General Erwin Rommel

[Remington]

I'm doing a presentation(PowerPoint) on Erwin Rommel a.k.a "The Desert Fox" and I was hoping to include some short video clips or sound bites of him. Anyone have any multimdeia I could use? Thanks in advance.

[oldsoldier]

Do a search...there wasnt really any actual video of him. A good movie is Patton; details him and Rommel in Africa. Also, look into stories about the Rat Patrol; they wreaked havoc in the rear of Rommel's troops in Africa.
Rommel also has a few biographies out; the best is Desert Fox. Look into those...they may have some pics.

[spazzed]

Patton: I loved that movie. I'd give an arm & leg to server under that man.

Rommel was great, but Patton was better

I'll do some digging & see if I can find anything for you. Might wanna look on Kazaa or similiar, you never know...

[oldsoldier]

um...rommel had patton beat pre pretty much hands down. The problem was the midnight forays behind Rommels lines by the Brits (with American jeeps). Second, the Italians (who made up a large part of Rommel's Afrikacorps) pretty much laid down their arms in the end. True, Patton was great. He was extremely charismatic. But he won Africa more by circumstance, not tactics.

[spazzed]

Me & my big mouth

Thanks for the correction

[AutoMaggot]

His push to Bastogne was another story... talk about determination and witt!

[Army]

Rommel failed to use the momentum from the Khyber Pass destruction of Allied armor, to push the Brits back to Tobruk and into the sea. Tunis was his final downfall in Hitler's eyes, and a huge window of opportunity for the Allies.

Given coastal command over the channel was a blow to his leadership, being accused as a conspiritor in the bombing attempt on Hitler, and losing even the last, smallest, control of his beloved Afika Corps, drove him to suicide, rather than a trial and humiliation.

Better than Patton? Arguable. Patton had the dominant Allied logistic train behind his efforts, Rommel usually had to "make do". Pattons push to the Rhine, underscored the poor supply channels of the German Juggernaut, when both armies ran out of gas at the same time, and duked it out hand to hand in Austria. Only Patton was able to get fuel food and ammo for the 3rd, while Rommels Panzer Corps died in place.

I would say they were quite equal in knowledge, leadership, and strategy...and flamboyance!

[alkafluence]

Remington,

Why not just video capture some of the stuff off the History Channel? Make sure you credit the material however!!!

[oldsoldier]

Ah Army, you are right. I forgot to mention the fact that the allies continually harassed Rommels seaborne supply route. He only got about 30% of supplies through (dont quote me on the percentage, but it was low). It was a combination of things in the end that allowed Patton to triumph over Rommel.
And, I did not mean that Patton was any less thatn Rommel...they were both at the top of their game. I just meant that, had Rommel received the help he needed, Patton may not have taken Africa. At least not as he did.
Funny how Rommel was accused of plotting the death of hitler, and ultimately commited suicide, and how Patton commanded the "phantom army" in Britain that successfully deceived the Germans into thinking we were going to attack them elsewhere on D-day. From what I read, he wasn't very pleased to have done this; but, in light of his, ah, colorful character, he sure made someone angry enough to give him that "command".

[spazzed]

That's what's always intrigued me about Patton (his colorful character). Didn't he believe in reincarnation? Furthermore, that he was a Roman soldier?

[Greg98]

i think to critisize Rommel is kinda unfair.... not only is hindsight 20/20, but we must also remember that history is written by the winners, period. i doubt we'll ever know the TRUE story of rommel's battles in the desert, of course we know in the end he lost but thats about it! i've seen alot of footage of rommel on the history channel, just check around, you'll find it, it won't be too difficult. good luck!

[Tron]

Check out the library of congress online. They have terabytes of video. It is basically everything that was ever shot using gov equipment over the last 60yrs that isn't classified.

-Tron

[spazzed]

Oooo sounds like fun! I'd love to get my hands on some classified stuff tho!

[oldsoldier]

I am gonna check that out. There must be some great footage there!
As far as history...that is true, but the facts still remain. Rommel had bad luck. We found his supply line (actually, I think it was a lost pilot that originally reported it) from Italy to Africa, and bombed it continually. The raids behind his lines hurt the Luftwaffe, and morale in general. The the Italians giving up (actually, they turned after Mussolini was deposed) didnt help, as much of his force was made up of them. True, history is written by the victors. But the facts still remain.

[spazzed]

Put it this way. They were both Very compassionate & outspoken men, who were equally kicked arse when they had required supplies, men, etc. Blahblahblah. I'm tired. I won't remember this in teh morning.