Kesselring, Albert (1885–1960)

German field marshal in World War II, commander of the Luftwaffe (air force) 1939–40, during the invasions of Poland and the Low Countries and the early stages of the Battle of Britain. He later served under Field Marshal Rommel in North Africa, took command in Italy in 1943, and was commander-in-chief on the western front March in 1945. His death sentence for war crimes at the Nürnberg trials in 1947 was commuted to life imprisonment, but he was released in 1952.