German Leadership

Field Marshal Werner von Blomberg.

Field Marshal and War Minister in the 1930s, Blomberg was significantly instrumental in the partial Nazification of the armed forces in that period. He was, however, along with Fritsch, a victim of the "Blomberg plot", in his case, forced to retire because his new wife was "revealed" to have been a "dancer" in a former life (at least, unlike the allegations of improper homosexual behaviour against Fritsch, there was some substance to this "allegation"). An interesting point in this 'photo is the half-width (12.5 mm per unit) medal bar. This (pretty rare) adaptation was to ensure that all of Blomberg's medal ribbons could be accommodated without the bar exceeding a single row. Multi-row ribbon bars were not generally used in the German forces, certainly up to the start of WW2. Best regards, JR.