Rommel in the Addennes

What if Rommel was never forced into sucide and commanded in the Addennes offensive and what the outcome of that would be?

 

Hah haaaa, these are what I LIVE for

Had Rommel not been forced to commit suicide, I strongly believe that his "punishment" would have been his banishment to this operation.

Rommel most likely would have been demoted and would probably command only a Corps. I think his punishment would have been in the form of having to serve under these men instead of commanding them.

But I would figure that Hitler would have seen how valuable of a man Rommel was, and would have let him keep a command, but not what he had had in Normandy.

If Rommel had been in the Ardennes Offensive, he most likely would have been in command of 67th Korps located near Wahlerscheid and neighbor of the 1st SS Panzer Korps. They would be facing the 9th and 99th Inf Div and 2nd Armored Divs located in the areas of Elsenborn, Rocherath, Butgenbach and Krinkelt. My reason why he would be placed there is because it was not the Schwehrpunkt of the German offensive, and not the most important area at the start, for this battle.

Had Rommel been busted down to a Divisional commander, most likely he would be put in command of the Panzer Lehr Division, but depending on who had say-so and in what.

I also think that Manteuffel or someone like "Sepp" Dietrich, would have had enough pull to be able to put Rommel in one of the best positions possible, namely in command of a Panzer Division or Panzer Korps. Mantueffel or Dietrich, would have had to have enough brains to use him in the best possible way. Seeing as Rommel was always very popular with his suboordinates, he would have been an instant morale booster, for the soldiers under his command, thus they would be tougher fighters.

Anothing thing is that a general who served under him in the D.A.K, Fritz Beyerlein, was also a general in the Ardennes Offensive, and Rommel would have an "ally".

If he had really been punished, he could have commanded the 79th Volkgrenadier Division, or some not so prestigeous of a command as he once had held.

None the less, I would see that Rommel would do his duty as a German Officer, and fight the best fight he could.

If it were not for his wife and family being in Germany, he might have even considered letting himself be "captured" at some point in the battle.

The 79th Volksgrenadier Division was located in the Southern Sector, where they saw some heavy fighting, but not a sbad as at a place like Bastogne.

And correct me if I am wrong but, I think the 79th Volksgrenadier Divisions commander was killed and was either by a strafing plane or an artillery round. Perhaps that would be the kind of punishment for Hitlers once favorite Generalfeldmarshall, now a "lowly" Generalmajor or Generalleutnant.

Had Rommel been allowed to live and keep serving, he would also have been stripped of all his awards including the Knights Cross, Oak leaves and Swords, down to his WW1 EK2nd!



No matter how the German high command and Hitler would try to break Rommels spirit, I do not think they could do so. Rommel then "knew" what time it was

He was a great enough soldier to have been able to withstand the attacks from Hitler to attacks from the Americans. Rommel still had friends in high places, and no doubt in my mind, he would still come out shining

 

Wow. that is one long response C. Evans. I got a question that doesn't have anything to do with the topic. Do you know any german reenactors that I can talk to online because I'm trying to start doing it and have like a million questions,plus the unit I'm trying to join isn't responding to my emails. Any help would be greatly apprecited.

 

There is one I know of that posts on this forum, his name is Alvin. You would have to ask Otto what his email is, or the link to his site, which is here somewhere but I cant remember the name of it.

Hope this helps.

And thanks

 

I think someone already wrote a book on this "what if" scenario. Its' called "Fox on the Rhine" You should read it. I think it was pretty accurate assesment.

Matt

 

Im going to check into that title at barnes and Nobles Bookstore--see if they can order it first--if mot--I will look on the net for it. This sounds up my alley as a nice respite from the real stuff.

 

I've only just 'found' this thread. As you all probably know by now, I'll pick up anything with 'Ardennes' or 'Bulge' in the title !

Very interesting response, General Evans. Hmmmmm....

At this stage of the war, Hitler's distrust of high-ranking Heer officers seems absolute - so I don't think even Dietrich would have got Rommel into the LSSAH or indeed any SS unit.

I go along with Panzer Lehr. Von Manteuffel I think could have used him, and the Bayerlein connection may have motivated both men ( as it was, Panzer Lehr lost momentum before Bastogne ).

But overall, Rommel's mood swings would have militated against him having an overall effect on the outcome of the campaign. Reading biographies, Rommel became disheartened very quickly when things weren't 'right'.

He knew the game was up for Germany. This wasn't 1940/41 ; his motivation just wouldn't have been the same.

 

Hallo, gentlemen!

Hallo, again. I have realised that I am not strong enough nor brave enough to quit this place I love so much. It is the only place where I can breath fresh air and feel confortable. I had no reason to change my signature, but I did it just and ONLY because Carl asked me kindly to do so. He did not insult me nor acted agressively. He was very kind and that is why I consider him my friend. Thanks for that, Carl. I will just ignore all the stupidities and insults I might hear or read by whoever, because by doing so, they just show how ignorant they are.

But speaking about more interesting issues, what if Rommel was in the Ardennes? Well...

Rommel was very disappointed of the man who had been his hero by 1944, that is why he got stuck into the plot, although not very deeply. I read that the GESTAPO found out about him by the words of an agonising officer who knew all about the plot. He just said: "Rommel, Rommel, Rommel". But better we can say that what if he didn't get into the plot, because Hitler felt betrayed by everybody, but I think that Rommel's betrayal hurted him more than other's, because he had been his star, his favourite, his bodyguard... It was more honourable for him to commit suicide and protect his family than being chsed by the GESTAPO the rest of the war, being degraded, taken his awards and rank away. I also think that Dietrich or Von Manteuffel would not have liked to have under their command a so respected and experienced field marshall commanding a division... they would have felt like they were humilliating him giving him orders. And Rommel, as Carl said, would not have been motivated enough... he would have certainly done a very good job, all he could, but also, as we have discussed with a small number of troops. A division or a Panzerkorps commanded by a motivated Rommel would have done a lot, even in the awfu conditions of the offensive. But I think that if he would have had Hitler's favour and stime he could probably had been appointed commander of Heeresgruppe G instead of Model, perhaps. And that would have provoked a problem between him and Von Runstedt as happened in Normandy and we all know that it was not good, because Rommel was not good with so many troops and with not a lot of action freedom...

 

Well thought out posting and I had fun reading it.

 

It wouldn't make any difference, except that Rommel would have conquered Bastogne. Also he would have ordered Joachim Peiper to attack at a different place and it would probably have worked.(I don't know where, so please suggest)

But Rommel couldn't have changed the weather conditions that were better for the Allied airplanes at the beginning of januari 1945.