Legion of Merit, commander (Gen Dr Hans Spiedel)

Legion of Merit, commander, unnumbered, machine-engraved “General Dr,/Hans/Spiedel”. (Note: this is a spelling error, as the proper spelling of the surname is “Speidel”.) In a titled black leatherette case (split and loose at the hinge), with ribbon bar and lapel pin. (Ex-Robert Gaynor Collection)

General Hans Speidel was born in 1898 and joined the German Army early in World War I, serving on the Western Front. He completed a doctorate in 1925 and was appointed Assistant Military Attache in Paris in 1933. In World War II, he served at Dunkirk and helped draft the terms for the surrender of France. In 1940 and 1941, he was chief of staff to the Military Commander of Occupied France. He then moved to the Eastern Front, leading the planning for the Southern Offensive of 1942. In 1944, he became Rommel’s chief of staff and played a major role in the German response to the Normandy invasion. He was in touch with the plotters planning to assassinate Hitler, but was not directly involved. Refusing orders to destroy Paris, he was relieved of command and arrested by the Gestapo. He was able to escape and survived the war. After teaching for several years, he became the military advisor to German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and joined the Ministry of Defense with the rank of lieutenant general. In 1957, Gen Speidel became NATO’s Commander in Chief, Allied Land Forces Central Europe, a position he held for six years. He died in 1984. General Speidel held the grand cross of the Republic Germany’s Order of Merit, the German Cross in gold and the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross.