Talk:Hans von Guretzky-Cornitz

A fact from Hans von Guretzky-Cornitz appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 14 November 2022 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that German general Hans von Guretzky-Cornitz was awarded the Pour le Mérite in 1916 after mistakenly announcing the capture of Fort Vaux?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2022/November. The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Hans von Guretzky-Cornitz.

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Referencing and citation: criterion met Coverage and accuracy: criterion not met Structure: criterion met Grammar and style: criterion met Supporting materials: criterion met

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Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Theleekycauldron (talk) 10:18, 13 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

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Von Guretzky-Cornitz during the First World War

... that German general Hans von Guretzky-Cornitz (pictured) was awarded the Pour le Mérite in 1916 after mistakenly claiming to have captured Fort Vaux? Source: "von Guretzky-Cornitz sent the momentous news to corps headquarters from where it was quickly passed upwards to Kaiser William II. He agreed that Guretzky should be awarded Germany's highest decoration, Pour le Mérite ... hardly had the Crown Prince left than the real position began to emerge" from: Holstein, Christina (19 May 2012). Fort Vaux. Pen and Sword. p. 70. ISBN 978-1-78303-235-8. and "German troops marched off in column of four, without reconnaissance, to take over the fort. Like tin soldiers they fell; for none of their nation had yet set foot in Fort Vaux" from: >Horne, Alistair (28 June 2007). The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916. Penguin Books Limited. p. 163. ISBN 978-0-14-193752-6.
- Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/F. William Sunderman

Created by Dumelow (talk). Self-nominated at 15:31, 26 October 2022 (UTC).[reply]

Article is new, long enough and within policy. Hook is interesting and cited, QPQ present, image checks out. My only nit is that the wording "mistakenly claiming" is a bit unclear on what exactly the mistake was, implying he might have (eg.) successfully conquered another fort instead. It's difficult to distill down the fundamentally unintentional nature of the mistake here though: "prematurely claiming" might fit the bill? Or "mistakenly announcing the capture of"? Jpatokal (talk) 03:13, 27 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Jpatokal, I am happy with either of your alternatives. I originally had "falsely claimed" but changed it as I thought that implied he had knowingly made an incorrect claim. From what I've read it probably came more from a desire to report good news and his failure to properly verify it - Dumelow (talk) 06:13, 27 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Great, let's go with "mistakenly announcing the capture of". Jpatokal (talk) 06:37, 27 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Dates of birth and death

I came here fromTemplate:DYK. Well done! @Dumelow: I noticed that this article doesn't give dates of birth and death whereas the linked German Wikipedia article does. Are there any reasons why we should doubt the dates given in the German article? Deryck C. 09:34, 14 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Deryck, thanks. I stumbled across him in a book I was reading and it was an interesting story. Suprisingly little written on him in English though. The German wiki article contains lots on information but not citations so I have no idea where it comes from or if it's reliable - Dumelow (talk) 10:40, 14 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Just had a look. The references linked from the bottom of the page on de.wp appear to support the given dates of birth and death, but I'll leave it up to you to decide how to use those references on en.wp. Deryck C. 17:10, 14 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]