Erwin
Rommel conferred with his two officers in the North African desert. As
usual, the Desert Fox is wearing his daughter's scarf and British
captured goggle. No exact information about when or where this pic was
taken.
General
der Panzertruppe Erwin Rommel (Kommandierender General Deutsches
Afrikakorps) sitting in the rooftop of "Max", a captured AEC Armoured
command vehicle captured from the British. With his is unknown Italian
officer. Standing in waiting beside "Max" is Rommel's adjutant,
Hauptmann Hans-Joachim Schraepler. The picture was possibly taken in the
summer of 1941.
Shortly
after his arrival in North Africa, Erwin Rommel had quick successes and
by April 1941 its Afrikakorps capturing many British and allied
vehicles along the way, especially trucks, which he sorely needed for
his advance. Aufklärungs-Abteilung 3, for example, managed to captured
at Mechili two British generals and three AEC Armoured Command Vehicles:
Lieutenant-General Philip Neame (8th Army Cmmander) and his assistant
commander, Lieutenant-General Richard O'Connor, plus Major-General
Michael Gambier-Parry, commander of 2nd Armoured.Division. Although the
capture was a formidable propaganda coup for the Germans, for Rommel,
the capture of Both vehicle was welcome as they were spacious,
comfortable, had good radios and were well tailored for off-roads
conditions in North Africa. Former O'Connor's vehicle (L4426425) was
named "Max", and "Moritz" was given to Generalleutnant Ludwig Crüwell's
vehicle, Generalmajor Johannes Streich using a third one. Rommel's "Max"
was disabled in September 1941 and abandoned, Rommel returning to his
Opel Blitz Bus.
AEC Armoured Command Vehicle itself was a series
of command vehicles built by the British Associated Equipment Company.
During the Second World War, the United Kingdom was the only country to
develop and widely employ purpose-built armoured command vehicles. Those
were essentially armoured buses based on truck chassis.
The most
common ACV of the British Army was the AEC 4x4 ACV. The vehicle, based
on AEC Matador chassis, entered production in 1941. A total of about 415
units were built. The vehicle was used for the first time in the North
African Campaign and remained in service until the end of the war. Big
and comfortable, it was nicknamed Dorchester by the troops, after the
luxury hotel in London. Three ACVs of this type were captured by the
German Afrika Korps. Two of them, named "Max" and "Moritz", were
employed by Rommel and his staff throughout the campaign.
Source :
Jim Haley photo collectio
https://www.o5m6.de/wehrmacht/wm_na_romcars.phpn
https://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/gb/AEC-4x4-ACV-Dorchester.php
Generalfeldmarschall
Erwin Rommel (center, Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe B und
Generalinspekteur der Küstenbefestigungen West) during inspection trip
to the Batterie Rozenburg (Hoek van Holland), 26 March 1944. At left is
Kapitän zur See Frank Aschmann (Seekommandant Südholland). On the left
of Rommel is General der Infanterie Hans-Wolfgang Reinhard
(Kommandierender General LXXXVIII. Armeekorps), while on the right next
to Rommel and Hauptmann Hellmuth Lang (wearing black Panzertruppen
uniform, Ordonnanzoffizier Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe B) is
Generalmajor Carl Wahle (Kommandeur 719. Infanterie-Division). The
officer with helmet and binoculars must be the Batterie kommandant. The
heaviest coastal battery in the Netherlands was stationed in the Festung
Hoek van Holland; Marine-Küsten-Batterie Rozenburg (Naval Coastal
Battery ‘Rozenburg’) (XV) was stationed south of the estuary. To the
north of the estuary were batteries Vineta (III) and Monster (VI). The
picture was taken by Kriegsberichter Jesse of KBZ OB West
(Kriegsberichter-Zug Oberbefehlshaber West).
Oberleutnant
Erwin Rommel (Kompaniechef in Württembergische Gebirgs-Bataillon) in a
photo taken in December 1917. In that month, on December 10, 1917, he
was awarded the most prestigious military medal of the German Empire,
the Pour le Mérite. During the German offensive in the Italian front
known as the Battle of Caporetto (began on 24 October 1917), Rommel's
battalion, consisting of three rifle companies and a machine gun unit,
was part of an attempt to take enemy positions on three mountains:
Kolovrat, Matajur, and Stol. In two and a half days, from 25 to 27
October, Rommel and his 150 men captured 81 guns and 9,000 men
(including 150 officers), at a loss of six dead and 30 wounded. Rommel
achieved this remarkable success by taking advantage of the terrain to
outflank the Italian forces, attacking from unexpected directions or
behind enemy lines, and taking the initiative to attack when he had
orders to the contrary. In one instance, the Italian forces, taken by
surprise and believing that their lines had collapsed, surrendered after
a brief firefight. In this battle, Rommel helped pioneer infiltration
tactics, a new form of manoeuvre warfare just being adopted by German
armies, and later by foreign armies, and described by some as
"Blitzkrieg without tanks", though he played no role in the early
adoption of Blitzkrieg in World War II. Acting as advance guard in the
capture of Longarone on 9 November, Rommel again decided to attack with a
much smaller force. Convinced that they were surrounded by an entire
German division, the 1st Italian Infantry Division – 10,000 men –
surrendered to Rommel. For this and his actions at Matajur, he received
the order of Pour le Mérite.
Erwin
Rommel as an Oberstleutnant, in the period between March 1935 to July
1937. At that time he served as "Lehrgruppenkommandeur der Lehrgruppe A
an der Kriegsschule Potsdam".
General der Panzertruppe Erwin Rommel (Kommandierender General Deutsches Afrikakorps) directs the movements of his force with Oberst Erwin...
