On the Romanian Front - 1917 -

[Orita]

Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) the German field marshal of World War 2 is also known as the "Desert Fox". He was a highly decorated professional officer during the World War 1 years. In October 1944 Rommel was forced to commit suicide since he had been linked to the conspiracy to kill Adolf Hitler during the summer of the same year.
Rudolf Hess (1894-1987) is well known as Hitler's deputy until 1941 when he flew to England with a special mission. Later in 1946 Hess was tried in Nuremberg together with many other high rank Nazis and finally he was given a life sentence. Hess spent the rest of his life in Spandau Prison where in 1987 at the age of 93 he killed himself.
---> The question is this: what Erwin Rommel and Rudolf Hess could have in common regarding their military past ??????
Well, both of them fought as lieutenants during World War 1 in Romania where each of them was wounded in battle.
On August 10th 1917, Lieutenant Erwin Rommel was shot in the left forearm at Mt. Cosna, not far from the town of Targu Ocna in the battle of Oituz in Moldavia (Romania). The bullet that wounded Rommel came from a detachment of Romanian soldiers commanded by a French officer. Exhaused because of his wound and the front fighting, Rommel had to give up his command on August 20th 1917.
Not far from the place where the young Lieutenant Erwin Rommel was wounded, another German lieutenant had been wounded on August 8th 1917 at Mt. Ungureanu. His name was Rudolf Hess. A small caliber bullet (most probably a 6.5 mm bullet from a 6.5 x 53R cartridge fired by a Romanian M1893 Mannlicher bolt-action rifle or carbine) hit Rudolf Hess in his left lung. This was his third wound of the war, wound that finally ended his military career in infantry.
---> NOTE: 1) I was born in Romania where I lived for more than 30 years before to leave that country for good.
2) In August 1916 Romania did enter the war to fight the armies of the Central Powers. By the end of 1916 the Romanian army was defeated but not destroyed. During the campaign of 1917 the Romanian army won the battles of Marasti, Marasesti and Oituz. These victories made impossible for the Central Powers to force Romania out of the war.
Orita 04/12/14