What Rommel Told His Wife About Canadian Soldiers— His Private Letters Reveal Everything

As Allied troops pushed their way through Hitler's "Atlantic Wall" in June 1944, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel sat at his headquarters in La Roche-Guyon composing a series of private letters to his wife, Lucie. Outside the pale of Nazi propaganda and official military censorship, the "Desert Fox" detailed his unvarnished observation of the battlefield, and his opponents on the battlefield. Rommel watched closely as the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division push inland from Juno Beach pinned-down German armoured formations around Caen. Rommel's attitude toward the Canadian troops had started two years earlier at the time of his study of the Dieppe Raid after-action reports when commanding the Afrika Korps. Under impossible odds, Rommel noted that Canadian troops were among the most dangerous on the Western Front by their stubborn determination to fight. The video draws on the history from The Rommel Papers and official campaign histories to explore the assessment of Canadian resolve by Germany's foremost field commander, from Dieppe to Normandy, and how the Canadian citizen-soldiers gained the respect of both allies and adversaries. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Private letters from Rommel in Normandy. 03:45 - Mobilizing a Nation: Canada's Citizen Soldiers The first assessment of Canadian Resolve comes from Dieppe 1942.The first assessment of Canadian Resolve comes from Dieppe 1942. 11:30 - Inspection of Atlantic Wall and preparations for invasion After the Battle of Caen, Juno Beach (14.15) will experience a grinding fight.After the Battle of Caen, Juno Beach (14:15) will see a grinding fight. 18:45 - Verrieres Ridge & Closing the Falaise Gap This is for Major David Currie VC and Operational Tenacity. 27:15 - The Rommel Papers and the Historical Legacy of Normandy A range of historical sources and further reading is included. 1. B.H. Liddell Hart (ed.) (1953): The Rommel Papers. Collins / Da Capo Press. 2. C.P. Stacey (Official Historical Accounts - Department of National Defence): The Victory Campaign: The Operations in North-West Europe 1944-1945 (Volume III). Through the DND Directorate of History and Heritage. 3. Terry Copp 2003: Fields of Fire: The Canadians in Normandy. University of Toronto Press. Mark Zuehlke (2005): Holding Juno: Canada's Heroic Defence of the D-Day Beaches. Douglas and McIntyre. 5. Canadian War Museum (CWM) - Normandy and the Liberation of Northwest Europe: https://www.warmuseum.ca/learn/canadian-military-history-timeline/second-world-war/ 6. Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) - The Normandy Campaign and Juno Beach: https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/wars-and-conflicts/second-world-war/d-day-and-the-battle-of-normandy ABOUT CANADIANS AT WAR.ABOUT CANADIANS AT WAR. The mission of Canadians at War is to ensure that the history, operational leadership and sacrifices of Canadian service members throughout history are preserved, documented and celebrated. For Canadian military heritage and veteran stories to be shared, please subscribe. Make an observation: What do you think was Rommel's and other German commanders' rationale for making this observation about the tenacity of Canadian units in their private reports? Leave a comment here, express your opinion. This is CanadianMilitary WWII Rommel Normandy JunoBeach CanadianArmy MilitaryHistory HistoryDocumentary.