Rommel's Desert Commanders: the Men Who Served the Desert Fox, North Africa, 1941-1942 (review)

Samuel Mitcham, Jr.'s Rommel's Desert Commanders provides biographies of the major German commanders (down to regimental level) and principal staff officers who served under Erwin Rommel in the North Africa campaign. Most 'group biographies' (e.g. Hitler's Generals, edited by Corelli Barnett [1983], or the recent Chief of Staff, edited by David Zabecki [2008]) devote a chapter to each individual. Mitcham takes an alternate approach, dividing his book up into major actions and weaving a narrative that combines historical details on the individual commanders with their actions in the context of their most significant battles. This gives Mitcham the opportunity to evaluate the officer's conduct in the battle. Mitcham also documents the careers of these officers after leaving Africa, showing that the majority were successful on other fronts.

Unfortunately, though, this approach proves less effective than it might have been. A lot of the narrative is confusing, even to someone familiar with the battles and the participants. For example, in the middle of a discussion on Reichsheer organization, Mitcham inserts a section on staff organization, and then returns to officer training and selection. The content is appropriate; it is the organization that is lacking.

Parts of the book seem to reflect long-standing views of the North African campaign. The Italians get short shrift twice over: First in an under-estimation of their contributions to Rommel's successes (e.g. "Ariete" in Crusader), and second by the fact that only one Italian officer is profiled in this book, Marshal Giovanni Messe.

Mitcham is particularly scathing in his treatment of Fritz Bayerlein. "Bayerlein's abilities as a commander are, in my view, highly over-estimated by British and American historians." An alternate view of Bayerlein is provided by Julius Menzoff in Vol. 2 of Chief of Staff ed. Zabecki [1978]), "After the Afrika Korps and Panzerarmee Afrika passed into history in 1943, Fritz Bayerlein became a successful and decorated combat commander in his own right." Bayerlein, Siegfried Westphal, and F.W. von Mellenthin are profiled in both Rommel's Desert Commanders and Chief of Staff, providing the reader with two different assessments (with two different styles of presentation) of the same individuals.

Rommel's Desert Commanders is not meant as a reference work, and the lack of full bibliographic citations reduces its usefulness for researchers. The often confusing narrative makes this unsuitable as an introduction to the North African campaign. The book's primary value is to present a series of anecdotes about the careers of a cross-section of German colonels and generals, filtered by their experience under Rommel. This book will be of interest to fans of Rommel and the North African campaign, and as background information for anyone studying career patterns in the Wehrmacht.