Customer Reviews

Panzers on the Eastern Front: General Erhard Raus and his Panzer Divisions in Russia, 1941-1945 (World War II German Debriefs)

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This book was an excellant example of german battle tactics on the eastern front. It probably is too dry for the casual reader of military history, but for someone wanting to delve into more detailed discussion of ostfront german tactics, this book can be very enlightening. It basically is derived from interviews with General Raus by U.S. officers post WW 2. His discussion of highly fluid actions and his ability to win them is of great interest to the avid military reader and should be to officers in our U.S. armored forces. General Raus' name is obscure to western historians, but was well known to OKW as someone to get you out of a tough situation. "Raus will pull us through!"

I found it a very interesting read to say the least. The never-ending myth of German technical superiority is indirectly proven absolutely false. Raus recounts the advances to Leningrad as a succession of bridgehead operations, and the joys of facing KV1s with wave infantry attacks. An interesting aspect of the book is the drastic effect deep winter weather had on both protagonists. The way Raus and his officers handled it passively and actively is quite an eye-opener to creating opportunities from what could be seen as a drastic deficit. It is the German command and control that produces the victories in the book, as well as simple concentric axis of advance. If the German armies were truly left to the professionals in WW2, history in Europe might well have turned out quite different.

I must admit a weakness in the book is the fact that Raus never once confesses to being beaten by the Russians. His retreats, such as at Stalingrad, seem to be someone else's problem rather than his high casualities calling the end to an operation. You get the feeling that he would keep attacking with his shattered troops due to some ubermench powers his troops seemed to possess. The fact his logistic support was pretty ordinary doesn't seem to rate a mention with him, but one wonders if a lot of what he wrote is caught up in the emotion of the battles without an exceptional grasp of the global geo-politics in play while these battles played out. To draw on a story I read about; at the Vietnam Geneva peace talks a US general turned to Giap and stated, "You know what? You never beat us in any battle we fought. We won them all." Giap turned to him and stated, "This is irrelevant here."

Overall, a very educational text for genuine insights into WW2 German operations in very trying circumstances.

This is an extremely useful text that discusses in detail the tactical and operational aspects of the German battles on the eastern front. The weaknesses are (a) poor maps (get your own map of European Russia circa 194X) and (b) choppy organization caused by assembling the manuscript from many memos and a draft of Raus' autobiography. Even with faults this is a true "must read".

Col Raus, a staff officer of many years, began Barbarossa with his first notable field command within the 6th PzD of AGN. By the time AGN had penetrated the Baltics and was heading for Leningrad, Raus had received two decorations and a promotion. He quickly proved to be a wily tactician and an able leader that gained the confidence and respect of his troops. Before his forced retirement in March 1945 from an irrational Hitler, he would command at divisional, corps, and army level of some of the most important battles of the war.

This is a competent and interesting but not an exhaustive study of the man and the immediate battles that confronted him during WWII.
The book, which was predominately sourced from writings of Raus after the war, begins with a brief history of his career and a general overview of his engagements before expanding his battles.There are 23 engagements the author describes as well as analysis of each battle. Both the description and analysis, though concise, was good and helpful.

Perhaps reading about the assaults of an Army Group like you read in a David Glantz book (Barbarossa, Typhoon, Stalingrad, Kursk, Leningrad) is more impressive, but you will still learn interesting aspects of Raus and these micro battles that you won't find in the macro books.

Included with the narrative are twenty black and white maps. I thought these maps were good and helped the reader follow the battle action. Several maps also helped in following the battle action in those macro books when its map was blurred or darkened. While there were no photos, there were twenty action drawings that were interesting; you may like them also.

The book also has footnotes, an impressive reading list of secondary authors and an index.
Also included was a very useful Appendix that included the divisional history of 6th PzD and Order of Battle and the organizational structure of the relief attempt of Stalingrad. There was also a description of the historical program of the war sponored by the US Army that Raus and other noted Germans participated in.

If you liked this book but want more there are two other books you could study. The first book is similar in nature, covering General Raus but has other coverage and is written by Steven Newton. Its called "Panzer Operations". These two books are mutually supplemental and together give a fuller picture of General Raus and his battle history. The other book is also by Mr Tsouras and is called "Fighting in Hell" and includes battle tactics of Raus and other Germans as well.

If you are interested in General Raus or in battlefield tactics, this book and the other two books mentioned are highly recommended.

I probably have bought close to 100 books on WWII, and this is one of the most disappointing I have ever bought. The picture on the cover is the only one you will see. More importantly, the author discusses small unit tactics in great detail but while the scenarios take place during the war in the East, one never even remotely gets the feeling of the War in the East. There is no advance on Moscow or Stalingrad, no Battle of Kursk, no pursuit of the German Wehrmacht in the Ukraine or White Russia. No division is ever mentioned and neither is any German or Russian Tank. The scenarios just as well could have come from any other war since then. This book is solely about small unit tactics and might be useful for an actual tank commander, but for anyone interested in World War II, this is not the book to buy.