Rommel was one of the most famous German field marshals of World War II. Erwin Rommel was born in Heidenheim, Germany, on 15th November, 1891. He wanted to study engineering but his father disapproved so in 1910 he joined the German Army. By the outbreak of the First World War Rommel had reached the rank of lieutenant. He fought on the Western Front and in January 1915 won the Iron Cross. In 1917 Rommel served on the Italian Front and after leading the attack on Monte Matajur, was promoted to captain. Soon afterwards Rommel and a small group of men swam the Piave River in order to capture the Italian garrison at Lognaroni.
After the war Rommel remained in the German Army and in 1929 he was appointed an instructor at the Infantry School in Dresden. In October 1935 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and began teaching at the Potsdam War Academy. An excellent teacher, Rommel's lectures were published as a book on infantry tactics in 1937. The book was read by Adolf Hitler. Greatly impressed by Rommel's ideas Hitler arranged for him to command his HQ staff in Austria and Czechoslovakia. The following year he did the same job in Poland.
Rommel was given command of the 7th Panzer Division that invaded France in May, 1940. Rommel's troops moved faster and farther than any other army in military history. After reaching the Channel he turned south and raced along the coast until he reached the Spanish border. As a result of his exploits in France he was promoted to the rank of general. When Benito Mussolini asked for help in North Africa Adolf Hitler sent Rommel to command the new Deutsches Afrika Korps and successfully drove the British 8th Army out of Libya. He moved into Egypt but was defeated at El Alamein. With the USA Army landing in Morocco and Algeria, his troops were forced to leave Tunisia.
In the early months of 1944, Rommel was approached by Ludwig Beck and Carl Goerdeler about joining the attempt to assassinate Hitler via the "July Plot" (actually attempted on June 22, 1944). Rommel refused, criticizing the tactic of assassination claiming that it would turn Adolf Hitler into a martyr. Instead he suggested that he should instead be arrested and brought to trial. Rommel was now sent to head the German Army in France that was preparing for the Allied invasion. Unable to halt the Allied troops during Operation Overlord, on 15th July, 1944, Rommel warned Hitler that Germany was on the verge of defeat and encouraged him to bring the war to an end. In the autumn of 1944 Hitler discovered that Rommel was purportedly plotting against him. Rommel was strafed by a RAF Typhoon and wounded (with severe cranial swelling) in Normandy and was convalescing at home; when on 14th October, 1944, he was visited by two generals who had been sent by Hitler with an ultimatum: "Suicide with a state funeral and protection for your family and staff, or trial for high treason!" Erwin Rommel took poison and officially it was stated that he had died of a brain seizure from his injuries received in Normandy.
Rommel's Arrival to "AFRIKA" on February 12, 1941 & then a review of his field commanders, maps & material...
Rommel at Tripoli Harbor February 19, 1941... here with Hauptman Walter Fromm Battr. Chef. I./FlaK Rgt.33
Rommel with Frölich
Rommel's Initial "Field" Bases in North Africa
Note the unusually painted Kfz.17 Radio vehicle...
Near Bardia in April of 1941 to...Acroma... in June 1941
Rommel believed in enduring the 'realities' of "his" men... at the front...Rommel's "Kit"
Understanding the situation and communication with his team of officers... built loyalty & dedication from his truppen...
Near Bardia and discussion / awards to Italian Gunners...
During "Battleaxe"
Rommel with Gen. Westphal in "MAX" his captured British AEC Dorchester which was originally marked White "1"
Rommel's Final Departure from "AFRIKA", February of 1943
Rommel's Command Pennant Marking in Normandy
Media
Rommel Landing in his Storch... Begleitkommando
Rommel Speaking...Rommel in his own words...
Rommel... Hitler's Warriors (Includes the Death by poison of Rommel)
Rommel... Hitler's Warriors (Additional Rommel segment)
Rommel... Ist Der Todt
Rommel (The Movie)
Bibliography
Too many to name them!!! The 'short' list!
Rommel: A Pictorial and Narrative History Richard D. Law & Craig W. H. Luther, Bender Pub. Circa 1980 ISBN: 0-912138-20-3
Rommel: Infantry Attacks (Infanterie Greift an: Erlebnisse und Erfahrungen) by General Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Greenhill Books/Stackpole, Original 1937 & Circa 1990 New Introduction English version from Manfred Rommel ISBN: 1-85367-199-1
Rommel In His Own Words Edited by John Pimlott, Greenhill Circa 1994 ISBN: 1-85367-185-1
Rommel By Lutz Koch, Circa 1950
Lutz Koch was Rommel's War Correspondent for nearly three years...
The Rommel Papers by B. H. Liddel Hart, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Circa 1953 (Online Free)
Rommel, The Desert Fox by Desmond Young, Harper & Roe Circa 1950/1979/1987 ISBN: 9780688067717
Rommel: The Trail of the Fox by David Irving, E. P. Dutton Circa 1977 (Now Public Domain free online)
Search: Rommel The Trail of the Fox by David John Cawdell Irving ISBN-10: 1840222050
NOTE: David Irving's writing is a problem in some countries! France for one!
Triumphant Fox: Erwin Rommel and the Rise of the Afrika Korps by Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr., Stein and Day Circa 1984 ISBN: 0-812829-29-8
Rommel's Desert War: The Life and Death of the Afrika Korps by Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr., Stein and Day Circa 1984 Hardback Edition/Paperback from Stackpole readily available
Knight's Cross: A Life of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel by David Fraser, Harper Collins Circa 1993 ISBN: 0-06-018222-9
Rommel's War in Africa by Wolf Heckman, Doubleday Translation Copy Circa 1981 ISBN: 0-385-14420-2
Rommel's Army in Africa by Dal Mcguirk, Stanley Paul 1987 & Motorbooks 1993 ISBN: 0-87938-835-8
Rommel In the Desert (Mit Rommel in der Wüste) by Volkmar Kühn, Schiffer Circa 1991 ISBN: 0-88740-292-5 & Motorbuch Verlag ISBN: 3-87943-369-0
Panzer Army Africa by James Lucas, Presidio Press Circa 1978 ISBN: 0-89141-064-3
Rommel's Panzers by Christer Jörgensen, MBI Circa 2003 ISBN: 0-7603-1481-0
Rommel's Last Battle: The Desert Fox and the Normandy Campaign by Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr., Stein & Day Circa 1983
Hitler's Field Marshalls and Their Battles by Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr., Scarborough House Circa 1990 ISBN: 0-8128-3052-0
Hitler's Commanders by Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr. & Gene Mueller, Scarborough House Circa 1992 ISBN: 0-8128-4014-3
Rommel with Frölich
During "Battleaxe"
Entering Tobruk
Rommel's Command Pennant Marking in Normandy
