Erwin Rommel (1891 to 1944)

Erwin Rommel had a love affair with Walburga Stemmer and fathered her daughter Gertrud. The relationship broke up and 16 years later Walburga died probably by suicide. 

Erwin Rommel takes part in the First World War as a platoon leader. First in Belgium then at Verdun. In September he is wounded at the hip and receives the Iron Cross II class. 

Already in 1915 he became company commander and is wounded again. Because of special bravery he received the Iron Cross I. Class. 

In 1916 Rommel married Lucie Maria Mollin (1894-1971), whom he had met in 1911 during a war school course in Danzig. The marriage produced a son. Lucie Maria Mollin was the niece of the Polish priest Edmund Roszczynialski, who was arrested by the Gestapo in 1939 and shot in November 1939.

1917 Relocation to the Italian Isonzo Front and award of the Order Pour le Mérite. 

1918 He served as an officer in the staff of a general command on the Western Front.

Erwin Rommel joined the army after the war, which according to the Versailles treaties was only allowed to comprise 100,000 men. He served there as chief of a machine gun company and became an instructor at the Desdner Infanterieschule.

Erwin Rommel publishes the book "Infanterie greift an" (Infantry attacks). It sold 400,000 copies by the end of World War II. 

In the book Rommel describes battles he participated during the First World War, first as a flag-junior officer of the infantry regiment "König Wilhelm I" and later as company commander in the Württemberg Mountain Battalion. 

I. Movement war 1914 in Belgium and Northern France
II. battles in the Argonne 1915
III. trench warfare in the High Vosges 1916, movement warfare in Romania 1916/1917
IV. Fights in the Southeast Carpathians, August 1917
V. Battle of Tolmein 1917
VI. persecution via Tagliamento and Piave

After each major battle Rommel wrote a report and drew maps and pictures. Erwin Rommel planned to write a second report about his combat experience as a general field marshal during the African campaign. His suicide in 1944 prevented the completion of this work.

Erwin Rommel got promoted to Major General in 1939 and headed the Führer's headquarters.

When the French campaign began, Rommel took part as commander of the 7th Panzer Division. He led the division with great bravery and was often to be found where the front was. With it he broke through the extended Maginot Line near Maubeuge and was able to advance to the coast. With his quick breakthrough he surprised not only the French, but also his own commanders, who did not always know where his division was. They were not always appreciated by his advance, as there was a danger that the French could attack and cut off the division from the flank.The French called the army group "Ghost Division".

Due to his great success in France Rommel advanced to a favourite of Hitler and he was promoted to lieutenant general. He became commander of the German Afrika Korps. With this campaign Hitler wanted to support the Italians, who were not very successful in Africa. With an offensive in spring against the British troops Erwin Rommel succeeded in recapturing the Cyrenaica (Libya). However, he had to withdraw again in November.

In 1942 he succeeded in reconquering the Cyrenaica area. In May the great summer offensive of the Axis powers began and culminated in the conquest of Tobruk. Hitler then appointed Erwin Rommel as Field Marshal General. This caused envy among other high military officers such as Wilhelm Keitel and Alfred Jodel. In Augst he advanced El Alamein (Egypt). In September he returned to Germany for a convalescent leave and was celebrated by propaganda as a war hero.

In October 1942 a British offensive began near El Alamein. Rommel had to retreat.  Operation Torch landed US troops in North Africa. This sealed the fate of the German troops. In March Erwin Rommel left North Africa and in May the German and Italian units capitulated. After the allied landing in Sicily in June, Rommel received command of Army Group B.

In August Benito Mussolini was overthrown and arrested on the orders of King Victor Emanuel III. Thereupon Rommel occupied Italy with his Army Group and kept the supreme command in Northern Italy. Albert Kesselring commanded the German troops in southern Italy.

November 1943: Rommel was ordered to build up the defence measures on the French Atlantic coast and was directly responsible to Hitler. He ordered the construction of strong fortifications. With great tactical creativity he strengthened the Atlantic Wall with, among other things, buried tree trunks (called "Rommelspargeln" by the soldiers), some of which were equipped with mines.  

In March 1944 Rommel signed a declaration of loyalty to Hitler, like all other field marshals. He considered this unnecessary, since in his opinion the pledge of loyalty was permanent.

On June 6, the invasion of Normandy by the Allies took place. At this time Rommel was on a short holiday with his wife in Southern Germany. He immediately returned to the front. He soon realised that the situation was hopeless and communicated this to Hitler personally. He wrote in a letter dated July 15: "The troops are fighting heroically everywhere, but the unequal struggle is coming to an end. In my opinion it is necessary to draw the [political] conclusions from this situation." His chief of staff, Hans Speidel, who sympathized with the Resistance, convinced Rommel to delete the word "political".

On 17th July Rommel was seriously wounded in a low-flying attack and transferred to the air force hospital Bernay. On August 1, he held a press conference to put an end to rumors in the foreign press about his death. He resigned however his command of the Army Group and went home to recover.

On July 20, an assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler took place. This failed and under torture, the name Erwin Rommel was mentioned by those involved and those who knew him. It is not clear to this day whether he even knew about the planned assassination attempt or whether he even participated. On 7 October he was ordered to answer to the High Command of the Wehrmacht (OKW). However, he refused with reference to his state of health. This sealed his fate and he was faced with a choice: Suicide or the People's Court (Volksgerichthof). In the presence of officers he choosed suicide with the poison capsule.