Who shot up Erwin Rommel's staff car that day in 1944

[The Aviator]

Squadron Leader Le Roux of 602 Squadron was flying his Spitfire Mk 9 on a sweep through the French countryside that morning on the 17th July 1944.
Seeing a German staff car on a lonely road in Normandy he immediately attacked.
Later it was found to be Rommel's staff car and the attack and subsequent roll over left Rommel with multiple skull fractures.

Details:
Name LE ROUX, Jacobus Johannes 'Chris'
Number 42240
Nationality South African
Born South Africa, 1920
Arrived England 9 December 1940

Decorations DFC (1941), 1st Bar to DFC (1942), 2nd Bar to DFC (1943)
Notes KIA 29 August 1944, whilst CO of 602 Sqdn.; remembered on Panel 200 of the Runnymede Memorial

Chris le Roux took command of No.602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron in France in the summer of 1944, with Spitfire 9s, having received a second Bar to his DFC for his North African successes. He led this squadron through the fierce fighting of the invasion of Normandy, and moved it to French soil on 25th June. He shot down a FW 190 and a Me 109 on 15th July, 1944, and another FW 190 on 16th. On 17th he destroyed two Me 109s and damaged two more.

Chris Le Roux nearly succeeded in killing the German Commanding General, Erwin Rommel. Diving on his car, he caused it to overturn near the village of Sainte Foy de Montgomerie, and Rommel was flung into a ditch and sustained a fractured skull. He survived, only to kill himself on 14th October, rather than stand trial for complicity in the plot against Hitler of 20th July.
By 25th August, 1944, Paris had been liberated, and on 3rd September, five years after the outbreak of war, the Welsh Guards entered Brussels.

Chris le Roux did not live to enjoy the fruits of the victory. Like so many gallant and brilliant fighter pilots, he was killed, not by enemy gunfire, but by an aircraft accident, on 19th September, 1944.

[Martin Bull]

Saw this thread and couldn't resist posting the following pic which may be of interest.




It's the 'Now' scene of the action described above. Rommel's car and the attacking aircraft were travelling toward the camera, over the brow in the background ; the car came to rest more or less exactly in front of the camera, on the right-hand verge. Rommel lay in the roadway to the left. After the attack, Rommel and his mortally-wounded driver were carried to the gatehouse seen middle-left.

[stevew]

Martin,

This is off interest to me, I travel along this bit of road quite often, unfortunately I am always driving, so it's hard to pick out everything. Please correct me where I go wrong.

This is just on the hill as you come into St-Foy-de-Montgommery, I'm just trying to recall how far outside the village it is. I'm not going again until the middle of April, but can't wait now as I always wonder where it was that Rommel got wounded.

Thanks for posting the picture.

Steve

[Martin Bull]

Hello Steve

Yes, the exact spot is on the D579 Vimoutiers-Livarot road. The photo was taken standing on a bridge ( really just a culvert ) over a stream called 'Ruisseau de Souze' and it's on right on the edge of Vimoutiers ; in fact, as you come out of Vimoutiers heading North it's a case of blink-and-you'll-miss-it. It's a busy road and I had to turn around and come back on myself ( I had to wait ages for a gap in the traffic to give my photo that 'deserted country road' look ).

[stevew]

Martin,

I know the road very well, and I know how busy it is, I have a house in the area, I'm trying to clear my mind of where I think it is, and where it actually is. I had read somewhere that the incident was nearer Livarot, I can tell from the photo that is not the case as the road is flater before Livarot, I think that has clouded my judgement as to where you took the picture, but reading your last reply, I think I am zoning in! As I said when you're driving you don't tend to take in the buildings beside the road and I couldn't remember the gatehouse as being where I thought it was, but now you've said it's just outside Vimoutiers I think I know where it is. Next time I'm over there I'll take a picture from the other side of the valley

Steve

[ADM199]

This is a copy of a statement made to by Allies that was copied at T.N.A. some months ago.

The son of Bremerorde Burgomaster Heins,who was eye witness of a accident with which Field Marshall Rommel met in France,volunteered the following statement.

The accident happened between the 10th and the 15th of July 1944,when Heins was a 2nd Lieutenant in a Panzer Grenadier unit of the 21st Panzer Division. Heins cannot remember the exact date of the accident,but says it happened early in the afternoon of one of those days,at about 1600hrs.
Heins was travelling in a German Jeep(Kubelwagen)from Livarot to St.Pierre-Sur-D'Ile. In Livarot he was overtaken by two open Mercedes cars,and he noticed that a General was sitting in the first one. He followed at about 550yds distance. Their average speed was about 80 to 100 kms per hour. The General who was Field Marshall Rommel,as Heins learned later on,was sitting to the right of the driver. Another two high ranking officers were sitting in the back,whilst Rommels Adjutants were following in the second car.
About 1 mile outside Livarot they came to a bend in the road,which was an open target for Typhoons. Heins notices six of them in the air.
When Heins saw one of the Typhoons diving onto the road from the right,he managed to get into a side track,whilst the other two cars were continuing on their way. The first car,in which Rommel was travelling,was machine-gunned,but no rockets were fired.
Rommels driver was hit,and lost control of the car which was swaying from one side of the road to the other. At this juncture Rommel jumped out of the car,which was still travelling at high speed,fell on his face and slid about ten yards along the surface of the road. His driver,who was badly wounded,managed to stop the car about 200yds further on.
When Rommels Adjutants and Heins arrived at the place of the accident,they found that Rommel had bad injuries to the right side of the face,and he probably had a skull fracture.
Rommel was taken straight back to Livarot,to the French maire,who was also the local chemist.He stayed there for one day and a Luftwaffe Ambulance then took him to the Luftwaffe Hospital at Bernay. Department Seine-Inferieure.
Heins,who had spoken to some patients and Doctors of this Hospital,afterwards learned from them,that Rommel stayed there about three weeks. A Specialist from Berlin arrived at Bernay to give him the best possible attention. The last details Heins knows of this story is,that Rommel was brought back to Germany after 3 or 4 weeks in Bernay,and does not know what happened further in this connection.

In another statement Rommels Son,Manfred states his Father had 4 fractures of the skull.

I don't know if you can make any sense of the statement,or was Heins just feeding a load of Bull.

[Martin Bull]

There's an article, complete with aerial photos and witness accounts, in 'After The Battle' #8 ( the one about The Battle Of The Falaise Pocket ).

[stevew]

The above statement by Heins makes sense but doesn't tie up with the photo. The statement implies the incident was nearer Livarot than Vimoutiers, be interested to see ATB#8

[Martin Bull]

The ATB article quotes a long statement by Hauptmann Helmuth Lang, who was a passenger in the car, and includes photos of Lang on his return to the scene in 1970. He confirmed the gatehouse as the building to which he carried Rommel. Rommel was transported back to Livarot as Vimoutiers had no suitable hospital at the time.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Martin Bull

Saw this thread and couldn't resist posting the following pic which may be of interest.




It's the 'Now' scene of the action described above. Rommel's car and the attacking aircraft were travelling toward the camera, over the brow in the background ; the car came to rest more or less exactly in front of the camera, on the right-hand verge. Rommel lay in the roadway to the left. After the attack, Rommel and his mortally-wounded driver were carried to the gatehouse seen middle-left.

Martin,

I don't believe this is where Rommel was wounded. This location is a stone's throw away from Vimoutiers, having travelled the road yesterday. I always thought the incident happened just before St-Foy-de-Montgommery (or just past if you are travelling from Vimoutiers). But reading the statement of the witness (which I meant to take with me but forgot) the incident was definetly just outside of Livarot. The old road exiting Livarot is straight, before quite a sharp bend which is what I believe was referred to in the witnesses statement, I didn't have time to take photos yesterday, I'll try when I'm next there in June.

I know that doesn't tie up with ATB#8

Steve