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

by Erhard Raus, Steven H. Newton

Drawing from post-war reports commissioned by U.S. Army intelligence, World War II historian Steven H. Newton has translated, compiled, and edited the battle accounts of one of Germany's finest panzer commanders and a skilled tactician of tank warfare. Throughout most of the war, Erhard Raus was a highly respected field commander in the German-Soviet war on the eastern front, and after the war he wrote an insightful analysis of German strategy in that campaign.The Raus memoir covers the Russian campaign from the first day of the war to his relief from command at Hitler's order in the spring of 1945. It includes a detailed examination of the 6th Panzer Division's drive to Leningrad, Raus's own experiences in the Soviet winter counteroffensive around Moscow, the unsuccessful attempt to relieve Stalingrad, and the final desperate battles inside Germany at the end of the war. His battlefield experience and keen tactical eye make his memoir especially valuable for scholars, and his narrative is as readable as Heinz Guderian's celebrated Panzer Leader.

Genres: History, Military Fiction, World War II, War, Germany, Military History

386 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 25, 2003

Reviews

[Chase Metcalf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and informative read but reader can be left wondering how the Germans lost the war. History shows Raus was an effective commander but his story focuses only on the successes, does not touch on German atrocities, and does not accurately portray the human cost of war.

This book is a good read for anyone interested in Eastern Front during World War II but should be read only with a broader and deeper understanding of the conflict otherwise the reader will be left confused about how the war turned out the way it did.

[Dean Marquis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book worth reading if your in to German ww2 operations from a first person perspective. This is the most objective of all the First Person books that I have read to date. His description of Russian successes were something that most Generals just gloss over. On one such account Raus stated that a German sentry disappeared two nights in a Row. He stated that the Spetsnaz were kidnapping them for information. On the third night, he f ailled to put a sentry there but Booby trapped it instead. Raus stated that he wasn't disappointed when an explosion went off in the middle of the night.

[Daniel Fireman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of the German WW2 Memoirs, I’d say this is one of the least self serving… And even with that it still is self serving. Good resource on military history, that’s about it.

[Christian Gacon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Les chapitres où l’auteur commande des unités jusqu’à la division sont les plus intéressants.

[Philip Higley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly objective(mostly) about German warfare on the eastern front at both an operational and tactical level. Must read for any military historian

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

A first hand account from the German perspective of the operations during the Eastern campaign. With all personalized accounts, the bias of the individual recounting the operation can always be found. While favoring the German perspective, the elements also paint an accurate picture of the operations facing the Germans during their conflict and the activities of the Soviet forces that they were facing.