How good was Erwin Rommel of Germany?

Answer 1

Answer

Very good.

"As much as Rommel liked to talk about his campaigns, there was no trace of boastfulness in it. He liked to discuss his mistakes, since one could learn from them"(Friedrich Ruge, Rommel's naval advisor in Normandy)

Despite which, it is not easy to find lists of his errors. Most that are mooted come from his pushing of tactical ideas right to the limit of what his troops and supplies could deliver.

His understanding of the use of mobile and armoured forces was undoubtedly exceptional.

His reputation with his own and enemy forces during WW2 was also remarkable, to the point where the Allies had to act against the respect in which he was held.

The main question unanswered in respect of Rommel's generalship concerns his ability at a political and diplomatic level (Montgomery's great weakness, it might be held) as he never rose to positions where this was a major feature. This makes it difficult to assess whether he would have ranked with the truly great generals under other circumstances.

Answer

Erwin Rommel was a highly decorated WW-1 infantry officer who led from the front, in true German form. He was wounded several times and once while personally leading an attack on fortified machinegun positions.

Rommels Genius can be defined by the following 2 campaigns; I. African Campaign;Rommels early success in Africa can be attributed to two things. A. His ability to motivate and mold the Africa Korps into a first class fighting force; and B. His Signal Intelligence, which let him know what the allies were doing before they knew.

II. Western Europe Campaign;D-Day Western Europe A. Rommel understood and witnessed what the allied airpower and material advantage could do to the German Army. He understood, better than Runstedt ever could, what the Germans were going to have to push the Allies into the sea immediately. All German Armour and Infantry had to be close to the beaches, because once the invasion started, everything on Railroads and the Highways heading to the beaches would be destroyed by Allied Airpower(wich happened). Hitlers inability to let his best commanders lead cost him the war at this point. Rommel could have crushed the allied invasion in 1944 and the allies couldn't have thought about another invasion for several years. Hitler could have transferred the bulk of his best units, in the west, to the Eastern Front and finished Russia. Note that Russian and Germany had carried on secret Peace negotiations since 1943.Russia drug out the peace talks, thru Switzerland, until after the Allied landing was successful and then broke off talks. Hitlers bungling at Normandy by not releasing the Armoured reserves, until it was too late, Woke Rommel up and he knew that the war was lost. I don't think any Military Genius in history could have prevailed under Hitler.