Encouraged to commit suicide for his part in the attempt to assassinate head asshat Adolph Hitler, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel earned what nickname for his prowess on the WWII battlefields of North Africa?
"1940 invasion of France. His leadership of German and Italian forces in the North African Campaign established his reputation as one of the most able tank commanders of the war, and earned him the nickname ""der Wüstenfuchs"", ""the Desert Fox"". Among his British adversaries he earned a strong reputation for chivalry, and the North African campaign has often been called a ""war without hate"". He later commanded the German forces opposing the Allied cross-channel invasion of Normandy in June 1944. Rommel supported the Nazi seizure of power and Adolf Hitler, although his reluctant stance towards antisemitism, Nazi ideology and level"
"Rommel myth The Rommel myth, or the Rommel legend, is a phrase used by a number of historians in reference to common depictions of German field marshal Erwin Rommel as an apolitical, brilliant commander and a victim of Nazi Germany due to his participation in the 20 July plot against Adolf Hitler. According to these historians, who take a critical view of Rommel, such depictions are not accurate. The myth was created, with Rommel's participation, as a component of Nazi propaganda to praise the Wehrmacht and instill optimism in the German public. Starting in 1941, it was picked up and"
"victim of the regime as well. Informational notes Citations Bibliography Further reading Rommel myth The Rommel myth, or the Rommel legend, is a phrase used by a number of historians in reference to common depictions of German field marshal Erwin Rommel as an apolitical, brilliant commander and a victim of Nazi Germany due to his participation in the 20 July plot against Adolf Hitler. According to these historians, who take a critical view of Rommel, such depictions are not accurate. The myth was created, with Rommel's participation, as a component of Nazi propaganda to praise the Wehrmacht and instill optimism"
"regime also committed suicide. Friedrich Paulus was promoted with the implication that he would die in futile military action or commit suicide. Suicide missions, in which volunteers were asked for, are well reported in fiction, but levels of compulsion are hard to assess. After Erwin Rommel, a field marshal in the German Army during the Second World War, lost faith in Germany's ability to win the war and came under suspicion for having taken part in the July 20, 1944 plot to kill Adolf Hitler, he was forced to commit suicide. Due to Rommel's popularity with the German people, Hitler"
"Infantry Attacks Infantry Attacks (German: Infanterie greift an) is a classic book on military tactics written by Erwin Rommel about his experiences in World War I. At the time of the book's writing in the mid-1930s, Rommel's rank was lieutenant colonel. Rommel had planned to write a successor called ""Panzer greift an"" (in English: ""Tanks Attack"") about tank warfare, and gathered much material during the North Africa Campaign. However, he was forced to commit suicide before completing this work. Rommel describes his ""Stoßtruppen"" (shock troops) tactics, which used speed, deception, and deep penetration into enemy territory to surprise and overwhelm."
"a photo taken with Italian General Italo Gariboldi welcoming Erwin Rommel and Johannes Streich on February 12, 1941. Erwin Rommel was selected by Adolf Hitler to lead the newly formed Afrika Korps divisions in the fight against British forces in North Africa. Two days later, his troops arrived in Tripoli. Several days later, his troops staged a parade in the 'Suq-Al-Khubsa' plaza, now known as Martyrs square where he multiplied the number of his forces by ordering his tanks and infantry to circle the square multiple times, to boost morale and falsify numbers to any British spies. Erwin Rommel with"
"for success as a young officer in World War I and then in his popular 1937 book ""Infantry Attacks,"" which was written in a style that diverged from the German military literature of the time and became a bestseller. The myth then took shape during the opening years of World War II, as a component of Nazi propaganda to praise the Wehrmacht and instill optimism in the German public, with Rommel's willing participation. When Rommel came to North Africa, it was picked up and disseminated in the West by the British press as the Allies sought to explain their continued"
"itself, the appearance of unopposed Allied fighter-bombers ruined morale, as privates and generals alike dived for the ditches. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, for example, was seriously wounded in July, 1944, when he dared to ride around France in the daytime. The commander of the elite 2nd Panzer Division fulminated: At the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, the Allies were caught by surprise by a large scale German offensive. In the first days bad weather grounded all planes. When the skies cleared, 52,000 AAF and 12,000 RAF sorties against German positions and supply lines immediately doomed Hitler's last offensive."
"inability to defeat the Axis forces in North Africa. The British military and political figures contributed to the heroic image of the man as Rommel resumed offensive operations in January 1942 against the British forces weakened by redeployments to the Far East. During parliamentary debate following the fall of Tobruk, Churchill described Rommel as an ""extraordinary bold and clever opponent"" and a ""great field commander."" According to ""Der Spiegel"" following the war's end, West Germany yearned for father figures who were needed to replace the former ones who had been unmasked as criminals. Rommel was chosen because he embodied the"
"which he personally helped direct a segment reenacting the crossing of the Somme River. Rommel's victories in 1941 were played up by Nazi propaganda, even though his successes in North Africa were achieved in Germany's least strategically important theatre of World War II. In November 1941, Joseph Goebbels (head of the Reich Ministry of Propaganda) wrote about his intention to have Rommel ""elevated to a kind of popular hero"". Rommel, with his innate abilities as a military commander and love of the spotlight, was a perfect fit for the role Goebbels designed for him. In North Africa, Rommel received help"
"an offensive in North Africa from Italian-controlled Libya into British-controlled Egypt. However, the British smashed the Italians and were on the verge of taking Libya. Hitler decided to help by sending in a few thousand troops, a ""Luftwaffe"" division, and the first-rate general Erwin Rommel. Rommel managed to use his small force to repeatedly smash massively superior British forces and to recapture the port city of Tobruk and advance into Egypt. However, Hitler, embroiled in his invasion of the Soviet Union, refused to send Rommel any more troops, causing Rommel to retreat and preventing him from seizing the Middle East,"
"of the fighting in North Africa. Their works lent support to the image of the ""clean Wehrmacht"" and were generally not questioned, since they came from British authors, rather than German revisionists. Historian Bruce Allen Watson offers his interpretation of the myth, encompassing the foundation laid down by the Nazi propaganda machine. According to Watson, the most dominant element is Rommel the Superior Soldier; the second being Rommel the Common Man; and the last one Rommel the Martyr. The German news magazine ""Der Spiegel"" described the myth in 2007 as ""Gentleman warrior, military genius."" During recent years, historians' opinions on"
"Operation Gaff During World War II, Operation Gaff was the parachuting of a six-man patrol of Special Air Service commandos into German-occupied France on Tuesday 25 July 1944, with the aim of killing or kidnapping German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. From March 1943, Allied Intelligence had been undertaking research on the whereabouts, bases and travel arrangements of Field Marshal Rommel. Part of the research asked the question of how feasible it would be to kill Rommel. After D-Day, the Allies were meeting fierce resistance, marshalled by Rommel, with Hitler's orders to stand firm at all costs. With losses mounting, Field"
"war took a completely different turn. ("""" p. 1-50.) Adolf Hitler sent his army to North Africa starting in February 1941 (see Operation Sonnenblume). Nazi Germany's General Erwin Rommel's Deutsches Afrikakorps coming from victories at Tobruk in Libya, and in a classic ""blitzkrieg"", comprehensively outfought British forces. Within weeks the British had been pushed back into Egypt. Rommel's offensive was eventually stopped at the small railway halt of El Alamein, just 150 miles from Cairo. In July 1942 the First Battle of El Alamein was lost by Rommel because he was suffering from the eternal curse of the desert war,"
"World War II. In November 1941, Reich Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels wrote about ""the urgent need"" to have Rommel ""elevated to a kind of popular hero."" Rommel, with his innate abilities as a military commander and love of the spotlight, was a perfect fit for the role Goebbels designed for him. In North Africa, Rommel received help in cultivating his image from Alfred Ingemar Berndt, a senior official at the Reich Propaganda Ministry who had volunteered for military service. Seconded by Goebbels, Berndt was assigned to Rommel's staff and became one of his closest aides. Berndt often acted as"
"the Mustard"". Among the many funny anecdotes in the autobiography is the following: ""I once asked [Montgomery] if he had watched the two movies about the N. African Desert Campaign featuring James Mason as General Field Marshall Erwin Rommel? He replied that he had and said, ""I thought that Mason fellow was splendid as Wommel! Indeed I thought at times, he was more like Wommel than Wommel was (sic)!"" Here's another: ""[In] ""Tosca"" the tenor Cavaradossi is shot by a firing squad. ... When one fateful night [all of the] rifles failed to go off ... the tenor, not quite"
"has been hampered by views of Rommel that were formed, at least in part, due to political reasons, creating what these historians have called the ""Rommel myth."" The interpretation considered by some historians to be a myth is the depiction of the Field Marshal as an apolitical, brilliant commander and a victim of the Third Reich who participated in the 20 July plot against Adolf Hitler. There is a notable number of authors who refer to ""Rommel Myth"" or ""Rommel Legend"" in a neutral or positive manner though. The seeds of the myth can be found first in Rommel's drive"
"German headquarters in Mantes. They reached US forces and safety on 12 August. Operation Gaff During World War II, Operation Gaff was the parachuting of a six-man patrol of Special Air Service commandos into German-occupied France on Tuesday 25 July 1944, with the aim of killing or kidnapping German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. From March 1943, Allied Intelligence had been undertaking research on the whereabouts, bases and travel arrangements of Field Marshal Rommel. Part of the research asked the question of how feasible it would be to kill Rommel. After D-Day, the Allies were meeting fierce resistance, marshalled by Rommel,"
"Afrika Korps The Afrika Korps or German Africa Corps (, DAK </small>) was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African Campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of their African colonies, the formation fought on in Africa, under various appellations, from March 1941 until its surrender in May 1943. The unit's best known commander was Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. The Afrika Korps formed on 11 January 1941 and one of Hitler's favorite generals, Erwin Rommel, was designated as commander on 11 February. Originally Hans von Funck was"
"Devil's gardens The Devil's gardens was the name given by Erwin Rommel, commander of the German ""Afrika Korps"" during World War II, to the defensive entanglements of land mines and barbed wire protecting Axis defensive positions during the Second Battle of El Alamein in late 1942. The defences stretch from the Mediterranean coast to the Qattara Depression. During the 'break-in' phase of the British attack, the commander of the Eighth Army, Lieutenant General Bernard Montgomery planned for engineers supporting the infantry brigades of 2nd New Zealand Division to clear lanes through the minefields, along which attacking formations would pass into"
"in Tunisia: Afrika Korps The Afrika Korps or German Africa Corps (, DAK </small>) was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African Campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of their African colonies, the formation fought on in Africa, under various appellations, from March 1941 until its surrender in May 1943. The unit's best known commander was Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. The Afrika Korps formed on 11 January 1941 and one of Hitler's favorite generals, Erwin Rommel, was designated as commander on 11 February. Originally Hans von"
"the Axis positions. Engineers using hand tools were supplemented by Scorpion tanks equipped with rotating flails to explode anti-vehicle mines. The Scorpions did not work well and manual methods of clearing had to be employed, which would have been more difficult, had the minefields not been sown with more anti-personnel mines. An estimated 3 million mines were laid before the battle, most of which remain and are becoming more unstable as the years pass and injuring people who use the area. Devil's gardens The Devil's gardens was the name given by Erwin Rommel, commander of the German ""Afrika Korps"" during"
"in his book ""The Warrior Ethos"". Killing Rommel Killing Rommel is a 2008 historical fiction novel by Steven Pressfield set in North Africa during World War Two. The book follows the actions of the British Long Range Desert Group (LRDG). The novel begins with the narrator recounting the story of a man named Chapman, who had been schooling in England when the war broke out. He joined the British army and found himself fighting hopelessly against the Germans in North Africa. The Germans were said to have superior leadership, tactics, and equipment, including their much more able tanks. Despite the"
"against Adolf Hitler. The myth was created with Rommel's participation as a component of Nazi propaganda to praise the Wehrmacht and instil optimism in the German public. Starting in 1941, it was picked up and disseminated in the West by the British press as they sought to explain its continued inability to defeat the Axis forces in North Africa. Following the war, the Western Allies, and particularly the British, depicted Rommel as the ""good German"" and ""our friend Rommel"". His reputation for conducting a clean war was used in the interest of the West German rearmament and reconciliation between the"
"against Adolf Hitler. The myth was created with Rommel's participation as a component of Nazi propaganda to praise the Wehrmacht and instill optimism in the German public. From 1941, it was picked up and disseminated in the West by the British press, as it sought to explain its continued inability to defeat the Axis forces in North Africa. After the war, the Western Allies, and particularly the British, depicted Rommel as the ""good German"" and ""our friend Rommel"". His reputation for conducting a clean war was used for the West German rearmament as well as reconciliation between the former enemies"
"was severely mauled during Operation Saturn on the flanks of Stalingrad while trying to hold back the Soviet forces. In February 1943, Messe was appointed as the new commander of the Italo-German Tank Army (""Deutsch-Italienische Panzerarmee"") formerly commanded by Erwin Rommel. The name was changed to 1st Italian Army in recognition of the fact that the army consisted of one German and three Italian corps. Rommel was promoted to the command of the new Army Group Africa (""Heeresgruppe Afrika""). Messe fought a defensive campaign against the advancing American and British forces and was defeated at the Mareth Line. His continuous"
"Wilhelm Burgdorf Wilhelm Emanuel Burgdorf (15 February 1895 – 2 May 1945) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II, who served as a commander and staff officer in the German Army (Wehrmacht) (army). In October 1944, Burgdorf assumed the role of the Chief of the Army Personnel Office (""Heerespersonalamt"") and Chief Adjutant to Adolf Hitler. In this capacity, he played a role in the forced suicide of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Burgdorf committed suicide in the ""Führerbunker"" on 2 May 1945 at the conclusion of the Battle of Berlin. Burgdorf joined the German Army (""Reichsheer"") at"
"a summons from Hitler. A ""Storch"" was the victim of the last dogfight on the Western Front and another was downed by a direct Allied counterpart of the Storch, an L-4 Grasshopper, the military version of the well-known American Piper J-3 Cub civilian training and sport aircraft. The pilot and co-pilot of the L-4, lieutenants Duane Francis and Bill Martin, opened fire on the ""Storch"" with their .45 caliber pistols, forcing the German air crew to land and surrender. Field Marshal Rommel used ""Storch"" aircraft for transport and battlefield surveillance during the North African desert campaign of World War II."
"The attention of the Western and especially the British press thrilled Goebbels, who wrote in his diary in early 1942: ""Rommel continues to be the recognized darling of even the enemies' news agencies."" The Field Marshal was pleased by the media attention, although he knew the downsides of having a reputation. Hitler took note of the British propaganda as well, commenting in the summer of 1942 that Britain's leaders must have hoped ""to be able to explain their defeat to their own nation more easily by focusing on Rommel."" The Field Marshal was the German commander most frequently covered in"
"credits Rommel's limitations as an operational level commander as ""materially contributing"" to the eventual demise of the Axis forces in North Africa, while Addington focuses on the struggle over strategy, whereby Rommel's initial brilliant success resulted in ""catastrophic effects"" for Germany in North Africa. Porch highlights Rommel's ""offensive mentality"", symptomatic of the Wehrmacht commanders as a whole in the belief that the tactical and operational victories would lead to strategic success. Compounding the problem was the Wehrmacht's institutional tendency to discount logistics, industrial output and their opponents' capacity to learn from past mistakes. The historian Geoffrey P. Megargee points out"
"a component of Nazi propaganda to praise the Wehrmacht and instill optimism in the German public. Starting in 1941, it was picked up and disseminated in the West by the British press as the Allies sought to explain their apparent inability to defeat the Axis forces in North Africa. British military and political figures contributed to the Rommel myth by embracing the heroic image portrayed by German propaganda as Rommel resumed his offensive in January 1942 against British forces weakened by re-deployments to the Far East. Speaking before Parliament, Winston Churchill addressed the British defeats and described Rommel as an"
"one of defending a limited area. Certain modern historians, such as Larry T. Addington, Niall Barr and Robert Citino, are skeptical of Rommel as an operational, let alone strategic, level commander. They point to Rommel's lack of appreciation for Germany's strategic situation, his misunderstanding of the relative importance of his theatre to the German High Command, his poor grasp of logistical realities, and, according to the historian Ian Beckett, his ""penchant for glory hunting"". Citino credits Rommel's limitations as an operational level commander as ""materially contributing"" to the eventual demise of the Axis forces in North Africa, Meanwhile Addington focuses"
"Second Battle of El Alamein and after the Operation Torch landings, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was forced to make one of the longest retreats in history. He withdrew from the ""Western Desert"" of Egypt and Libya and established a defence on the French-built Mareth Line in southern Tunisia. After occupying the Mareth Line, Rommel took command of the newly created Army Group Africa and turned over the ""German-Italian Panzer Army"" (formerly ""Panzer Army Africa"") to Italian General Giovanni Messe. The army was once again renamed and on February 23, 1943, Messe took command of the ""Italian First Army."" As part"