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To win a war, a country needs well-trained military leaders. One of Adolf Hitler's most brilliant military strategists was Erwin Rommel, better known as the Desert Fox. Leading Hitler's troops in Africa, this Field Marshal routed the British with ingenious maneuvers across the vast Saharan desert. His popularity soared across northern Africa and Germany. But Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's good fortune did not last, and neither did his life when he prematurely died before the end of the war.
In 1910, at the age of nineteen, Rommel joined the 124th Infantry Regiment of the German army. Under the new German regime, military careers had become an acceptable vocation. Rommel began his career as an officer cadet. World War I offered him his first battle experiences in Romania, France and Italy where he quickly showed promise. He had a knack for fostering camaraderie among his men while providing strong leadership.
When the war finished in 1918, Rommel took to teaching in the local military academies. During this time he wrote about the strategies of war in a book titled "Infantry Attacks", which was met with much praise from his colleagues. And Rommel proved the genius of his theories in 1940 when he led the 7th tank Division to victory near the English Channel. One year later, Rommel was promoted to Lt. General.
Rommel's promotion sent him to Africa, where he would eventually make a worldwide name for himself. Rommel was placed in command of Hitler's Afrika Korps which were sent to Africa to bolster the flagging Italian army. Western Africa, what is now known as Libya and Egypt, proved a challenge for Rommel and his troops. During the day, the temperature could reach as high as 120 degrees Fahrenheit. For the troops forced to keep guard in the limestone trenches, the heat was nearly suffocating. For those men performing maneuvers in the steel tanks, the tank interior was an inferno. The night provided little relief, as the temperature would drop to levels requiring thick woolen coats and mittens. With reconnaissance missions during the day and maintenance work during the night, plus the constant vigilance against attack, the troops were continually exhausted.
To add to their misery, were the desert flies, sand and food. In search of any source of water, the desert flies would hover in masses around the faces of soldiers. Attracted to their sweat, the flies would cling to their mouth and nostrils. Head nets provided little relief. The fine desert sand played havoc with the soldiers' equipment, clogging axles and gears. The sand frequently reduced visibility and blocked soldiers' nasal passages. During the spring, large sandstorms would arrive with little warning. The storms were so fierce that they would bury large tanks within minutes. Rommel's soldiers were further crippled by the poor supply of food. The desert climate made it difficult to preserve the potatoes and meat the German soldiers were accustomed to eating. Fruits and vegetables were in short supply. The soldiers' diet consisted mainly of stale crackers and tinned fish.
But despite these odds, the Afrika Korps found success on the battlefield under Rommel. Rommel understood the importance of frequent reconnaissance trips to flesh out the enemy. He used these to his advantage to make a series of successful surprise attacks. The Allied Powers found Rommel so difficult to pin down, he earned the nickname of the Desert Fox. But conditions weren't ideal for the Desert Fox. Rommel found it difficult to collaborate with the Italian army. Furthermore, his pleas for more supplies and rest for his exhausted men were not heeded by Hitler. Hitler ordered Rommel to take Cairo.
Despite the less than ideal conditions, Rommel's drive to Cairo was an incredible success. He pushed the British further than Cairo, all the way to el-Alamein sixty miles from Alexandria on the coast. Rommel's popularity soared. The Arabs regarded Rommel as a liberator for sweeping the British to the coast. The people of Germany crowned Rommel the "people's marshal". However, Rommel's popularity and success was not as highly regarded by Hitler. Hitler still considered Europe the heart of the war and Rommel continually fell short on supplies. With Hitler's attention turned elsewhere, Rommel's successes began to wane. After a series of battlefield failures, Rommel was ordered back to Germany.
Rommel's recuperation was short and Hitler reassigned him to the defense of northern France. In France, Rommel had the chance to see the war from another perspective. He advised Hitler on ingenious military tactics that would ensure the Allied Powers could not win. Again, Hitler refused to listen. Always a pragmatist, Rommel could see that the Axis powers had already lost the war. Sensing his frustration, Rommel's friends asked him to replace Hitler as the Axis' leader. Rommel was open to the idea, but he did not realize at the time that Hitler's replacement would require his assassination.
A few months later, Rommel was involved in a serious car accident. His recovery forced him back home to Germany at which time the plot to assassinate Hitler became known. Although Rommel never knew of the assassination attempt, he was nevertheless implicated in the scheme. Hitler, however, did not want Germans to know that he was betrayed by the beloved "people's marshal". Instead, Hitler sent high-ranking officers to Rommel's bedside. Handing him a vial of poison, they asked Rommel to commit suicide and avoid the German gallows. In turn, Hitler promised to bury Rommel with full military honors as though nothing had ever happened. Finding no other choice, Rommel took the poison and died in 1944. Hitler kept his promise and the famous Field Marshal was buried with honor.
Sources: www.britannica.com; "Afrika Korps: Afrika Files" www.geocities.com/Hot Springs/7181
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