Rommel, Erwin (1891-1944)
Rommel commanded Germany’s 7th Panzer Division and planned the campaign against the western nations, launching the invasion and reaching Cherbourg on 19 June 1940. In February 1941, he commanded the Deutsches Afrika Korps in Tripoli and swept across North Africa on the offensive. The Allies launched their offensive in October, and pursued the ‘Desert Fox back across North Africa. Transferred to France in December 1943, Rommel was injured in an aircraft attack on 17 July 1944. Three days later - implicated in the plot to assassinate Hitler - he was given the choice of suicide or execution as a traitor; he chose suicide.