by David Irving
Rommel’s strafing injury on July 17,1944, led to the final phase of his life. Winston Ramsey’s After the Battle magazine conducted a meticulous examination of this episode. I have listed below the manuscripts among which I investigated his alleged involvement in the plots against Hitler. He is barely mentioned in the Gestapo interrogation reports (T84/19, /20 and /21). I used one entry in the Luftwaffe General Werner Kreipe’s diary of August 1944.1 was fortunate to obtain from Major Anton Ehrnsperger a folder of notes and statements going back to November 1947, generated by the various postwar attempts to prosecute (the clearly wholly innocent) General Ernst Maisel for the “manslaughter” of Rommel. Maisel was finally acquitted in 1961. (Ehrnsperger accompanied Burgdorf and Maisel to the Rommel home in Herrlingen.) Burgdorf committed suicide in May 1945. In his official files is a folder on the preparations for Rommel’s funeral (T78/41) and the funeral program (T84/277).
MANUSCRIPTS AND ARTICLES
ALDINGER, HERMANN. “Mit General der Panzertruppen Rommel unterwegs.” Der Gebirgler, July 1941.
ARNIM, HANS-JÜRGEN. Papers. BA-MA, N61/4, pts I, II, III; N61/5, parts IV, V, VI.
_______. Answers to questionnaire, 1951. OCMH, MS C-094.
ASSMANN, HEINZ. Telexes from Führer’s war conferences. BA-MA, PG/32121.
BARGATZKY, WALTER. “Memoirs of 20 July 1944 in France.” October 20, 1945. Hoover Library, Stanford, California.
BARSEWISCH, K. H. “My Political Attitude.” July 15, 1945. IfZ, SI.
BAYERLEIN, FRITZ. Interrogation, February 8, 1946. OI-IIR 29.
_______. “Panzer Lehr Division.” OCMH, MS ETHINT 66.
_______. Answers to questionnaire, October 18, 1947. OCMH, MS T-3.
BERNDT, ALFRED. “27 Monate Kampf in Afrika.” Broadcast script, May 22, 1943. Rommel Papers.
BLUMENTRITT, GÜNTHER. “German Soldier Morale.” OCMH, MS B-338.
_______. Remarks to British army officer, June 7, 1945. CSDIC report SRGG 129C.
_______. Manuscript, England, January 1946. IfZ, ZS 208/1.
_______. “Chain of Command in the West.” OCMH, MS C-069a.
_______. “OB West and the Normandy Campaign.” OCMH, MS ETHINT 73.
_______. U.S. Fifth Corps Operations Plan. OCMH, MS B-637.
BÖTTCHER, ALBERT. Shorthand pad. BA-MA, H 48/3.
_______. Shorthand pad. NA, Microfilm T84/259.
BRINK, REINHARD. Statement, July 20, 1944. September 4, 1945. IfZ, SI.
BUTTLAR, HORST VON. Answers to questionnaire. OCMH, MS C-069c.
CARACCIOLO, MARIO. Memoirs of general commanding Fifth Italian Army, summer 1943. NA film T84/187.
CORDIER, SHERWOOD S. “Erwin Rommel As Military Commander: The Decisive Years, 1940–42.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Minnesota, 1963.
_______. “Panzers in the Desert: The Afrika Korps Wins the First Battle of Sidi Rezegh.” Armor, July-August 1962.
_______. “Rommel’s Greatest Triumph—The Gazala Campaign, 1942.” Armor, May-June 1963.
CREVELD, M. VAN. “Rommel’s Supply Problem, 1941–42.” Royal United Services Institution Journal, September 1974.
D’AGOSTINI, BRUNO. “With General Rommel at the Tobruk Front.” Il Messagero, May 25, 1941.
DAVIS, RICHARD A. “On a Road in Normandy, 17 July 1944.” Surgery, Gynecology & Obstetrics, 1961, pp. 242–54.
DIETRICH, SEPP. Interrogations, June 1, 1945, June 11, 1945 and June 14, 1945. PW 13/SAIC/11, SAIC/43, SAIC/46.
EBERBACH, HANS. Manuscripts. IfZ, ZS-30.
_______. Remarks to Blumentritt, August 19, 1945. CSDIC report GRGG 1347.
_______. Letter to Dr. E. Klink. MGFA, April 11, 1967.
ESCH, UDO VON. Interrogation by OCMH, October 28, 1945.
ESEBECK, HANNS-GERT VON. “Der Marschall.” Essay, July 17, 1944. BA-MA, N105/1.
FALKENHAUSEN, ALEXANDER VON. “Memoirs 1922–1945.” OCMH, MS B-289.
_______. Letter to General Geyr, January 14, 1961. IfZ, ED.91/12.
FALKENHAUSEN, GOTTHARD VON. Manuscript. IfZ, ZS-225.
FEUCHTINGER, EDGAR. “Twenty-first Panzer Division.” OCMH, MS B-441.
FRANZ, ERNST. “An Rommels Seite: Nach Tagebuchnotizen.” Der Frontsoldat erzählt, 1954, pp. 25ff.
GAUSE, ALFRED. “Die Führungsmethoden Rommels in Afrika.” June 1957. IfZ, SI.
_______. Article in Armor, July-August 1958.
_______. “Der Feldzug in Nordafrika im Jahre 1941.” WR, 1962, pp. 594–618.
_______. “Der Feldzug in Nordafrika im Jahre 1942.” WR, 1962, pp. 652–73.
_______. “Der Feldzug in Nordafrika im Jahre 1943.” WR, 1962, pp. 720–28.
GERSDORFF, RUDOLF VON. “Anti-invasion Preparations.” OCMH, MS B-122.
_______. Confidential manuscript on attempts to win Rommel for the conspiracy. IfZ, ZS-47/II.
GEYR, LEO VON. “Panzer Tactics in Normandy.” OCMH, MS ETHINT 13.
_______. “Panzer Group West.” OCMH, MS B-466.
_______. Papers. IfZ, ED91.
_______. Letter in Süddeutsche Zeitung, September 4, 1960.
_______. “Zu Problemen der Invasion von 1944.” Die Welt als Geschichte, 1962, pp. 79–87.
_______. “Vor 20 Jahren begann die Invasion.” Rundschau am Sonntag, June 7, 1964.
GUDERIAN, HEINZ. “Panzer Employment, Western Front.” OCMH, ETHINT 39.
HALDER, FRANZ. Letter to W. James, April 30, 1963. The Citadel.
HAMMERSTEIN, KUNRAT VON. Extract from memoirs. IfZ, ED91/16.
HENNES, LUDWIG. “Wettfahrt mit dem Tode, um Rommels Leben zu retten.” Type-script. IfZ, SI.
HESSE, KURT. Papers. BA-MA, N558.
_______. “Wandlung eines Mannes und eines Typus, Feldm. Rommel.” IfZ, SI.
_______. “Die Niederlage in Frankreich, 1944.” BA-MA, N558/77.
HEYDTE, BARON VON DER. Letter in Süddeutsche Zeitung, June 19, 1960.
HOLTZENDORFF, HANS-HENNING VON. “Reasons for Rommel’s Successes in Africa, 1941–42.” OCMH, MS D-024.
JAMES, W. Papers. The Citadel.
JODL, ALFRED. “U.S. Operations.” July 31, 1945. OCMH, ETHINT 52.
_______. Nuremberg pretrial interrogation, October 2, 1945.
KAISER, HERMANN. Diary, 1943. OCMH, MS B-285. With interpolations by Guderian. IfZ, SI.
KEITEL, WILHELM. Interrogation by U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey, June 27, 1945.
_______. Nuremberg pretrial interrogations, August 30 and September 28, 1945.
_______. Papers. BA-MA, N54/70.
KESSELRING, ALBERT. “Special Report on Events in Italy, July-September 1943.” OCMH, MS C-013.
_______. Interrogation, September 8, 1945. OCMH.
_______. “Ereignisse um den 22.2.1943 in Tunesien, 10 September 1949.” OCMH, MS C-066.
KIESSEL, GEORG. Manuscript, August 6, 1946. IfZ, SI.
KIRCHHEIM, HEINRICH. Letter to Hans Speidel, August 18, 1945; affidavit for Guderian, September 16, 1947; letter to Heinz-Günther Guderian, October 23, 1965. IfZ, SI.
KOCH, LUTZ. “Rommel, wie er wirklich war.” Deutsche Soldatenzeitung, September 11, 1952.
KRAUSE, FRITZ. “The Mareth Line.” April 5, 1947. OCMH, MS D-012.
KRAUSNICK, HELMUT. “Erwin Rommel und der deutsche Widerstand gegen Hitler.” VfZ, 1953, pp. 65–70.
KRIEBEL, RAINER. “Feldzug in Nordafrika 1941/43.” OCMH, MS T-3.
LANG, HELLMUTH. “Report on Rommel’s injury, July 17, 1944.” IfZ, SI.
_______. Affidavit for Sepp Dietrich, May 27, 1950. IfZ, SI.
LEBRAM, HANS. “Kritische Analyse der Artillerie des Atlantikwalles.” MR, 1955, pp. 29–38.
MEISE, WILHELM. Letter to W. James, March 21, 1964. The Citadel.
MELLENTHIN, FRIEDRICH VON. “Reasons for Rommel’s Success in Africa 1941/42.” OCMH, MS D-084.
_______. “Panzer Army Africa’s Pursuit to El Alamein.” OCMH, MS D-171.
MEYER, HUBERT. “12. SS Panzer Division Hitler Jugend Juni bis September 1944.” OCMH, MS P-164.
MICHAELIS, KLAUS. “Dr. Karl Strölin, Oberbürgermeister der Stadt Stuttgart von 1933–1945.” IfZ, MS 128.
MICHEL, ELMAR. Manuscript. IfZ, ZS-272.
MONTGOMERY, THE VISCOUNT OF ALAMEIN. “Operations in North-West Europe from 6th June 1944 to 5th May 1945 (Despatch of June 1st, 1946).” London Gazette, September 3, 1946.
MÜLLER-GEBHARD, PHILIP. “Afrika Korps.” OCMH, MS D-006.
MUTH, HEINRICH. “Bemerkungen zum Rommelfilm.” Geschichte in Wissenschaft und Unterricht, 1952, pp. 671–75.
Observer, The. “Rommel.” Profile. July 5, 1942.
PATTON, GEORGE S. “Operation Crusader.” Armor, May-June 1958.
PEMSEL, MAX. “Preparations for Invasion.” OCMH, MS B-234.
_______. “U.S. Fifth Corps Operations Plan.” OCMH, MS B-656.
_______. Letter to W. James, January 9, 1968. The Citadel.
_______. Article in Die Gebirgstruppe, No. 4, 1974.
_______. “Generaloberst Friedrich Dollmann. Zu seinem 30. Todestage.” Article in Deutsches Soldatenjahrbuch, 1974.
REISSMANN, WERNER. “Krise und Gegenstoss in der Wüste.’’ OCMH, MS B-149/51.
RINTELEN, ENNO VON. “The German–Italian Cooperation during World War II.” OCMH, MS B-495.
ROHWER, JÜRGEN. “Der Nachschubverkehr zwischen Italien und Libyen vom Juni 1940 bis Januar 1943.” MR, 1959, p. 105.
ROMMEL, ERWIN. Letter to General Otto Hitzfeld, May 27, 1944. BA-MA, N558/77.
_______. Letter to Adolf Hitler, October 1, 1944. Pencil draft in possession of Hellmuth Lang.
ROMMEL, LUCIE. Statements, Stuttgart, September 9, 1945, about General Hans Speidel and American looting of Rommel possessions. BA-MA, N558/77.
_______. Letter to Karl Strölin, August 10, 1947. IfZ, ZS-588.
_______. Letters to Erwin Rommel. Restricted. NA, T84/R273.
ROMMEL, MANFRED. Declaration, Riedlingen, April 27, 1945.
_______. Letter to General Ulrich de Maizière, December 2, 1971.
_______. Foreword to Warren Tute, North African War. London, 1975.
RUGE, FRIEDRICH. “Küstenverteidigung und Invasion.” Written 1946/47. MGFA.
RUNDSTEDT, GERD VON. Answers to questionnaire. OCMH, MS C-069f.
SCHROEDER, ULRICH. Papers, 1939/40. BA-MA, N20/2.
SCHWERIN, GERHARD VON. “116th Panzer Division in Normandy.” OCMH, MS ETHINT 17.
SPEIDEL, HANS. “Zur Vorgeschichte des 20. Juli 1944.” 1947. OCMH, MS B-721.
_______. “Generalfeldmarschall Rommels Führung, Vorbereitungen zur Rettung des Reiches und Ende 1944.” Undated draft typescript. IfZ, SI.
_______. Earlier draft of above typescript, ca. 1946. IfZ, SI.
_______. “Gedanken Rommels über die Abwehr und die Operationen im Westen 1944 und Betrachtungen.” March 31, 1947. OCMH, MS B-720.
_______. “Beurteilung der Westlage vor der Invasion.” 1948. OCMH, MS C-017.
_______. Note on conversation with General Geyr. April 5, 1952. The Citadel.
_______. Letter to Lutz Koch, October 21, 1946. IfZ, SI.
_______. Affidavit for Dr. Karl Strölin, 1948. IfZ, ZS-579/1.
STAUBWASSER, ANTON. Affidavit for Dr. Laternser, July 1946. IfZ, SI.
_______. “Die Feindbeurteilung durch Heeresgruppe B vor der Invasion.” October 1, 1947. OCMH, MS B-675.
_______. “Die Alarm-Frage in der Invasions-Nacht (5./6. Juni 1944).” December 1947.
STREICH, JOHANNES. “Erinnerungen an Afrika.” Unpublished lecture notes. IfZ, SI.
“TEICHMANN, BARON VON.” “Bericht über eine Besprechung mit den Generälen Beck und Stülpnagel.” Zurich, May 17, 1944. IfZ, F-86.
TEMPELHOFF, HANS-GEORG VON. Operations file, 1944. CO, AL 510.
_______. Papers. BA-MA, N105/1.
TEUCHERT, FRIEDRICH VON. Manuscript. IfZ, ZS-309.
VAERST, GUSTAV VON. “Vormarsch und Angriffeines Panzer-Regiments in der Wüste, 26./27. Mai 1942.” OCMH, MS P-149.
_______. “Fifteenth Panzer Division.” OCMH, MS D-083.
VOIGTSBERGER, HEINRICH. “116th Panzer Division (6 June-12 August 1944).” OCMH, MS B-017.
WARLIMONT, WALTER. Answers to questionnaire. OCMH, MS C-069e.
_______. “Die Stellung des deutschen Offizier-Corps zur politischen Führung nach 1933.” July 27, 1945. OCMH.
_______. “Die Insel Malta in der Mittelmeer-Strategie des Zweiten Weltkriegs.” WR, 1958, pp. 421–36.
WEICHOLD, EBERHARD. “Die deutsche Führung und das Mittelmeer unter dem Blickwinkel der Seestrategie.” WR, 1959, pp. 164–76.
_______. Letter to Kurt Hesse. BA-MA, N558/133.
Welt, Die. News item dated November 23, 1948.
WERNER, THEODOR. “Der General.” Schwäbische Zeitung, April 5, 1941.
WESTPHAL, SIEGFRIED. Interrogation, August 29, 1945. PIR AIC 1828.
_______. Interrogated by Walter Rapp, June 9, 1947. NA, Record Group 238.
_______. Answers to questionnaire. October 15, 1947. OCMH, MS T-3.
YOUNG, DESMOND. Letter to Picture Post magazine, April 8, 1950.
ZIEGELMANN, FRITZ. “Capture of U.S. Fifth Corps Operations Plan on 7 June 1944.” OCMH, MS B-636.
ZIMMERMANN, BODO. Answers to questionnaire. OCMH, MS C-069d.
BOOKS
ABERGER, HEINZ-DIETRICH, and TAYSEN, ADALBERT VON. Nur ein Bataillon. Essen, 1972.
ABETZ, OTTO. Das offene Problem. Cologne, 1951.
AGAR-HAMILTON, J. A., and TURNER, L. C. F. The Sidi Rezegh Battles, 1941. London and New York, 1957.
ALEXANDER, THE EARL. The Alexander Memoirs, 1940–1945. London, 1962.
AUCHINLECK, SIR CLAUDE. Despatch: Operations in the Middle East. London, 1948.
BARNETT, CORRELLI. The Desert Generals. London, 1960.
BAUM, WALTER, and WEICHOLD, EBERHARD. Der Krieg der Achsenmächte im Mittelmeer-Raum. Göttingen, 1973.
BENDER, ROGER JAMES, and LAW, RICHARD D. Uniforms, Organization and History of the Afrika Korps. Mountain View, Calif., 1973.
BERGOT, ERWAN. The Afrika Korps: The Corps d’Elite. Paris, 1976.
BERNOTTI, R. Storia della guerra nel Mediterraneo. Rome, 1960.
BHARUCHA, P. C. The North African Campaign 1941–43. London, 1956.
BLUMENSON, MARTIN. Rommel’s Last Victory. London, 1968.
BLUMENTRITT, GÜNTHER. Von Rundstedt. London, 1952.
BRAGADIN, M. A. The Italian Navy in World War II. Annapolis, 1957.
BRYANT, SIR ARTHUR. The Turn of the Tide. 2 vols. London, 1957–59.
BUTCHER, HARRY C. My Three Years with Eisenhower. New York, 1946.
CACCIA-DOMINIONI, PAOLO. Alamein, 1933–1962. London, 1966.
CARVER, SIR MICHAEL. El Alamein. London, 1962.
_______. Tobruk. London, 1964.
CAVALLERO, UGO. Comando Supremo. Diario 1940–43 del Capo di S. M. G. Rocca Casciano, 1948.
CHURCHILL, SIR WINSTON. The Second World War. 6 vols. London, 1948–54.
CIANO, COUNT GALEAZZO. Diary, 1939–1943. London, 1946.
CLIFFORD, ALEXANDER. Three against Rommel. London, 1943.
CLIFTON, GEORGE. The Happy Hunted. London, 1952.
COCCHIA, ALDO. La Guerra nel Mediterraneo—La Difesa del Traffico coll’ Africa Settentrionale. Rome, 1958.
CONNELL, JOHN. Auchinleck. London, 1959.
_______. Wavell. London, 1964.
DE GUINGAND, SIR FRANCIS. Operation Victory. London, 1963.
EHRMAN, JOHN. Grand Strategy. Vols. V-VI. London, 1956–58.
EISENHOWER, DWIGHT D. Report by the Supreme Commander of the Combined Chiefs of Staffon the Operations in Europe of the Allied Expeditionary Force 6 June 1944 to 8 May 1945. London, 1946.
_______. Crusade in Europe. New York and London, 1949.
ESEBECK, HANNS-GERT VON. Afrikanische Schicksalsjahre: Geschichte des deutschen Afrika Korps unter Rommel. Wiesbaden, 1949.
GOEBBELS, JOSEPH. The Goebbels Diaries. London, 1946.
GUDERIAN, HEINZ. Panzer Leader. Londo
n, 1952.
_______. Erinnerungen eines Soldaten. Neckargemünd, 1960.
HALDER, FRANZ. Kriegstagebuch. 3 vols. Stuttgart, 1963–64.
HAUSSER, PAUL. Waffen-SS im Einsatz. Göttingen, 1953.
HAYN, FRIEDRICH. Die Invasion: Von Cotentin bis Falaise. Heidelberg, 1954.
HECKMANN, WOLF. Rommels Krieg in Afrika. Bergisch Gladbach, 1976.
HEIBER, HELMUT, ed. Hitlers Lagebesprechungen. Stuttgart, 1962.
HOFFMANN, PETER. Widerstand, Staatsstreich, Attentat. Munich, 1970.
HOWARD, MICHAEL. The Mediterranean Strategy in the Second World War. London, 1968.
HOWE, GEORGE F. U.S. Army in World War II. Washington, passim.
HUBATSCH, WALTHER, ed. Hitlers Weisungen für die Kriegführung 1939–1945. Frankfurt, 1962.
IRVING, DAVID. The Rise and Fall of the Luftwaffe. London and New York, 1973.
_______. Hitler’s War. London and New York, 1977.
JÄCKEL, EBERHARD. Frankreich in Hitlers Europa. Stuttgart, 1966.
JACOBSEN, OTTO. Erich Marcks, Soldat und Gelehrter. Göttingen, 1971.
JÜNGER, ERNST. Strahlungen. Tübingen, 1949.
KAY, ROBIN. Chronology: New Zealand in the War 1939–1946. Wellington, 1968.
KESSELRING, ALBERT. Soldat bis zum letzten Tag. Bonn, 1953.
KIPPENBERGER, SIR HOWARD. Infantry Brigadier. Oxford, 1949.
KOCH, LUTZ. Erwin Rommel: Die Wandlung eines grossen Soldaten. Stuttgart, 1950.
LEWIN, RONALD. Rommel As Military Commander. London, 1968.
_______. The Life and Death of the Afrika Korps. London, 1977.
LICHEM, HEINZ VON. Rommel 1917. Munich, 1976.
LIDDELL HART, SIR BASIL. The Other Side of the Hill. London, 1951.
_______. The Tanks. 2 vols. London, 1959.
LONG, GAVIN. To Benghazi. Canberra, 1952.
MACDONALD, J. F. The War History of Southern Rhodesia 1939–1945. Vol. I. Salisbury, 1947.
MAJDALANY, FRED. The Battle of El Alamein. London, 1965.
MANZETTI, FERRUCCIO. Seconda Offensiva Britannica in Africa Settentrionale e ripiegamento Italo–Tedesco nella Sirtica Orientale, 18 Novembre 1941 – 17 Gennaio 1942. Rome, 1949.