Talk:549th Volksgrenadier Division

B Class Assessment
Congratulations on reading two of Buttar's books, just one made my eyes bleed :) The problem is this reads like him; that's ok if you're on page 120, because you're used to it, but not for a short article where you're trying to get someone's attention. It also looks as if you're worried there's not enough content. See below - this is to help you identify where to focus. I'm happy to expand on this if needed.

B2; needs more background for the general reader (I've made a start to show what I mean). Also, I can't see strength or numbers anywhere in the article. Can you expand on the command staff - if I remember rightly, their experience was often a factor

B4; too many long-sentences, paragraphs need to be shorter (bite-sized), the lists of divisions looks like you think the article's too short

B5; please, please, please, maps, pictures :)

Robinvp11 (talk) 16:34, 24 April 2020 (UTC)
 * The navbox is something that is standard on all German division articles regardless of length, so it doesn't mean the article is too short. The sources I have don't have details on the command staff. Kges1901 (talk) 16:52, 24 April 2020 (UTC)


 * Let me be more specific; Karl Jank, promoted to generalmajor on 1 October 1944 and to generalleutnant on 19 April 1945. Why do we need to know this?
 * It included the 1097th, 1098th, and 1099th Grenadier Regiments, which each had two battalions, and the four-battalion 1549th Artillery Regiment, in addition to smaller support units. Isn't this already in the navbox?
 * XXVI Army Corps of the 3rd Panzer Army of Army Group Centre. When Operation Doppelkopf began on 16 August, the division and the 561st Volksgrenadier Division defended much of XXVI Army Corps' line on the southern flank of the army. Holding positions on the flank of the 6th Panzer Division, the 549th and 561st were forced to retreat by attacks made by elements of the Soviet 11th Guards, 33rd, and 5th Armies. As a result, the 1st Infantry Division had to be diverted to support XXVI Army Corps instead of participating in Doppelkopf.''' This is a list of positional movements, with nothing about the nature of the fighting, number of casualties etc.
 * The sources I have don't have details on the command staff. Doesn't mean they aren't there; I searched just now on Google, there are a ton of resources online. I can already tell you what medals were won by the division. Not relevant for me, and not my article, so I stopped looking but....Robinvp11 (talk) 17:16, 24 April 2020 (UTC)
 * By default, the navbox isn't fully shown, so a summary of the division's composition should be in the prose. In addition the number of each battalions is not duplicated by the navbox. The source you found the medals on isn't considered reliable by many in this area, and there is a consensus against including recipients of low-level German decorations in article text. Kges1901 (talk) 17:24, 24 April 2020 (UTC)
 * I'm not arguing about any of the details; I try to think from the readers perspective eg is it easy to find what I need? Does it look interesting? Is it clear? All my points are about recognising your hard work by getting others to read it.
 * My point about the medals was not about using them (unbelievably tedious :)), but to illustrate the fact there is tons of information available on the web, and as online directory, we should be using it. Which you've clearly done in the rewrite.
 * Take a look at this (its online) Panzer Operations: The Eastern Front Memoir of General Raus, 1941-1945, because it mentions the 549th on several occasions. I've included it in Sources, its on Google Books; he provides a good overall perspective, eg explains why Jank was promoted after Memel, instead of being sacked.
 * I still think it needs a short background section; as a ex-soldier and historian, I was taught to ask two questions; Why here? What for?
 * Graphics; I've stuck in a couple of maps, which you're welcome to take out and replace; large blocks of text don't work for online users, so graphics break them up. That's the point; could be photos of where they fought, etc.
 * Shorter paragraphs (not less content per se).
 * Grammar; hard to explain, so I've made edits to show what I mean, you're welcome to remove them, but a lot of duplication of words and phrases. It reads like a war diary, which probably reflects Buttar's approach.
 * 'Sources' = those used in the article to supply references; 'Bibliography' = Additional reading Robinvp11 (talk) 08:33, 27 April 2020 (UTC)