphasized. That Hoepner is an exceptional commander and leader is beyond question; however, it is his willingness to assume responsibility for his decisions, despite the potential consequences, that serves to separate him from an already deep bench of competency. His actions before Moscow in January, 1942 and his willingness to support the July Plot against Hitler (for which he was tried and executed) are evidence of his moral strength and sound ethical grounding.  

The translation from the original German is excellent and there are ample footnotes that serve to expand upon more complicated portions of the operational narrative. Casemate has published a book of high quality. I would strongly recommend this work both as a reference for German operations from the period 1939-1941 and as an excellent study of a lesser known but equally impressive German Officer and Commander.