Erwin Rommel

Erwin Rommel, aka "The Desert Fox", was one of Adolf Hitler's most able generals during WWII. He joined the German army in 1910 and won awards for bravery in WW I. He was in the 7th Tank Division at the outbreak of WW II and headed the push to the English Channel. Promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, Rommel led the German army in Africa (known as The Afrika Korps) in its mostly successful North African campaign. He drove the British in Libya back to to El Alamein. This led to his promotion to the rank of Field Marshal. Eventually outmaneuvered by British Gen. Bernard L. Montgomery, he returned to Germany, where he was given charge of the defense of northern France.

He had an older daughter, Gertrud (1913-2000), who was born to Walburga Stemmer as a result of an affair with Rommel. Gertrud kept in touch with Rommel and his legal family, but was introduced to her half brother as a family relative. It was only after her death that the letters of Walnurga and Rommel were found. Walburga committed suicide in 1928, upon Manfred Rommel's birth to Lucie Rommel.

The circumstances surrounding his forced suicide are still murky. Although it is almost certain that he was not involved in the July 20, 1944, assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler, he was known to be, if not inimical to, at the least not well-disposed toward the Nazi party ideology. It was said that he was targeted by the Gestapo and earned Hitler's vengeance mostly because one conspirator blurted out Rommel's name during a brutal interrogation session.

The image of Rommel "the good German" was deliberately manufactured by the British during World War II to explain why they could not defeat him for so long in North Africa. From 1950 onward it was used so that West Germany would be allowed to rearm during the Cold War. The image has been largely debunked as "the Rommel myth".

In The Longest Day (1962), he was played by Werner Hinz, whose son Michael Hinz played his son Manfred Rommel in the film.