31 images of Rommel & some you wouldn’t have seen before?

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was one of German’s most popular generals during World War II, and gained his enemies’ respect with his victories as commander of the Afrika Korps. Implicated in a plot to overthrow Hitler, Rommel took his life in 1944..

Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was born in Heidenheim in southern Germany. He grew up with a pronounced southern accent that differentiated him from the Prussian aristocracy of the time. His father had served briefly in the military, then become a schoolteacher. He was forward-thinking, building a flyable glider and buying a motorcycle at a young age. He matriculated at the Officer Cadet School in Danzig in 1910 and was commissioned a lieutenant in the local 124th Württemberg Infantry Regiment 1912.

In February 1940, Rommel was named commander of the 7th Panzer division. The following year, he was appointed commander of German troops (the Afrika Korps) in North Africa.

Colonel General Rommel inspecting German defensive positions, North Africa, Jan 1942

Nazis attempted to cover up the forced suicide of  Erwim Rommel with a “heart attack” after being implicated in a failed assassination of his master, Adolf Hitler.

Rommel as a young man

Italian losses to the British in North Africa led Adolf Hitler to send Rommel to Libya, where he laid siege to the port city of Tobruk from April to December 1941. Repulsed by the British, he returned with the Afrika Korps in June 1942 and finally took the city; this attack became known as the Battle of Gazala. Not long after, Rommel was promoted to field marshal by Hitler.