Rommel Warned His Generals About Patton After Just 3 Weeks — They Ignored Him and Paid the Price

Описание: In February 1943, after the defeat at Kasserine Pass, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel wrote to his wife that American troops were soft and poorly trained. In just six days, U.S. forces had suffered more than 6,000 casualties, and from Rommel’s perspective, the new enemy seemed unprepared for modern mechanized warfare.

Drawing from Rommel’s personal letters, German operational records, and post-war testimony from commanders such as Hasso von Manteuffel and Albert Kesselring, this documentary explores what happened next. It examines how George S. Patton reshaped the U.S. II Corps in just 21 days—not by replacing its soldiers or upgrading its equipment, but by transforming its leadership, discipline, doctrine, and fighting spirit.

When German forces attacked those same American units at El Guettar on March 23, 1943, they encountered a completely different army. The reorganized II Corps held firm, forced Hans-Jürgen von Arnim to withdraw, and shattered German assumptions about American capability.

The story concludes with post-war admissions from German generals who acknowledged that American forces adapted faster than any army they faced. It stands as a powerful case study in how doctrine, decisive leadership, and aggressive reform can outweigh technical superiority in determining battlefield outcomes.

Sources:

• B. H. Liddell Hart (editor) — The Rommel Papers (translated by Paul Findlay, 1953; Rommel’s letters and diary entries)
• National Archives — II Corps After Action Reports, February–April 1943 (operational records and assessments)
• Carlo D'Este — Patton: A Genius for War (William Morrow, 1995)
• Rick Atkinson — An Army at Dawn (Henry Holt, 2002; Pulitzer Prize winner)
• U.S. Army Historical Division — Post-war interrogations of German generals (von Manteuffel and Kesselring testimonies, 1945–1946)