, Wurttemberg, onNovember 15, 1891 and died in 1944.
Rommel joined the 124th InfantryRegiment as an officer cadet in 1910, and two years later wascommissioned a second lieutenant. During World War I he served inFrance and on the Romanian and Italian fronts. After the war he heldregimental commands and was instructor at the Dresden Infantry Schoolfrom 1929 to 1933, and the Potsdam War Academy from1935-1938. Rommel had a textbook on tactics which was published in1937. The name of the textbook was Infanterie greift an.
Colonel Rommel was appointed commandant of the War Academyat Wiener Neustadt in 1938. Shortly after he was placed in command ofthe battalion responsible for Adolf Hitler’s safety during the march intothe Sudetenland and the entry into Prague. Promoted major general onthe eve of World War II, he was again responsible for Hitler’s safety during the invasion of Poland. In 1940 Rommel commanded the 7th Panzer Division in theadvance into France in result of forging links with the Nazi party.
In 1941,with the rank of lieutenant general, he was given command of the Germantroops in Libya. On June 21, 1942, he was made a field marshal, theyoungest in the German Army, in recognition of his success in forcing theBritish back from Cyrenaica into Egypt as far as El Alamein. He was unableto advance to capture Alexandria. In the months that followed, duringwhich he commanded all Italo-German troops in North Africa, he wasdriven back into Cyrenaica and across Tripolitania into Tunisia, where heencountered fresh Allied forces.
After the battle at Medenine on March 5,1943, he returned to Germany because of ill health. In July Rommel was given command of Army Group B in northernItaly, and in November he was ordered to report on the coastal defense inthe west, from the Skagerrak to the Spanish frontier. He was madecommander in chief of all German armies from the Netherlands to theLoire River in January 1944. Despite his great efforts, the Germans wereunable to prevent the Allies from landing in Normandy in the followingJune.
On July 17, while Rommel was motoring near Livarot, he wasseverely wounded by fire from Allied aircraft, and he returned to his homein Germany to convalesce. Rommel had never been an member of the Nazi party but , he hadbecome increasingly outspoken in his criticism of Hitler’s leadership. OnOct. 14, 1944, he was suspected of taking part and being involved incomplicity in the July 20 plot against Hitler’s life.
He was given, on ordersfrom Hitler, the choice between taking poison and having his deathreported as resulting from his wounds, or facing trial by the People’sCourt. He elected the former course, ending his life in the generals’automobile near Ulm, Germany, on Oct. 14, 1944. Hitler ordered national mourning, and Rommel was buried with fullmilitary honors.
A man of the greatest personal bravery, he earned thedeep respect of his adversaries for his brilliant achievements. Rommelwas remembered as Desert Fox. Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel was born in Heidenheim, Wurttemberg, onNovember 15, 1891 and died in 1944. Rommel joined the 124th InfantryRegiment as an officer cadet in 1910, and two years later wascommissioned a second lieutenant.
During World War I he served inFrance and on the Romanian and Italian fronts. After the war he heldregimental commands and was instructor at the Dresden Infantry Schoolfrom 1929 to 1933, and the Potsdam War Academy from1935-1938. Rommel had a textbook on tactics which was published in1937. The name of the textbook was Infanterie greift an. Colonel Rommel was appointed commandant of the War Academyat Wiener Neustadt in 1938. Shortly after he was placed in command ofthe battalion responsible for Adolf Hitler’s safety during the march intothe Sudetenland and the entry into Prague.
Promoted major general onthe eve of World War II, he was again responsible for Hitler’s safety during the invasion of Poland. In 1940 Rommel commanded the 7th Panzer Division in theadvance into France in result of forging links with the Nazi party. In 1941,with the rank of lieutenant general, he was given command of the Germantroops in Libya. On June 21, 1942, he was made a field marshal, theyoungest in the German Army, in recognition of his success in forcing theBritish back from Cyrenaica into Egypt as far as El Alamein. He was unableto advance to capture Alexandria.
In the months that followed, duringwhich he commanded all Italo-German troops in North Africa, he wasdriven back into Cyrenaica and across Tripolitania into Tunisia, where heencountered fresh Allied forces. After the battle at Medenine on March 5,1943, he returned to Germany because of ill health. In July Rommel was given command of Army Group B in northernItaly, and in November he was ordered to report on the coastal defense inthe west, from the Skagerrak to the Spanish frontier. He was madecommander in chief of all German armies from the Netherlands to theLoire River in January 1944.
Despite his great efforts, the Germans wereunable to prevent the Allies from landing in Normandy in the followingJune. On July 17, while Rommel was motoring near Livarot, he wasseverely wounded by fire from Allied aircraft, and he returned to his homein Germany to convalesce. Rommel had never been an member of the Nazi party but , he hadbecome increasingly outspoken in his criticism of Hitler’s leadership. OnOct. 14, 1944, he was suspected of taking part and being involved incomplicity in the July 20 plot against Hitler’s life.
He was given, on ordersfrom Hitler, the choice between taking poison and having his deathreported as resulting from his wounds, or facing trial by the People’sCourt. He elected the former course, ending his life in the generals’automobile near Ulm, Germany, on Oct. 14, 1944. Hitler ordered national mourning, and Rommel was buried with fullmilitary honors. A man of the greatest personal bravery, he earned thedeep respect of his adversaries for his brilliant achievements. Rommelwas remembered as Desert Fox.
