Request for Identification of Generals and Admirals

[Beppo Schmidt]

Actually it was on the back of the cover of the A & E Video Biography Rommel: The Last Knight.

[Steen Ammentorp]

Beppo,
We have a winner Thank you very much. When one see the full picture all doubts disappear. It is the Desert Fox.

Kind Regards
Steen Ammentorp
The Generals of World War II

[J.N. Houterman]

If my humble opinion counts in any way I would say it's NOT Erwin Rommel. I've seen literally hundreds of pictures of him and I see no match. Taking a closer look at his decorations (I'll leave that to the specialists) will probably give evidence.

Speaking from experience: I've seen several generals wrongly labeled as Rommel, both in print and on film.

Cheers,

Hans

[Steen Ammentorp]

Okay - it's possible two doubt my quick conclusion. Since Hans made his
positing I have been looking at one picture of Rommel after another, and I
must agree with Hans. It does not look like Rommel, and as I have mentioned those goggles is very different from those he normally wore.
Maybe I have an unhealthy interest in goggles?

(Btw. The text in the picture is also clearly wrong. Tunisia, 1940 ??)

If not Rommel - Beppo's picture made me think. A general present in Tunisia 1942-43 (if so), but who previously had served in Russia and received the Winterschlacht im Osten madaille (if Freiherr is right). Could it then be Walter K. Nehring? I'm not an expert on awards some I'm purely guessing here.

Does it look like him? Sadly it is in another uniform.

Kind Regards
Steen Ammentorp
The Generals of World War II

[Stauffenberg II]

Maybe it´s Wolfgang Fischer, Cdr. 10. Panzerdivision.

I once get a pic which allegedly shows Fischer. Look what he is wearing ... looks quite similar. Moreover he served in Russia.

The caption is great. Wrong name and wrong year ... a great source.

Regards

[VJK]

Hello gentlemen!

I believe the mystery General is Ludwig Cruewell. Attached are a couple of pics for comparison.

Regards,

VJK

[Stauffenberg II]

Hi VJK!

I also thought about Crüwell, a further veteran from Russia. But unless the caption is totally wrong Crüwell is out. He never was in Tunisia.

Regards

[VJK]

Hi Stauffenberg II !

Personally I tend to dismiss the caption in its entirety:
1. The pic is not of Rommel;
2. Rommel was not a Field Marshal in 1940;
3. Why should they get the location right?

Regards,

VJK

[VJK]

Here is another pic of Cruewell - if you put the 2 pics side by side, the similarity to the mystery General is remarkable!

Regards,

VJK

[Stauffenberg II]

3. Why should they get the location right?

You are right VJK!

But Crüwell was already decorated with Eichenlaub on arrival in Africa (in 1941). I´m not sure but I think there is no Eichenlaub.

[JC]

Gentlemen,

I agree with VJK...... and with Stauffenberg! I would discount anything the caption says, but I don't think it is Ludwig Crüwell either!

The larger photo does put the setting as N. Africa though.

Just my $.02!

Jeff

[Steen Ammentorp]

Hi,

Two new interesting suggestions. However I do not think it is Cruewell. Arriving in Africa in September 1941 I do not think he recieved the Winterschlacht medaille and being captured in May 1942 he was not in Tunisia. I do not know about Fischer.

Kind Regards
Steen Ammentorp
The Generals of World War II

[VJK]

Hi!

A thought just occurred to me (it doesn't happen all that often!! )
I'm no expert on uniforms, but can we even be sure that the pic was taken in N. Africa? Unless there is something specific about the uniforms of the officers around the mystery man, there is no real indication of the location.

Over to the uniform experts.

Regards,

VJK

[JC]

I was going by the uniforms & boots for the location, but I could be wrong.

I have a WAG...GM Friedrich Weber, Kdr. 334 I.D. He is one of the few major players in N.Africa whom I've never seen a photo of.

Jeff

[Stauffenberg II]

Forget it Jeff! Weber had a "Führer-beard".

I sent a pic to Hans which you can see at:
http://home.wxs.nl/~j.n.houterman/bio/g ... erW.htm#We