In our series of bios we’ve done figures like Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchill who
were more famous from World War Two, although they did a lot as well during the First World
War, and you’ve asked for more, one World War 2 general in particular: Erwin Rommel.
I’m Indy Neidell; welcome to a Great War special episode of “Who did what in World
War One?”
today featuring the man who would one day be known as the Desert Fox, Erwin Rommel.
Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel was born November 15th, 1891 in Heidenheim, a small town in
the German Kingdom of Wurtemberg.
His father, Erwin Senior, a former artillery officer, was a schoolteacher and administrator,
and his mother Helen von Luz worked in the local government council.
Erwin had a sister and two brothers and he was described as a blond, pale boy with a
quick mind and with one distinctive trait, he wasn’t afraid of anybody.
Young Erwin was fascinated with aviation, then in its infancy, and he wanted to work
in the zeppelin factories in Friedrichshafen, but his father pressed him to join the army.
He applied in 1910 and was initially told, “in foreseeable time no new men were needed.”
He did eventually find service in a local infantry regiment and in 1911 was sent to
the Prussian School of War in Danzig.
After taking his exams he rose to lieutenant and returned to his infantry regiment, serving
as platoon leader until the war began.
Rommel’s regiment became part of the XIII Wurtemburg Army Corps under General von Fabeck,
and part of the German Fifth Army under Crown Prince Wilhelm, and it saw action shortly
after the outbreak of hostilities.
As the German Offensive, using the Schlief fen Plan, rolled through Belgium in its sweep
toward Paris in August 1914, the 5th Army was at the pivot point of the wheel (SHOW
ON MAP), and it was tasked with tying down the French army at the frontiers while the
right wing crashed into Northern France.
It was here that Rommel had his baptism by fire.
German and French forces advanced toward each other, near the town of Longwy (Longoui).
Rommel led an advance group of his platoon- himself and three other men- on a reconnaissance
mission.
As they approached the village of Bleid, and as the sun went down, he saw a French platoon
sitting in the open having a coffee break.
Now, Rommel could either go back and get his platoon, or do what he did; his four rifles
opened fire on the enemy and caused them to disperse.
Only then did Rommel go and get his platoon, and with hand grenades and close combat rifle
fire they successfully stormed the village.
The Battles at the Frontiers would last for weeks, with Rommel always at the frontlines
in spite of exhaustion.
He ordered his men to better protect their shelters and dig their trenches deeper, and
his motto; “shed sweat, not blood” would follow him for life.
He was wounded in an attack west of Jametz, which went as follows, “Once again we rushed
the enemy in the bushes ahead of us...
I saw five Frenchmen firing from the standing position.
Instantly my gun was at my shoulder.
Two Frenchmen... dropped to the ground as my rifle cracked.
I was still faced by three of them...
(my) rifle misfired...
There was no use thinking of escape.
The bayonet was my only hope.
I... had acquired considerable proficiency.
Even with odds of three to one against me, I had complete confidence in the weapon and
in my ability.”
The wound, a leg wound, put him out of action until January 1915.
He returned as a company commander in the Argonne, and fought there for the next 9 months,
further enhancing his reputation as a brilliant strategist.
After that he was transferred to the Royal Wurtemberg Mountain Battalion, a newly formed
unit that was the absolute elite of the German army.
These men were the proto-storm troopers, trained in small unit tactics and over just about
any terrain, and combining light infantry and machine gun companies.
At the end of the year he was sent to the Vosges, to put his new skills into play.
His men mostly acted as raiding parties, and Rommel was known to lay for hours in no-mans
land watching and searching for any weak points in the defense where he could either outflank
them or put his machine guns to work.
Then he’d wait for fog or stormy weather and have his men come out and cut the barbed
wire and jump into the enemy lines.
At the end of 1916 - something you will see later in our regular episodes in great detail
of course - he was again transferred, this time to take part in the German offensive
into Romania.
This was very different from the stalemate of the Western Front.
The war in Romania was one of movement, observation, perseverance, subterfuge, and sudden, violent
attacks.
Rommel was in his element.
It was on this front that stormtroops really came into their own.
Rifle and machine gun companies worked together flexibly, and restructured and strengthened
each other when the battle demanded it.
And they needed an officer like Rommel who would lead them from in front.
The climax of the campaign was at Mount Cosna (Kosna) where Rommel’s men advanced upon
the mountaintop and stormed it without artillery or mortar support.
After that battle, Rommel was on leave for several weeks and toured the Baltic with his
wife, Lucia, whom he had met during his officer training in Danzig, and married in November
1916.
When Rommel returned to active duty in November, his Corps was sent to the Italian Front.
The Bolshevik Revolution had quieted the Eastern Front, but the Italians were still a big threat.
In fact, they’d occupied Gorizia and were near to taking Trieste, and things were looking
grim for the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
German High Command was forced to send 7 Divisions to the Isonzo River to start an offensive
to hopefully relieve the Austrians.
Rommel’s men were tasked with taking the Italian artillery positions on the high mountain
slopes of the Kolovrat Ridge, a daunting task.
Yet they did it, silencing outposts and taking over 1,000 prisoners, even under heavy resistance.
By nightfall, they had occupied Jevscek, and Rommel’s superior Major Sprösser, seeing
the huge number of prisoners, gave the order to retreat, thinking they’d already been
successful.
Rommel ignored the order- as he was allowed to do in certain cases according to German
command structure- and with just 100 men and 6 machine guns he advanced on the heights
of Monte Matajur and when his men eventually opened fire... they were the only ones firing.
The Italian defenders surrendered.
In 52 hours of climbing, marching, and fighting, “Kampfgruppe Rommel” had taken over 9,000
prisoners.
They had lost 6 men killed and 30 wounded.
Rommel was honorably mentioned for his actions there, and weeks later had been awarded the
Pour L’Merite- the highest Prussian military honor.
It was very uncommon for a mere lieutenant to win such an award.
In Italy, you could really see how effective the training for the German elite forces was,
and also how Rommel tried to endanger his men as little as possible.
He would one day tell his son, “If you want to live as a hero; you foremost have to survive.”
He spent the last few months of the war as a staff officer and was reunited with his
men in December 1918.
It would be more than two decades before he would step onto another battlefield.
And we know from movies, television, books, and more just how legendary he would become
on those future battlefields.
Here’s a thing: my Grandfather on my mother’s side was British, and he fought in World War
Two in the Royal Air Force in North Africa.
Now, to be clear- as a general rule, both of my grandparents hated Germans till they
died.
But not Rommel.
When I was a kid and Grandpa told- highly edited- stories about the war, Rommel was
an enemy but he was never a bad guy.
And you could see why, because Grandpa and by extension all of Rommel’s enemies, had
nothing but respect for the Desert Fox, his daring, and his strategic brilliance.
This held true not just in World War Two, but even in the later stages of the Great
War.
If you want to read more first hand accounts from Erwin Rommel himself, check out his book
Infantry Attacks in our Amazon Store.
And if you are interested in his actions in the Argonnes, check out our episode right
here.
Don’t forget to subscribe, see you next time.