Talk:Erhard Raus

Most competent and creative?

These claims:

During the war in the east he was one of the most competent and creative General to serve in the east.

During his command of the German 6th Panzer Division he achieved the impossible and led the way to Leningrad, Moscow and the rescue attempt to relieve the entrapped German 6th Army at Stalingrad, only to have the objective snatched away from him by Hitler, who would divert his force away at the critical time when all three objectives could of been taken. Preventing the siege of Leningrad, the withdrawal of Moscow and the attempt to rescue the 6th Army.

His achievements go mostly unrecognised because of the decision of the high command to pull him out of action when he could have achieved his objective and claimed at least minor fame for himself.

seem more than a bit far-fetched. Is there a reliable source for this? If not, I'll be deleting it. --Hongooi 07:49, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

Ive read his memoirs, he never had his objectives snatched away from him.

Lenningrad, while his kampfgruppe made remarkable progress, captured vital bridges, punched through the Stalin Line, operated alone and unsupported for days and in one case a week iirc i doubt his men could have just taken Lenningrad if they were given the chance. I dont recall him even implying that either.

Moscow, the 6th Panzer was transferred from HG Nord to Mitte and took part in Operation Typhoon, the operation as we all know was a failure and the city was never captured. Again i dont believe he mentioned that he could have done it. He does make out in his book that he did and excellent job at preventing major Soviet brakethroughs after the frontline had been stablised during the winter battle and made local counterattacks but no strike which could have captured the city and won the war as made out.

As for Stalingrad, when the division was transferred back to the USSR from France (was being refitted) the division still under his command took part in the attempt to get through to the city. He does mention a few massive brawls which the division took part in which they got the better of the Soviets by using great tactics etc

He does state in his book that they were about to make a final thrust towards the city when the garrison didnt brake out when they were ordered to halt and to be transferred to another sector. Its here he states that right down to the junior soldier they had no idea why this happened and they knew that meant the destruction of the 6th Armee. However in the next chapter he goes on to talk about where they were heading to and the fighting they took part in etc.

Sorry for the long post but all in all yes your right to want to delete, its over the top and going off his memoirs (as sumarised above) it seems a little bit unfounded. -- 08/09/2007

Updates

Hi all, i have started to update this article.

I have just updated it so it now has a bit more info about him, this includes brief information on him during WW1, what he did pre war, commands his had during the beginning of WW2 and his exploits up until the 6th Panzer Division was pulled off the line outside Leningrad during 1941.

I will hopefully be able to finish off editing this tomorrow, throwing in more info on what he got up to during the war, his opinions etc as well as updating his awards etc.

Although hopefully you can all chime in and we can make this allot better then it was, which seemed to be a tad over the top about how great he was etc. --EnigmaMcmxc 21:07, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

Still havnt quite finished it, afterwards ill try and cut some of the bumpf out of it to make it more focused and less of a 6th Panzer Division history like it is now!lol --EnigmaMcmxc 19:52, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

Semi-Anonymous Authorship

Raus appears to be the primary author described in the Center for Military History's 1951 publication 104-1, Military Improvisations During the Russian Campaign. The Preface reads:

This study was prepared for the Historical Division, European Command, by a group of former German generals and general staff officers. The names of the contributors are not announced at this time. The principal author, who by the end of the war had attained the rank of full general (Generaloberst), served on the Eastern Front throughout the Russian campaign and the subsequent retreat into the northern plains of Germany. He was successively commander of an infantry brigade, of a panzer division from November 1941 to February 1943, and of two different corps in the battles for Kharkov and Belgorod during 1943. Appointed commander of a panzer army on 1 December 1943, he participated in the withdrawal in the south until the Germans reached the Carpathians. In August 1944 he was transferred to Army Group Center, and his last assignment was with Army Group Weichsel. During this final phase of his military career he played an important part in the retreat from Lithuania, East Prussia, and Pomerania.

This title appears to be closely related to, but perhaps separate from, some of Raus' acknowledged works. Sofa King (talk) 04:18, 20 October 2013 (UTC)

References