Erhard Raus

Erhard Raus (8 January 1889 – 3 April 1956) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He commanded the 6th Panzer Division during the early years of the war on the Eastern Front before taking army and army group commands.

World War II

On 7 September 1941, during Operation Barbarossa, Raus was appointed the acting commander of the 6th Panzer Division. On 15 September, the 6th Panzer Division, minus its artillery, was transferred to Army Group Centre to take part in Operation Typhoon, the advance onto Moscow. On 11 October he was awarded the Knights Cross. Raus's unit was transferred to the LVI Panzer Corps.

In early April, the 6th Panzer Division was transferred to France to refit and rest; Raus was appointed the commander of the division on 29 April. In mid-November 1942, the division left France for the Soviet Union. Following the failure of Operation Citadel (the Kursk offensive), he organized the withdrawal of Axis units across the Dnieper river. On 10 December 1943 he was appointed acting commander of the Fourth Panzer Army. Several days later he moved the divisions across the river as well as thousands of plundered cattle and horses. Raus commanded the 1st Panzer Army, the 3rd Panzer Army (1944) and the XI SS Panzer Corps (1945).

After the war, Raus wrote and co-wrote a number of books and publications focusing on strategic analysis of the tank tactics used by his forces on the Eastern Front. Raus died on 3 April 1956. He was buried in Vienna with full military honors on 6 April.

Awards

• Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (29 June 1941) & 1st Class (6 July 1941)
• German Cross in Gold on 14 February 1943 as Generalmajor and commander of the 6. Panzer-Division
• Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves
  • Knight's Cross on 11 October 1941 as Oberst and commander of the 6. Schützen-Brigade
  • Oak Leaves on 22 August 1943 as General der Panzertruppe and commanding general of the XI. Armeekorps

• Thomas 1998, p. 184.
• Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 367.
• ^ Scherzer 2007, p. 615.

Works

• Panzer Operations: The Eastern Front Memoir of General Raus, 1941–1945 (with Steven H. Newton), ISBN 978-0-306-81247-7
• Peculiarities of Russian warfare (German report series, 1949), OCLC 38291522
• Tactics in unusual situations (Small unit tactics, 1951), OCLC 37669938
• Improvisations and field expedients: Their use as instruments of command (1951), OCLC 38373401
• Effects of climate on combat in European Russia (German Report Series, CMH Pub 104-6, 1952)
• The Pomeranian battle and the command in the east (1952) OCLC 14445144
• Strategic deceptions (Deceptions & Cover Plans Project # 29, 1948), OCLC 37161255