Wilhelm Keitel: Encyclopedia II - Wilhelm Keitel - Early life and career

Wilhelm Keitel - Early life and career

The son of Carl Keitel, a middle-class landowner, he was born in Helmscherode near Hanover, Germany. After completing his education in Göttingen, he embarked on a military career in 1901, becoming a Fahnenjunker (Cadet Officer), joining the 6th Lower-Saxon Field Artillery Regiment. He married Lisa Fontaine in 1909. During World War I Keitel served on the Western front with the 46th Artillery Regiment. In September 1914, during the fighting in Flanders, he was seriously wounded in his right forearm by a shell fragment.

He recovered, and therafter became a member of the German General Staff in early 1915. After World War I ended, he stayed in the newly created Reichswehr, and played a part in organizing Freikorps frontier guard units on the Polish border. Keitel also served as a divisional general staff officer, and later taught at the Hanover Cavalry School for two years.

In late 1924, he was transferred to the Reich Defence Ministry, serving with the Troop Office or (Truppenamt), the post-Versailles disguised General Staff. He was soon promoted to the head of the organizational department, a post he retained after the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, in 1935, based on a recommendation by Werner von Fritsch he became chief of the newly-created Armed Forces Office (Wehrmachtamt).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Early life and career", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki