Gerd von Rundstedt was only a private.
Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt ( 12 December 1875 -- 24 February 1953 ) was a Field Marshal in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II . During World War I , he served mainly as a staff officer . He was recalled at the beginning of World War II as commander of Army Group South in the invasion of Poland . He was relieved of command in December 1941 , but was recalled in 1942 and appointed Commander-in-Chief in the West . He was dismissed after the German defeat in Normandy in July 1944 , but was again recalled as Commander-in-Chief in the West in September , holding this post until his final dismissal by Adolf Hitler in March 1945 .