166 - Nazi General Dies of Heart Attack - WW2 - October 30, 1942

by Panzer
So where’s Rommel then?
Yeah, right! Nah, I remember, I remember.
Yeah but who’s in charge?
He what?
He’s dead?
Was he shot or what?
Uh huh...
while holding onto what?
Wow, no...
I would not have guessed that.
Okay!
See ya!
October 30, 1942
You have your battle plan; you have to stick to it.
It involves suicidal bayonet charges against machine guns.
You lose a lot of men.
The next day the order is for the same battle plan against the same defenders using the
same tactics. Want do you do? Well, this week if you’re the Japanese on Guadalcanal; you
do exactly the same thing.
I’m Indy Neidell; this is World War Two.
Last week, crossed signals messed up a Japanese attack at Guadalcanal, the fighting for Stalingrad’s
factory district peaked and then ebbed again, and in North Africa the Allies launched their
long awaited offensive against the Axis forces.
This week we really see two full phases of the 2nd Battle of El Alamein.
The initial infantry attacks in the north that began the night of the 23rd go well at
first, but slow down over the night, and though a few objectives are taken by dawn the 24th,
the minefield itself- the Devil’s Garden- is still full of British armor and infantry
stuck together. The enemy defenses are deeper than anyone on Allied command has guessed.
British Commander Bernard Montgomery orders that even if the infantry is totally stuck,
the armor must fight its way through.
They have, though, wrecked communications between the Axis frontlines and HQ, so Axis
Commander Georg Stumme heads to the front to see what’s happening. His car comes under
attack, though, and his aide is killed. Stumme starts to get out just as the driver speeds
off, so he’s clinging to the side of the car when he has a heart attack and dies. Wilhelm
Thoma takes over, and Erwin Rommel is recalled from his sickbed in Germany; Adolf Hitler
himself calls and asks him to return to North Africa.
Allied attacks continue all day the 24th, and as the afternoon wanes, 2nd armored brigade
from 1st armored division breaks through into the clear. They are immediately attacked by
the 15th panzers, but guess what? This is what Monty wants- keep the enemy armor busy