With regard to atrocities, Rommel had the advantage of not being on the Eastern front.
With regard to armored warfare development, many other soldiers contributed such a Guderian.
“With regard to armored warfare development, many other soldiers contributed such a Guderian.”
Heinz Guderian was the only General to defy Hitler TWICE and live.
When the order came to halt the advance on Dunkirk Guderian kept rolling, calling it a “reconnaissance in force”.
Only when told he would be denied gas and munitions did he stop.
When the Russians counter-attacked from Moscow Guderian wanted to fall back to a better position. He even flew to Hitler’s hq to plead his case.
Hitler denied his request.
Guderian returned to the front and pulled off a series of withdrawals anyway.
Field Marshall Gunther von Kluge, commander of Army Group Center relieved him of command and sent him back to Germany as a reserve pool officer.
In 1943 Hitler decided he needed Guderians expertise and created the office of Inspector of Armored Troops. Guderian was to control the development and production of tanks and mobile artillery and the training of the troops.
He wanted more Panzer IV’s and Panthers but was over ruled by Hitler who was mesmerised by super tanks and huge railway guns.
Guderian very nearly talked Hitler out of authorizing the Kursk offensive, pointing out that the terrain was unfavorable and the Russians had built up a formidable defense.
General Wilhelm Keitel strongly believed the offensive was of great political importance.
Guderian remarked, “How many people do you think even know where Kursk is? It’s a matter of profound indifference to the world whether we hold Kursk or not...”
Guderian ended the war as Chief of Staff of the Army.
He later had a hand in starting the German Defense Force, the precursor of the Bundesweher.
Heinz Guderian was a very intriguing fellow.
Yet, even as the Eastern Front was rife with atrocities, it was also where much of the plotting against Hitler gestated, a moral test that Rommel was spared. Although Rommel's support was desired by the July 20 plotters, even late in the game he was apparently not regarded as fully reliable and was not asked.
Rommel's contribution to the development of German Blitzkrieg was more by demonstration than doctrine. As part of the German spearhead into France in 1940 alongside Guderian's three armored divisions, Rommel commanded the Seventh Panzer and drove it fast and deep into France, so much so that it became known as the "Ghost Division" because it moved quicker than its position could be reliably mapped at headquarters.
Although an infantry officer by training and WW I combat experience, Rommel's energetic personality and eagerness to be in direct command at the decisive point of battle made him ready to embrace the new doctrine of Blitzkrieg warfare. Indeed, Rommel's talent as an infantry officer made him a natural in its combined arms aspects, which, truth be told, are more essential to its success than tanks dashing about in mutual combat.
A typical Rommel incident in France in 1940 was averting disaster from a British armored counterattack by suddenly appearing at the scene and directing a battery of 88mm anti-aircraft guns against heavily armored Matilda tanks. This innovation was later widely used in the North African desert and led to the German 88 getting a fearsome reputation against Allied armor.
Although a superb commander, there are few such incidents to Guderian's credit. His great talent was the command of large formations from headquarters and conceptual innovations like mobile warfare doctrine and the plan for gutting France in 1940 by attacking through the Ardennes. Yet I am certain that Rommel's name is more widely known than Guderian's.