http://www.grolier.com/wwii/wwii_rommel.html ERWIN ROMMEL, (1891-1944), German general, known as the "Desert Fox for his brilliant military exploits in WORLD WAR II battles in North Africa. Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel 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 instructor at the Dresden Infantry School (1929-1933) and the Potsdam War Academy (1935-1938). His textbook on tactics, Infanterie greift an, was published in 1937. In 1938, Colonel Rommel was appointed commandant of the War Academy at Wiener Neustadt. Shortly thereafter he was placed in command of the battalion responsible for Adolf HITLER's safety during the march into the Sudetenland and the entry into Prague. Promoted major general on the eve of World War II, he was again responsible for Hitler's safety during the invasion of Poland.
