Erwin Rommel - Quotations About Rommel

Quotations About Rommel

The British Parliament considered a censure vote against Winston Churchill following the surrender at Tobruk. The vote failed, but in the course of the debate, Churchill stated:

We have a very daring and skillful opponent against us, and, may I say across the havoc of war, a great general.

Churchill again:

He also deserves our respect, because, although a loyal German soldier, he came to hate Hitler and all his works, and took part in the conspiracy to rescue Germany by displacing the maniac and tyrant. For this, he paid the forfeit of his life. In the sombre wars of modern democracy, there is little place for chivalry.

Theodor Werner was an officer who, during World War I, served under Rommel:

Anybody who came under the spell of his personality turned into a real soldier. However tough the strain he seemed inexhaustible. He seemed to know what the enemy were like and how they would react.

British General Claude Auchinleck, one of Rommel's opponents in Africa, in a letter to his field commanders:

There exists a real danger that our friend Rommel is becoming a kind of magical or bogey-man to our troops, who are talking far too much about him. He is by no means a superman, although he is undoubtedly very energetic and able. Even if he were a superman, it would still be highly undesirable that our men should credit him with supernatural powers... I am not jealous of Rommel.