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Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was one of Germany's greatest soldiers. He was a brave and dedicated commander who fought valiantly in World War One and achieved mythic stature among the armies of World War Two, and those who didnt know of him quickly learned of his amazing feats on the battlefield. And much like Yamamotto of Japan he knew Germany was going to lose the war but fought the battles all the same. Sadly though his life would never see peace because he died in 1944 with accusations of conspiring to kill Hitler. His main directive, like most commanders, was to move fast, hit hard, and destroy his enemy before they had time to recover, though this was not always possible he usually was able to.
On September 24 th 1914 Rommel would be wounded while fighting near Varennes, France while executing one of the most back tactics. While under heavy fire he took command of a few squads of men in the woods near a highway which French troops were using. They were having trouble locating the enemy through the fog and heavy gunfire since they had to stay down on their bellies, but when the gunfire subsided they would make quick headway through the trees. At one point when the firing had stopped Rommel ran out from the trees and found himself about 20 paces away from five Frenchmen, his recruits had not followed him. The men were all turned away from him and Rommel dropped two of them before he ran out of ammo, seeing no other way to get out of his situation he rushed the remaining three, confident in his bayonet skills, but was hit in the leg only a few steps from them. Expecting to be killed Rommel crawled behind a tree at which time his recruits finally came forth and the three remaining Frenchmen retreated.
For this Rommel was awarded the Iron Cross, Second Class 1. This attack expresses one of Rommel's chief tactics he explains to his wife in a May 9 th 1940 letter that the battle will most likely go to whomever fires first 2. However, that tactic does not work if you dont have enough ammo to finish the job. In 1940 when Rommel arrived in Africa to lead the Afrika Korea he brought with him a new way of command that the enemies were not used to defending against. Not only did he not let his troops sit and relax, as British troops were told which was all Germans were good for because of their light skin and blond hair, he moved them like liquid as one British soldier remembers: They were so amazingly professional about warfare, it was frightening, they were so confident, that they didnt seem like a group of ordinary soldiers, they seemed like on big monstrous fighting machine. And Fast, Ive never seen units move like that, there was something liquid about the way the Africa Corps moved and attacked, you could never really tell where they were going to arrive from...
When they first arrived they seemed unbeatable. 3 However, Rommel himself was equally amazed at how slow the British troops moved. He states that "Their command was as slow as ever in reacting. When we embarked on our retreat... a long time elapsed before the British started their pursuit" (329). 4 Sometimes both luck and skill were on Rommel's side. When trying to take Took in November 1941, a major offensive was able to get planned and executed by the British who outnumbered Rommel extensively.
A two-pronged attack came at ROmmel, but due to errors in coordination on the British's part he was able to extend a good amount of damage on the attacks body. Interestingly with the size of the attack the British sent in their armored brigades in small groups which let Rommel get a few small victories before retreating to better ground to fight. His tactic in his defense here was concentrating his forces on the flanks and rears of the attacking British lines rather than face to face. Once he had this accomplished and a good amount of damage done he retreated and found ground better suited to defend, he did this until the battle was won, which took a 300 mile journey and two months 1. This was only a brief view of what the Field Marshal had accomplished in his career, he had many more victories, and losses, and lots of little tactics not mentioned above like hidden fuel dumps in the Sahara, and fake tanks to scare the reconnaissance flights that came to preview a battlefield.
But Rommel, however ruthless he was on the battlefield was also a loving husband and father, who was loyal to the Fatherland and to his position in the Third Reich. But as he died his last written words were very prophetic for what he knew was to come, and what so many others did too: "The sky over Germany has grown very dark. " 2 Rommel, Erwin. Attacks. Provo, Utah: Athena Press, 1979. Rommel, Erwin. The Rommel Papers.
Ed. B. H. Liddell-Hart. New York: Da Capo Press, 1953. Edmonson, James. "A marvellous interview. " Online posting. 6 Oct. 2000.
The Erwin Rommel Discussion Board. 6 Oct. 2000 web messageboard / mbs . cgi? acct = mb 1043242 &My Num = 97080951 8 &P = No&TL = 970 809518 Bibliography: Rommel, Erwin. Attacks. Provo, Utah: Athena Press, 1979. Rommel, Erwin.
The Rommel Papers. Ed. B. H. Liddell-Hart. New York: Da Capo Press, 1953.
Edmonson, James. "A marvellous interview. " Online posting. 6 Oct. 2000. The Erwin Rommel Discussion Board. 6 Oct. 2000
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