Talk:Richard Ruoff

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I intend to add some information to this article on Richard Ruoff directly from the German Wikipedia article. I plan to add his birth date and his death date and to add sections on his "early life" and "death." In addition, I planned to add information concerning his time in the German mperial Army and in the Weimer Republic's Army. The German article also includes various military awards, but I do not intend to add them. I do mention his Knight's Cross.

My proposed additions are shown below:

Early life
Richard Ruoff was born in Württemberg, Germany. In 1903, after graduation, he enlisted in a local infantry regiment, the 10th Württemberg (10. Württemberg). Prior to World War I, Ruoff was promoted as a staff officer at the company and battalion level.
Career
Ruoff moved up in the ranks of the Imperial German Army (Reichsheer) during World War I. By the end of the war, he was promoted to the command of the 3rd Battalion in his old regiment.
During the "interwar period," Ruoff stayed with the army and continued to be promoted. When the German Empire ended, he was part of the Weimer Republic's Army (Reichswehr) and, when dictator Adolf Hitler gained control, Ruoff was part of the Nazi Germany's Army (Wehrmacht Heer).
On 22 June 1941, Operation Barbarossa (Unternehmen Barbarossa) was launched when Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union. Infantry General (General der Infanterie) Richard Ruoff was the commander of the V Army Corps (V. Armee-Korps).
On 30 June, while commanding the V Army Corps, Ruoff was awarded the Knight's Cross. He received this award for an action in the Suwałki area during the general advance in Russia.
From 8 January 1942 to 31 May 1942, Colonel-General (Generaloberst) Richard Ruoff commanded the 4th Tank Army (14. Panzer-Armee) in southern Russia. The 4th Tank Army was part of Army Group A (Heeresgruppen A) which was formed when Army Group South (Heeresgruppen Sud) was split into two formations for the summer offensive of 1942.
From 1 June 1942 to 24 June 1943, Ruoff commanded the 17th Army (17. Armee). The 17th Army was also part of Army Group A. Ruoff was the commander of the 17th Army when, on 3 June 1942, the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia (Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia, or CSIR) was subordinated to it.
From June to July 1942, the German 17th Army, the CSIR, and the Romanian 3rd Army were organized as "Army Group Ruoff" (Heeresgruppen Ruoff).
In July 1942, the CSIR was expanded to become the larger Italian Army in Russia (Armata Italiana in Russia, or ARMIR, or Italian 8th Army) and transferred to Army Group B (Heeresgruppen B).
On 23 July, Operation Edelweiss (Unternehmen Edelweiß) was launched in the Caucasus. Ruoff and the 17th Army, still part of Army Group A, attacked towards the Caucasus oilfields.
By December, the Soviets launched a counter-attack against Army Group B. Soviet forces destroyed the armies defending its flanks (including the ARMIR) and en-circled the German 6th Army at Stalingrad. After a series of disasters and the surrender of the 6th Army on 2 February 1943, Army Group B was withdrawn from southern Russia.
Further south, Ruoff and the 17th Army were ordered to hold the "Kuban Bridgehead."
On 25 June 1943, Ruoff was replaced as commander of the 17th Army by Colonel-General (Generaloberst) Erwin Jaenecke. Ruoff enterred the Office Reserve and was not utilized again.
Death
After World War II, Ruoff lived at Lake Constance and died in Tübingen.

NOTE: The vast majority of this article is cobbled together from information already in existance in other Wikipedia articles. I do plan to add independent references, but I thought I would flesh out the article first. Unfortunately the existing articles did not appear to have relative references.

Please feel free to comment. Mkpumphrey (talk) 17:24, 24 February 2008 (UTC)