Before I begin talking about the 'Desert Fox', I first want to show you guys a video in honor of Erwin Rommel.

I have a great deal of respect for Rommel, I really have. Why, you might ask, wasn't he a German. Aye, that he was, but he was also the most human general during the Second World War. Rommel was a wonderful tactician during the war, always trying to minimize casualties where ever he could. His famous Afrika Korps was never accused of war crimes, unlike all those other Korpses in Poland and Russia. He treated POWs with respect and didn't torture them. Whenever his Korps attacked Allied Forces, he would advance with his men into battle as to give them moral support, though he would keep a safe distance between him and the enemy. When his soldiers died, he would visit their graves and pay his respects.

He also wasn't a Nazi, he was just a part of the German Wehrmacht and did his duty, fighting Allied forces. Numerous times he tried to warn Hitler that he was losing the war, but Hitler didn't want to listen to Rommel. Rommel was then repositioned to the Atlantikwall where he knew that the Allies were going to land on the beaches of Normandy. Again he tried to warn Hitler, but still Hitler didn't want to listen to Rommel, since he was convinced that the Allies would land in Calais, France's closest point to England.

Seeing that Hitler was really losing the war, he came into contact with Stauffenberg's plan to assassinate Hitler. Rommel's intent was to end the war by killing Hitler and thus saving numerous soldiers and civilians from certain death. The plan failed, however, and Hitler became aware that Rommel had tried to assassinate him. On the 14th of October, Rommel committed suicide to avoid a public execution and to protect his family from shame and disgrace.

That's why I find Rommel such a great general. He was a caring general who protected the innocent as much as he could and tried to end the Nazi-Regime in Germany. So join me in saluting, Herr Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel.

Thank you for your time, and if you wish to discuss, then please leave a comment. I could use it, since I'm going to study history at the university next year, and I will focus on the second world war.

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Since I am on a mobile device, I'll keep it short.

Rommel was a genius and an amazing Field Marshall but I personally have to say that Field Marshall Heinz Guderian was the greatest of WW2 generals.

1448520 Now, let's face it. The greatest General was George C. Scott Patton. He was the toughest son of a bitch to ever fight a war, and would always find a way to keep his men in a fighting spirit. Even if it resorted to his infamous "Slapping Incident" where he allegedly pimp slapped a pussyfoot greehorn back into the fight. He didn't take shit from anyone, and led some of the most important operations of the War.

1448547 Ah yes, the father of the Blitzkrieg and Fall Gelb. Rommel is still my favorite, though.

The fact that Rommel WAS such a humane general is why he is admired by people today. He proved that not all Germans are bent on slaughtering everyone in their paths like animals. He also paid POW's for their labor. My great-grandfather once said he sometimes wished he had been with the Afrika Korps instead of the Luftwaffe because he wanted to meet Field Marshal Rommel. My other great-grandfather said he was glad his time with the RAF was over before Rommel improved defenses in Normandy, too many flak guns he said.

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Indeed, Rommel was a gentlemen and a scholar(he wrote a book on tank warfare if I remember correctly.) and one of the best generals the Germans had in my opinion. He was definitely a worthy match for Patton, Monty, Bradley, and the other Allied generals he faced.

also have this

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You had family in the German military

All I know about my family serving was my Great granddad on my mom's side was in the US Navy in the Pacific

1448574 Oh yeah, Patton. I know his most famous battle was the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes in my country, Belgium. I know that he's one though son a of a bitch, and it's a pity that he had to die in a car accident just before his flight home. I personally wouldn't call him the greatest general of all time, but he sure was the greatest general of the American army. Beside Eisenhouwer, of course.

1448634 Cool, you had family in the German Army. A great-grandfather of mine was in the Belgian army when Germany invaded our country. We Belgians fought fiercely for 18 days before we surrendered. Hey, what did you expect? We're a tiny nation, and Germany is a giant compared to us. Anyway, my great-grandfather of mine was deported to Germany to work in work camps. He was treated with some respect, but it was heavy labor. When the allied forces freed his camp, he immediately came back to Belgium and never fought again.

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Ja. Most of my family that served in World War II were in an air force somewhere. My great-grandfather Hans flew with Jagdgeschwader 2 in the Battle of Britain and was more than likely shooting at my other great-grandfather in his Hawker Hurricane. Not to mention the fact that he was assigned to bomber interception later on so he could have passably shot at my great-great-uncle in his B-17 Flying Fortress. Probably the only family around that can tell both sides of the air war in Europe.

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That'd make a awkward family reunion if it turned out they did

The only thing similar in my family is that I had family on both sides of the Civil War: One in the Union Navy and the other worked in factory in the Confederacy.

1448647 I think you mean Heinz Guderian's book 'Achtung, Panzer!'

If I had to choose the best general in the Pacific, I'd say Isoroku Yamamoto. He was a very skilled tactician who was the brain behind Pearl Harbor and Midway.

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Well the funny thing was that family reunions were always calm because they knew the other was just following orders. And the B-17 pilot was shot down and captured by German soldiers in August 1944 and he would always sit and watch Hogan's Heroes and laugh at how they could make an experience like his into a sitcom. And then there's my great-grandma who was a W.A.C. pilot and ferried B-17's, B-24's, and later B-29's to Hawaii from California. But she would sometimes have to fly P-39's to Alaska to hand them over to Russian pilots. And now she refuses to fly anywhere.

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He was just a pilot. At least that's how he always put it. He flew in the Battle of Britain, got transferred to North Africa flying air support for Rommel's ground forces, then got sent back to France to combat American bombers heading towards German factory's, and went up against allied fighters on D-Day. It drove him crazy when he got sent back to France that he never met Rommel even though he would visit the pilots who flew air cover for him in Africa. But after the war he didn't care that he never met Rommel, he was just happy he had survived.

1449051 Have you ever seen Band of Brothers? On D-day, the pilots that survived, dang, they were lucky. Even though Normandy was the weakest defended region in France, many men and pilots lost their lives that day. Last year I went to Normandy and saw what those soldiers had been through. There are still some places in Normandy that are still not restored. Here's a photo of Pointe du Hoc.

And this used to be Pointe du hoc.

So yeah, I bet they all went through a living hell.

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I was wrong it was called Infanterie Greift An (Infantry Attacks in English)

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Of all the German generals, I do think Rommel was best. But of all the generals, I have to say Patton was the best. He did so much more with so much less. The Germans like Rommel had several other generals like Guderian, Kesselring, and von Rundstedt. Patton was pretty much a breed all his own when it came to the top allied commanders. Not to mention German tanks were the best in the war while Patton had to use Shermans.

"The most astonishing achievement in mobile warfare."

-Erwin Rommel

"Patton had developed tank warfare into an art, and understood how to handle tanks brilliantly in the field."

-Kesselring

"He is your best."

-Von Rundstedt

And i'm assuming we're only talking WW2 generals. If not, then Washington, Lee, Napoleon, and Hindenburg would like a word.
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Rommel was probably the best of the German generals; not just because he knew great tactics and won amazing victories, but because he was a true general while doing, always respecting the enemy. Rommel, Guderian, and a few others were the only ones to openly oppose Hitler. I know Hitler was crazy and paranoid, but he made an absolutely massive blunder by killing him. Not to mention the way he died; voluntary suicide to save his family.

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Indeed

1449208 Yeah, he was truly a man who earned respect from both enemies, friends, and from us.

And on a less serious note

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We watched the jump scene in 20th century history class but other than that no I haven't seen it. He always said that no movie could truly show exactly what it was like in Normandy, even if they used old news reel footage and eyewitness accounts from veterans it still didn't show the full magnitude of it. He showed me a picture once of him with his plane riddled with bullet holes from P-47's that they had engaged during the invasion. He also had a picture of the armor behind his head in the canopy with a dent in it from a .50 caliber bullet that would have gone through his head had the canopy and armor not been there. I would share the pictures but we buried them with him as it was his last request before he died.