And not many folk can say that. "He was viewed as Hitler’s finest general, admired even by the Allies for his skills as a military leader. But to one captured British soldier, Erwin Rommel was the man who SAVED his life – and gave him beer and cigarettes. Captain Roy Wooldridge, from the Royal Engineers, has told how he was introduced to the ‘Desert Fox’ after being taken prisoner in France. Lucky escape: Captain Roy Wooldridge (pictured after the war) has revealed how top Nazi general Erwin Rommel saved his life after he was captured as a spy - and even served him a meal, beer and cigarettes He had been caught during a covert night-time reconnaissance mission ahead of the D-Day landings. Without UNIFORM or identification due to the secrecy of the operation, he was treated as a spy and told he would be shot. But Field Marshal Rommel requested a meeting with the new prisoner and ASKED the Brit if there was anything he needed. Captain Wooldridge said he replied: ‘A good meal, a pint of beer and a PACKET of cigarettes.’ To his astonishment he was then ushered into Rommel’s mess, where all three items were waiting for him. Capt Wooldridge, now 95, saved the empty cigarette packet as a souvenir and will recount his adventure on Sunday’s EDITION of Antiques Roadshow. He said: ‘I was told that Rommel always wanted to MEET MEN who had been doing something unusual when they were captured. ‘I was meant to have been shot. I was told on several occasions during my interrogation that is what would HAPPEN unless I talked. ‘Hitler had issued orders that commandos were to be shot but Rommel declined to obey that instruction. Rommel saved my life. He was a very fine German and a CLEAN fighter.’" http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2842467/Rommel-saved-shot-spy-served-cigarettes-beer-WW2-veteran-95-reveals-astonishing-story-survival-pre-D-Day-mission.html#ixzz3Jf3a1lq0
strange; he says " but I didnot answer their questions, I never told them and Rommel himself anything"... and still not being shot for being a spy, and not giving useful indirect information. or is it that telling his rank and number (thus revealing he is a royal engineer) was enough info for the germans to understand what he was doing at the coast...that saved his life.
No, Rommel was known for ignoring Hitler's order to shoot commandos, though many other German officers weren't as scrupulous.
Two little side notes on the kind of person he was: He is the only member of the the Third Reich to have a museum dedicated to him. Several times he found himself behind enemy lines in North Africa. On one occasion he stumbled upon an Allied field hospital. The hospital was low on supplies, and he promised to bring medical supplies for them. He then drove off unhindered and later returned with the supplies.
