World War II
Taking France
Not wanting to miss out on the action, Rommel asked for a command, and Hitler gave him control of the 7th Panzer Division, even though Rommel had no experience with tanks. On May 10th, the 7th Panzer Division rolled into Luxembourg. Part of the Division was sent ahead, and were attacked by the French while trying to cross a bridge. Rommel was able to establish a bridgehead, and from there, a bridge.
He led a tank attack on the strategically important town of Onhaye. From there, Rommel avoided heavy losses at the Maginot Line by roaring through instead of trying to destroy the defenses. At Cambrai, he captured about 10,000 French, and taking less than 100 casualties.
The first real fight was at Wailly, while Rommel was moving toward Arras. The British were able to destroy many of the German tanks, but Rommel held off the attack. On May 26th, Rommel and his division set off for Lille. On June 2nd, Rommel flew to Germany for a conference with Hitler. When he got back, he led his men to take Rouen on June 8th. Then, he quickly cut off an Allied retreat at Le Harve.
Next, the “Gespensterdivision”, or “Ghost Division”, went to St. Valery, where the troops retreated to Cherbourg. It was called the Ghost Division because no one knew exactly where it was. The enemy couldn’t track it, and Rommel did not contact his superiors in Berlin very much to notify them of exactly what he was doint. On June 17th, Rommel was able to reach Cherbourg. Rommel bombed the town after having his surrender order ignored, and on June 19th, the British and French troops surrendered unconditionally.
Rommel went home, and in the winter, went to train with the 7th Panzer Division. During his campaign, Rommel was awarded the Knight’s Cross. In January 1941, Rommel was promoted to Lieutenant-General.
Sonnenblume (Sunflower): The Rescue Mission in North Africa
The Italians were losing their battles in Libya, and Rommel was appointed by Hitler to go and try to help them out. He was given two divisons, the 5th Light Division, and the 15th Panzer Division, and control over the Italian troops. These troops were called the Deutsches Afrika Korps. Rommel left for Tripoli with the 5th Division. The 15th was delayed, and did not arrive until May. Rommel was ordered not to attack until he had the extra troops. His mission, when he had the troops, was to take Cyrenacia, and Benghazi, which the Italians had lost. The British had gained this knowledge through Ultra, and were not expecting a German/Italian attack until later.
The British, as well as the Germans, did not expect Rommel to explicitly disobey his orders, but he did. On March 24th, Rommel attacked. He took El Agheila, Benghazi, Barce, Derna, petrol dumps at Msus and Mechili, Bardia, and Sollum. O’Conner and Neame were two British commanders who were captured.
The next place that Rommel wanted to capture was Tobruk. Here, the Australians held a strong position. Rommel attacked on April 13-14, 16-17, and 30-May 4th. None of the attacks were strong enough to take Tobruk. Rommel was forced back, and he took up a defensive position at Halfaya Pass. On June 15th, the British, with fresh reinforcements, attacked. Capuzzo was lost to the British. On June 16th and 17th, Rommel and the 5th and 15th Divisions were able to counterattack, and hold their positions.
The Afrika Korps were re-named the Panzergruppe Afrika in August. Rommel asked for supplies and more men, and received the 90th Light Division, and some Italian troops, but it was not as much as he asked for. He was planning an attack on Tobruk. The attack came on him though, in the British Operation Crusader, which started on November 18, 1941. The objective was to go to Sibi Omar, Gabr Saleh, Sidi Rezegh, and Sollum.
In response to the offensive movement, Rommel was made a counterattack, and it went well for a time. Unfortunatley, Rommel’s tanks were short of fuel, and he was losing too many men. The British lost a great number of their tanks. When the British were able to reach Tobruk, Rommel was forced to retreat in December. In January, the British took Halfaya Pass, Bardia, Derna, Barce, and Benghazi.
Rommel soon changed that. He went on the offensive on January 21, 1942. He took Agebdain and Msus, and the British left Cyrenacia. Rommel took Benghazi, and the much-need supplies there. The British retreated to the Gazala line, and Rommel went to Germany in February for a break, which he needed. He returned on March 19th.
On May 26th, Rommel started an extensive attack on the British. He went toward Tobruk, capturing troops in the Sidi Muftah Box, and taking Bir Hachein on June 10th. Rommel attacked Tobruk on June 20th, and took it the next day. By taking Tobruk, he gained the port and captured 32,000 men. He also had a place to launch Egyptian attacks from, and he gained the supplies in the city. Rommel was promoted to Field Marshall.
At the beginning of July, Rommel started his advance into Egypt, trying to reach Cairo. He was stopped at El Alamein, and was forced to call back his troops. On the 10th of July, the Allied forces attacked. On July 21st, Rommel was able to stop a large British attack. The fighting stopped for a while, because both sides needed rest, supplies, and reinforcements.
On August 31st, the new British general Montgomery stopped Rommel from establishing a position at Alam al Halfa. He did not finish off the German troops when he had the chance. In the second Battle of El Alamein on October 23, while Rommel was very sick in bed, his replacement general, Stumme, attempted to stop the massive British attack. On October 27th, Rommel took command again. On November 2nd, he was able to stop the British “Supercharge” attack, even though the British had complete air superiority, more men, and more tanks.
Hitler ordered Rommel to stay and fight to the death at El Alamein, but Rommel wanted to retreat. He didn’t want to see his Panzeramrmee destroyed, so as soon as someone convinced Hitler to repeal the order, Rommel retreated on November 4th, the day that the British finally broke through at El Alamein. The British took Benghazi and Tobruk, while Rommel built up a defense at Mersa El-Brega. Hitler told him to hold the position at all costs at a meeting on November 28th. At this meeting, Hitler yelled at Rommel for disobeying orders, and Rommel began to have second thoughts about his leader.
There was a small amount of fighting on December 12th, and 14th, but the real attacks came in January, and the Germans were forced to leave even Tripoli to take up a defensive position in Tunisia. Rommel was forced to give up his command to an Italian on February 12th, and the reason given was his failing health. But Rommel tried one last offensive move on the 14th. On the 21st, Rommel had defeated the Allied troops at Kassernine Pass, taking several thousand prisoner, and destroying tanks and supplies. He had to retreat the next day.
On February 23, 1943, Rommel was given command of Army Group A. He did try an offensive at Medinnine, but had counted on some troops that were taken somewhere else without his knowledge. The attack failed. On March 9th, Rommel resigned, and went back to Germany. During his Africa campaign, he had won the Swords to the Oakleaves of the Iron Cross, and Swords and Diamonds to the Knights Cross.
Italy
Rommel went on sick leave until July to recover his health. He visited with his wife and son, and also with Hitler. The position of Commander-in-Chief in Greece was given to him, but he soon went back to Germany, because Mussolini had been voted out of power. This meant that the Italians were going to support the Allies, who were invading their country. Rommel was put in charge of an Army Group that was to fight in Italy.
In Italy, Rommel started Operation Asche as soon as the Italians signed the armistice with the Allies. This operation was capturing Italian soldiers and generals, and it worked perfectly, according to the plan. In September, the Germans retreated North in Italy, and Rommel went through and operation to remove his appendix. In early November, Rommel was named Chief-in-Command in Italy, but Kesselring replaced him, and Rommel was reassigned.
France
On November 22nd, Rommel was ordered to go to France, and on December 31st, he gained the command of Army Group B. His mission was to build up defenses against an Allied Invasion on the Atlantic Wall. Until the end of May, Rommel visited beaches everywhere on the French coast-line, over saw the building of defenses, and begged Hitler for more supplies and equipment, which he did receive. On June 3rd, Rommel went to Germany for his wife’s birthday and a meeting with Hitler.
“Rommel’s Asparagus”, or a barrier-defense, did not stop the landing, as Rommel and the other generals knew it wouldn’t. They could not attack the Allies at Normandy in full force, because Hitler held troops back waiting for what he thought the real attack would be, at Pas de Calais. All throughout the rest of June and early July, the Germans gave ground up to the Allies. They had almost no reinforcements. Most of the military officials realized that it was hopeless, and favored surrendering to the enemy, but Hitler refused to hear it. Rommel and others were wondering what could be done to try to save as much of Germany as they could.
Two Allied planes bombed the car Rommel was riding in on July 17th. It killed the driver, and wounded Rommel severely. He was in the hospital recovering from the assassination attempt while the 20th of July Plot was being carried out.
