Those were apparently the last words of Generalmajor Max Sümmermann, Commander of 90. leichte Afrika-Division, before he died of wounds received in an air attack on 10 December 1941, during the retreat to the Gazala position.  A report of the circumstances of his death is contained in the war diary of the division. He was one of the General rank officer casualties suffered by the Germans during the battle. My research has not yet extended to the Italian general officers, but if someone has the information, feel free to post it as a comment.

As far as I can make out, eight German army officers of general rank (ranks as of the time of battle) were based in North Africa when CRUSADER commenced on 17 November 1941, as well as two Luftwaffe generals.

Army

• General der Panzertruppe Erwin Rommel – Commander, Panzergruppe Afrika
• Generalmajor Alfred Gause – Chief of Staff, Panzergruppe Afrika
• Generalmajor Karl Böttcher – Commander, Artilleriekommando 104.
• Generalleutnant Ludwig Crüwell – Commander, Deutsches Afrikakorps
• Generalmajor Walter Neumann-Silkow – Commander, 15.Panzerdivision.
• Generalmajor Johann von Ravenstein – Commander, 21.Panzerdivision.
• Generalmajor Max Sümmermann – Commander, 90. leichte Afrika-Division.
• Generalmajor Arthur Schmitt –  originally commander rückwärtiges Armeegebiet (army rear area) (Korück) 556, but put in charge of installations and defense of Bardia in preparation for the attack on Tobruk.

Luftwaffe

• Generalmajor Osterkamp, head of administration of the Luftwaffe in Benghazi
• General der Flieger Fröhlich – commander of the Luftwaffe fighting component in North Africa as Fliegerführer Afrika.

Of these ten, four became casualties, and one had to report himself sick shortly after the end of operations.

• von Ravenstein was captured by a New Zealand patrol while on reconnaissance during the battles of Sidi Rezegh on 28 November 41. He was the first German general officer to be captured by Commonwealth forces. An article giving details of his capture can be found at this link.
• Neumann-Silkow died of wounds received from Commonwealth artillery fire on 6 December 1941, during the fighting around Bir el Gobi.
• Sümmermann died of wounds under the circumstances outlined above.
• Schmitt surrendered his command the fortress of Bardia with a garrison of almost 8,000 Italian and German soldiers, on 2 January 1942 to Major-General de Villiers, General Officer Commanding 2nd South African Division. He was the first German general officer to surrender such a large body of men and a city to Commonwealth forces.
• Gause reported sick on 18 February 42 and left Africa for a while.  I believe it is arguable that the strain of the battle over the last three month played a role in this.

At least three of the German generals received the Ritterkreuz (Knight’s Cross) for their role in the battle: Gause, Böttcher and Schmitt.

Some pictures:

Rommel and Gause during a visit to the HQ of Italian XXI C.A. on 21 November 1941. Gause is standing on the right. Bundesarchiv.

Generalmajor von Ravenstein, first German general to be captured in WW2. Wikipedia.

NZETC Website

NZETC Website

Rommel and General Böttcher likely during CRUSADER. Bundesarchiv.