Looking for rommel quotes

Sorry, acacia, I don't recognize the quotation and I'm certainly no Rommel scholar. But I'd have to guess that it's rather unlikely Rommel said "if I had the Australian army I would take the world!" One reason is that Australia didn't have an army in the European/North African theater of operations. At most, it had two infantry divisions. And the British tended to parcel out Commonwealth forces among various higher-level organizations, which explains why there also wasn't a Canadian "army" either (even though more Canadian soldiers served in the European theater than Australians). There was, consequently, nothing Rommel could point to and say "that's the Australian army."

On the other hand, Australian units served with great distinction in North Africa, and Rommel certainly must have been impressed with them, especially at Tobruk. Maybe he said something like "if I had Australian soldiers I would take the world!"

There is one readily available source for Rommel, although i don't recall it having any such statement. The Rommel Papers, which were edited by B. H. Liddell Hart and Frau Rommel and her son, Manfred, is a very revealing document about the Field Marshall, and show that he was very perceptive about the probable course of the war once the Allies landed in France. Otherwise, it would likely be necessary to do some serious digging to come up with correspondence in which he is quoted making such a remark. Joe is correct that there were few Australians in Europe. However, i do believe that upwards of five or six divisions served in North Africa, and some of those later served in Sicily and Italy. But when Perceval surrendered Singapore to the Japanese (stupid, stupid, stupid!), he surrendered the last Australian divisions then available. Of those "diggers" who survived the Tobruk debacle, most were sent back to Australia, and eventually served with McArthur in the southwest Pacific theater. At the time of the fall of Corrigedor, when McArthur went to Australia, they had no army at all at home, and very likely, the most of their army at that time were POW's in the hands of the Germans or the Japanese.

http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/ww2.htm

Almost a million Australians, both men and women, served in the Second World War; Australian servicemen fought in campaigns against Germany and Italy in Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa; and against Japan in south-east Asia and in other parts of the Pacific.

maybe you should go to this site and read our history before u say things that are wrong.

By the way the australian army fought the japs all the way back to japan through the pacific islands and the japs were scared of the australian soilders.And if u dont beleive me go to the link i have posted and the site has all the australian military history.

To whom are your remarks addressed, acacia? There is nothing in what you wrote that contradicts what i wrote. If you have all the answers, why do you ask questions?

What a putz.

I could start to call you names as well but i don't believe in judging people that i haven't meet. If i know all the answers in the world i would be perfect but as a imperfect person i don't, so i ask

Well what the hell is your point here--and telling someone:

"maybe you should go to this site and read our history before u say things that are wrong."

is tatamount to calling someone a name, you're inferentially calling someone a liar. I'll stick by my original statement that, by May, 1942, when McArthur arrived in Australia, as a result of the losses in North Africa, including many "diggers" captured at Tobruk, and Perceval surrendering at least two full Australian divisions, a significant portion of, if not most of, the Australian army was in POW camps. I noted that Australians served in Italy, and i pointed out that those who survived North Africa had been returned home, and served with McArthur in the southwest Pacific. So what the hell is your beef?

When you pull **** like that, it looks very much like you're out to ambush people. I'll warrant i know more of Australian history than you do of U.S. history, and i've not knowingly posted anything factually wrong about it.

Get a clue.

I would like to take the opportunity to publicly apologize to acacia for the tone of my recent remarks. I stick by what i wrote about Rommel and the Australian army--that didn't warrant calling names.

Yes it did. I have rarely witnessed such an intemperate, churlish, and unwarranted response to an entirely innocuous post. Acacia, you're a putz.

Setana, Just want to correct you a little. The Diggers did not surrender at Tobruk. In fact it was Rommel's first ever defeat at the hands of the Allies. The Australian Division did lose a lot of lives at Tobruk, but held that Town for nearly eight months with very little resupply. The resupply that did come, came from a very old Australian naval vessels.

You were right when you said that Australia did not have an "Army" in Europe. In Fact Australia did not really establish a regular Army until the Korean War. In any Rate, Australia only ever had Volunteers in the world theatres right up to present day. We have had conscription to a point and National Service to a point, but never anything as significant. A point of fact, the Australian population refused Conscription in two referendums during WW1.

It is interesting to note, and It still seems prevelant today, that the Diggers of both world wars had more respect from their enemies than from their own Allies. Gen McArthur, of whom you speak so highly of, disregarded the efforts of our CMF soldiers and AIF who effectively stopped the land invasion of the Japanese along the Kokoda trail. by using a tried and proven method of a fighting withdrawal. This caused the Japanese supply lines to dry up and they could not sustain the battle. This meant that these "Cowards" (named by Gen Blamey) had caused the defeat of a yet undefeated. Incidentally the Japanese outnumbered the AIF by about 8 -1.

Acia, I have read the statement that Rommel made a while ago. What your Dad said wasn't quite accurate. I'm looking for it myself for a presentation I'm giving. It was a conversation that he had with Hitler when he stated something along the lines of Give me two Australain Divisions and I will capture Jerusalem in two weeks". I still have to confirm this. Rommel Did, however, regard the Australian Soldier as an incredibly tough fighter. This reputation was forged on the battlefield and only given to the Australian Soldier by their enemies. This started the moment we hit the battlefield in the Boer Wars.

Incidentally guys, let's not get so sensitive about name calling and just stick to the question

Who said they did?

I don't know where to find it Acacia, mainly because you have American historians contributing to the subject. He was known to have said something along the lines of... Give me Australians to command, and I could rule the world. I do know this quote, so I know you're right.
He wasn't talking about the numbers of course, but the quality of the Aussie soldier. I'd say he formed this opinion after he met with the "Rats of Tubruk," his first defeat.

couldn't find the Aussie quote but I did find this one

""What was really amazing was the speed with which the Americans adapted themselves to modern warfare. Starting from scratch an army has been crafted in the very minimum of time, which, in equipment, armament and organization of all arms, surpasses anything the world has yet seen."

does that help?

rommel did say something like that hitler kept sending him msgs like how can a colonial power halt your advance rommel he got the shits with hitler n said something like give me so many aussies n i could conquer the world

Got a source for that?

Rommel actually said "give me a division of Austrians and I'd conquer the world." Common mistake.

thanks for clearing that up Joe...and say...speaking of Austrians...the Cubbies played like the Austrian All-Star baseball team last night...what's up with that?

Minor, nagging injuries to the stars and woeful performances by the free agent acquisitions. It might be a long year at Clark and Addison.

ok, thanks for the update...I'll let you know if my Marlins young pitching staff blows out their arms

"It is not a commonwealth division it is an Australian division. Give me two Australian divisions and I will conquor the world for you".

Rommel