Panzer Operations: The Eastern Front Memoir of General Raus, 1941-1945

Colonel Raus, at nearly 53 years old, started Operation Barbarossa as a new Brigade commander in 6th PzD of 41st PzC. He'd been in service since WWI but in staff positions and had no real combat experience. His tactical abilities were quickly discovered and rose in rank and responsibility. As a Combat Group commander for 6th PzD, he led many spearhead assaults against superior Soviet forces and with his tactical abilities would often defeat his opponent. Mr Newton begins his work with an introduction of the abilities of General Raus and then a brief summary of the situation of the two opponents on the eve of the invasion.A quick listing of his career includes the drive to Leningrad in 1941. He played an important role in the salvage of the Rzhev salient in 1942. The attempt to relieve Paulus at Stalingrad in late 1942 is also memorable. Raus played an important part in the drive for Prokhorovka in July 1943 and afterwards the defense of Kharkov. The disruptive counterattack against superior forces near Kiev as CO of 4th PzA in late 1943 was also impressive. The battles at Galicia, Lvov, Carpathian Mts, East Prussia and Pomerania are also part of his war experience. He would be relieved as CO of 3rd PzA in March 1945 by Hitler.Steven Newton does an excellent job of compiling and translating the original work of Raus. The prose is tight and clear cut without awkward passages that you sometimes find in other translations. Raus was known for his tactical abilities and Newton emphasizes and highlights those abilities in the narrative. The description of the manuvers and assaults and sometime defenses are good and most people will probably appreciate the effort. As a memoir you receive for the most part the details of the local actions that Raus is involved in but with the occasional mention of other units that will impact Raus's decisions. For example, in the early drive toward Leningrad as part of 6th PzD, the 1st and 8th PzDs are mentioned for they were sometimes involved in coordinated attacks. While commanding as a Colonel, you won't see the "big picture" but as a General of an Army, you're afforded a larger viewing window of the battlefield and his leadership abilities.The last chapter was interesting as well. General Raus believed that even after the Moscow counteroffensive and the loss at Stalingrad the German Army still had a chance to defeat the Soviets. With the new, better panzers and the better fighting skills Germany had a chance but when Hitler decided to attack the Kursk salient in July 1943, his Army had no chance after that. Raus believed it was a monumental mistake that couldn't be overcome. In fact Raus is critical of Hitler on many decisions made.The book closes with a Chronology of Raus's life and career; it was a nice summary that allows the reader to survey Raus's career in a few minutes.The author also provides 14 maps; some of the operations have two maps. The maps are simple but have value in depicting the narrative. (The map style is similar to Mr Newton's other books.) There are no photos.Though it doesn't have anecdotal experiences, I liked this book; it provides the general tactics of an accomplished but underrated General but be warned the author doesn't always drill down to the detail level that you expect from a David Glantz book. The level of detail is sufficient in most cases and will make a good standalone book but it would also make a good supplement to David Glantz books (Leningrad, Stalingrad, Kursk) for Raus does present some of his personal thoughts and motivations that are relevant but missing in those other books.If you like the tactical aspects of battle with some appraisal and commentary and don't mind the German bias then you should consider this book.

Col Gen. Erhard Raus is a gifted panzer leader and leaves a notable narration of the incredible conflict between the Germans and Russians in the largest war of history between 1941 and 1945. He was with Army Group North as they went thru Lithuania, Estonia to the gates of Leningrad. He was with Army Group Center as the Germans approach within 10 miles of Moscow. He served under General Erich Manstein in the forlorn effort of Operation Winter Storm to relieve the Stalingrad Cauldron. He was there at the Battle of Kursk and the retreat to the Dnieper River in 1943.He provides an excellent description of the desperate Soviet attacks to gain bridegeheads across the Dnieper River in the fall of 1943 and how the Germans stopped masses of men and T34 tanks trying to storm across a mile wide river by eliminating bridgeheads. The Soviets were relentless and high casuality rates were a non-issue. In this war you learn there are no such things as rules and to be prepared for anything. Soviet techniques such as large bands of Soviets dressed in German uniforms in infiltrate lines, columns of T34 tanks sunk in the Dneiper river to serve as the foundation for the bridge itself to cross water barriers by other T34 tanks and incesant sniper attacks to gain advantage. German counter-measures to prevent bridgehead formations from breaking out are given but the Soviets seem to have an inexhaustable supply of men and resources thanks to the United States and Britain supplies uniforms, boots, trucks, tanks and P39 Air Cobras. No quarter is given and none is asked. It is all here and more. In fact Gen. Erhard Raus provided much information for NATO forces after WW II so that they could too stop the Soviets if they were to attack from the East. This is an excellent military reference book for any library.He was Austrian and has a very vivid style of narration and decribes in detail what happen in this terrible ordeal. The Germans and Russians had completely different styles of fighting. The Germans for the most part were well-trained and officers led by example and who showed great initiative. The Germans used wireless much of the time and used codes. The Soviets used communcation systems that were wired and could ofter be intercepted; the Soviets were often led by commissars who were more fanatical than skilled and who often appeared to be not cognizant of the incredible losses that the their orders caused. To the Germans some of the Soviet tactics appeared to be born of shear stubborness with little ot show for massive losses of Soviet men and even women.Their Luftwaffe dominated most of the skies from 1941 thru 1943 and then the tide in the air slowly changes to where the Soviets began to dominate the air in the 1944- 1945 period. If you want to know about tank warfare in WW 2 and how to survive terrible winter days and nights where the temperature reached 40 degrees F below then this is the book to get. Raus is probably the best German writer except for Col General Guiderian and Field Marshal Eric Manstein. You won't be disappointed.

So you can win ALL battles everywhere anytime and by huge margin and yet you are losing the war? Unbelievable!Every single encounter with Red Army ends with slaughter of tens of 1000s Russian soldiers, 1000s of written off T-34s and minimal, negligible losses (if any) on the German side. And of course all bad decisions were made by one person alone, madman Adolf Hitler.Typical example: Russians broke German front, Werhmacht on its last legs is running 100 km to the West and rebuilding defense line. And this is depicted here as the great victory for Werhmacht! And its going on and on, chapter after chapter; huge distortion to the actual facts and history.I am sorry, I'm not buying it. Entire book looks like that; rationalisation after lost war building the myth of invincible German army and blaming one man for debacle (yes, you'te right - Hitler). I am not a big fan of Hitler (nor Stalin) , but I'm pretty sure German generals made several mistakes by themselves. And Werhmacht wasn't invincible - somehow war ended with Red Army in Berlin and not other way around.

Excellent read and a must for anyone interested in the Eastern Front war. Plenty of insight into how tactics were employed and how mad some of the orders were to the front line from Headquarters as the war came to an end. An interesting insight into the bizarre world of Hitler too. I Highly Recommend it.

Excellent account of German Tank operations.

Panzer Operations is a great read and shows the brilliance of yet another Wehrmacht officer. A must read for panzer or any WW2 enthusiasts.

This book is almost identical to "Panzers on the Eastern Front: General Erhard Raus and his Panzer Divisions in Russia 1941-1945". The difference between them is that in the other book contains additional commentary and analysis by the author, over and above the actual memoirs of General Raus. Both great reads.Following is my review of the other book: it applies equally to this title:I absolutely loved this book. Before discovering it I (like most of the human race) had never heard of Erhard Raus - which is amazing as based on these memoirs he should be much more famous than the usual list of German generals you usually hear about.This man was simply genius on the battlefield. It's probably a good thing for all of us that he was not given more freedom and larger forces during the war - or we would all likely be ruled by the Third Reich to this day.Great read - highly recommended.