Bannon DC Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 I just picked up a Department of the Army (US) Historical Study titled "Russian Combat Methods in World War II." (No. 20-230, issued Nov. 1950). The preface mentions that this was prepared by a committee of former German officers and mentions the principal author "commanded in succession a panzer division, a corps, a panzer army, and an army group." I think that should narrow it down to a few possibilities, but I don't know my German command hierarchy well enough to know who they would be. Can anyone help out? Here is another obscure clue that might be of use. Opening paragraph of the preface: "This pamphlet was prepared by a committee of former German officers at the EUCOM Historical Division Interrogation Enclosure, Neustadt, Germany, in late 1947 and early 1948. All those officers had extensive experience on the eastern front in the period 1941-1945." And the paragraph goes on to conclude with the principal author info quoted above. Thanks for your help. Also picked up another study "The German Campaign in Russia -- planning and operations (1940-1942). (No. 20-261a) Good reading. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonC Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 If it is the one I am thinking of, Raus was the principle author. And enjoyed telling fish stories, had a very selective memory, wanted to spin the US into thinking Russia had been their enemy all along too and they had everything to learn from the smart Germans who got their first, and a lot more like it. Raus has to be taken with a bucket of salt. If you have strong BS detectors and throw out half his exaggerations, and fill in the unflattering details yourself, he is worth reading. Simply straightforward or trustworthy he is not. Raus, incidentally, commanded a Panzer army (3 different ones in succession, actually), but not an army group. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfish Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Field Marshal Model "In the Russian campaign from 1941 until 1944 he served in succession as a division, corps, and army commander. In January 1944 Model was assigned as commander in chief of Army Group North on the Eastern Front." 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
civdiv Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Originally posted by Kingfish: Field Marshal Model "In the Russian campaign from 1941 until 1944 he served in succession as a division, corps, and army commander. In January 1944 Model was assigned as commander in chief of Army Group North on the Eastern Front." He committed suicide at the end of the war. So short of holding a seance, I doubt if it was Model. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingfish Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Ah, good point. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanonier Reichmann Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Jeez, these American debrief experts were obviously dead keen to get information on how the Soviets fought...even to the point of employing mediums to obtain the info. from demised German Generals! :eek: Regards Jim R. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergei Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Not impossible at all. Germans were pioneers in zombie technology, after all! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
76mm Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 It was Raus. According to the translator of Raus' work, "...the US Army Historical program has valued Raus highly and made his writings the focal point of several well-known topical studies on the war [on the Eastern Front]...". (see p. xiv of the introduction for additional details). The translator also points out that other German generals, including Guderian, Manstein, and von Mellenthin, are rather faint in their praise of Raus. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
civdiv Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Hitler was into the occult, right? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buq-Buq Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 I would have thought that the general in question was Hasso von Manteuffel. I know that he participated in the post-war de-briefs (in my memory he figures prominently in Liddell Hart's "The German Generals Talk"). However, an online bio has him commanding 3. Panzer Armee at the time of the surrender in May 1945; his having been offered command of Armee Gruppe Weichsel several weeks previously doesn't quite fit the qualification, since he turned down the Army Group. I don't know much about Raus, except that his work seems to be the main source for that KV-2-tale from the early days of Barbarossa. Mark 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Physim Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Sounds like Raus i am reading the book Panzer operations which is his memoir of his time on the Eastern Front. Whilst commanding the 1st Panzer Army he also commandered elements of the Hungarian Army this was referred to as an Army Group, although semantically it is not an accurate description. Having read half the book, I think he certainly exagerrated German successes (especially his own) and played down the Russians. He was sacked from command in April 1945 after unsuccessful battles in Pomerania. After the war the US used him as a consultant/adviser re Russian combined arms tactics so they could develop plans to counter them should there be a conventional war in Europe. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Jason is right, it was Raus. All the best Andreas 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Since we are into trivia, first of all, Raus also commanded a regiment (one of the SR in 6.PD) until into Barbarossa, and the line of command posts would also fit for Balck, Rommel and Reinhardt, and maybe others I am not aware of. Which does not matter, since it was Raus. All the best Andreas 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bannon DC Posted January 30, 2006 Author Share Posted January 30, 2006 Originally posted by 76mm: It was Raus. According to the translator of Raus' work, "...the US Army Historical program has valued Raus highly and made his writings the focal point of several well-known topical studies on the war [on the Eastern Front]...". (see p. xiv of the introduction for additional details). The translator also points out that other German generals, including Guderian, Manstein, and von Mellenthin, are rather faint in their praise of Raus. No page xiv in this one. Only a one page preface. Heinrici is mentioned in the "Campaign Planning" pamphlet. I thought it might be him. thanks for the feedback 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergei Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Originally posted by Andreas: the line of command posts would also fit for Balck, Rommel and ReinhardtYeah, I'm sure Rommel was available in 1947... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenophile Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Didn't Hermann Balck have an even faster wartime rise - rifle regiment to army group commander? And was there one who ended the war in the Volkssturm? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Both Balck and Raus started as regimental commanders, AFAIK. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Balck Harpe maybe another candidate, by the way. All the best Andreas Ps. Sergei - assuming it was the same Séance that channeled Model, why would you be unsure? Do you not believe in the paranormal? Your design of 'Snowplough' indicates otherwise, since only an army of undead will help the Germans there. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zalgiris 1410 Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 Originally posted by Bannon DC: I just picked up a Department of the Army (US) Historical Study titled "Russian Combat Methods in World War II." (No. 20-230, issued Nov. 1950).Erhard Raus was the author of this pamphlet, bloody hell end the guessing game, I have a version of it in a book called "Fighting in Hell, The German Ordeal on the Eastern Front", edited by Peter G. Tsouras. It also has Pamplet No. 20-290, The Effects of Climate on Combat in European Russia, which was also by Raus. In another of Tsouras' edited collections, "The Anvil of War, German Generalship in Defence on the Eastern Front", Raus is the author of 3/4s of that book. And Buq-Buq yes Raus' Pamphlet No. 20-230 is the source of that early KV-1 story! Originally posted by Bannon DC: Also picked up another study "The German Campaign in Russia -- planning and operations (1940-1942). (No. 20-261a) Good reading. Let me guess, Halder wrote that one? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bannon DC Posted January 31, 2006 Author Share Posted January 31, 2006 Originally posted by Zalgiris 1410: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Bannon DC: Also picked up another study "The German Campaign in Russia -- planning and operations (1940-1942). (No. 20-261a) Good reading. Let me guess, Halder wrote that one? [/QB]</font> 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
painfbat Posted February 3, 2006 Share Posted February 3, 2006 = = = If it is the one I am thinking of, Raus was the principle author. And enjoyed telling fish stories, had a very selective memory, wanted to spin the US into thinking Russia had been their enemy all along to....= = = That should have given him a greencard and a job in the space-program. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David I Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 Painfbat, Now days it would get him a seat at the State of the Union Address. DavidI 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
painfbat Posted February 4, 2006 Share Posted February 4, 2006 DavidI , not only your mods are good, so is your sence of humor 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bannon DC Posted February 8, 2006 Author Share Posted February 8, 2006 Just saw a re-issue of some of these German reports. Scholar's Bookshelf has it for only $225. Includes 11 of the reports including the "planning and operations" report mentioned above. I did a search on Amazon and noticed several out of print issues (under search of "german report series") including something that looks similar to the compilation published in 1979. Link 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 You can download a lot of this stuff for free, or get it for much less than US$225 from Merriam. Check e.g. http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/ or http://www.merriam-press.com/ I got the Planning & Operations report there for US$5 as PDF. To give you an idea. All the best Andreas 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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