Field Marshal Erwin Rommel

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Rommel, like giants before him who met defeat, among them are Hannibal, Napoleon, and Gen. Robert E. Lee, reflects a fame substantially more lustrous than most of his contemporaries.

Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944), popularly known as the Desert Fox (Wüstenfuchs), was a famous German Field Marshal of World War II.

Promoted to Field-Marshal on June 22, 1942, making him the youngest at age 50.

Boldness, the use of surprise, readiness to accept risks, and an intuitive feel of the battlefield distinguished Rommel's exercise of command. Although he often suffered disadvantages, including resources inferior to those of his adversaries, a lack of air superiority, intelligence no match for the Allied Ultra secret intercepts, he was brilliantly successful in attack and remarkably resourceful in defense. Rommel often leads from the front.

He was a highly decorated officer in World War I, awarded the Pour le Mérite for his exploits on the Italian front. In World War II, he further distinguished himself as the commander of the Ghost Division during the 1940 invasion of France. However, it was his leadership of German and Italian forces in the North African campaign that established the legend of the Desert Fox. He is considered to have been one of the most skilled commanders of desert warfare in the war. He later commanded the German forces opposing the Allied cross-channel invasion in Normandy under the command of Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt. When the Allies attacked no one would wake Hilter, for only he could order the Panzers to attack.

Rommel is regarded as a humane and professional officer. His Afrikakorps was never accused of war crimes. Soldiers captured during his Africa campaign were reported to have been treated humanely. Furthermore, he ignored orders to kill captured commandos, Jewish soldiers and civilians in all theaters of his command.

Late in the war, Rommel was linked to the conspiracy to kill Adolf Hitler. Throughout the war, Rommel was a highly prized national hero, the "Desert Fox" of Germany. Due to his wide renown, Hitler chose to eliminate him quietly. In trade for the protection of his family, Rommel agreed to commit suicide.