Thomas Edward Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)
One of the 20th century's most iconic characters was Thomas Edward Lawrence (1888–1935),…
- Military History
- Biographies
Biographies
Personalities, distinguished commanders, military geniuses, historic figures and personalities
Our list of biographies includes not only military personalities and distinguished battle commanders in history, but also men whose genius has earned them an unquestionable place in history or played a significant role in one of the many wars.
The biographies are not intended to be detailed essays of each individual but a compact approach to learn more about the character, strategy, talents, values, beliefs and eccentricities. When trying to analyze the outcome of many famous battles, these biographies will give us many clues on how much certain individuals directly affected the outcome through their personal contributions and the relationship with other leaders of the same periods.
Charles (André Joseph Marie) de Gaulle
Militarians Biographies
The son of an intensely nationalistic family, Charles de Gaulle, was educated at the Military Academy of Saint-Cyr and joined an infantry regiment (under Col. Philippe Petain) as a second lieutenant in 1913. He impressed Petain and others with his intelligence, initiative and once World War I erupted, with his courage as well. He fought at the do-or-die defense of Verdun, was wounded in combat three times and was a P.O.W. for two years and eight months. During his captivity, he made five valiant, although unsuccessful attempts to escape.
Großadmiral (Grand Admiral) Karl Dönitz
Militarians Biographies
Dönitz was born in Grünau. He joined the German navy on the 1st of April in 1910 and served on U-boats during World War I. This experience persuaded Dönitz that submarines would play an increasingly important role in naval strategy. With the conclusion of World War I, Dönitz remained in the Reichsmarine, the small navy Germany was permitted under the castigatory terms of the Versailles treaty. In fact, Dönitz operated clandestinely to build a German submarine force, even though the treaty specifically prohibited that type of vessels.
General James Harold Doolittle
Militarians Biographies
A native of Alameda, California, Doolittle was educated at Los Angeles Junior College and at the University of California. He joined the Army Reserve Corps in October 1917, after the United States entered World War I and was assigned to the Signal Corps in which he served as a flight instructor through 1919. The following year, Doolittle was commissioned a first lieutenant in the Army Air Service and gained national attention by making the first transcontinental flight in less than fourteen hours on the 4th of September in 1922.
SS-Obersturmbannführer Otto Adolf Eichmann
Militarians Biographies
Eichmann was a German-Austrian Nazi SS-Obersturmbannführer (Senior Assault Unit Leader) who was Head of the Gestapo’s Section IV BG, the Department of Jewish Affairs. After the Wannsee Conference (January 1942) this department was put in charge to execute the "Final Solution" what meant to extermination of all Jews. On the 1st of July 1943, Eichmann got the final decree signed by Martin Bormann, which deprived Jews of all rights of appeal. Eichmann introduced the convoy systems to extermination camps and had gas chambers installed because they were the most efficient means of execution. Alt...
Field Marshal Ferdinand Foch
Militarians Biographies
Ferdinand Jean Marie Foch, a military theorist, French General and the Commander of the Allied Forces at the end of WW I, was born on October 2, 1851 in Tarbes, Hautes-Pyrenees, France. He attended school in Tarbes and Rodez and college in St. Etienne. Being inspired and influenced from early childhood by the stories of campaigns his maternal grandfather, who had been an officer during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras, told him about the Napoleonic Wars, he pursued a military career.
Reichsmarschall Hermann Wilhelm Göring
Militarians Biographies
Göring's position as second only to Adolf Hitler in the establishment and maintenance of the Nazi regime is unquestionable, although his influence diminished after 1942. His close and jealous rivals were Joseph Goebbels and, in the later years of the war, Heinrich Himmler and Martin Bormann. But none received, as Göring did in 1939, when Hitler publicly acknowledged him as his "successor". Rudolf Hess, commonly called Hitler's deputy, was never more than his deputy at the head of the party as distinct from the state.
Generaloberst Heinz Guderian
Militarians Biographies
Heinz Wilhelm Guderian, a German general during WWII, was the inventor and strong advocate of the "Blitzkrieg" (lightning war) warfare and became famous for his successes as a leader of Panzer (tank) units in Poland, France and in the Soviet Union. Born in KuIm, Germany (present-day Chelmno, Poland) in 1888 to Friedrich Guderian and Clara (née Kirchoff), he entered the German Army in 1907. He was commissioned into a Hanoverian rifle battalion in 1908 and then transferred to become a communications officer.
Fleet Admiral William Frederick Halsey Jr.
Militarians Biographies
William Frederick Halsey Jr., a US naval commander who led many of the most important US naval campaigns in the Pacific during WW II, was born on October 30, 1882 in Elizabeth, New Jersey to US Navy Captain William F. Halsey Sr. and his wife Anne Masters Brewster. He attended the Pingry School in New Jersey and, while waiting to receive an appointment to the United States Naval Academy, started his medical studies at the University of Virginia. In 1900, he finally entered the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, from which he graduated in 1904.
Marshal-Admiral Togo Heihachiro
Militarians Biographies
Kōshaku (Marquess) Tōgō Heihachirō was born on January 27, 1848, in Kagoshima, Satsuma, Japan. He raised amidst the turmoil created by US commodore Oliver H. Perry's "opening up" of Japan to the West, Heihachiro Togo joined the Satsuma provincial navy in 1866. Four years later, he entered the new imperial Japanese navy as a cadet. From 1871 to 1878, he studied naval science and tactics in England. He admired Admiral Horatio Nelson and made it a point to travel to Cape Trafalgar to see the site of his hero's greatest victory.
Deputy Führer Rudolf Walter Richard Hess
Politicians Biographies
The saga of Rudolf Hess is strange indeed. A devoted follower of Hitler from the very beginning, Hess had a tremendous future in the Nazi Party. In 1941 he threw it all away by flying to Scotland in a cockeyed attempt to work out an unauthorized peace treaty. The stunt landed him in prison for the rest of his life.
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