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. Bastico reported the outburst to Cavallero, and Rommel splea really stuck in the Italian marshal s craw. I am against giving351 david irvingRommel any freedom of action at all, he exclaimed to Kesselring. Just look how he behaves when he does get it.It s quite clear thatall he wants is to get to Tunis as fast as his legs will carry him. It was now that he first voiced to Kesselring the possibility ofrepatriating Rommel to Germany and giving the Panzer Army toan Italian general instead.Later that day he took it up with Mus-solini too. We ve got to get rid of Rommel, Marshal Cavallerowrote in his diary.It was nearly Christmas.From all over Germany food parcels andletters poured into Rommel s headquarters.There were crates oforanges, too; he stacked them in his car and drove out to thefront to distribute them: That s what I like most of all Þö drivingout to the troops, he wrote. It takes your mind off things, andyou can see the fresh young German soldiers. In brilliant sun-shine he inspected the best present of all, the first of the deadlyeighty-eight-millimeter Flak 41s to arrive from the Reich.Hitlerhad kept his promise.It was the finest gun of its class in theworld.On Christmas Eve he drove over to Faschia to inspect theoutpost there. On the way back, wrote Armbruster, we at laststumbled on a herd of twenty-five gazelles.C in C and I shot oneeach.Got back at 4:00 p.m., in time for his guard company sChristmas celebration.The C in C even made a speech, and it wasfilmed by the propaganda men.Father Christmas had somethingnice to give each of us; the C in C got a giant cake and Bayerlein aleg of mutton.At 8:00 p.m.the C in C s inner circle sat down todine off the gazelles (there were just the twelve of us, until mid-night). Rommel s own thoughts were in Wiener Neustadt. Ach, he wrote to Lucie that day, when will we ever meet again?My worries are as big as ever. Among the presents to Rommel352 the trail of the foxwas a miniature gasoline can Þö filled not with gasoline but apound or two of coffee.What Rommel did not know, or refused to believe, was thatsevere supply problems also plagued Montgomery.In fact, theBritish could not attack the Buerat line before mid-January 1943.The truth was that Montgomery had such supply troubles thathe could only push a small part of his army forward for the attackon Buerat.Which raises the question: would he have risked thisthrust if he had not known from the Ultra intercepts that theNazi field marshal had little intention of making a stand in Trip-olitania? Montgomery himself later admitted: I well knew that ifwe did not reach Tripoli in ten days I might have to withdraw Þöfor lack of supplies. Kesselring, more comfortable in Rome than was Rommel inhis wet and unsanitary bunker, grew impatient at Rommel s re-luctance to hammer Montgomery s probing fingers.He informedCavallero that the enemy forces threatening Rommel were infact very weak and off-balance. Something must be done to raiseRommel s confidence in his own capabilities. In the original textsof Rommel s letters there are certainly many hints of his mentalanguish. Slowly our fate here is being sealed, he wrote emotion-ally on December 28. It will be a miracle if we can hold on muchlonger.What happens then will lie in God s hands.We ll fight onas long as we can.I had forebodings about all this when we lastmet [in Rome], and I told you the salient points.When thefighting here is all over and you get news about my fate, you mustact fast Þö and he gave Lucie instructions on where she andManfred ought to live, if he did not return.By that date Rommel s Panzer Army was safely tucked be-hind the Buerat line.Now Þö remarkably, in the circumstances ÞöRome again bowed before Rommel.On December 31, the last dayof a momentous year, Kesselring flew in and drove with Rommel353 david irvingup the coastal highway to see Marshal Bastico.All the accounts Þöin the diaries of Cavallero, Rommel and Armbruster, and inRommel s private letters and the records of the Panzer Army Þöagree that there was a blazing row.Mussolini s new order, in Bas-tico s words, was that if the Panzer Army s imminent destructionwas threatened at Buerat, then it might stage a fighting with-drawal to the next line back: the mountain passes at Homs, to theeast of Tripoli.The leaders in Rome had now reconciled them-selves to the inevitable loss of Tripoli, but it would take twomonths to prepare the port for demolition properly; so Rommel sfighting withdrawal must last at least two months.Rommel was uncharitable. Your orders are that I am not toallow my army to be wiped out, he snapped. That alone will be amiracle.Remember the battles we have been fighting recently Þöeach time we only just managed to get our head out of the nooseat the last moment. He pointed out that it would take at leasteight days to evacuate the infantry to Homs and that Montgom-ery was unlikely to wait eight days before attacking.Bastico refused to consider evacuating the infantry prema-turely.Rommel retorted: There s only one choice.Either we getslaughtered here in the Buerat line, or we begin pulling out theinfantry immediately.I m not going to lay myself open to laterallegations that I sacrificed them. Bastico challenged him to statehis views in writing.Rommel refused: I must act and act now.Ican t possibly submit written proposals and wait for their ap-proval. Bastico undertook to radio all this to Rome.Two days later, Rommel had his reply.He could start pull-ing his infantry out of the line, but he was to use his mechanizeddivisions to prevent Montgomery from reaching the Homs linefor three weeks, and to prevent him from reaching Tripoli itselffor three more weeks after that.Again Rommel was plunged intodespair. Why attach such senseless deadlines? he moaned to his354 the trail of the foxstaff. It should be obvious that I will hold out as long as humanlypossible. These words would have rung hollow in Italian ears, hadthey heard them, as Rommel s retreat toward Tunisia acceleratedover the next two weeks to a gallop.But to understand his frameof mind a wider view must be taken.His actions were dominatedby one nightmare Þö that after the loss of Tripoli, the Americansmight attack the remaining lifeline, the road bringing supplieseastward from Tunis.Captured American Air Force officers fedthis fear when they revealed to Rommel on January 4 that strongforces were massing for just such an attack.Now in fertile Tripolitania, Rommel s brave Africans were inbetter health and well fed.The troops had fresh meat, and Rom-mel s own staff often fed on gazelle.In the evenings they sawmovies, read their excellent army newspaper The Oasis, drank,played cards, sang to an accordion and read letters from theirwomenfolk back home.Several ships with supplies for Rommel docked at Tunis inthe first days of 1943 Þö Arnim claimed to be trucking 400 tons ofsupplies a day down the long road to Rommel at Buerat.But littleof this was gasoline, so Rommel had no choice but to begin theevacuation of Buerat.The weather was foul Þö rain, sandstorms,cold nights.The Afrika Korps remained at Buerat, along with onethird of the German and Italian infantry.On January 6, Cavallero and Kesselring again came to seeRommel and Bastico.Armbruster did a summary: Four fieldmarshals in conference.Cavallero explains the reasons why theyhave decided, against their wishes, to abandon Tripolitania.SaysTunisia is more vital for final victory.Kesselring seemed quitehostile toward Rommel.C in C flew into a temper [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]
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. Bastico reported the outburst to Cavallero, and Rommel splea really stuck in the Italian marshal s craw. I am against giving351 david irvingRommel any freedom of action at all, he exclaimed to Kesselring. Just look how he behaves when he does get it.It s quite clear thatall he wants is to get to Tunis as fast as his legs will carry him. It was now that he first voiced to Kesselring the possibility ofrepatriating Rommel to Germany and giving the Panzer Army toan Italian general instead.Later that day he took it up with Mus-solini too. We ve got to get rid of Rommel, Marshal Cavallerowrote in his diary.It was nearly Christmas.From all over Germany food parcels andletters poured into Rommel s headquarters.There were crates oforanges, too; he stacked them in his car and drove out to thefront to distribute them: That s what I like most of all Þö drivingout to the troops, he wrote. It takes your mind off things, andyou can see the fresh young German soldiers. In brilliant sun-shine he inspected the best present of all, the first of the deadlyeighty-eight-millimeter Flak 41s to arrive from the Reich.Hitlerhad kept his promise.It was the finest gun of its class in theworld.On Christmas Eve he drove over to Faschia to inspect theoutpost there. On the way back, wrote Armbruster, we at laststumbled on a herd of twenty-five gazelles.C in C and I shot oneeach.Got back at 4:00 p.m., in time for his guard company sChristmas celebration.The C in C even made a speech, and it wasfilmed by the propaganda men.Father Christmas had somethingnice to give each of us; the C in C got a giant cake and Bayerlein aleg of mutton.At 8:00 p.m.the C in C s inner circle sat down todine off the gazelles (there were just the twelve of us, until mid-night). Rommel s own thoughts were in Wiener Neustadt. Ach, he wrote to Lucie that day, when will we ever meet again?My worries are as big as ever. Among the presents to Rommel352 the trail of the foxwas a miniature gasoline can Þö filled not with gasoline but apound or two of coffee.What Rommel did not know, or refused to believe, was thatsevere supply problems also plagued Montgomery.In fact, theBritish could not attack the Buerat line before mid-January 1943.The truth was that Montgomery had such supply troubles thathe could only push a small part of his army forward for the attackon Buerat.Which raises the question: would he have risked thisthrust if he had not known from the Ultra intercepts that theNazi field marshal had little intention of making a stand in Trip-olitania? Montgomery himself later admitted: I well knew that ifwe did not reach Tripoli in ten days I might have to withdraw Þöfor lack of supplies. Kesselring, more comfortable in Rome than was Rommel inhis wet and unsanitary bunker, grew impatient at Rommel s re-luctance to hammer Montgomery s probing fingers.He informedCavallero that the enemy forces threatening Rommel were infact very weak and off-balance. Something must be done to raiseRommel s confidence in his own capabilities. In the original textsof Rommel s letters there are certainly many hints of his mentalanguish. Slowly our fate here is being sealed, he wrote emotion-ally on December 28. It will be a miracle if we can hold on muchlonger.What happens then will lie in God s hands.We ll fight onas long as we can.I had forebodings about all this when we lastmet [in Rome], and I told you the salient points.When thefighting here is all over and you get news about my fate, you mustact fast Þö and he gave Lucie instructions on where she andManfred ought to live, if he did not return.By that date Rommel s Panzer Army was safely tucked be-hind the Buerat line.Now Þö remarkably, in the circumstances ÞöRome again bowed before Rommel.On December 31, the last dayof a momentous year, Kesselring flew in and drove with Rommel353 david irvingup the coastal highway to see Marshal Bastico.All the accounts Þöin the diaries of Cavallero, Rommel and Armbruster, and inRommel s private letters and the records of the Panzer Army Þöagree that there was a blazing row.Mussolini s new order, in Bas-tico s words, was that if the Panzer Army s imminent destructionwas threatened at Buerat, then it might stage a fighting with-drawal to the next line back: the mountain passes at Homs, to theeast of Tripoli.The leaders in Rome had now reconciled them-selves to the inevitable loss of Tripoli, but it would take twomonths to prepare the port for demolition properly; so Rommel sfighting withdrawal must last at least two months.Rommel was uncharitable. Your orders are that I am not toallow my army to be wiped out, he snapped. That alone will be amiracle.Remember the battles we have been fighting recently Þöeach time we only just managed to get our head out of the nooseat the last moment. He pointed out that it would take at leasteight days to evacuate the infantry to Homs and that Montgom-ery was unlikely to wait eight days before attacking.Bastico refused to consider evacuating the infantry prema-turely.Rommel retorted: There s only one choice.Either we getslaughtered here in the Buerat line, or we begin pulling out theinfantry immediately.I m not going to lay myself open to laterallegations that I sacrificed them. Bastico challenged him to statehis views in writing.Rommel refused: I must act and act now.Ican t possibly submit written proposals and wait for their ap-proval. Bastico undertook to radio all this to Rome.Two days later, Rommel had his reply.He could start pull-ing his infantry out of the line, but he was to use his mechanizeddivisions to prevent Montgomery from reaching the Homs linefor three weeks, and to prevent him from reaching Tripoli itselffor three more weeks after that.Again Rommel was plunged intodespair. Why attach such senseless deadlines? he moaned to his354 the trail of the foxstaff. It should be obvious that I will hold out as long as humanlypossible. These words would have rung hollow in Italian ears, hadthey heard them, as Rommel s retreat toward Tunisia acceleratedover the next two weeks to a gallop.But to understand his frameof mind a wider view must be taken.His actions were dominatedby one nightmare Þö that after the loss of Tripoli, the Americansmight attack the remaining lifeline, the road bringing supplieseastward from Tunis.Captured American Air Force officers fedthis fear when they revealed to Rommel on January 4 that strongforces were massing for just such an attack.Now in fertile Tripolitania, Rommel s brave Africans were inbetter health and well fed.The troops had fresh meat, and Rom-mel s own staff often fed on gazelle.In the evenings they sawmovies, read their excellent army newspaper The Oasis, drank,played cards, sang to an accordion and read letters from theirwomenfolk back home.Several ships with supplies for Rommel docked at Tunis inthe first days of 1943 Þö Arnim claimed to be trucking 400 tons ofsupplies a day down the long road to Rommel at Buerat.But littleof this was gasoline, so Rommel had no choice but to begin theevacuation of Buerat.The weather was foul Þö rain, sandstorms,cold nights.The Afrika Korps remained at Buerat, along with onethird of the German and Italian infantry.On January 6, Cavallero and Kesselring again came to seeRommel and Bastico.Armbruster did a summary: Four fieldmarshals in conference.Cavallero explains the reasons why theyhave decided, against their wishes, to abandon Tripolitania.SaysTunisia is more vital for final victory.Kesselring seemed quitehostile toward Rommel.C in C flew into a temper [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]