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I lived in Egypt in the mid '50s and spent a lot of time in the Western Desert going over the battlefields. I always admired Rommel -- probably the only German general worthy of admiration.
His headquarters was raided by British Commandos with the mission to kill him. (They failed, naturally.) But when Hitler issued the Commando Order, demanding that captured commandos be shot out of hand, Rommel burned it. -
Worth remembering that Rommel was part of the headquarters staff during the Polish campaign, and seen as a real up-and-comer among German generals who were less hidebound to the old Prussian ways and more sympathetic to the New Idea which was Naziism.
He never fought on the Eastern Front, which means he was spared the battlefield where ferocity was the greatest. He had some good instincts as a field commander, but he also made his fame going up against defeatist French, and blundering English, who had not really mastered mobile warfare in '41-'42 (and there is an argument made that they never really did!). It was even in British interests to somewhat play Rommel up as a daring general, to obscure the awkward fact that he was doing far more with far less than any of the British generals.
And then there is the matter of intel. Italian burglars had stolen an American code (before Pearl Harbor) which was used by a military attache to the American embassy in Egypt, one Bonner Fellers, to radio reports back to Washington regarding the condition and plans of the British army. These dispatches continued until about June of 1942, and gave Rommel considerable insight into his enemy's plans. Conversely, while the Allies were reading enigma intercepts, the headstrong Rommel was not always one to radio his plans to Berlin.Last edited by togor; 02-16-2022, 06:14.Comment
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Good post Togie!...Comment
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By coincidence Mark Felton just released a vid on the Afrika Corps that pokes holes in the "war without hate" myth.
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