The following discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Promoted by the_ed17 [1]
Nominator(s): Hawkeye7 (talk)

Wiki-historians from three countries with totally different views of the subject team up to tackle one of the most famous generals of World War II. You decide if the result is a masterpiece or a mess. The Field Marshal is optimistic. Hawkeye7 (talk) 01:44, 27 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Clarification is needed about his transfer to the Luftwaffe. I read that part to mean that he was part of the civilian ministry, not the Luftwaffe proper, despite the colonel's rank. Sturmvogel 66 (talk) 17:10, 27 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

There was no Luftwaffe proper. The Air Ministry was established as a civilian agency to control both civil and military aviation. This was similar to a number of countries. The twist in Germany was that the Treaty of Versailles forbade German from establishing an air force, so there was nominally no military aviation. The Luftwaffe was re-established as a separate military entity in 1935 when Hitler repudiated the Treaty. Then Göring was both Air Minister and commander of the Luftwaffe.
I have updated the text. Hawkeye7 (talk) 22:01, 27 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

--Jim Sweeney (talk) 16:31, 29 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

  • Of the sources listed in the "References" section, not all of them appear to actually be used in the article. I don't see the Atkinson, Belote, Bloxham, Dulles, Ford, Friesler, Goldensohm, Kesselring's A Soldier's Record, von Lingen's Kesselrings letzte Schlacht and Conspiracy of Silence, Murray, Silveri, and either Williamson sources used anywhere in the article. The sources which aren't actually used need to be removed from the "References" section and placed in a separate "Further reading" section.
  • Perhaps because some of these sources aren't used, some important details from Kesselring's leadership in the Italian campaign are omitted, such as his use of air power to try to defeat the Allied invasions of Sicily, Salerno, and Anzio, his orderly withdrawal up the Italian peninsula after the Sicily evacuation, his brilliant surprise Air Raid on Bari, and his defeats of several attempts by the Allies to crack his defensive lines during the winter of 1943-1944 which caused severe problems for the Allies' strategic plans. Atkinson's would be a valuable source for this information.
    •  Done. That would be unlikely. However, I can and will expand the Italy section. I was actually more concerned about the Soviet Union section. But I think you are right on this point, because it is Italy that Kesselring is most associated with.
  • The "Cassino and Anzio" section needs some dates included in the text so that the reader knows when these events are happening without having to click over to those particular articles.

Cla68 (talk) 07:19, 30 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

  • In the lead where you say he resigned as Chief of Staff because of arguments with "his superior" it would be nice if you mentioned who that was (Milch, based on the main body).
    •  Done
  • Watch over-linking, for example, Luftlotte 2 is linked over and over, and there are many, many other things which are linked several times through out the article.
  • I'd still check over the linking again, for example, Rommel is mentioned 13 times before he is introduced, linked, and his first name and rank given. Hopefully this can be fixed in the copy-edit, though. – Joe N 22:50, 4 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
  • The bit in Africa when he was fired upon confuses me. Was he fired upon by Germans, Italians, or British from the ground, and who were the planes attacking?
    •  Done. Re-worded.
  • Please redo that passage. It also links badly to the next part; the reader's mind is thinking about the attack and then the article goes back to Bir Hakeim.
    •  Done.
  • The prose can be a bit choppy in places, I'd recommend a copy-edit.
    • Good idea.
  • Don't call the Soviets the Russians, they're different.
    •  Done. I've check both the English and German versions. Kesselring refers to "Russian" every time.
  • Don't call the Eastern Front the "Russian Front", that's just wrong.
    •  Done.
  • "Known as Operation Sunrise." Fragment.
    •  Done. Corrected.
These issues need to be resolved before it's ready for A-Class, but they shouldn't be too hard. – Joe N 00:15, 4 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Better, few more comments. – Joe N 22:50, 4 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The citation/reference formatting is spot-on; well done. Interesting article! Maralia (talk) 20:53, 4 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]