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. Rommel's first field command
during the war was the 7th Panzer Division, also known as the Ghost
Division, which he led in France in 1940. During this campaign, the
7th Panzer suffered more casualties than any other division in the
German Army, at the same time inflicting a disproportionate number
of casualties upon the enemy. It took 97,486 prisoners, captured
458 tanks and armored vehicles, 277 field guns, 64 anti-tank guns
and 4,000 to 5,000 trucks, and destroyed dozens of others in each
category. It captured or destroyed hundreds of tons of other
military equipment, shot down 52 aircraft, destroyed 15 more on the
ground, and captured 12 more. It destroyed the French 1st Armored
Division and the 4th North African Division, punched through the
Maginot Line extension near Sivry, and checked the largest Allied
counteroffensive of the campaign at Arras. When France surrendered,
the Ghost Division was within 200 miles of the Spanish border. No
doubt about it--Rommel had proven himself a great military leader
who was capable of greater things. His next command, in fact, would
be the Afrika Korps, where the legend of the Desert Fox was born.
Rommel had a great deal of help in France-- much more than his
published papers suggest. His staff officers and company, battalion
and regimental commanders were an extremely capable collection of
military leaders that included 12 future generals (two of them SS),
and two colonels who briefly commanded panzer divisions but never
reached general rank. They also included Colonel Erichvon Unger,
who would no doubt have become a general had he not been killed in
action while commanding a motorized rifle brigade on the Eastern
Front in 1941, as well as Karl Hanke, a Nazi gauleiter who later
succeeded Heinrich Himmler as the last Reichsfuehrer-SS. No
historian has ever before recognized the talented cast of
characters who supported the Desert Fox in 1940. No one has ever
attempted to tell their stories. This book remedies that oversight.
General
Imprint: |
Praeger Publishers Inc
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Series: |
Praeger Security International |
Release date: |
November 2006 |
First published: |
November 2006 |
Authors: |
Samuel W. Mitcham Jr
|
Dimensions: |
235 x 156 x 24mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover
|
Pages: |
240 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-275-99185-2 |
Categories: |
Books >
Humanities >
History >
General
Books >
History >
General
Promotions
|
LSN: |
0-275-99185-7 |
Barcode: |
9780275991852 |
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!