Late in the war, Rommel was linked to the conspiracy to kill Adolf Hitler. Furthermore, he ignored orders to kill captured commandos, Jewish soldiers and civilians in all theaters of his command. Soldiers captured during his Africa campaign were reported to have been treated humanely. His Afrikakorps was never accused of war crimes. He is considered to have been one of the most skilled commanders of desert warfare in the war. He later commanded the German forces opposing the Allied cross-channelinvasion in Normandy.Īs one of the few generals who consistently fought the Western Allies (he was never assigned to the Eastern Front), Rommel is regarded as having been a humane and professional officer.
However, it was his leadership of German and Italian forces in the North African campaign that established the legend of the Desert Fox. In World War II, he further distinguished himself as the commander of the 7th Panzer Division during the 1940 invasion of France. He was a highly decorated officer in World War I, and was awarded the Pour le Mérite for his exploits on the Italian front. He won the respect of both his own troops, as well as the enemies he fought. Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944), popularly known as the Desert Fox was a German Field Marshal of World War II.
