Rommel
- Episode aired Mar 29, 2013
- 1h
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
5
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Erwin Rommel has achieved almost legendary status as the German Field Marshall of World war Two? Mainly for his cunning in outwitting and outmanoeuvring his allied enemies he is now known as... Read allErwin Rommel has achieved almost legendary status as the German Field Marshall of World war Two? Mainly for his cunning in outwitting and outmanoeuvring his allied enemies he is now known as the desert fox.Erwin Rommel has achieved almost legendary status as the German Field Marshall of World war Two? Mainly for his cunning in outwitting and outmanoeuvring his allied enemies he is now known as the desert fox.
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The Elements So Mixed In Him....
Ervin Rommel distinguished himself in the Italian Alps during World War I. He won the Pour Le Merite, the equivalent of the Medal of Honor, and he made sure he wore it constantly. He was vain, but compared to some of his contemporaries in other armies, not particularly vain. He was short, slope-shouldered, and not especially handsome, but a soldier had to be proud of his decorations. His love for his wife, "Lucy," was deep and genuine.
In north Africa, Mussolini's Italians, hoping to cash in on Hitler's successes, had invaded British Egypt. After a quick advances, they were chased back into Libya by the sluggish British. Rommel was there to "help" the Italians. He found their command structure appalling. Italian officers lived the good life behind the lines. The film doesn't mention this but Rommel, never noted for his sense of humor, referred to an Italian Marshal, Ettor Bastico, as "Bombastico." Rommel quickly drove the British back into Egypt, threatening Alexandria and the Suez Canal. The Brits put Montgomery in charge and there followed a seesaw battle back and forth across the coast of north Africa. Rommel was criticized by some colleagues for the loss of so many lives, especially in his several attempts to take Tobruk.
He finally did take it, which gave him a sea port much closer to the front and shortened the supply lines considerably. At this point he became a true hero. He was promoted to Field Marshal and became a legend among his enemies. A post-war analysis (by an Italian writer) suggests that he was given mythical status by the Brits and colonials because it relieved them of too much guilt over their defeats. "Only a genius could defeat us." No doubt it's partly true. Americans elected Admiral Yamamoto to genius status after suffering one defeat after another in the first two years of the war.
At any rate, the taking of Tobruk found Rommel at the top of his military career -- and his moral career. He'd captured an entire battalion of Jewish troops and Hitler issued an order that they be immediately executed. Rommel burned the order.
These supply lines weren't simply a matter of convenience. Survival depended on them, both for the Brits and the Germans. Every advance, by either side, stretched the supply lines until the attack had to be halted. For Rommel, his essential supplies included water, fuel, rations, and hardware, and involved a thousand mile trip by cargo ship and then another thousand or so miles by truck across the single road that ran along the coast. Nobody can run a tank without fuel. And water was so scarce men on both sides urinated into the reservoir of their water-cooled machine guns. And the Brits had broken the naval code, so they knew when ships were leaving Italian ports. Between 40% and 60% of Rommel's supplies were destroyed at sea by either air or submarine.
His attack on El Alamein failed. The Brits' position was perfect for defense and Rommel had been ground down to only 35 operational tanks. In addition, Rommel himself was ill and took sick leave, so he wasn't present when the Afrika Korps and the Italians were defeated at the second battle of El Alamein and retreated west. The general he'd left in charge died of a heart attack during the British barrage and left the troops in disarray. It's doubtful Rommel could have done much if he'd been present. He was thoroughly outnumbered in both arms and men, and Montgomery's talents included caution, aggression, and a taste for clever trickery. He staged an orderly retreat towards his base at Tripoli in Tunisia -- and then beyond Tripoli, to inflict a humiliating defeat on American troops at Kasserine Pass. Hitler ordered him to fight to the death but Rommel had no such intention in mind and by now was beginning to doubt Hitler's judgment. The Afrika Korps was withdrawn from Africa in the spring of 1943.
No question about his being a brilliant soldier, but as a politician he stank. He had Jewish friends and thought that any anti-Semitic brutality was due to a few rotten apples. He went so far as to suggest Hitler appoint a Jewish Gauleiter, the second highest Nazi paramilitary rank. Hitler: "You have understood NOTHING." He was appalled when Stuttgart's mayor told him of the concentration camps and he forbid his young son to join the Waffen SS. When he was posted to France to build the Atlantic Wall against Allied invasion, he insisted that the French conscripts be paid and not be treated as slave labor. He asked Hitler's permission to punish Hitler's own Das Reich division for brutal acts of reprisal against French civilians. Following the successful Allied landings, he became convinced that the only move left was to broker a peace in the west and concentrate all Germany's forces against the USSR. What a pipe dream! Rommel suffered a fractured skull after being strafed by an Allied fighter. Four days later, an attempt to assassinate Hitler failed and many heads rolled -- thousands of heads. Rommel was probably aware of the plot but the consensus is that he did not agree to the assassination, preferring instead that Hitler be arrested and a new government put in place. Rommel's involvement was never more than peripheral but by this time his friendship with Hitler was corroded and his doom sealed. He was made to take poison and was given an elaborate state funeral. A complicated man who fought on the wrong side.
Again, like the others in this series, the presentation is extraordinarily objective. We're at a sufficient remove from events that we're in a better position to judge them.
In north Africa, Mussolini's Italians, hoping to cash in on Hitler's successes, had invaded British Egypt. After a quick advances, they were chased back into Libya by the sluggish British. Rommel was there to "help" the Italians. He found their command structure appalling. Italian officers lived the good life behind the lines. The film doesn't mention this but Rommel, never noted for his sense of humor, referred to an Italian Marshal, Ettor Bastico, as "Bombastico." Rommel quickly drove the British back into Egypt, threatening Alexandria and the Suez Canal. The Brits put Montgomery in charge and there followed a seesaw battle back and forth across the coast of north Africa. Rommel was criticized by some colleagues for the loss of so many lives, especially in his several attempts to take Tobruk.
He finally did take it, which gave him a sea port much closer to the front and shortened the supply lines considerably. At this point he became a true hero. He was promoted to Field Marshal and became a legend among his enemies. A post-war analysis (by an Italian writer) suggests that he was given mythical status by the Brits and colonials because it relieved them of too much guilt over their defeats. "Only a genius could defeat us." No doubt it's partly true. Americans elected Admiral Yamamoto to genius status after suffering one defeat after another in the first two years of the war.
At any rate, the taking of Tobruk found Rommel at the top of his military career -- and his moral career. He'd captured an entire battalion of Jewish troops and Hitler issued an order that they be immediately executed. Rommel burned the order.
These supply lines weren't simply a matter of convenience. Survival depended on them, both for the Brits and the Germans. Every advance, by either side, stretched the supply lines until the attack had to be halted. For Rommel, his essential supplies included water, fuel, rations, and hardware, and involved a thousand mile trip by cargo ship and then another thousand or so miles by truck across the single road that ran along the coast. Nobody can run a tank without fuel. And water was so scarce men on both sides urinated into the reservoir of their water-cooled machine guns. And the Brits had broken the naval code, so they knew when ships were leaving Italian ports. Between 40% and 60% of Rommel's supplies were destroyed at sea by either air or submarine.
His attack on El Alamein failed. The Brits' position was perfect for defense and Rommel had been ground down to only 35 operational tanks. In addition, Rommel himself was ill and took sick leave, so he wasn't present when the Afrika Korps and the Italians were defeated at the second battle of El Alamein and retreated west. The general he'd left in charge died of a heart attack during the British barrage and left the troops in disarray. It's doubtful Rommel could have done much if he'd been present. He was thoroughly outnumbered in both arms and men, and Montgomery's talents included caution, aggression, and a taste for clever trickery. He staged an orderly retreat towards his base at Tripoli in Tunisia -- and then beyond Tripoli, to inflict a humiliating defeat on American troops at Kasserine Pass. Hitler ordered him to fight to the death but Rommel had no such intention in mind and by now was beginning to doubt Hitler's judgment. The Afrika Korps was withdrawn from Africa in the spring of 1943.
No question about his being a brilliant soldier, but as a politician he stank. He had Jewish friends and thought that any anti-Semitic brutality was due to a few rotten apples. He went so far as to suggest Hitler appoint a Jewish Gauleiter, the second highest Nazi paramilitary rank. Hitler: "You have understood NOTHING." He was appalled when Stuttgart's mayor told him of the concentration camps and he forbid his young son to join the Waffen SS. When he was posted to France to build the Atlantic Wall against Allied invasion, he insisted that the French conscripts be paid and not be treated as slave labor. He asked Hitler's permission to punish Hitler's own Das Reich division for brutal acts of reprisal against French civilians. Following the successful Allied landings, he became convinced that the only move left was to broker a peace in the west and concentrate all Germany's forces against the USSR. What a pipe dream! Rommel suffered a fractured skull after being strafed by an Allied fighter. Four days later, an attempt to assassinate Hitler failed and many heads rolled -- thousands of heads. Rommel was probably aware of the plot but the consensus is that he did not agree to the assassination, preferring instead that Hitler be arrested and a new government put in place. Rommel's involvement was never more than peripheral but by this time his friendship with Hitler was corroded and his doom sealed. He was made to take poison and was given an elaborate state funeral. A complicated man who fought on the wrong side.
Again, like the others in this series, the presentation is extraordinarily objective. We're at a sufficient remove from events that we're in a better position to judge them.
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- rmax304823
- Sep 20, 2015
Details
- Runtime1 hour
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