Want a NOOK? Explore Now
Describes the Desert Fox's preparation for military greatness, his rise to prominence, and his early campaigns in AfricaRecounts the first battles of Germany's notorious Afrika Korps
Gen. Erwin Rommel arrived in Africa's Western Desert in February 1941 to head the elite German Afrika Korps in its efforts to bolster its battered Italian allies. Disobeying orders to remain on the defensive, Rommel attacked, nearly pushed the numerically superior British out of Libya, and besieged the critical port of Tobruk. Unable to capture it, Rommel's forces defeated two British attempts to relieve the garrison before being forced to withdraw at the end of 1941. Seasoned by months of desert warfare, Rommel stood ready to achieve his greatest successes in 1942, a story told in Rommel's Desert War (978-0-8117-3413-4).
Preface vi
Chapter 1 The Rout of the Romans 1
Chapter 2 Erwin Rommel and the Making of a General 11
Chapter 3 The French Campaign 29
Chapter 4 The Birth of a Legend 49
Chapter 5 Tobruk 73
Chapter 6 Battleaxe 85
Chapter 7 The Lull 117
Chapter 8 Sidi Rezegh 131
Chapter 9 The Day of the Dead 151
Chapter 10 The Dash to the Wire 161
Chapter 11 The Retreat to Cyrenaica and the Death of the Frontier Garrisons 175
Epilogue 187
Appendix A Table of Comparative Ranks 189
Appendix B German Staff Positions 190
Notes 191
Bibliography 220
Index 223
Overview
Describes the Desert Fox's preparation for military greatness, his rise to prominence, and his early campaigns in AfricaRecounts the first battles of Germany's notorious Afrika Korps
Gen. Erwin Rommel arrived in Africa's Western Desert in February 1941 to head the elite German Afrika Korps in its efforts to bolster its battered Italian allies. Disobeying orders to remain on the defensive, Rommel attacked, nearly pushed the numerically superior British out of Libya, and besieged ...