In a letter dated 25 April 1941 (which, coincidentally, was Anzac Day), he gave high praise for Australian soldiers (the key part has been emphasised in bold):
“As I stopped at Kirchheim’s H.Q., the Italian force was just halting, unloading its weapons and ammunition and going into position.
I was extremely annoyed and charged Major Appel with the task of getting the Italians forward. He made a great effort, but did not achieve much. With British artillery fire sweeping the whole area, the Italians crept under their vehicles and resisted all their officer’s attempts to get them out again.
Shortly afterwards a batch of some fifty or sixty Australian prisoners were marched off close beside us — immensely big and powerful men, who without question represented an élite formation of the British Empire, a fact that was also evident in battle. Enemy resistance was as stubborn as ever and violent actions were being fought at many points. All the same, I continued for some time to think that we would be able to maintain our attack and take Tobruk. The only question was whether we had enough troops to go on feeding the attack long enough.”
From his 14 July 1942 letter:
“With the sun at their backs, our units fought their way forward from south to north as far as the area between the road and railway, where the attack came to a halt. Fierce fighting followed with the Australians, whom we knew only too well from the time of the Tobruk siege, and lasted well into the night.”
In his 14 July 1942 letter, he wrote:
“On the moonlight night of the 26th July, the Australians attacked again, this time in brigade strength. Their objective was the German line west of the Alamein-Abu Dweis track. The assembly had been made in all secrecy, and the assault, which was preceded by a violent R.A.F. bombing attack, consequently achieved a considerable measure of surprise. Despite the curtain of fire which was at once put down by the German-Italian artillery, the Australians succeeded in penetrating our front and wiping out the greater part of the German battalion. However, a dashing counter-attack by Combat Group Briehl, 3rd Reconnaissance Regiment and Kampfstaffel Kiehl eventually smashed in the Australian wedge, and threw the enemy back to his own line with heavy losses.”
Source:
B. H. Liddell Hart, The Rommel Papers, London: Collins, 1953, pp. 132, 255-256, 259
See also:
Erwin Rommel, Encyclopædia Britannica
Erwin Rommel, Wikipedia
Erwin Rommel (1891-1944), Biography
That’s so amazing, that our Aussie soldiers were respected by Germans 🤯
No wonder Churchill tried so hard to stop PM Curtin from bringing our boys home to fight the Japanese in New Guinea.
Australians were known for being excellent shock troops.
You have to remember at this point the ANZACS were in the main volunteer armies, the Brits were conscript and on average inevitably less effective. He certainly rated the ANZACS though, especially on the front foot and for offensive operations. It’s not that he didn’t rate the Brits too, but thought their Commanders were overly-cautious and slow to react. Commanders were, in his opinion, stuck in a WW1 doctrine, and hence the British were considered at their best when facing an enemy from a dug in position and defending. He also rated specialist British divisions such as the Commandos, and the battle-hardened British 7th Division (the original Desert Rats), and the British Guards Brigade whom he claimed were ‘almost the living embodiment of the virtues and faults of the British soldier – tremendous courage and tenacity combined with a rigid lack of mobility’. He also respected the bravery of the Indian and South African divisions. As a Brit I say we were very lucky to have our Empire troops including the Canadians who Rommel seems not to discuss. Not to get forget the Newfoundland brigade BTW.
A fair assesment. It wasn’t that the Brits were in general less effective; the Brits had brigades and units that were professional along the same level as the Australians and New Zealanders, but obviously having to supply most of the troops at this point means Britain had to use green and raw units out of desperation sometimes. And green units are best used carefully. The 7th Division and the Guards are good examples of elite British units that he respected when used properly, same as the ANZACs.
“If I had to take hell, I would use the Australians to take it, and the New Zealanders to hold it”
Rated them? He held them higher than any allied force. There could be no greater praise from one of the greatest military minds that ever lived.
He never said this though, its a mythical comment typical of the less militarily-educated people of every Country who believe such quotes about their troops.
Charlie Upham said about British conscripts.”What do you expect when brought up on two green trees and five potatoes”
On his return to Germany, Rommel was summoned to meet with Hitler to answer why he had not completed the North African campaign. Rommel explained the difficulties. Hitler asked what he needed to secure victory. Rommel answered candidly, “Two battalions of Australians, and a battalion of New Zealanders”. He was relieved of his command.
Please let us know your source for this…as I don’t believe it. Who was there to record this for posterity. Apart from that, Rommel was an ardent admirer of Hitler and would never speak to him in such a ‘smart-ass’ manner
The Anzacs were excellent troops, but there is this problem especially with some people who believe that Rommel really made these quotes. He valued his own Africa Corps above anybody else.