How Did Rommel Become A Good Leader

The 1st battle of El Alamein, which included the Australian 9th division, took place between the 10th and 27th of July 1942. While Allie losses in this battle were greater than German losses, it stopped and exhausted the Germans and forced them to regroup before they tried to advance again. The 2nd and more decisive battle of El Alamein took place on the 23rd of October. By this time the Allied forces had brought together an vast reserve of men, approximately 220 000 troops, of which 32 000 were Australian. Having intercepted German plans, the Allied forces, commanded by Sir Bernard Law Montgomery, were able to anticipate the German movements and eventually defeat them, with the battle ending on the 5th November. While the Australian troops only made up 6% of Montgomery’s forces, the suffered 20% of the casualties, with 620

Erwin Rommel was born into a family that had no established military tradition joined the German military in 1910. He would enter as an officer cadet and his first assignment was to the 124th Wurttemberg Infantry Regiment. World War I broke out and Erwin Rommel would find himself serving in France, Romania, and Italy. He gained notability with his senior officers during the Battle of Caporetto for his innovative tactics used during the battle. Erwin Rommel quickly established himself as a competent leader as a lieutenant and frontline infantry officer. Unlike his fellow officers, he declined advancement to the general staff, which was common practice to remain with his men on the front line. This dedication to leading on the frontline would result in Erwin Rommel being wounded two separate times during combat.

Germany’s desert warrior, Erwin Rommel, had decided to return home for more troops and because weather conditions were too bad for an invasion. Simultaneously, U.S general Eisenhower decided to go on the attack. The invasion began at night with paratroopers dropping behind enemy lines and taking control of strategic areas. At daybreak, 9,000 planes and the largest armada ever assembled appeared on the shores of Normandy.

The British launched a thousand-plane raid on Cologne in May. In August 1942 they were joined by the American airforce and cascaded bombs on German cities. The Germans drove eastward across North Africa into Egypt. British general Bernard Montgomery delivered an attack at El Alamein, west of Cairo. Here, the enemy was driven back to Tunisia more than a thousand miles away.

When Rommel had realised he could not win at El Alamein, he sought Hitler’s permission to withdraw his troops. Hitler had refused. Rommel disobeyed and withdrew his troops anyway. By early 1943, Axis forces had retreated to Tunisia and there, outnumbered and short on resources, and caught between the British and the Americans on all sides, they surrendered and North Africa was now in control of the allies.

The article discussed the German surprise but, somewhat expectation that the Americans, British,and Canadians were to land in Normandy and left Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in charge of analyzing the beaches, setting up land mines, poisoning the nearby water supply and fields so the opposing soldiers would not stand a chance to survive. Rommel then decided that no matter what he does the Americans, British,and Canadians could not really be stopped unless the German troops were to be at that very spot and even if that time came he would not be allowed to move his troops without the permission of Hitler. Additionally, out of the 46 infantry divisions in France seven of them were untrained soldiers that mainly consisted of really young and old men however, the other troops were filled with well trained man that were many that vere veterans from the Eastern Front. Furthermore, commander Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt division had roughly 850,000 men which 60,000 of them were Russian prisoners that volunteered to be in the war instead of jail. On the other hand, Hitler actually suspected and waited from the

On November 18, 1941, acting Lieutenant-Colonel Geoffrey Keyes led a team of British commandos in storming a heavily guarded building deep in German-controlled Africa. They were to assassinate Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, or the Desert Fox. Every one of Keyes’ men were killed or captured. Keyes’ team hadn’t even targeted the right location. Where they expected to find Rommel 250 miles behind the front lines, the Field Marshal was at the front lines with his troops. After Keyes’ death, Rommel insisted he be given an honorable funeral despite his attempt on Rommel’s life. This represents Rommel perfectly as a dignified, chivalrous, and humane modern-day knight. (Young 232) Field Marshal Rommel had a major role in

Friederichshafen, but his father, an ex-artillery officer, advised him to go to the army instead. In July, 1910, Rommel became a cadet with the 124th Wurttemberg Infantry Regiment in the 26th Infantry Division of the German Imperial Infantry. He served as cadet in the Army until

In World War 1, Hitler volunteered for service in the Bavarian army, where he proved to be a dedicated courageous solider. After Germany’s defeat in 1918 he returned to Munich, where, in 1919 he joined the Nazi party. In 1921 he was elected party chairman with dictatorial powers. He soon became a key figure in Bavarian politics and by January 1933 he was appointed chancellor.

For example, prisoners he thought that they shouldn’t have to be abused or aggravated for no reason (“True man”). Rommel didn’t like to see people getting hurt. Erwin was a prepared man he was ready for an attack or any other harm they want to do to him or his people. Rommel had many allies and would get together to plan things and help each other if needed. Erwin started to lose men, tanks and other things. When time past Hitler didn’t want to know about Rommel because of what he had done to him which was be trade him. Erwin was taken from where he was and was send some were ells were years later he died. The military paid for his burial and other stuff. Rommel died at the age of 52. Hitler would send request to Rommel and Rommel would decline them and wouldn’t Hitler in where he worked at. One day Erwin realized that Hitler was turning crazy and was having problems. Rommel thought that all those people that worked with Hitler were doing things bad and didn’t like

Upon his immediate arrival he went for an observation run and ordered his troops to circle the block numerous times and build fake armor to keep the British uncertain about the army’s strength and numbers. Once Rommel’s entire troops arrived along with equipment, Rommel attacked aggressively, driving the British 8th army out of Libya and entering the premises of Egypt. Many admired Rommel’s success in North Africa, nicknaming him the desert fox, for his very capable and innovative tactics. Unfortunately Rommel’s string of victories ended at the at the battle of el Alamien as he realized that his supply lines stretched too far and that American troops were advancing rapidly with the intention of joining the British’s counterattack against his troops. He left North Africa to meet with Hitler in Berlin in order to discuss the issue, and never returned again after his army was finally crushed in the

Tanks cannot run forever though, and Rommel eventually had to retreat to Bardia. Using this sudden retreat to his advantage, the British relieved Tobruk and pushed the Germans, forcing them back to El Aghelia where they started. This victory would not stay for long as Japanese and German bombings would reduce supplies to the British forces and Rommel would get fresh troops and materials needed for a counter-offensive. Rommel would use this newfound army to push the British all the way back to Gazala, nearly halfway across Cyrenaica. Major General Neil M. Ritchie would set up the Gazala Line, a massive sixty-mile long line of strongholds, minefields, barbed wire and more than enough troops to man the line. Six strongholds, each about two square miles, would dot the line. Each stronghold was reinforced with artillery, armor, pillboxes, trenches, and minefields. Tanks would patrol between the strongholds, both intercepting German tanks and defending the line. Rommel launched the attack on the line, with positive results at first, but would be faced with a serious problem. Ritchie had been reinforced with brand new U.S. 31-ton Grant tanks with 75mm cannons, which could pierce the Panzer’s armor. Rommel would lose a third of his tanks and be

When Hitler and the Nazi party offered him a seat in politics, he declined and asked to command a tank division. He saw tanks as the next major player on the modern battlefield. Famous for leading from the frontline, Rommel could not accept running battles from a staff room, miles away. On the12 of February 1940, Rommel received his first field command over the 7th Panzer Division. While in command of the 7th, Rommel participated in the invasion of Poland, Belgium and France. The campaigns in Europe helped Rommel develop his employment of blitzkrieg tactics using combined arms. Although

Rommel was the most unfortunate general in history. Despite of his ability, he couldn’t win a victory in the battle with Montgomery, Rommel’s rival (ohmynews, 2017). Rommel had his army’s supportive supply on move intercepted by the ally forces and, to make matters worse, Hitler didn’t accede to Rommel’s request to withdraw. Indeed, after Rommel was defeated, he gradually lost his reputation as The Desert Fox. Furthermore, he was suspected as traitor and finally forced to commit suicide after the fact that he contacted with the conspirators emerged. Even though Rommel was suspected as traitor, he was not a traitor in the sense that the conspirators didn’t request Rommel to assassinate Hitler; there was no decisive evidence of his betrayal; Rommel believed assassinating Hitler would bring about civil war.

It is not known why a man with no military family connections would be led to join the army but I believe that he was influenced by the growing Nationalism in Germany at the time. He became an officer cadet in 1910 with the124th Wurttemberg Infantry Regiment where he was commissioned a Leutnant in 1911. After his commission he would go on to marry Lucia Mollin on 27 November 1916, they would later have a son whom they named Manfred Rommel. It is rumored that he had a daughter born in 1913 named Gertrud Stemmler from a relationship with Walburga Stemmer which was before his marriage. (History.com n.d.) Who could have guessed that 33 years later he would hold the rank of Generalfeldmarschall and be one of the most famous battlefield leaders of the Second World War.