ERWEN ROMMEL

Rommel was born in Heidenheim, Germany, approximately 45 kilometers from Ulm, in the Kingdom of Württemberg (then part of the German Empire). He was baptised on 17 November 1891. He was the second son of a Protestant headmaster of the secondary school at Aalen, Prof. Erwin Rommel the elder and Helene von Luz, a daughter of a prominent local dignitary. The couple also had three more children, two sons, Karl and Gerhard, and a daughter, Helene. Later, recalling his childhood, Rommel wrote that "my early years passed very happily."

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At the age of fourteen, Rommel and a friend built a full-scale glider that was able to fly short distances. Young Erwin considered becoming an engineer and would throughout his life display extraordinary technical aptitude; however, at his father's insistence, he joined the local 124th Württemberg Infantry Regiment as an officer cadet in 1910 and, shortly after, was sent to the Officer Cadet School in Danzig. He graduated in November 1911 and was commissioned as a lieutenant in January 1912.

While at Cadet School, early in 1911, Rommel met his future wife, 17-year-old Lucia Maria Mollin (commonly called Lucie). They married in 1916, and in 1928 had a son, Manfred, who would later become the mayor of Stuttgart. Scholars argue that during this time, Rommel also had an affair with Walburga Stemmer in 1913 and that relationship produced a daughter named Gertrud.[1]







[edit] World War I
During World War I, Rommel fought in France, as well as in Romania (see: Romanian Campaign) and Italy (see: Italian Campaign) as part of the Württemberg Mountain Battalion of the élite Alpenkorps. While serving with that unit, he gained a reputation for making quick tactical decisions and taking advantage of enemy confusion. He was wounded three times and awarded the Iron Cross; First and Second Class. Rommel also received Prussia's highest medal, the Pour le Mérite after fighting in the mountains of west Slovenia – Battles of the Isonzo – Soca front. The award came as a result of the Battle of Longarone, and the capture of Mount Matajur, Slovenia, and its defenders, numbering 150 Italian officers, 9,000 men and 81 pieces of artillery. His battalion used gas during the battles of the Isonzo and also played a key role in the victory of the Central Powers over the Italian Army at the Battle of Caporetto. Interestingly, Rommel for a time served in the same infantry regiment as Friedrich Paulus, both of whom were to preside over catastrophic defeats for the Third Reich in their own markedly different ways.

While fighting at Isonzo, Rommel was taken prisoner by the Italians. He escaped his captors, and, with a fluency in the Italian language and other skills, he was back to the German lines within two weeks. Later, when the German and Italian armies were allied during the Second World War, Rommel would make no attempt to hide his dislike for the Italians [2].


[edit] Inter-war years
After the war, Rommel held battalion commands and was an instructor at the Dresden Infantry School from 1929 to 1933 and the Potsdam War Academy from 1935 to 1938. Rommel's war diaries, Infanterie greift an (Infantry Attacks), published in 1937, became a highly regarded military textbook, and attracted the attention of Adolf Hitler, who placed him in charge of the War Ministry liaison with the Hitler Jugend’s (Hitler Youth), Headquarters of Military Sports, the Hitler Jugend branch involved with paramilitary activities: terrain exercises and marksmanship. Rommel applied himself energetically to the new task. The army provided instructors to the Hitler Jugend Rifle School in Thuringia, which in turn supplied qualified instructors to the HJ's regional branches.

In 1937, Rommel conducted a tour of HJ meetings and encampments, delivered lectures on German soldiering while inspecting facilities and exercises. Simultaneously he was pressuring Baldur von Schirach, the Hitler Jugend leader, to accept an agreement expanding the army's involvement in Hitler Jugend training. Schirach interpreted this as a bid to turn the Hitler Jugend into an army auxiliary, a "junior army" in his words. He refused and Rommel, whom he had come to dislike personally and apparently envy for his "real soldier"'s appeal to the youngsters, was denied access to the Hitler Jugend. An army-Hitler Jugend agreement was concluded, but on a far more limited scope than Rommel had sought; cooperation was restricted to the army providing personnel to the Rifle School, much to the army's chagrin. By 1939, the Hitler Jugend had 20,000 rifle instructors. Simultaneously, Rommel retained his place at Potsdam. In his class, Rommel was awarded the highest war ribbons for excellent performance.

In 1938, Rommel, now a colonel, was appointed commandant of the War Academy at Wiener Neustadt (Theresian Military Academy). Here he started his follow-up to Infantry Attacks, Panzer greift an (Tank Attacks, sometimes translated as The Tank In Attack). Rommel was removed after a short time however, to take command of Adolf Hitler's personal protection battalion (FührerBegleitbataillon), assigned to protect him in the special railway train (Führersonderzug) used during his visits to occupied Czechoslovakia and Memel. It was at this period that he met and befriended Joseph Goebbels, the Reich's minister of propaganda. Goebbels became a fervent admirer of Rommel and later ensured that Rommel's exploits were celebrated in the media.





[edit] World War II

[edit] Poland 1939
Rommel continued as Führerbegleitbataillon commander during the Polish campaign, often moving up close to the front in the Führersonderzug, and seeing much of Hitler. After the Polish defeat, Rommel returned to Berlin to organise the Führer's victory parade, taking part himself as a member of Hitler's entourage. During the Polish campaign Rommel was asked to intervene on behalf of one of his wife's relatives, a Polish priest who had been arrested. He has been criticised[citation needed] for not doing enough on the man's behalf, though he did apply to the Gestapo for information, only to be, inevitably, brushed off with the reply that no information on the man existed.


[edit] France 1940

[edit] Panzer commander
Rommel asked Hitler for command of a panzer division and, on 6 February 1940 only three months before the invasion, Rommel was given command of the 7.Panzer-Division for Fall Gelb ("Case Yellow"), the invasion of France and the Low Countries. This string-pulling provoked resentment among fellow officers. The Chief of Army Personnel had rejected Rommel's request on the grounds of him having no experience with armour, instead suggesting Rommel was more suitable for commanding a mountain division lacking a commander.[3] Rommel had, however, emphasised the use of mobile infantry, and had come to recognise the great usefulness of armoured forces in Poland. He set about adapting himself and learning the techniques of armoured warfare rapidly and with great enthusiasm.[4]


[edit] The invasion of France
On 10 May 1940 the 7th Panzer Division, a part of 15th Corps under General Hoth, advanced into Belgium to proceed to the Meuse river near Dinant. At the Meuse 7th Panzer was held up, due to the bridge having been destroyed and determined sniper and artillery fire from the Belgian defenders. The Germans lacked smoke grenades, so Rommel, having assumed personal command of the crossing, ordered a few nearby houses to be torched to conceal the attack. The German Panzer Grenadiers crossed the rivers in rubber boats, with Rommel leading the second wave across the river.[5] The Division dashed further inland, always spurred on by Rommel, and far in front of any friendly forces.


[edit] Battle of Arras

Matilda II tank of the British army.By 18 May the Division had captured Cambrai, but here Rommel's advance was checked briefly, as his Chief of Staff, still with the unmotorised part of the Division in Belgium and not having received radio reports from Rommel, had written Rommel and his combat group off as lost and had not arranged for fuel to be sent up.[6] There was a degree of controversy over this issue, with Rommel furious with what he perceived as a negligent attitude on the part of his supply officers, whereas his Chief of Staff was critical of Rommel's failure to keep his Staff officers up to speed on his actions.

On 20 May Rommel's panzers reached Arras. Here he wanted to cut off the British Expeditionary Force's path to the coast, and Hans von Luck, commanding the reconnaissance battalion of the Division, was tasked with forcing a crossing over the La Bassée canals near the city. Supported by Stuka dive bombers the unit managed to force a crossing. The British launched a counterattack (the Battle of Arras) on 21 May with Matilda tanks, and the Germans found their 3.7 cm antitank and tank guns useless against its heavy armour. A battery of 88 mm guns had to be brought up to deal with the threat, with Rommel personally directing the fire.

After Arras, Hitler ordered his Panzers to hold their positions, while the British evacuated their troops at Dunkirk and the 7th Panzer Division was given a few days of much needed rest. On 26 May 7th Panzer continued its advance and it reached Lille on 27 May. For the assault on the town Hoth placed his other tank division, 5th Panzer Division under Rommel's command, to the chagrin of its commander, General Max von Hartlieb.[7] The same day Rommel received news that he had been awarded the Knight's Cross, as the first Divisional Commander during the campaign. This award, which had been secured for Rommel on Hitler's bequest, caused some animosity among fellow officers, who were critical of Rommel's close relationship with Hitler as it seemed to give him preferential treatment.[7]

On 28 May, while making the final push into Lille and far in front of friendly forces, 7th Panzer came under heavy fire from French artillery due to the rapidity of the advance. Eagerly Rommel drove his forces on, capturing Lille and trapping half of the French First Army, preventing them from retreating to Dunkirk. After this coup, Rommel's forces were again given time to rest.