Rommel Visiting 21. Panzer-Division in France

FIRST VISIT (18 MAY 1944)

On Thursday, 18 May 1944, Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel (Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe B und Generalinspekteur der Küstenbefestigungen West) visited the 21. Panzer-Division base at Maisons-Laffitte, northern France. At 8:00 AM, when Rommel arrived at the HQ of Panzer-Regiment 200. there was nobody! When the Regimentskommandeur, Oberst Hermann von Oppeln-Bronikowski, eventually arrived, trailing alcohol fumes, Rommel snorted: “You’re lazy stinkers! What happens if the enemy invasion begins before eight-thirty?” The colonel gasped, “Catastrophe!” and slumped into a chair. Amazingly, the field marshal took no action. Ruge explained in his diary, “Rommel saw at once that he was a good fellow, and he didn’t hold this lapse against him.”

The reformed 21st Pz Div came into existence in Normandy in mid-1943, and was the only panzer division over which Rommel had been allowed to exercise any control prior to the invasion. He had practised them when they were stationed just south of Caen, in various manoeuvres to exploit any momentary weaknesses of the enemy just after landing. Although the Division contained some Afrikakorps veterans, it was equipped with poorly armoured light tanks and had been rated as unfit for service on the Eastern Front. After the withdrawal through France it was assigned to Army Group G. It was commanded throughout its second existence by Edgar Feuchtinger (last rank Generalleutnant), an artilleryman born in Metz in 1894. Most of division’s officers had never had anything to do with tanks before. Divisionskommandeur Edgar Feuchtinger had resourcefully mechanized the unit with an extraordinary array of captured Czech, French and Russian tanks. If the enemy invaded Normandy, Feuchtinger’s would be the only panzer division on the spot!

Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel (Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe B und Generalinspekteur der Küstenbefestigungen West) shaking hands with the officers of 21. Panzer-Division, introduced by Divisionskommandeur Generalmajor Edgar Feuchtinger who stands behind Rommel.



Accompanied by Generalmajor Edgar Feuchtinger (right, Kommandeur 21. Panzer-Division) and Hauptmann Dr.-Ing. Alfred Becker (left, Kommandeur Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 200 / 21.Panzer-Division), Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel (Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe B und Generalinspekteur der Küstenbefestigungen West) inspecting the war machines of 21. Panzer-Division. In the background parked a 15cm heavy field howitzer stands on a French Lorraine Schlepper (Tank Supply Tractor).



Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel (Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe B und Generalinspekteur der Küstenbefestigungen West) inspecting the war machines of 21. Panzer-Division, accompanied by the Divisionskommandeur, Generalmajor Edgar Feuchtinger. In the background parked a 15cm heavy field howitzer stands on a French Lorraine Schlepper (Tank Supply Tractor).



Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel (Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe B und Generalinspekteur der Küstenbefestigungen West) inspecting the war machines of 21. Panzer-Division, accompanied by the Divisionskommandeur, Generalmajor Edgar Feuchtinger.



Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel (Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe B und Generalinspekteur der Küstenbefestigungen West) inspecting the war machines of 21. Panzer-Division, accompanied by the Divisionskommandeur, Generalmajor Edgar Feuchtinger. Shown here is the Jagdpanzer Marder 1 105mm self-propelled artillery (Panzerhaubitze) based on the French H39 chassis.



Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel (Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe B und Generalinspekteur der Küstenbefestigungen West) tasting the soldier's meal. In the background is Generalmajor Edgar Feuchtinger (Kommandeur 21. Panzer-Division).



Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel (Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe B und Generalinspekteur der Küstenbefestigungen West) tasting the soldier's meal. At left is Generalmajor Edgar Feuchtinger (Kommandeur 21. Panzer-Division).


Parade of the war machines of 21. Panzer-Division in front of Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel (Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe B und Generalinspekteur der Küstenbefestigungen West) and Generalmajor Edgar Feuchtinger (Kommandeur 21. Panzer-Division)

Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel (Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe B und Generalinspekteur der Küstenbefestigungen West) speaks in front of the members of 21. Panzer-Division. These soldiers probably in the middle of a gas prevention training, judging from their gas-mask in use.

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SECOND VISIT (30 MAY 1944)

On Tuesday 30 May 1944, After seeing a demonstration of smoke projectors and 80mm caliber multi-rocket launchers on the Riva-Bella beach, in the afternoon Generalfeldmarschall Rommel continued his tour by inspecting war machines belonging to 21. Panzer-Division. The inspection took place at Bois de Lébisey, Hérouville-Saint-Clair (6 km north of Caen), and was Rommel's second visit to 21. Panzer-Division headquarters after the first at Rouen which took place on 18 May 1944.

Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel (Oberbefehlshaber Heeresgruppe B und Generalinspekteur der Küstenbefestigungen West) inspects members of an assault gun battalion standing in front of their guns—10.5cm leFH 18 (Sf.) auf Geschützwagen 39H(f)—a self-propelled howitzer designed by Alfred Becker—in Normandy, France, a month before the Allied invasion. Only 48 were produced during the war.

Source :
Jim Haley photo collection
Bundesarchiv photo collection
"The Armies of Rommel" by George Forty
"The Trail of the Fox: The Search for the True Field Marshal Rommel" by David Irving
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/erwin-rommel-northern-france.html?sortBy=relevant
https://www.facebook.com/worldwarincolor/photos/a.393169424146189/643834395746356/?type=3

Rommel Achievement as a Commander of 7. Panzer-Division

 

Generalmajor Erwin Rommel is wearing the Offiziermantel (officer coat) in this photo, taken in early 1940. He is still wearing the Pour le Mérite that he received in World War One, while there is still no additional Ritterkreuz medal around his neck. Rommel himself was awarded the Pour le Mérite, the German Empire's highest medal of courage, in the First World War - on December 10, 1917 - after the Battle of Caporetto which he captured 7,000 Italian soldiers with only 100 men! Rommel's first combat command in World War II was as Commander of the 7th Panzer-Division. which he led in the fighting in France in 1940. During the campaign, 7. The Panzer-Division suffered more casualties than any other division throughout the Wehrmacht: it lost 2,594 men (including 682 killed, 1,646 wounded, and 266 missing) - which accounts for 20 percent of its total force - plus 39 tanks destroyed. But all of these sacrifices were paid for with great achievements: from May to June 1940, 7. Panzer-Division captured 97,486 Allied soldiers, c458 tanks and other armored vehicles, seized 277 field guns, 64 anti-tank guns., 4,000-5,000 trucks, as well as destroying dozens of other vehicles. Not only that, this division was also able to seize or destroy hundreds of tons of other very valuable military equipment, as well as shoot down 52 warplanes (plus destroying 15 aircraft on the ground and confiscate 12 others intact). 7. Panzer-Division also managed to capture the Commander of the French Atlantic Fleet and four admirals, a French Army Corps Commander, 15-20 other French generals, and one British general. In the process, the division emerged surprisingly from the dense Ardennes Forest, broke through the defenses on the banks of the Meuse River in Dinart, and advanced through Belgium and northern France. All forces that came in his way were mercilessly crushed (including the French 1st Armored Division and the 4th North African Division), and their swift movement allowed them to penetrate the extension of the Maginot Line near Sivry, and withstand the largest Allied counterattack in the Battle of France, deployed in the open field of Arras. Subsequently, 7. Panzer-Division played an important role in the siege and destruction of the mighty French 1st Army at Lille, which was followed by a rapid advance southward, storming through the Somme and Seine, and ended with the capture - after a fierce battle - of the main French port of St. Valery and Cherbourg... and all of this amazing achievement was done almost without the help of the rest of the German units! The 7. Panzer-Division was nicknamed the "Gespenster Division" (Ghost Division) by the Wehrmacht high ranking officers in Berlin, who were often confused by the fact that how often this division were "lost" without news for days, only to reappear with a shocking victory far away through enemy territory! By the time the French finally surrendered, the division was about 320 kilometers from the border with Spain. It could be said that in the period from February 5, 1940 to February 15, 1941, Erwin Rommel had performed very well for his duties as a Divisionskommandeur!

 

Source :
http://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2012/03/album-foto-erwin-rommel-sebagai_10.html