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tl;dr: I had to divorce my wife because my wedding was a beautiful mansion built on a foundation of lies and fact suppression.Disclaimer: In order to the hide the identity of the characters involved in this story, names in the following story have been changed.This is the story of me, my wife (Preethi), my family and my wife’s father Krishnaswamy (KS).As it happens in most Indian arranged marriages, my family first met my wife’s family through a matrimonial portal in India and exchanged our photos and contact details with each other.So, I got the photos and contact details of Preethi and my parents had passed on my photos and contact details to Preethi. I initiated a mail to introduce myself. She replied and I found out that she had done her Masters in the US as well and had worked here for about 2 years and had gone back to India. The introductions were followed by a skype call, which we did really enjoy knowing about each other. Two months of chatting, talking, skyping and mailing later, we both felt that there was a good thing going between us. In the meantime, my family had met Preethi and her family a couple of times and they were quite happy with what they had seen. Since everything looked quite rosy, I went to India to meet her and her family in person and get to know them better.Working in a distant country comes with its own pros and cons. I had just 20 days of vacations and as it happens in Indian families, my family had put a lot of pressure on me to get married before I was post the marriageable age. I landed in India and a day later, we went to meet Preethi and her family. I spent the next 15 days going out with her and spending time with each other’s families. I had noticed that Preethi was quite soft-spoken (which I liked a lot), and a bit reserved (which wasn’t so great. But that was not a big deal as I have seen a lot of friends who have transitioned from being introverted to the most social butterflies one can find. I hoped that Preethi, too, would transition some day and even if she didn’t, that wasn’t a deal-breaker for me). But, other than that, there were no signs of trouble and even when we had discussed our past, she never told me anything that was a cause for concern. I had learnt that she had left her job to care for her sick mom at home in India and that she wanted to go back to the USA now as her mom was doing better. That really impressed me. In this day and age, if someone is so caring about their parents, I knew I could trust that person. I was quite sold on that very factor. Also, I learnt that she was working here in a local company run by one of her uncles as she needed flexible hours to care for her mom. All in all, I was going around with a smart, pretty, caring and soft-spoken girl. For a guy like me with average height, average intelligence and average looks, this was as good as one hopes for in their life.I had liked what I had seen and my family too was in approval of Preethi. My father-in-law too had good things to say about me and my family and hinted that Preethi was looking to take this further. Through Facebook, I found out my common friends with Preethi and reached out to them to hear their perspectives on Preethi. One friend told me that she was a little introverted (which I already knew) but told me that she was a great find otherwise. Other two friends had nothing bad to say about her. There was a general consensus that she was a sweet girl.Time was running out for me as I had to head back to the US in a few days as my vacations were getting over. I really wanted to spend some more time with Preethi but societal and parental pressures didn’t leave me much choice. And I had liked everything about Preethi so far. So, I said yes to the much delight of my parents. Shortly after that, our families finalized our wedding date with our consent. And before I left for the US, a quick engagement ceremony was arranged and I got engaged to Preethi.The time gap between my engagement and my wedding was fairly short by modern day standards but I understood that since Preethi wanted to come here to the USA and start working, that was the right thing to do as a long gap might not do much good to her. So, the short time period kept us busy with filling out visa forms, she applying for jobs here and attending some interviews, us selecting the wedding venue, picking the wedding apparels and a never ending laundry list of wedding preparations. Time just flew and I was back in India again for my wedding, 6 days away from my wedding (I didn’t have much vacations left thanks to my previous trip to India).First signs of trouble started when Preethi didn’t show up at the airport when I landed. I was expecting her to surprise me there but to my actual surprise, she wasn’t there. I thought, maybe I was expecting too much from a soon-to-be bride. I called her after I reached home and found out she wasn’t exactly busy doing anything at the time of my landing. And her talk seemed fairly disinterested. After some small talks about the air-hostesses and some funny incidents during my flight, I asked her the obvious… “Is there anything wrong? Do you still want to get married? Is it me?” and so on. I got a, “Don’t worry. It is just the wedding stress” answer. I called her parents too and I got the same response from them. I met her for dinner that night and things seemed like they were back to normal. We congratulated each other and got busy with our wedding preparations.In Hindu wedding, the wedding rituals start 5-6 days before the wedding day and my house was already brimming with relatives, their bags and their kids! There was not a moment of peace at home and I didn’t get much time to spend with Preethi other than a few quick messages and calls here and there. I was not allowed to go out of the house as a wedding tradition 3 days before the wedding. That didn’t help either to get some more quality time with Preethi.Wedding day came. I noticed that Preethi was looking quite pale and she barely smiled. I asked her and her parents about it and they all attributed it to her lack of sleep and the wedding stress. I had my own concerns to worry about like the missing videographers for live stream, hiding my tummy under the thin sheet (shalya) given in a Hindu wedding, delayed arrival of my friends from the US, airport pickup for them, keeping up with the relatives and friends and so on. So, my attention was divided a great deal. I did check with Preethi a few more times and I was assured she would be fine after this was over. “It is just the stress”. I took that for an explanation and in the hindsight, that is really one of the biggest mistakes of my life. So, the big moment came and I tied the dreaded knot.Minutes later, things started to fall apart. While one of the rituals was going on, Preethi told me that she was seeing things from her past. I thought that was some kind of joke. I asked her if it was the stress and this time, it wasn’t affirmative. She continued to act very weird throughout the remainder of the rituals. I called her folks and asked them to talk to her. They didn’t give much heed to it saying that she needs to sleep and she hadn’t slept in 2 days. Some more rituals later, Preethi just walked out of the mantap in front of hundreds of guests. I ran after her and asked her for an explanation. She said she was finding this whole thing very “kiddish” and she had come to her room to check on her iPhone if what was going on was really a ritual. Her family and I convinced her that she shouldn’t walk out of the rituals like that and brought her back to the mantap. I requested the purohith (one overseeing the rituals) to skip to the most important ones as I could see Preethi’s frustration was growing by the minute. Few more rituals and she walked out again without a reason. By this time, I had had enough of this. But, to save the grace of my family, I ran after her again, convinced her and brought her back. I made the purohith to skip to the last ritual and we were done a few minutes later.Requesting some private time for us from our families, I took Preethi to her room and started grilling her and asked her to explain as to what she was doing. And the story that came out then sends down shivers down my spine even to this day.Preethi had had a bad experience during her student days in the US (details hidden to protect identities of the parties involved – it will be too obvious with the details). That left a huge mark on her. She became delusional, paranoid, depressed and introverted. She couldn’t work in a team and her company let go of her in the US as a result of that. That was the real reason for her return to India. She had been at home (not working as she had claimed) ever since she returned to India and had also seen a psychiatrist to get some help. She claimed she had since recovered but the wedding stress and the overwhelming number of people brought back her delusions and paranoia. She said she was seeing patterns at the wedding that matched her past and she had trouble in distinguishing the present from her past. For some reason, she was laughing while she was explaining this to me while I was at the brink of breaking down. On asking her to explain that, she said she was thinking about a joke from her past.Preethi and her family had suppressed the facts about why she actually came back to India, about her seeking psychiatrist’s help, about her troubled past and about her general mental health. During the rituals, she had difficulty in sitting down and getting up. She had confusion about her right and left hands and all of that started to make sense now. Rest of that evening is just a blur to me right now. To save the grace of my family, I put up a façade until the reception was over. Once that was over, when this whole situation sank in, I broke down in front of my family. Her family too had, by now, understood that we knew the real deal. They initially acted aggressively to hide this under the carpet but then they saw for themselves how Preethi was acting strangely and how she herself had revealed her past. There was now no escaping the truth.I wanted to get the marriage annulled as this marriage was based on a bunch of lies and I was married off to someone who wasn’t mentally sound to perhaps even fully comprehend that she was now married. But they requested six months of time to get this fixed and also Indian law w.r.t annulment isn’t as easy as the US laws. I sought the opinions of my family and an advocate about this. I was already married to Preethi anyways and now I had to make a choice between a divorce now or 6 months later. I gave it a long and hard thought and since it involved a young woman’s life, with the consent from my family although they had some reservation to it, I agreed to give them six months as per their request.I obviously decided to not consummate the wedding and let her parents take her home from the wedding hall. While I was still in India, lot more weird things were said and done by Preethi. I took her to two psychiatrists and took their reports to two more doctors and they all agreed that she was delusional, paranoid and lacks co-ordination and she *might* be cured over time. But they also warned me that this is a condition that can recur any time she sees a pattern matching her past and there is no known permanent cure to this condition. They also said this could get bad during the time of pregnancy and this could be passed on genetically. There was a consensus in all of their reports about this.The doctors suggested that she be allowed to stay with her family (familiar environment) until she recovered and so she was left behind at her father’s house. I flew back to the US and inserted myself deeply into my work to keep myself away from the deep ditch my personal life was in. Yet, the thought of getting the divorcé tag kept eating away at me. My parents wanted to be with me and lend some moral support. So, I brought them to the US to live with me for a little while.Six months after my marriage, as per our arrangement, when I contacted Preethi’s family, they had changed their version of the story again. They were now accusing me of causing this state to Preethi and then in the same breath they were saying that their daughter was absolutely fine and we were just making up stories about her. After that, they even stopped answering my calls in the fear that I was going to ask them for the divorce. They wanted to me to come to India and talk to them in person. I had already gone to India twice that year (for my engagement and for my wedding) and there was no way I could ask for more vacations with some imminent lay-offs in my company. I consulted my lawyers in India and they said that barring just one clause (which is a slippery slope), in the Hindu marriage act, I will have to wait for a year to file for a divorce.So, I did and another six months later, I went back to India and met Preethi. I noticed that she had put on some weight but other than that, nothing else was different. She was still paranoid talking to people, she was still on medication and her doctor said that she was still recovering and that there is a long road ahead and she is better off being in a familiar environment (that is, she should stay in India preferably with her parents). That was the last straw for me. I consulted my family and approached Preethi for a separation. She understood the situation and she gave her consent. But her dad KS would have none of it. He threatened me that, “I will make sure that it won’t be an easy separation. I have undergone emotional and financial trauma from you and you will need to pay for it”! He had stolen the words right out of my mouth as for the trauma part was concerned. But, my lawyers had told me the benefits of being a woman in India in such cases and had suggested that unless I want a long drawn legal battle which can run for 6-7 years, I should simply walk out of this without a protest. And I did. I walked out of their house without a word in response to KS’s threat.As per the advice for my lawyers, I initiated a mail with Preethi’s family for filing for a divorce with mutual consent. I had other options too but my lawyers told me that those can take anywhere from 1.5 to 7 years for a decision. KS was initially aggressive, accusing me of intentionally breaking the marriage and causing him emotional trauma and financial loss. In response, I shot back a mail asking them to agree for divorce with mutual consent or I would take an alternative route based on an audio recording that was attached in that mail. The attachment was an audio clipping my sister had recorded in her phone when Preethi’s family was confessing to all their lies after the wedding. That did the trick. Suddenly, KS was all co-operative. His tone changed and he was now willing to come and sign anything anywhere. He said he didn’t even want to hire a lawyer anymore but requested to help him financially as the wedding was a costly affair for him.I come from a middle class family and I understand the value of money all too well. I paid for my own education through scholarships and loans since my college and that had taught me how every dollar counts. Yet, I realized that they needed the money more than I did right now given her recovery and medical bills. So, I agreed to offer them a permanent alimony of substantial amount and KS accepted that gleefully. I truly empathize with Preethi and her family but it still doesn’t absolve them of marrying her off to me by suppressing all the truths about her. I hope that she gets well. I really do. But, I had to let go of her because it is hard to live with someone once you know they are not trustworthy. Their family had caused so much pain to us already that it was impossible to have any meaningful relationship with them. The scars were just too deep to heal. I wanted nothing to do with them anymore.So, some paperwork and a few days later, Preethi and I submitted a petition for divorce with mutual consent and the divorce will be granted to us shortly in the family court.Now, when I look back at the past year, to be honest, there were several days during this period when I had an existential crisis. I was giving so much pain to my family and to myself that made me wonder if it was really worth living anymore. I have lost count of the number of times I have spent sleepless nights in the fear of my future and the number of times I have cried to my heart’s content in one corner of my house when the painful past had resurfaced. The Diwali, the Thanksgiving, the Christmas, the New Year’s Day and the Valentine’s day came and went, making a mockery of my lack of companionship. I distanced myself from some of my good friends to save myself from having to tell them the truth of my life, which was hurting me every day. Every time one of my friends asked me about my wife and why she wasn't here with me, I had to mask my real feelings and pretend that she was still caring for her mother in India. A part of me was hoping that Preethi would recover and I could stay married to her, which prevented me from coming out with the truth about her earlier. But, now I know I was just being overly optimistic. Last year was easily the most difficult year of my life and without a caring family and a supportive bunch of friends and colleagues around me, I can’t even imagine how I could have made it through.I have spent enough time in pain and now I want to put my past behind me. So, as a first step, as per one of my good friend’s suggestion, I’m writing this post to inform my friends and colleagues of my actual past and to request them to not probe me about it as I don’t want to re-live it anymore. Also, this serves as my answer to the question above to motivate people who are in the same boat as me to look at the brighter side of things.As a sign-off note on this post, I have come out of this whole experience stronger than I was before and having made deeper bonds with some of the people around me. I have understood the value of happiness more than ever and I have been and I will be trying to do my bit every day to bring that happiness to the people. During those days when I was down and out, my father used to console me and tell me that one day I will know when it’s time to move on. I know now that that time has come. It’s time to move forward in the pursuit of happiness…

The salary of mailmen isn’t as much as you would think. It hasn’t gone up much in 20 years. I used to be a postal clerk 20 years ago and topped out at $18/hr, even at a higher level pay than when I started at level 4. I was a level 6.Mailmen earn around $17-$18/hr to start (information obtained from Job Search | Indeed , a website that lists jobs currently available). See below for a script of that job offer. The person who commented on $32/hr is not accurate. The post office likes to add in benefits, like sick leave, annual leave, health insurance and retirement to the pay/per/hour, making it seems much higher. There is no other company that does this when calculating the pay/per/hour. I think they do this because otherwise they have trouble obtaining employees and retaining them for a variety of reasons (long story). Here is another website where I obtained information on hourly pay: Postal Service Mail Carrier Hourly Pay in Phoenix, Arizona This validates my information.There isn’t much increase in pay after you’ve reached the top of your level in about 2 years. After that. it’s the measly amount that cost of living provides. It is less than the average teacher makes, which is roughly $27/hr. Because mailmen or woman don’t work on Sunday, the also don’t get Sunday premium, and they also don’t get overtime, except maybe at Xmas holidays. There may be times when they work an ‘off day,’ to fill in for an absent carrier, so that would be overtime. But, as a general rule, it is a day job with no overtime and no Sundays, therefore, no Sunday premium. It is rare that the postal office allows overtime for carriers. For clerks and mail handlers overtime is the normal.I wish these postings by the USPS would make their sentences uniform and justified at the margins of left/right. I copied the job ad just like it was on the INDEED website. Peoria, AZ is within a close proximity of the Phoenix, AZ area.CITY CARRIER ASSISTANTUnited States Postal ServicePeoria, AZ 85381Part-timeUnited States Postal ServiceExternal Publication for Job Posting 10432641If this job requires qualification on an examination, the number of applicants who will be invited to take or retake theexamination may be limited.BranchArizona DistrictJob Posting Period05/30/2020 - 06/02/2020This job has an exam requirement. Currently, applicants for this posting who do not yet have an exam score are beinginvited to take the exam. Examining will continue until capacity has been reached.Job TitleCITY CARRIER ASSISTANT 1Facility LocationPEORIA PO8380 W EMILE ZOLA AVEPEORIA, AZ 85381CONTACT INFORMATION: Albert Zavala | [email protected] | (623) 486-4187 | MGR CUSTOMER SERVICESPosition InformationTitle: CITY CARRIER ASSISTANT (CCA)FLSA Designation: Non-ExemptOccupation Code: 2310-0045Non-Scheduled Days: VARIESHours: VARIESCCAs may be required to work any day of the week, including weekends and holidays as scheduled.CCAs hold temporary appointments for periods not-to-exceed 360 days. Subsequent appointments after a 5 day break inservice may be offered but are not guaranteed and should not be expected because the use of CCAs is discretionary andsubject to business needs.DRIVING REQUIRED: Applicants must have a valid state driver’s license, a safe driving record, and at least two years ofunsupervised experience driving passenger cars or larger. The driving must have taken place in the U.S. or its possessionsor territories or in U.S. military installations worldwide.BENEFIT INFORMATION:Non-career 360-day term with possibility of reappointment. May lead to career position. Benefits include paid leave at the rateof 1 hr for every 20 hrs in pay status, holiday pay for 6 holidays, and pay raises per NALC National Agreement. Immediatelyeligible for USPSHB Plan with a $125 Postal premium contribution towards Self Only. Employer contribution towards greaterthan Self Only is 65% (75% for subsequent appointments). Upon reappointment to a second 360-day term after a 5-daybreak in service eligible for: health insurance under FEHB; dental and vision insurance through FEDVIP; flexible spendingaccounts through FSAFEDS and long-term care insurance through FLTCIP. Wounded Warrior leave available if eligibilitycriteria are met.SALARY RANGE: $17.29 per hour paid bi-weeklyFINANCE NUMBER: 36290Persons Eligible to ApplyAll U.S. Citizens, lawful permanent resident aliens, citizens of American Samoa or other territory owing permanent allegianceto the United States. Applicants entitled to veterans’ preference and/or covered by the Veterans Employment OpportunityAct may apply for any posted position. Applicants must apply online at USPS - Careers to be considered for thisemployment opportunity. You must have a valid email address to apply as communication regarding employmentopportunities, examinations (when applicable), and background checks will be sent by email. Please add the following emaildomain addresses to your contact list to allow all correspondence to be received - @http://usps.gov; @Error;@Pre-Employment Testing | Licensure & Certification | PSI Online; @Employment Background Checks, Background Screening; @United States Postal Inspection Service. EXAM: If an exam is required and you are invited to take the test, instructionsregarding the exam process will be sent to you via email. Please ensure you can receive email messages from our testvendor and follow instructions carefully so you can be considered for this employment opportunity. SCREENINGS: You mayreceive multiple requests for background checks in regards to this employment opportunity. Respond to all requests quicklyas we anticipate filling our vacancies quickly and non responses may result in disqualification for this opportunity.Background CheckThe Inspection Service criminal background check is conducted using United States information resources only (e.g., FBIfingerprint check, state and county checks). A criminal background check involves a 5-year inquiry for any location wherethe individual has resided, worked or gone to school within the United States or its territories. As a result of this limitation,the criminal background checks of individuals who have not resided in the United States or its territories for the preceding5-years may not be considered complete. The Inspection Service may be able to process inquiries for U.S. Citizens only,but only if their time spent out of the country was spent as: a trailing spouse or dependent of someone working for the U.S.government (military or civilian), a missionary, a student attending school in a foreign country, a Peace Corps participant, oras an employee of a U.S.-based employer/company. If the Inspection Service is unable to perform a complete backgroundcheck because of residency outside the United States, such individuals will be ineligible for Postal employment.Functional PurposeDelivers and collects mail on foot or by vehicle under varying road and weather conditions in a prescribed area; maintainsprofessional and effective public relations with customers and others, requiring a general familiarity with postal laws,regulations, products and procedures commonly used, and geography of the area.DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES1. Routes or cases all classes of mail in sequence of delivery along an established route. Rearranges and relabels casesas required.2. Withdraws mail from the distribution case and prepares it in sequence for efficient delivery independently or by anothercarrier along an established route. Prepares and separates all classes of mail to be carried by truck to relay boxes alongroute for subsequent delivery.3. Handles undeliverable mail in accordance with established procedures.4. Delivers mail along a prescribed route, on foot or by vehicle, on a regular schedule, picking up additional mail from relayboxes as needed. Collects mail from street letter boxes and accepts letters from mailing from customers; on certain routesmay deliver mail that consists exclusively of parcel post, or the collection of mail.5. Uses portable electronic scanner as instructed.6. Delivers and collects charges on customs, postage-due, and C.O.D. mail matter. Delivers and obtains receipts forregistered and certain insured mail. Signs for such matter, except insured mail, at the post office before beginning route andaccounts for it upon return by payments of the amounts collected and delivery of of receipts taken.7. Deposits in the post office mail collected on the route upon returning from the route.8. Checks, and corrects if necessary, mailing cards from advertisers bearing names and addresses of customers or formercustomers on the route.9. Furnishes customers with postal information and provides change of address cards and other postal forms as needed.10. Reports to supervisor all unusual incidents or conditions relating to mail delivery, including condition of street letter boxesand centralized delivery equipment.11. Becomes proficient, when assigned to a route, in the casing of mail on other routes as assigned.12. Works professionally with other employees in the office.13. May as a CCA, perform clerical duties and be required to pass examinations on scheme of city primary distribution.14. In addition, may perform any of the following duties: check hotels and other establishments to ensure that mail forresidents undeliverable as addressed is not improperly held; deliver stamps or other paper supplies to contract or classifiedstations and other designated delivery points; serves at carriers' delivery window; receive and register where practical, allletters and packages of first-class matter properly offered for registration; case mail and make deliveries on other routes asassigned.SUPERVISIONSupervisor, Customer Services, or other designated supervisor.The United States Postal Service has the following excellent and challenging employment opportunity for highly motivatedand innovative individuals. Successful candidates must demonstrate through a combination of education, training, andexperience the following requirements:Requirements1. REQUIREMENTS:EXAMINATION REQUIREMENTSApplicants must successfully complete the Virtual Entry Assessment – MC (474).PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTSApplicants must be physically able to efficiently perform the duties of the position with or without reasonable accommodation.CCA duties require arduous exertion involving prolonged standing, walking, bending and reaching, and may involve handlingheavy containers of mail weighing up to the allowable maximum mailing weight.ADDITIONAL PROVISIONSCCAs must work their assigned tour and days of work. CCAs must follow Postal Service policies and procedures forpersonal conduct at work, including adhering to rules and regulations.CCAs are required to provide service to the public. They must maintain a neat and professional appearance and demeanorin such interactions, including wearing an approved uniform.Applicants must have a valid state driver's license, and demonstrate and maintain a safe driving record.Qualified applicants must successfully pass a pre-employment drug screening to meet the U.S. Postal Service's requirementto be drug free. Applicants must also be a U.S. citizen or have permanent resident alien status.IMPORTANT INFORMATION:Applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m., Central Time, of the posting's closing date. Applicants claiming veterans'preference must attach a copy of member copy 4 (only) of Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty (DD Form214) or other proof of eligibility if claiming 10-point veterans' preference. The United States Postal Service (USPS) is anequal opportunity employer. The USPS provides reasonable accommodation for any part of the application, interview, and/orselection process, please make your request to the examiner, selecting official or local manager of Human Resources. Thisrequest can also be made by someone on your behalf. Explain the nature of your limitations and the accommodationneeded. The decision on granting reasonable accommodation will be on a case-by-case basis.SPECIAL NOTE: Current career Postal Service employees are ineligible to apply to this posting.USPS - 30+ days agoreport job- original job

The appointment of Erwin Rommel as commander of the 7th Panzer Division in February 1940 seems, in the light of his many triumphs in France and North Africa, an unremarkable and perfectly natural choice. At the time, however, nothing could have been further from the truth. For the invasion of France, code-named Fall Gelb (Plan Yellow), Germany had assembled roughly 135 divisions, but only 10 of these were panzer divisions.Rommel had no prior experience commanding a division. Neither did he have any direct experience with the new blitzkrieg operations that had made their debut during the conquest of Poland in September and October 1939. He had not even commanded a combat unit during the invasion. The chief of Army personnel had recommended that Rommel be given command of a mountain division, based on his experience in the Alpine Corps during World War I. So why, in the early hours of the morning on May 10, 1940, was he leading a panzer division into the forests of the Belgian Ardennes?What Rommel did have was regular, personal access to Adolf Hitler. Rommel and Hitler first met briefly in Goslar at a Reichsbauerntag, a traditional fair for farmers and landowners that the Nazis had elevated to a political event. It was at this meeting in Goslar that Rommel also met the Nazi Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels. He made a favorable impression and would henceforth enjoy his patronage.Rommel was given a three-year appointment as instructor at the War Academy in Potsdam in October 1935, his teaching duties interrupted to perform security arrangements, such as at the summer 1936 Nuremburg rally, and acting as the War Ministry’s liaison officer to the Hitler Youth beginning in February 1937. He was picked to command Hitler’s escort battalion, the Führerbegleitbataillon (FBB), during the occupation of the Sudetenland in October 1938, and he repeated the task again twice in March 1939 during the occupation of the rest of Czechoslovakia and the Baltic port of Memel. In August he was the obvious choice to perform the same duties during the invasion of Poland. He was promoted to major general on August 22 (backdated to June 1). As headquarters commandant during the Polish campaign, he traveled on Hitler’s special train, named Amerika, and often shared the same car or light plane.By 1940 the two had developed a liking for each other, sharing both humble origins and a deep dislike for the snobbery and elitism of the old German aristocracy. Rommel was neither a member of the Junker class of Prussian aristocrats nor a product of the General Staff (who denied him entry), both of which were essential prerequisites for military advancement prior to the rise of Hitler. Rommel desired command of a panzer division, and he received it, the objections of the Army personnel branch being overruled quite possibly by Hitler himself.The appointment capped a truly rapid ascent through the ranks. Rommel had begun the month of November 1938 as a major who occasionally commanded an escort battalion. By February 1940 he was a major general in command of one of the 10 panzer divisions that would spearhead the campaign in the West. Hitler’s decision apparently raised more than a few eyebrows in the senior military hierarchy because, in a letter to his wife Lucie dated February 17, Rommel wrote, “Jodl [chief of the Operation Staff of the Armed Forces High Command, the OKW] was flabbergasted at my new posting.”From the start it was clear the 7th Panzer Division would be receiving high-level political attention and preference. Goebbels gave Rommel, an avid amateur photographer, a Leica camera to chronicle the campaign. Rommel intended to use the photos in the book he planned to write to follow up his popular Infantry Attacks. Manfred Rommel, his son, wrote, “… he planned to write on the Second World War … [my father] took literally thousands [of photos] … including a large number in color.”Rommel himself mentioned, “I’ve taken a lot of photographs” in a letter to his wife written on May 27. A few of these photos that Rommel took during the campaign in France (or that were taken with the same camera while Rommel posed) are reproduced in The Rommel Papers. Most, unfortunately, were evidently lost in the in the aftermath of Germany’s defeat in 1945.Attached to Rommel’s division as a second aide-de-camp was Lieutenant Karl August Hanke, a favorite of Goebbels who may have provided a special link to Berlin. The division’s officers included other Nazis such as Karl Holz, who had been editor-in-chief of the anti-Semitic weekly tabloid Der Stürmer [The Stormer or, more accurately, The Attacker]. In addition, one of Rommel’s former students at Wiener Neustadt, a Lieutenant Hausberg, was tasked with the duty of flying from the division to Hitler’s headquarters every evening to present a map showing Rommel’s progress that day.The 7th Panzer Division was then, in a sense, no ordinary division but a showpiece of the Nazi government. While Rommel himself was not a member of the Nazi Party, he was no stranger to ambition and possessed a thirst for glory that, especially in the heat of a campaign, bordered on the unquenchable. At this early stage of the war he was not above exploiting the political connections he had built to advance his military career to the utmost.Rommel’s division, along with the 5th Panzer Division, would be the nucleus of XV Panzer Corps, which was part of the Fourth Army commanded by Field Marshal Gunther von Kluge. In addition to the XV Panzer Corps, Fourth Army had three infantry corps, the II, V, and VIII. The 5th and 7th were the only panzer divisions in the entire Army. Fourth Army itself, along with Twelfth Army and Sixteenth Army, was part of Army Group A, led by Field Marshal Fedor von Bock. It was the principal German strike force, the Schwerpunkt, for Fall Gelb.Army Group B to the north would advance through Holland and Belgium in a feint to convince the Allies that the main German drive was in the north, while Army Group C to the south would demonstrate against the fortifications of the French Maginot Line. In contrast to Army Group A, Army Group B had but three panzer divisions, while Army Group C had none at all.Operation Fall Gelb began on May 9 with the Germans blazing across France.The code word for the launch of Fall Gelb, “Danzig,” was received late in the day on May 9. Rommel wrote a last quick letter to his wife as he was packing; there would be no communication between them in the coming days. The 7th Panzer rolled forward at 4:35 the next morning, crossing the border between Germany and Belgium east of St. Vith. The 5th Panzer Division was on its right.The initial objectives were the crossings on the Meuse River around Dinant, some 65 miles to the west. Overhead flew Messerschmitt Me-109 fighters from Luftflotte III. Initially resistance was light. The bulk of the Belgian Army was concentrated to the north on the plain of Belgium to defend the country’s major cities. The Belgians would be joined by some of the best French formations and the British Expeditionary Force, which advanced east to join them. Under this strategy, known as Plan D or the Dyle Plan, the Allies would defend a line from the French frontier to Antwerp.The Belgian Army had conducted extensive demolitions in the Ardennes, but because few of the obstacles were covered by defensive fire German engineers had little difficulty clearing the obstructions. Where they could not be removed, the blockages were bypassed using side roads or, where possible, by moving cross country.Navigating the limited road network, 7th Panzer encountered its first serious Belgian opposition during the early hours of May 11, brushing aside elements of the 3rd Regiment of the Chasseurs Ardennais at Chabrehez. The role of the Chasseurs Ardennais was to fight a delaying action until the French could cover the flank toward their own border.That task would belong to the French 9th Army, led by General André Corap. Corap, aged 62, had spent most of his career in French North Africa. He was, perhaps, as much an adherent to the old French school of military thought as Rommel was to the new lightning war employed by the Germans.The French had sent their best armies into central and northern Belgium. The armies that had been detailed to cover the Ardennes, including Ninth Army, were much weaker. Corap’s army comprised two motorized and seven infantry divisions. Of the latter divisions only two were regular units, while two others were reserve divisions. To make matters worse, Ninth Army had been assigned a sector of the front 80 kilometers long, longer in reality because the Meuse River is not a straight line, but full of twists and turns.The Ourthe River was crossed by the 7th Panzer Division at three locations—Beffe, Marcourt, and La Rouche. Soon thereafter, at Marche, French troops were encountered for the first time. These were elements of the 4th Armored Car Regiment of the 4th DLC (Division Lègére de Cavalrie). After just two days, 7th Panzer had advanced 40 miles. Another 18 miles would be covered on May 12. The 5th Panzer Division, however, had been slowed by the difficult terrain and thick forest of the Ardennes. Rommel alluded to this fact when he wrote to his wife that day that he was “way ahead of my neighbors.”It would not be the last time Rommel’s division raced well ahead of the rest of the German Army. The French cavalry divisions, on Corap’s orders, methodically retired behind the Meuse River during the course of the day, with the Germans gradually following up. The cavalry was originally intended to delay the Germans for five days but Corap had felt it necessary to recall them after only two and a half when infantry support failed to materialize rapidly enough.The river crossing stalled when a Panzer IV blocked the way over a railway bridge.The need for Rommel to capture a bridge intact was critical. The Meuse was deep and wide, with steep and escarped banks. The French, however, were successful in blowing up the crucial bridges in front of the advancing XV Corps, including a railroad bridge at Houx, the road bridge at Dinant, and the road bridge at Bouvigne. In addition, the defenses had been bolstered by the transfer of the 2nd Battalion of the 39th Regiment, 5th Motorized Division, from General Bouffet’s II Corps to General Martin’s XI Corps. The new battalion took up a position on a hill opposite Houx, near the village of Grange.Matters were not well in hand, however. The French had assumed they would have five days to reinforce and reorganize their defense if the Germans launched an attack out of the Ardennes, but Rommel was not about to allow them that sort of luxury. To make matters worse for the Allies, communications were poor, both among French units and between the French and Belgians. Allied morale on this part of the front was already showing signs of being unsteady. Rommel arrived at the Meuse in an armored car, examined the far bank with field glasses, and seeing it was well defended declared the job was one for infantry. His motorized infantry moved up and were “firmly in control of the east bank of the Meuse between Dinant and Houx” by the time the sun set on the 12th.The German attack got under way in the early hours of the next morning. The western bank of the Meuse opposite the Germans was held by two French Infantry Divisions, the 18th and 22nd DI (Division d’Infantrie). Both divisions were still in the process of arriving after a lengthy foot march. Soldiers from Rommel’s 7th Motorized Infantry Regiment began to cross the Meuse at Dinant, and infantry from his 6th Regiment began to cross between Leffe and Houx. It was at Houx, in fact, rather than at Sedan, that German units first crossed the Meuse, at roughly 11:30 in the evening of May 12. A motorcycle battalion, leaving their bikes behind, crossed under cover of darkness, utilizing an old dam connecting a small island to both sides of the river bank.There is some dispute over whether it was the motorcycle battalion of the 7th or 5th Panzer Division that crossed the Meuse at Houx, and the matter is further confused by the fact that the corps commander, General Hermann Hoth, had temporarily transferred control of elements of the 5th Panzer Division to Rommel, who was making faster progress. The dam and the lock had not been blown up by either the Belgians or the French for fear it would lower the river and actually make it fordable in some places. But it should never have been left as unguarded as it was. The Germans were lucky. The island at Houx lay right at the boundary of two French corps, the II Corps and the XI Corps, and for a single, fatal, moment no one was sure who was responsible for its defense.The water crossing on the morning of the 13th was made largely in inflated rubber boats. Well-concealed French machine guns and artillery took a heavy toll. Observing that the crossing of the 6th Regiment was opposed by heavy fire and lacking a smoke unit, Rommel ordered houses in the Meuse valley set on fire “to supply the smoke we lacked.”The attack at Houx was also fortunate in the sense that the 18th DI was still in the process of arriving and only a portion of it had reached the Meuse, and the units that were already in position were exhausted from a forced march of more than 50 miles. Even worse was the fact that, although German units had been over the Meuse since shortly before midnight the night before, General Martin was not informed until 7 am. He tried to contact General Corap, his army commander, but could not reach him by phone. Corap was not aware until the evening of the German bridgehead at Houx and the threat it posed.Returning to the 7th Regiment, Rommel found that while it had formed a company-sized bridgehead on the opposite bank their crossing equipment had been destroyed by enemy fire, and things had come to a halt. Tanks and artillery, finally arriving, were used to silence the enemy fire up and down the point of crossing, allowing additional troops to cross and the wounded on the opposite bank to be retrieved. Rommel then personally took command of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Regiment, leading it across the river and linking up with the units already on the opposite bank. French tanks approached. They were unaware the German position lacked an antitank screen. Rommel ordered small-arms fire poured onto the enemy armor, and the ruse was sufficient to convince the French to withdraw.By the morning of the 14th the advance guard of the 7th Motorized Infantry Regiment had reached Onhaye, two miles west of Dinant. Communicating by radio that he had “arrived” (eingetroffen), Colonel Georg von Bismarck was misunderstood as having announced he was “encircled” (eingeschlossen). Radio communication then failed, setting off a crisis that rippled all the way up the chain of command. Kluge, the army commander, spoke of an “Onhaye crisis” and diverted units in its direction. Rommel immediately organized all the tanks then available on the west bank of the Meuse to rush to von Bismarck’s aid.The attack was led by Colonel Karl Rothenberg, commander of the 25th Panzer Regiment, with Rommel following close behind in one of the division’s few Panzer III tanks, so closely, in fact, that Rommel’s tank came under fire from French antitank and artillery guns, suffering two hits. Attempting to escape, the tank slid down a steep embankment where it became immobilized. Rommel bailed out with the crew and escaped with only an ugly gash on his chin. It had been a close call, and it would not be the last time Rommel’s life would be in danger during the campaign. An attack launched that evening reestablished contact with von Bismarck, ending the “crisis.”For the French Army, however, the crisis was only beginning. During the 13th and 14th all three German panzer corps had formed bridgeheads on the western side of the Meuse, though Reinhardt’s at Monthermé was precarious and encountering stiff resistance while Guderian’s at Sedan was only marginally better, having become the target of intense air bombardment. It was at this fateful moment on the 15th of May that Corap ordered a withdrawal of his Ninth Army westward to a new line. This had the effect of “uncorking the bottle,” allowing both Reinhardt’s and Guderian’s corps to pour out of their bridgeheads, through and around the slowly reacting French units and into open country. The French line now had a breach 60 miles wide, with nothing to plug the gap.French armor pulled out of their positions near the Meuse River, when Rommel poured small-arms fire on them.Opposite Hoth’s XV Corps, Corap’s new line included the railway that ran to the east of Philippeville, 15 miles west of where Rommel’s division had breached the Meuse. Before the new line could be occupied it was penetrated by the 25th Panzer Regiment. Rommel’s panzers, now with air support from the Luftwaffe, were striking deep into the rear of Ninth Army and forestalled an intended counterattack toward Dinant by the newly arriving French armored division, the 1st DCR (Division Cuirassee Rapide).The 1st DCR had roughly 150 tanks to Rommel’s 218, but over half of these were the heavy B models that outclassed anything in the German inventory. The French medium tank, the Somua S35, was the best all-around tank on the battlefield in the spring of 1940, fast, well protected, and with heavier firepower than the Panzer III. A disadvantage of both the B models and the Somua was that a single individual had to load, aim, and fire the turret gun, while inside a German tank multiple crewmen could coordinate a heavier rate of fire. The 75mm gun on the B models was also hull mounted, which meant the gun could be redirected only by moving the entire vehicle.Had the 1st DCR appeared on Rommel’s right flank unexpectedly it could have given him a nasty surprise. Instead, near Flavion, the Germans came upon the French just as their tanks were in the process of taking on fuel. Another disadvantage of the French heavy tanks was their rapid fuel consumption, which limited their operations to fewer than six hours before they had to refuel. Their fuel tankers, many of which were civilian models lacking tracks capable of operating on off-road terrain, had been delayed for hours.A sharp engagement ensued at close range. The German panzers hit the heavier French tanks in their more vulnerable flanks. Their best bet was to shoot off the treads because the German guns lacked to the power to penetrate the French tanks’ thick frontal armor. Only about one-third of the tanks in the 1st DRC were operational at the end of the day. By the morning of the 16th, only 17 were still operational. During this same time period the 7th Panzer Division completed the destruction of another crack French unit, the 4th North African Division, which had been plugged into the line at Onhaye.Reaching the French frontier just west of Sivry, Rommel now was faced with attacking the Maginot Line extension. The Germans did not make a distinction between the “true” Maginot Line, which ended at Longuyon, and its northern extension, which was made up only of a shallow belt of pillboxes and antitank obstacles, something that explains Rommel’s caution on reaching these less formidable fortifications.There appears to have been some confusion on the morning of the 16th. Rommel received a message to remain at divisional headquarters for some unknown reason. It was not until 9:30 am that he was given permission to return to his advance headquarters. After moving forward and discussing the attack with his chief of operations, Major Otto Heidkaemper, Rommel was visited by Kluge, who expressed surprise that the attack was not yet under way. Rommel explained his plan, a careful set-piece assault, and it was readily approved.The French defenses were successfully pierced as the sun set, and the panzers found themselves in open country by the early evening. At the head of the division, riding in Rothenburg’s command tank, Rommel now drove the vanguard of the 7th Panzer relentlessly. The advance continued, as planned, in the moonlight. The rout of the 1st DCR was completed at the town of Avesnes, with only three French tanks escaping. Unable to reach Hoth on the radio, Rommel refused to stop. On his own initiative he ordered the panzers to continue west, to Landrecies, wreaking havoc in the French rear.Sunrise the following morning, the 17th, found Rommel’s forces eight miles west of Landrecies on a hill just east of the village of Le Chateau, exhausted and nearly out of fuel and ammunition. Two panzer battalions were now nearly 50 miles farther west than they had been the day before. The action was audacious to say the least. Rommel’s Avesnes raid had driven a long narrow “tongue” barely a mile wide into enemy territory. It was, according to author Alistair Horne, “the most spectacular German exploit of the day—possibly of the whole campaign—and one which, more than any other, was to establish Rommel’s reputation.”Panzer IVs and a T(38) roll through another small French town.The rest of the division was now far behind, dangerously so in the minds of some, including individuals on the divisional staff such as Heid- kaemper. He later wrote a memorandum, submitted to both Rommel and Hoth, complaining that a divisional commander ought to remain to the rear, at or close to his headquarters. Rommel was still learning the fine points of commanding a panzer division on the move and when the situation became a bit frayed he would improvise solutions. This sort of improvisation, Rommel noted derisively, was mistaken by a frightened “General Staff major” as a sign “the command of the division [was] no longer secure.”But in this case at least Rommel had judged correctly. The effects of his aggressive night advance on an already shaken French Ninth Army had been decisive. The French units became more disorganized and more demoralized the deeper Rommel drove into their lines. Now Martin’s XI Corps and Bouffett’s II Corps had been all but destroyed. Corap’s army had virtually ceased to exist. Of the 70,000 troops it began the campaign with, only 7,000 remained. For his actions during these days after crossing the Meuse, Rommel was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross. Rommel mentions Hanke presenting him the decoration on May 26 “on behalf of the Führer” and relaying Hitler’s regards, rather unusual duties for a junior officer. Rommel later returned the favor, recommending Hanke for the Iron Cross.The 17th was spent consolidating his rather precarious position. Rommel left the panzer battalions at Le Câteau in a defensive hedgehog and hastened back toward Avesnes with a single tank providing escort. The tank broke down, leaving Rommel in the midst of many French troops, still bewildered and shocked by recent events. He was lucky to escape capture. Eventually some 10,000 prisoners would be rounded up. The rest of the division, to Rommel’s probable frustration, was only just arriving in Avesnes. He personally led the remaining panzer battalion and the 37th Armored Reconnaissance battalion westward to link up with Rothenburg’s hedgehog, but not before fighting a sharp engagement with French tanks of a light mechanized division, the 1st DLM (Division Légère Méchanique), that had taken up blocking positions between Landrecies and Le Câteau.Finally reaching Rothenburg, who had been fending off attacks by French tanks himself, Rommel was surprised to learn that for some unknown reason a supply column had not made it through with him. There was no choice but to dispatch units back to Avesnes again to ensure the supply columns could get through. Rommel recorded that the situation was not cleared up until 3 pm.After this pause Rommel received orders from Hoth shortly after midnight on May 18 to push on to Cambrai, some 15 miles west of Le Câteau. Apparently the panzer regiment would not be ready to move until much later in the day, but Rommel was not about to wait. A composite battle group named Battalion Paris and consisting of mostly motorized infantry along with a few tanks and self-propelled flak guns, was dispatched. Throwing up a cloud of dust and firing occasionally, the column of mostly soft-skinned vehicles managed to convince the defenders they were facing a major armored assault. By nightfall on the 18th the town had been captured.The 19th was spent regrouping and allowing the exhausted panzer crews to rest. Rommel, meeting with Hoth, demanded that he be allowed to make another night attack to seize the high ground south of Arras. Hoth did not think the troops sufficiently rested but was persuaded by Rommel’s reasoning that a successful night attack would mean fewer casualties.In the early morning darkness of the 20th, the panzers were again on the move with Rommel characteristically in the lead. They reached the village of Beaurains, about two and a half miles south of Arras, at about 5 am. As had happened during his daring Avesnes raid, the motorized infantry regiments did not maintain contact with the panzers, falling well behind. Rommel again retraced his steps, attempting to make contact with them, and again was nearly captured.Horne wrote, “French cavalry tanks [were] infiltrating across his lines of communication. These knocked out Rommel’s accompanying tanks and for several hours he and his Signals Staff were surrounded.” The rest of May 20 was spent clearing up the situation and bringing the infantry and artillery forward.Units of the SS Totenkopf (Deaths Head) Division were coming up on his left to help cover that flank. The 5th Panzer Division would be coming up on his right, but for the moment he decided to cover that flank with infantry and artillery. The armored reconnaissance battalion was in the rear, most likely for the division’s logistical “tail,” given the problems of the previous days.There were rumors of British and French divisions concentrating near Arras, but given all that had transpired so far Rommel dismissed them and continued with his own plans. The 25th Panzer Regiment would lead the advance around Arras to the northwest. Meanwhile, the tanks of Guderian’s and Reinhardt’s corps were pacing Rommel’s troops. Guderian’s 2nd Panzer Division reached the English Channel at Noyelles-sur-Mer around 8 pm. A narrow panzer corridor now split the Allies in two.The five-man crew of a short-barreled Panzer IV ride on the outside of their tank, confident that the German Luftwaffe had cleared the skies of Allied fighters.Some 250,000 British and French soldiers had been cut off from their main supply bases in the interior of France. Britain’s prime minister, Winston Churchill, had been on the job less than two weeks. Even so, he instinctively grasped there was an opportunity. He likened the German panzer divisions, far out in front of the forced-marching infantry, to a tortoise sticking its head out of its shell.At his behest, Sir Edmund Ironside, chief of the Imperial General Staff, arrived at British Expeditionary Force (BEF) headquarters in northeastern France on the morning of May 20. Meeting with Lord Gort, the commander of the BEF, he indicated that in spite of recent events the British government was completely hostile to the idea of withdrawing from the Continent. Instead, he suggested Gort ought to stage a breakout to the southwest of a town named Arras.(It is worth pointing out that Gort himself had held the position of CIGS prior to the outbreak of the war in 1939 and his appointment to command the BEF. Up until this point in his career he had never commanded a force larger than a brigade.)Gort was skeptical. He could ill afford to draw off any of the seven divisions currently occupying the main front on the Escaut, lest he create a gap and lose contact with the already shaky Belgian Army on his left. He agreed the panzer corridor must be cut before the German infantry could catch up to reinforce it, but, he insisted, it would have to be a predominantly French operation. The best he could do at the moment, he told Ironside, was continue with an already planned counterattack by two divisions advancing south of Arras. The attack he envisioned, to be led by Maj. Gen. H.E. Franklyn, commander of 5th Infantry Division, was to cut German communications and block the roads south from Arras.Major General Giffard le Quesne Martel, commander of the British 50th Infantry Division, had been selected to lead the attacking troops. As planned by Martel, the advance would be carried out by two mobile columns, each to consist of a tank battalion, an infantry battalion from the 151st Brigade, a battery of field artillery, and a battery of antitank guns, with a company of motorcyclists for reconnaissance. Fifty-eight Mark I and just 16 Mark II tanks were all it could muster for the attack. Many were in urgent need of a thorough overhaul, particularly their treads, which would crack and break after onlylimited use.The attack was destined to be severely handicapped. According to author George Forty, it “suffered from a complete lack of air support, had little artillery support, no infantry/tank radio communications, [the units had] never operated together before meeting in the concentration area and worst of all, had left in such a hurry that proper orders had never been passed down to individual tank commanders.” French participation would be limited to about 60 tanks from a cavalry corps covering the western flank of the right-hand column.Rommel had given orders for the 25th Panzer Regiment to advance northwest of Arras toward Lille via Acq, a small village on the north bank of the Scarpe River. Observing the panzers forming up, he had no doubt this new thrust into enemy territory would be as successful as all those the regiment had launched in the preceding days. He wished to accompany it in person but, once again, the infantry had been slow to follow up, so he hastened back in search of von Bismarck’s 7th Motorized Infantry Regiment. It was nowhere to be found.Instead, Rommel came across a portion of the 6th Motorized Infantry Regiment on the road between Ficheux and Wailly. Accompanying it he arrived in Wailly only to find the German forces in the streets in chaos. Tanks from the 7th Royal Tank Regiment, part of Martel’s right-hand column, were closing on the northern edge of the village from two directions, and their fire was creating havoc.The situation, Rommel wrote, was an “extremely tight spot,” the retreating infantry sweeping up gun crews along with them. Immediate action was required. With the help of his aide, Joachim Most, Rommel rallied the gun crews and brought every available weapon into action. It was Rommel’s opinion that only heavy and rapid fire from every available gun, both antitank and antiaircraft, could reverse the situation.Rommel’s life was certainly in great danger at this time. Most was killed only a few feet away just as the British began to withdraw. At another point Rommel and his telegraphist were cornered in a shell hole by a British tank. Instead of killing or capturing him, the tank crew exited the tank and gave themselves up. The driver had been killed, and the tank was crippled.Rommel was deeply involved in deploying the 20mm antiaircraft guns at his disposal to repulse Martel’s right-hand column. He had no influence on the halting of the left-hand column, which was stopped in its tracks by 105mm and 88mm guns firing over open sights as the tanks of the left-column broke into the open country at Beaurains. One 88mm battery claimed to have destroyed nine tanks. Rommel spoke by radio at 7 pm with the 25th Panzer Regiment, which had reached its objectives and was waiting for the rest of the division. He ordered it to turn southeast and attack both Walrus and Duisans during the evening. It ran afoul of the infantry and antitank guns that had been detached there, eventually broke through them, and then engaged in a fierce tank duel south of Agnez as it pulled back to its start line. Seven British tanks were knocked out at a cost of nine German.The war diary of the 7th Panzer Division admits the following losses on May 21: 89 killed, 116 wounded, and 173 missing. This was four times as many losses as the division had suffered during the breakout from the Meuse. The 25th Panzer Regiment had lost as many as 30 vehicles, including six Czech PzKpfw 38(t) and three PzKpfw IV tanks. The Totenkopf Division recorded losses of 39 dead, 66 wounded, and two missing. The British claimed 400 prisoners, a total that does not match German figures. It is possible the number of German missing was deliberately under-reported.Following the renewal of major operations in the West on May 10, 1940, Czech-designed tanks of the German Army roll rapidly across France and toward the English Channel. Using Czech technology enabled the panzer arm of the Wehrmacht to deliver firepower and mobility to the front in the early days of the war.British and French casualties had, however, been just as heavy, particularly in equipment. Of the 58 Mark I tanks only 26 remained, and of the 16 Mark II tanks only two remained. The rest, many of which needed maintenance, were harassed by German Ju-87 Stuka dive-bombers.In the days following the engagement at Arras, Rommel continued to push north, crossing the la Bassee Canal west of Lens, and at midday on May 26, he was given temporary command of the tanks in 5th Panzer Division for the assault toward Lille. Between May 27 and June 1, Rommel helped establish defensive positions outside Lille, fending off French attacks before being relieved by German infantry.Summoned to see Hitler on June 2 while his division refitted for the second phase of the campaign, Rommel proudly wrote his wife that during the meeting on June 3 he was the only divisional commander who had been allowed to accompany Hitler. For his part, Hitler told Rommel, “we were all worried for you during the attack.”The 7th Panzer Division would enjoy another run of virtually uninterrupted success the moment the German invasion was resumed on June 5. The French had adopted a defense in depth by this time and occasionally inflicted sharp losses on the advancing Germans, but they had lost most of their best troops and equipment and the BEF had been evicted from the Continent. German victory was only a matter of time. Breaching the French line at the Somme River between Abbeville and Amiens, the rapid advance quickly transformed into a rout.Rouen was reached on June 8; St. Valéry, between Le Havre and Dieppe, on the 11th; and Cherbourg on the 18th. Rommel, writing home to his wife from Rennes on June 21, described the second phase of the campaign as resembling a pleasant “lightning tour of France.” When the armistice between Germany and France went into effect on the 25th, the 7th Panzer Division was fewer than 200 miles from the Spanish frontier. During the execution of Plan Gelb, at the cost of less than 2,500 casualties and 42 tanks destroyed (highest of Germany’s 10 panzer divisions), Rommel’s division had captured 97,648 prisoners, 277 field guns, 64 antitank guns, 458 tanks and armored cars, and more than 4,000 trucks in addition to enormous amounts of supplies.British General Victor Fortune (right) surrenders the 51st Highland Division to Rommel and his staff.Germany’s campaign in France and the Low Countries in May and June 1940 has been characterized—both at the time and since—as “the greatest battle of annihilation of all time.” Author John Ellis wrote that the German Army “had defeated a highly rated enemy, superior in both numbers and equipment, in just 46 days.”The armies of Holland, Belgium, France, and Britain had been routed by a German Army lacking both material and numerical superiority and in spite of their having been allowed nine months in which to prepare their defenses in a theater of operations large enough to have afforded ample opportunity to buy time through a considered strategic withdrawal.Germany, for its part, misunderstood the basis of its astonishing victory and underestimated the willingness of the Allies to fight on. Hitler became convinced that his armies could not be beaten. Rommel, who at the time had no idea Hitler’s thirst for conquest was nearly unquenchable, probably expected the war to be over in 1940. He wrote, “How wonderful it’s all been.”Why “the Ghost Division”?The exploits of the Gespensterdivision (Ghost Division), as the Germans called 7th Panzer, or la division fantôme (the phantom division), as the French referred to it, during the stunning conquest of France delighted Rommel’s benefactors and virtually assured further advancement. To drive the point home Rommel spent part of the summer of 1940, at Goebbels’ request, assisting in the production of the propaganda film Victory in the West. The counterattack at Arras is the only Allied offensive action mentioned in the entire film.Time was also spent preparing for the crossing of the English Channel and the invasion of Great Britain, code-named Operation Sea Lion, but the invasion was canceled when the necessary precondition—air superiority over the Channel and southern England—was never achieved.Rommel also published the war diary of the 7th Panzer Division in book form, a copy of which was presented to Hitler by Rommel’s friend, Rudolf Schmundt. Hitler was impressed to the extent that he wrote a letter, dated December 20, 1940, telling Rommel, “You can be proud of your achievements.”Promotion came in January 1941, when Rommel was elevated to the rank of lieutenant general and sent to Libya to spearhead Operation Sonnenblume (Sunflower) as commander of the Afrika Korps. There, in North Africa, he would eventually earn his field marshal’s baton and cement his reputation as the Desert Fox.SOURCE: Rommel’s Ghost Division, by Dr. Michael Rinella