by Morley Evans
The best General
of WW II?
of WW II?
No Americans, it wasn't Patton. Germans wondered, Patton? Who's Patton? Many would nominate General Douglas MacArthur, I would.
Erwin Rommel?
Here is an essay on the Battle of Tunisia. It was a bigger disaster than Stalingrad. Whereas Six Army was horse-drawn, Africa Corps was mechanized.
Rommel remains a popular figure in the West. When Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, GCB, GCIE, CSI, DSO, OBE, was reassigned to Egypt from India where he had risen to become the supreme commander of the Indian Army, he disciplined the British troops who were in awe of Rommel. “He’s just another German general. You must stop calling him The Desert Fox.” Auchinleck reorganized the British army in Egypt and defeated Rommel at al-Alamein. Rommel was exhausted, sick, and depressed. He retired to Germany to recuperate. When Rommel returned, he was defeated a second time at al-Alamein by Bernard Montgomery who had replaced Auchinleck by Churchill's order. The Auk went back to India after the War. He opposed the division of India when Indian independence came.
Rommel was a talented, aggressive, general. Rommel complained that he wasn’t supported logistically. He was in the habit of outrunning his supply lines and exceeding his orders. His commander Albert Kesselring did his best to keep Rommel on a short leash.
Armchair generaling is fun for old men!
Wikipedia writes:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisian_campaign
Encyclopedia Britannica writes:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Erwin-Rommel
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