Rommel’s Desert Commanders: The Men Who Served the Desert Fox, North Africa, 1941–1942

249 Pages·2007·2.88 MB·English

by  Samuel W. Mitcham

ROMMEL’S
DESERT COMMANDERS
PRAEGER SECURITY INTERNATIONALADVISORY BOARD
Board Cochairs
LochK.Johnson,RegentsProfessorofPublicandInternationalAffairs,
SchoolofPublicandInternationalAffairs,UniversityofGeorgia(U.S.A.)
PaulWilkinson,ProfessorofInternationalRelationsandChairmanofthe
AdvisoryBoard,CentrefortheStudyofTerrorismandPoliticalViolence,
UniversityofSt.Andrews(U.K.)
Members
EliotA.Cohen,RobertE.OsgoodProfessorofStrategicStudiesandDirector,
PhilipMerrillCenterforStrategicStudies,PaulH.NitzeSchoolofAdvanced
InternationalStudies,TheJohnsHopkinsUniversity(U.S.A.)
AnthonyH.Cordesman,ArleighA.BurkeChairinStrategy,CenterforStrategic
andInternationalStudies(U.S.A.)
The´re`seDelpech,DirectorofStrategicAffairs,AtomicEnergyCommission,
andSeniorResearchFellow,CERI(FondationNationaledesSciencesPolitiques),
Paris(France)
SirMichaelHoward,formerChicheleProfessorofWarHistoryandRegis
ProfessorofModernHistory,OxfordUniversity,andRobertA.LovettProfessor
ofMilitaryandNavalHistory,YaleUniversity(U.K.)
LieutenantGeneralClaudiaJ.Kennedy,USA(Ret.),formerDeputyChiefof
StaffforIntelligence,DepartmentoftheArmy(U.S.A.)
PaulM.Kennedy,J.RichardsonDilworthProfessorofHistoryandDirector,
InternationalSecurityStudies,YaleUniversity(U.S.A.)
RobertJ.O’Neill,formerChicheleProfessoroftheHistoryofWar,AllSouls
College,OxfordUniversity(Australia)
ShibleyTelhami,AnwarSadatChairforPeaceandDevelopment,Department
ofGovernmentandPolitics,UniversityofMaryland(U.S.A.)
JusufWanandi,co-founderandmember,BoardofTrustees,CentreforStrategic
andInternationalStudies(Indonesia)
FareedZakaria,Editor,NewsweekInternational(U.S.A.)
ROMMEL’S
DESERT COMMANDERS
The Men Who Served
the Desert Fox,
North Africa, 1941–1942
Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr.
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mitcham, SamuelW.
Rommel’s desert commanders: themen whoserved the DesertFox,
North Africa, 1941–1942/Samuel W.Mitcham, Jr.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references andindex.
ISBN 0-275-99436-8 (alk.paper)
1. Germany.Heer.Panzerarmeekorps Afrika. 2.Germany. Heer—
Officers—Biography. 3. WorldWar,1939–1945—Campaigns—Africa,
North. 4.WorldWar,1939–1945—Regimental histories—Germany.
I.Title.
D757.55.A4M568 2007
940.54013430922—dc22 2006038662
British Library Cataloguing inPublication Data isavailable.
Copyright '2007bySamuel W.Mitcham,Jr.
All rightsreserved. Noportionofthis book maybe
reproduced, byany process or technique, without the
express written consent ofthe publisher.
Library ofCongressCatalog Card Number:2006038662
ISBN-10:0-275-99436-8
ISBN-13:978-0-275-99436-5
Firstpublished in2007
PraegerSecurity International, 88PostRoad West, Westport, CT 06881
An imprintofGreenwood Publishing Group,Inc.
www.praeger.com
Printed inthe United StatesofAmerica
The paperused inthis bookcomplies with the
Permanent PaperStandard issuedby theNational
Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
ListofFigures vii
Preface ix
I TheSourcesofRommel’sOfficers 1
II TheFirstCyrenaicanCampaign 15
III TheSiegeofTobruk 29
IV Crusader 35
V TheGazalaLineandTobruk 69
VI TheStaff 95
VII ElAlamein 135
VIII TheOtherCommanders 157
Notes 191
Bibliography 205
Index 209
Photoessayfollowspage68.

LIST OF FIGURES
1.1 Europe,1920–1938 2
1.2 GeneralRegionsoftheThirdReich 4
1.3 MajorCitiesoftheThirdReich 6
1.4 TheEasternFront 8
1.5 TheWesternFront 10
1.6 TheWehrkreise,1939 11
2.1 TheMediterraneanTheaterofOperations 17
2.2 Rommel’sFirstCyrenaicanCampaign 19
4.1 OperationBattleaxe 41
4.2 OperationCrusader,November17–18,1941 48
4.3 OperationCrusader,November19–20,1941 51
4.4 OperationCrusader—theDashtotheWire,
November24–28,1941 56
4.5 NorthAfrica,January1942 64
5.1 TheGazalaLine–TobrukBattlefield 71
ListofFigures
5.2 TheFirstAttackontheGazalaLine,May26,1942 86
7.1 TheBattleofMersaMatruh 145
7.2 ElAlamein 151
8.1 TheTunisianBridgehead 169
viii
PREFACE
Perhaps the most famous soldier to fight in World War II was Field
Marshal Erwin Rommel, who achieved immortality as ‘‘the Desert
Fox.’’ He is also one of the most admired.
In 1941 and 1942, in Libya and Egypt, Rommel battled and usually
defeated enemies who were vastly superior to him in the numerical
sense. He kept Mussolini’s Fascist Empire afloat and tied down huge
numbers of Allied formations, which otherwise could have been used
most dangerously elsewhere. By stabilizing Hitler’s southern flank and
keeping pressure off of his western flank, he enabled the Nazi dictator
to turn his attention to the East. In doing so, he made the D-Day inva-
sion and the Allied return to Europe impossible until 1943 at the ear-
liest; in practice, it was mid-1944 before they landed. When they did
land, they had to face the Desert Fox and all of the cunning of a first-
rate military genius.
A great deal of attention has been paid to Field Marshal Erwin
Rommel and justifiably so. What most military historians and the gen-
eral public have failed to notice is that he enjoyed a cast of supporting
characters who were also first rate. To my knowledge, no historian has
ever systematically dealt with the talented cast of characters who sup-
ported the Desert Fox in 1941 and 1942. No one has ever attempted to
tell their stories. The purpose of this book is to remedy this deficiency.
I wish to thank my good friend, the late Theodor-Friedrich von
Stauffenberg, who first called my attention to the relatively large num-
ber of future generals who served in the 7th Panzer Division, which
Rommel led in France in 1940. Stauffenberg identified seven of them in
the late 1980s, but it turns out that there were even more. (Friedrich
was an expert on the German panzer officers and was the first cousin