STALINGRAD

Not one step back! - The story of Stalingrad

Hello everyone,

I told myself that one day I would make a post about Stalingrad, and that day has finally come!

First let me explain this, I'm a history nut (by hobby) and have a huge interest in WWII, especially on the Eastern Front. All the information in this post I dug up from several sources after lots and lots of research. I've read several books on Stalingrad and the Eastern front, which have included Veteran testimonies, and more or less "lost/ distorted information."

Note: Most of the information on Stalingrad for many many years was distorted by communism; after all..."history is written by the victor." Also most of our information has been westernized and built up as well.

So in this post I want to try and provide an accurate and truthful version from men whom were actually there. These are mostly Russian accounts, given in defiance of communism; for those whom wanted the true history to be remembered. Many of my accounts come from Germans as well, but because they lost and so few returned, some of their perspective has also been lost.

So...lock and load for the Battle of Stalingrad is about to begin!

FYI: This is gonna be a long one, so save it for later if you don't have the time.

"I'm gonna history the shit out of this post."

FP EDIT - WOW guys thank you! This did much better than I ever thought it would! So far Looks like people wanna see Battle of Berlin or Operation Market Garden next! Keep sending those comments!

Basic Understanding

I could go on and on about how we got to this point in the war. But, that would take WAY to much time. So I will give y'all the basic explanation of how we got to Stalingrad.

Its the Summer 1942...The German army has advanced through Russia beating the Red Army back almost everywhere (except) in the center, after the failed attempt to capture of Moscow in 1941/42.

At this point in time the lines are relatively stable. Hitler decided that for his summer offensive in 1942 he would focus on the southern sector. However, for the German Army to continue their advance they needed OIL (surprise)! So Hitler decides he would split the southern Army Group into two groups.

Army Group South (A), under the command of Wilhelm List, was to continue their advance south towards the Caucasus to retrieve the vital oil fields at Baku needed to keep the Army moving. Army Group South (B), which included Friedrich Paulus's 6th Army, was to move east towards the Volga and Stalingrad.

Now....Stalingrad wasn't really considered all that important at first. Hitlers staff told him they could easily bypass the city, however, Its position on the Volga and its industrial capacity persuaded Hitler to attack. He demanded the city which bore the name of his arch enemy to be DESTROYED, and is position to be secured.

The Commanders & their Armies

Now, there were many many important characters involved in the battle, but here I will name the main two.

This is Friedrich Paulus who commanded the German 6th Army, which would be the main force attacking Stalingrad. Paulus was a relatively good commander, however, he never commanded a Army before, and in fact only had experience with battalion sized units. Paulus was originally a staff officer, under the command of Heinz Wilhelm Guderian. Paulus was described by his superiors as "brilliantly clever, conscientious, hard working, original and talented" However, his superiors already had doubts about his toughness and lack of command experience before the battle.

The German 6th was a tough battle hardened army with years of combat experience and roughly 280,000 troops. Despite their lack of modern tanks and assault guns (most of which where from 1939-40) their equipment was manned by battle hardened troops, with 4 years of victory behind them. Their tank and Infantry units had modern radio equipment which supported their cohesiveness in battle. The troops had every bit of confidence after numerous victories, and even thought that Stalingrad would be as easy as their capture Keiv and Kharkov months before.

"The Stone" and the 62nd Army

Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov - The commander of the 62nd Army - He is in charge of the defense of Stalingrad. He had more recently been defeated in the Winter War of 1940. After, he had been sent as a military adviser to China. He was called upon in May 1942 to serve as commander of the weak 62nd Reserve Army. After his victory in Stalingrad, he would go on to command the 62nd Reserve army (8th Guards Army - 1945) all the way to the gates of Berlin.

The 62nd Army had only recently been formed and had the status of a reserve army. Its baptism by fire would be at Stalingrad. It equipment was newer than the Germans, but was manned by mostly new, and inexperienced recruits.

The Opening Assault

On August 23rd the 6th Army had reached the outskirts of Stalingrad. At this time the Russian defenders and civilians (whom had been forced into labor by the NKVD) had barely completed their defense lines. Although, they knew the Germans were coming they hadn't started nearly soon enough. Most structures were only half built and several areas were incomplete - (communist reports will tell otherwise) The Soviets did however win a so called "Harvest Victory". This was the movement of food and essentials across the Volga for protection. Rather ironically this left the city's food supply drastically low before the real battle even began. Since the civilian population was still in the city, much of the fighting occurred around them. Stalin had thought that if the civilians remained in the city, it would improve the morale of the fighting troops. However, when the attack began the civilians were the first to be in the crossfire.

At the start of the assault after a 48 hour long bombing by the German Luftwaffe, the city was in ruins. The civilian casualties had been in the thousands. After the city had been softened up then the German Infantry and Panzers attacked. The Defending 62nd Army and NKVD performed poorly in the early stages of the assault.They were losing ground with civilian militias (some without weapons) defending strong points. In fact, some civilian women operated Anti-Aircraft guns and fought the Germans ferociously in the early days of the battle, however, nothing could stop the German assault into the city.

When the combat in the suburbs and outskirts reached the city itself the fighting became ferocious. The Germans employed the method of using bombing runs/ artillery to soften up their targets and after, roll in Panzers supported by infantry to finish of the tattered Soviet defenders. This early success by the Germans almost broke the Russians several times, however they managed to retreat further and further into the ruined city.

The September Battles & The day of Death.

By early September the Red Army was barely holding on to Stalingrad. The Soviet forces had trouble breaking the cohesion of the massive German attacks. Chuikov at this point had his command post only 600m away from the front line (which is very rare for a commander). Often the commander is miles away from the battle, but because of the nature of their situation Chuikov remained entrenched his men. He believed that several strong points, heavily defended, could break the German attacks. He Often compared it to waves crashing into jetties. This created several strong-points that became famous during the battle.

As the battle was raging throughout the city, the Soviet reinforcements where being slaughtered at the river crossings by the German Luftwaffe.The crossings where also nearly overrun several times by German troops, and constantly under fire from German artillery and planes. Chuikov during this time had positioned his HQ behind the Red October Factory, fairly close to some oil storage tanks (believed to be empty) - which turned out to be a grave error. In early October the Germans bombed the tanks and nearly drowned Chuikov and his HQ staff in burning Oil - Which they fought in for days until finally relocating.

The Day of Death - After fighting a losing battle the Soviets were on the very end of their rope. On September 27th, the Germans called for an all out attack which stuck the Soviets extremely hard. They had been pushed so far back that they where fighting on the bank of the Volga itself. The Germans did everything in their power to stop reinforcements from crossing the Volga but miraculously the Russians managed to hang on, using every last bit of strength they had.

The Factory Sector

Here we can see an actual areal map of the factory sector and its points of interest. Take notice of the Red October Steel works, The Tractor Factory, and the Landing Stage. All these points where very important strategic areas in this sector.

The Tractor Factory- was a maze of destroyed buildings and rooms. The main hall of the factory was still producing tanks in the early days of the battle. Workers often built tanks and defended the factory all at the same time. In fact, since the Army was low on men, most of the workers building the Tanks rolled them off the assembly line and drove them straight into battle.

The Red October Factory was also an important defensive area, which was under constant attack and switched sides during the battle several times. The maze of rooms and heavy steal supports made infantry inside less vulnerable to artillery/ air and tank attacks. However, this meant that infantry where often hurled into hand to hand combat, in a stuffy, smokey and destroyed factory.

Also take note of the Commissars house. Fighting here would take place when the Germans controlled nearly 90% of the city. With the Russians clinging to the bank of the Volga, some of the hardest fought battles would be in this sector.

German troops in the Factory Sector

An areal photo of fighting in the factory sector

Central Sector

This is the sector that I find people are most familiar with. This is where fighting was especially gruesome because of the denseness of the city. Take note of the Train Station, Pavlov's House, 9th of January Square and the bank of the Volga.

The Train Station was the scene of brutal carnage, during which it changed hands 14 times in just six hours. By the following evening, the Russian 13th Guards Rifle Division which had been ordered to defend the area ceased to exist. Stalin's order 227 , the famous "Not one step back" order forebode any man from making a retreat. This often lead to entire units being wiped out. Although movies show men being excited for retreating/ desertion, it rarely happened in real life. This was because of the shortage of troops in the city. More often than not these men would be sent to serve in Penal Battalions to serve functions like clearing minefields, direct assaults and other suicide missions. General Georgy Zhukov once while observing a battle sent a fellow commander to serve in a penal battalion as a Pvt. just because he didn't like how the Commanders attack panned out.

Pavlov's House - There is some controversy here. The house was never actually referred to as Pavlov's House during the battle. It was actually referred to as "The house on Penzenskaya Street" Sgt.Pavolv also wasn't actually in command of the building. Originally he and a small storm group seized the house in late September, and he was the most junior officer in the houses garrison. Pavolv only took command of the structure for a few days until a more senior officer by the name of Captian Naumov (some say the real hero) arrived. Sgt.Pavolv defended the building for 58 days until he was wounded and evacuated on Nov 24th (that same day Naumov was killed) . He took no further part in its defense which lasted until January 10th.

The house is named after Sgt. Pavlov because the Red Army Commissars loved the way Pavlov and his storm group originally seized the house back in late September. Storm groups were an idea of Chuikov's that was tested with trail and error. However, small hit and run groups eventually became a great success, this tactic was also eventually adopted by the Germans. After the battle the propagandist commissars decision to emphasize Pavlov's role in its defense and to completely ignore Naumov perpetuated a considerable historical injustice. This is why the House is called Pavlov's House. It has been said that the Germans lost more men trying to capture this single building than they did during the entire capture of Paris.

A picture of Pavlov's house during the battle

THIS NOT PAVLOV'S HOUSE

Type Pavlov's house into google and this image comes up quite often. This is not Pavlov's house... This is Grudinin's Steam Mill, which remains in its war time condition to this day. Pavlov's house was destroyed after the war and rebuilt from the remains.

The Grain Elevator

The Grain Elevator was one of the most stubbornly defended buildings in the city, along with Pavlov's House, and Mamayev Kurgan. The original defense of the structure was manned by 30 Guards and 18 sailors of the Russian Navy. When the battle first began the Russians set the Grain in the elevator on fire and it remained burning for days. The defenders low on water and ammunition fought desperately for days until the Germans finally captured the building after firing on it point blank with tanks.

Strategically important for both sides because of its strength and height, it was fought over throughout the entire battle. Paulus, when he had been victorious chose the grain elevator to be printed on the medals given to soldiers because of its significance during the battle...but those medals where never printed.

Mamayev Kurgan

Mamayev Kurgan was the highest hill over looking the city of Stalingrad. It sat in between the Central sector and the Factory sector. Naturally, if you had control of the hill, you essentially had control over the city. This is why this area saw some of the nastiest, gruesome fighting during the battle. The Russians knew the hill was important, and therefore it was heavly fortified with bunkers, barbed wire, and a vast network trench systems before the battle. The Germans attacked the hill several times a day until they captured it in early September. Afterwards, they used the hill to fire artillery down on the city, and at the Russian Ferry crossings.

The Russians knew they needed to retake the hill, and often said if they couldn't hold the city, they would at least have to hold Mamayev Kurgan. Alexander Rodimtsev ,commander of the Soviet 13th Guards Rifle Division was ordered to retake the hill. Rodimtsev after the battle told a historian of a young lieutenant who along with 120 men, after just arriving at the city, stormed the hill under a hail of gunfire. Watching through his binoculars he observed the lieutenants progress himself. When the lieutenant neared the summit, he stopped to check on his men. To his surprise only a dozen men including himself had made it to the top. Other accounts of the fighting on the hill say that on the way up, you couldn't move without stepping on a body. One Russian soldier said "every-time you put your foot down, and pick back up again someones entrails would be hanging from your boot."

Vasily Zaytsev- most people know this name. He was the famous sniper of Stalingrad, played by Jude Law in "Enemy at the Gates" It was here on Mamayev Kurgan where Zaytsev had his famous duel with a German sniper. The story portrayed in the movie is extremely exaggerated, and in fact has almost no historical value what so ever. The German sniper in the movie know as "Major Erwin König" is most likely fake. The only information regarding König was from a captured German soldier who told of a Sniper sent to hunt down Zaytsev. The name he gave was Major Erwin König. However, because its neither proven or disproved its still up for debate weather König was real or not. No German soldier named Erwin König died in Stalingrad....which is why in the movie they take his dog tags before his death so if he were to fall he would fall "unknown" but I digress.....back to Zaytsev's duel.

As the story goes, some snipers from Zaytsev's group were sent to kill some German Machine gunners on Mamayev Kurgan. However, they both returned badly wounded. A German sniper was believed to be positioned on the hill, so Zaytsev and two other snipers went to investigate. Here is Zaytsevs' account of what happened next.

" We hid ourselves in a trench. As soon as I lifted up a helmet, the Fritz hit it and the helmet fell. I realized that I was dealing with a skilled German sniper. We needed to find out where he was located. It was a very difficult thing to do, because if anyone peeped out, the Fritz would kill him. We needed to deceive him - to find a way of outwitting him.

" I hunted him for about 5 hours, finally I figured out a method: I took a mitten off my hand, put it on a piece of wood and thrust it out of the trench. The German shot at it. I took the piece of wood down and looked where the mitten had been pierced. By the position of the bullet-hole I established where the German was shooting from"

After waiting a long time Zaytsev finally spotted his opponent. As Russian infantry approached the German position on the hill the sniper raised himself to much and lost contact with his rifle. This gave Zaytsev his chance.

"I jumped out of the trench, stood up straight and shouldered my rifle. He did not expect such audacity and was taken back. He reached for his gun, but I was first to fire."

Zaytsev would eventually score over 300 kills in Stalingrad and become a hero of the soviet union. After the war, and after his death he would be buried at Mamayev Kurgan.

The Hill after the battle remind black, even through the winter. In the spring no grass grew there for a long time. Even today its still possible to find bone, and shell fragments in the soil. Which, were said to contain 500-1500 fragments per square meter.

The Kurgan today is a giant war memorial to all those who fought in Stalingrad. Many of the Russian survivors and commanders would later be buried there after their deaths.

Here is a picture of Mamayev Kurgan from the air

Notice the planes flying over the hill, indicated by the red circles. Notice the darkened areas where the majority of the fighting took place.

Russian Morale: Before & During the Battle.

Before: The Russian forces before the battle where hopeless and terrified. They had been defeated in almost every engagement with the Germans and thought this would be no different. There was very little confidence in Russian leadership and most average soldiers were rushed into service and only had 3-4 weeks of training. Over all before the battle just about everything the Russians had to offer was sub-par.

During: If you ask me this is when the most amazing things happened for the Russians. Although they saw and suffered through enormous amounts of violence, the heroism of some individuals proved to be paramount in the shifting Russian morale. I will provide 3 examples of such Heroism.

1.) Russian commanders where almost forced to be entrenched with their men. This provided a huge boost of confidence to Russian soldiers. The commanders where often as dirty, underfed and scared as their men, however it was their jobs not to show it. This confidence while on the battlefield gave their men confidence. When average soldiers saw their commanders sharing rations, cigarettes, and hardships together they thought of them as comrades rather than just commanders.

2.) Blazing glory, the story of Mikhail Panikakha. Here is an average soldier who's selfless act made a lasting impression on Russian soldiers in the city. Mikhail on 2 October during heavy fighting against a German attack was tossing molotov cocktails and grenades at German troops and tanks. Mikhail threw 2 Grenades already, and when he raised his hand to throw a Molotov a German bullet pierced the glass and set him on fire. He then took the remaining Molotov, jumped out of the trench he was in and hit the nearest German tank with the cocktail. The German tank was then set on fire, causing the other tanks to withdraw. His selfless act was heard through-out the battle, and many troops were inspired by his courage to drive the enemy back at all costs. He was awarded the title of Hero Of the Soviet Union in 1995, and a monument now stands where the attack occurred.

3.) Vasily Zaytsev - There is no doubt that Zaytsev had made a huge impression on Russian morale during the battle. He and other Russian Marksmen like him took the fight to the Germans in a way that was most unexpected. His kills and the kills of other marksmen were glorified in the Army newspapers and in announcements made all around the city by Russian Commissars. Even Vasily's presence around fighting troops gave them huge boosts of confidence. When the battle was in its darkest of days and the Russian situation was looking almost hopeless, Zaytsev coined the phrase "There is no land beyond the Volga" which became a propaganda slogan which was slurred by commanders and troops through out the battle. This gave the men & women fighter the will to resist, and the idea that if they lost, the war would also be lost.

German Morale: Before & During the Battle.

Before: Before the Battle of Stalingrad the German morale was at a record high. Germans troops at this point had never been defeated in battle by the Russians, who appeared to be no match for the German forces. The German Army was extremely mechanized, fought with advanced equipment and had very experienced combat troops. Along their advance to Stalingrad, they had captured and killed thousands of Russian troops, and everywhere they went was littered with abandoned Russian equipment. To your typical German soldier this was the sign of a weak and defeated enemy.

During: In the fierce combat of Stalingrad the German troops were, physically and mentally challenged to the highest degree. The 6th Army being a field army was not use to and disliked close quarters fighting, which proved to be their Achilles heel. An army so use to fighting in open/ wooded areas will naturally have trouble adapting to urban combat. Since fighting was often, room by room, or floor by floor the Germans struggled to keep their fighting momentum. This of course, coupled with their staggering losses affected morale exponentially. The awful winter conditions and the encirclement by the Russians in November to had a very negative effect on the Germans. Dwindling supply's and lack of winter clothing destroyed the Germans will to fight. Troops starving refused to accept that they would be sacrificed and left to die In Stalingrad, and although attempts where made they eventually knew that the battle was lost.

Operation Uranus

On 19 November 1942, the Russians launched Operation Uranus. After months of planning, and troop transfers from all though-out Russia, the plan was to attack the feeble German flanks held by their weaker Romanian and Hungarian allies. The Germans knew that having their weaker allies covering their flanks was a dangerous gamble. They did not expect that over 1,000,000 Russians were ready to attack. In fact, the Romanians who took the brunt of the assault, had heard the Russian preparations for the attack days before, and even requested reinforcements. But their requests fell on deaf ears.

When the attack began the Romanians where able to beat back the first two Russian assaults. However, after a long Russian artillery barrage, and lack proper anti-tank defenses the Romanians soon collapsed. The German Headquarters took to long to send German reinforcements to their flanks. Those who made it there where under equipped and ill-prepared. The southern flank also collapsed and on November 22, 1942 the Soviet encirclement of the city was complete, trapping 300,000 Germans in the Stalingrad pocket, Often referred to by the Germans as "Der kessel von Stalingrad" or "The Stalingrad cauldron". General Paulus could have arranged a break out attempt, which would have most likely been successful. However, the capture of the city was Hitlers obsession and it had become a personal matter between him and Stalin. No order for a break out was produced, Hitler demanded the city be held, and promoted Paulus to Field Marshal. No Field Marshal had ever surrendered or been captured before, thus putting further pressure of Paulus to hold the city.

End Game

After the encirclement of the city, the Germans faced an entirely different situation. After all, being surrounded and cut off is just about as worse as it gets. The Germans now faced the problem of supply. Each day over 500,000 rounds where needed for the current street fighting, after being cut off there was no telling how munitions would arrive. Not only that but food, as scarce as it already was, was running extremely low. Also most wounded men where unavailable to be evacuated to hospitals, and instead had to wait to hopefully be evacuated by plane.

Hermann Göring - head of the German Luftwaffe had promised that supplies and munitions would be brought in by air. The supplies were either dropped by plane or brought in to Gumrak airfield, which was barely in German controlled territory. Around 800 tons of supplies a day where required for the Germans to fight on, however, only around 100 tons where delivered each day. When planes landed often men trying to escape the city would swamp the planes, many men faked injury in desperation to leave. When the last plane left Gumrak just before its capture around 35,000 were evacuated by air.

When the Airfield fell the only supplies to reach the city where air dropped, which wasn't very often. Soon men began to starve and several cases of cannibalism were reported, it was said that there was literally no food available for civilians and soldiers alike. No rats, horses, dogs, where left to eat and some men even boiled their shoes and ate them just to stay alive. Eventually the German pocket grew smaller and smaller until they were forced to surrender on February 2nd 1943.

Its all over

The battle for Stalingrad lasted 5 months, 1 week and 3 days. The total estimate for casualties was 2,000,000 men. That is about 13,500 a day for 155 days. Around 91,000 Germans surrendered in at the end of the battle and where marched to camps in Siberia. Only 5,000 ever saw Germany again.

Historically, this is the battle that turned the tide of the war in the East. After this point the Germans could no longer recover from their losses, in men and material. Only for a brief time before the Kursk Offensive did the Germans even stand a chance of renewing a offensive again. However, because Kursk was the obvious target, and the Germans (Hitler) fell into the trap of attacking the well fortified city - and lost, it marked the downfall of the Reich and a long bloody retreat for the Germans.

I hope everyone enjoyed this post, I will be making another one, depending on the success of this one...

-Battle of Berlin
-Normandy Invasion
-Operation Market Garden

Choose which one you'd like to see and leave it in the comments!

Source page

Books:

Stalingrad: How the Red Army Triumphed - Michael K. Jones ISBN-13: 978-1848842014
Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943 - Antony Beevor ISBN-13: 978-0140284584
The German Defeat in the East: 1944-45 -Stackpole Series ISBN-13: 978-0811733717

Documentaries:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPcM4o2yfXo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKgnCpe1Mys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8N2MS5BUhA