Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
Who really blew up Rommel's staff car
There are two candidates for the role of the hero of the Norman company, which broke the course of the battle by depriving the German troops of the Western Front of the most talented general of all time. It is believed that the car in which the Field Marshal Erwin Rommel rode was attacked by South African Chris Le Roy from 602 Squadron or Canadian Charlie Fox from 412 Squadron. Many world sources point to the second, as Chris Leroy died a little later after July 17, 1944, when the raid on Rommel's staff car occurred, and Charlie Fox did not preempt to give interviews year after year. The Quebec Historical Research Center, having raised military archival documents in the library, also confirmed that given the time of Fox's departure from 412 Squadron, his place of patrol, the time of the destruction of Rommel's staff car and the time of Fox's return to the base, it is very possible that it is the Canadian thereby the pilot.
Erwin Rommel traveled hundreds of kilometers every day to discuss the situation at the front with its commanders. This is the maximum that he could do in the war, knowing that this war is already lost. On the day of the raid, Rommel returned to the front from the command post of the 1st Panzer Division SS, commander of Sepp Dietrich.
Charlie Fox, each time telling the same story, says that everything that happened that day he clearly stands before his eyes, as if it happened yesterday. As an 84-year-old, in October 2008, at the ceremony of the 412th Squadron in Ottawa, a London resident, Charlie Fox, sold a story for Canadian publications about that day "We climbed into the sky in the afternoon. As soon as we reached Caen, we divided into 4 sectors in order to detect any possible targets. Our goal was everything that moved. It was already about 9 o'clock and I flew on the other side of Сaen when I saw the staff car moving along the main road between the trees. I immediately went down and started the attack at a distance of about 500 meters. After that, I saw that a heavily damaged car had left the road. I saw the fallen general - O Lord! This is Rommel! - I thought. I immediately rang that I had blown up the staff car of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. After that, recovering from the shock, I pondered for a long time about what will happen next and how this can change the course of the entire war."
On the first picture, Charlie Fox with famous painting by the painter Lance Russwurm, who wrote it from the words of Charlie himself. On the second picture is the place of the attack.