Changes

He took command of Army Group B in Italy on August 16.  He had powerful divisions under his command,  including the infamous SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler.  He disagreed with Field Marshall Kesselring over strategy regarding the defense of Italy around Rome,  and Hitler chose Kesselring to take overall command of the Italian theater,  moving Rommel and Army Group B to Normandy in France.  Rommel was then tasked with inspecting the Atlantic Wall and preparing for an expected Allied invasion of the coast.

He took command of Army Group B in Italy on August 16.  He had powerful divisions under his command,  including the infamous SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler.  He disagreed with Field Marshall Kesselring over strategy regarding the defense of Italy around Rome,  and Hitler chose Kesselring to take overall command of the Italian theater,  moving Rommel and Army Group B to Normandy in France.  Rommel was then tasked with inspecting the Atlantic Wall and preparing for an expected Allied invasion of the coast.

==Normandy and Death==

==Normandy and Death==

He was in charge of Army Group B in Normandy when the [[D-Day]] operation began, but was not present when the invasion itself began.  He valiantly attempted to hold off Allied forces,  but Hitler's insistence on fruitless counterattacks wore Army Group B thin.  While returning from the HQ of I. SS Panzer Korps,  Rommel's staff car was strafed by a spitfire from the Royal Canadian Air Force. Rommel was violently thrown from the car,  and suffered three fractures to his skull along with injuries to the left side of his face.  He was implicated in the July 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler.  Given a choice between reprisals against his family or quietly committing suicide, he chose suicide.  He died October 14, 1944, after swallowing a cyanide capsule. He was 52.

He was in charge of Army Group B in Normandy when the [[D-Day]] operation began, but was not present when the invasion itself began.  He valiantly attempted to hold off Allied forces,  but Hitler's insistence on fruitless counterattacks wore Army Group B thin.  While returning from the HQ of I. SS Panzer Korps,  Rommel's staff car was strafed by a spitfire from the Royal Canadian Air Force. Rommel was violently thrown from the car,  and suffered three fractures to his skull along with injuries to the left side of his face.  He was implicated in the July 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler.  Given a choice between reprisals against his family or quietly committing suicide, he chose suicide.  He died October 14, 1944, after swallowing a cyanide capsule and was buried with full state honors as a German hero. He was 52. Only after the war did the German public learn the truth about his death.

 

==Legacy==

==Legacy==

Rommel is often held in high regard due to how he treated his enemies.  He ignored numerous orders from Berlin to kill captured commandos and deport Jews from his area of operations.  He was well loved by his men and spoke with them often.  His brilliant successes on the battlefield and his well renowned chivalry made him one of the most popular generals in Germany, and garnered a great deal of respect from his enemies, with many of them praising him and British Field Marshal Montgomery even naming his dog after him.  His allegiance was to Germany, not Hitler, a choice that lead to many of their disagreements and his eventual affiliation with the plot against Hitler.

Rommel is often held in high regard due to how he treated his enemies.  He ignored numerous orders from Berlin to kill captured commandos and deport Jews from his area of operations.  He was well loved by his men and spoke with them often.  His brilliant successes on the battlefield and his well renowned chivalry made him one of the most popular generals in Germany, and garnered a great deal of respect from his enemies, with many of them praising him and British Field Marshal Montgomery even naming his dog after him.  His allegiance was to Germany, not Hitler, a choice that lead to many of their disagreements and his eventual affiliation with the plot against Hitler.