German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, famous German commander of German forces in North Africa, dies on this day

The legendary German general was known as the "Desert Fox for his brilliant military exploits in north Africa during the Second World War.  He was born in Heidenheim, Wurttemberg, on Nov. 15, 1891. He joined the 124th Infantry Regiment as an officer cadet in 1910, and two years later was commissioned a 2d lieutenant. During World War I he served in France and on the Romanian and Italian fronts. After the war he held regimental commands, and was a military school from 1933-1938. His highly regarded textbook on tactics, Infanterie greift an, was published in 1937. He was promoted major general on the eve of World War II.  In 1941, with the rank of lieutenant general, he was given command of the German troops in Libya. On June 21, 1942, he was made a field marshal, the youngest in the German Army, in recognition of his success in forcing the British back from Cyrenaica into Egypt as far as El Alamein. However, he was unable to advance to capture Alexandria. In the months that followed, during which he commanded all Italo-German troops in North Africa, he was driven back into Cyrenaica and across Tripolitania into Tunisia. After the battle at Medenine on March 5, 1943, he returned to Germany because of ill health. He was made commander in chief of all German armies from the Netherlands to the Loire River in January 1944. Despite his great efforts, the Germans were unable to prevent the Allies from landing in Normandy in the following June. Never a member of the Nazi party, Hitler viewed him with growing distrust, especially as he had become increasingly outspoken in his criticism of his leadership.  On Oct. 14, 1944, two German generals investigating the July 20 plot against Hitler's life visited Rommel. He was given, on orders from Hitler, the choice between taking poison and having his death reported as resulting from his wounds, or facing trial by the People's Court. He chose suicide, ending his life in the generals' automobile near Ulm, Germany, on Oct. 14, 1944.