Albert Kesselring was one of Nazi Germany's most capable field marshals, an air commander turned ground general best known for his skillful and stubborn defense of Italy against the Allies in the latter half of the Second World War. Born in Bavaria, he served as an artillery officer in the First World War and afterward helped build up the new German air force, the Luftwaffe, becoming one of its senior commanders.
In the early campaigns of the Second World War, Kesselring directed German air fleets in the invasions of Poland and France, in the Battle of Britain, and in the assault on the Soviet Union, establishing himself as one of the Luftwaffe's leading figures. His genial manner and unfailing optimism earned him the nickname "Smiling Albert."
He was then sent to the Mediterranean theater, where he eventually took supreme command of German forces in Italy. After the Allies invaded in 1943, Kesselring conducted a masterful defensive campaign, exploiting the mountainous Italian terrain to build successive fortified lines — most famously around Monte Cassino — that held up the Allied advance for many months at heavy cost.
His record was stained by atrocities committed by forces under his command against Italian civilians and partisans. After the war Kesselring was tried by the British and convicted of war crimes, and was sentenced to death, though the sentence was commuted and he was released after a few years on grounds of ill health. He died in 1960.