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150 THE WIDENING WAR 1942

German 6th Army

Soviet 62nd Army

Univermag

department store

“Pavlov’s

House”

Stalingrad No 2

Station

Grain

elevator

Tractor factory

Barricades

factory

Red October

factory

Stalingrad

Central

Station

German 6th

Army

German 4th

Panzer Army

Gumrak

airfield

Stalingrad

Front

Orlovka

salient

Soviet

64th Army

RYNOK

ORLOVKA

Mamayev

Kurgan

KRASNAYA

SLOBODA

STALINGRAD

GERMANY

V

O

L

G

A

U

S

S

R

In late August 1942, German Army Group B approached the

industrial city of Stalingrad. The Luftwaffe rained bombs on the city

before German ground forces entered in September. They met a

fight that raged from street to street and house to house, and even

descended into the sewers; the Germans dubbed it Rattenkrieg (Rat

War). General Vasily Chuikov, commander of the Soviet 62nd Army,

had his men “hug the enemy,” fighting in such close proximity that

the Germans could not exploit their superior air power and artillery.

The Soviet forces were steadily pressed back to the banks of the

Volga River, but Stalin was willing to sacrifice huge numbers of

people to serve his purposes and kept up reinforcements. The

average life expectancy of a Soviet soldier in the battle was 24 hours;

overall, there were around 1.1 million dead, wounded, and missing.

Both sides were exhausted by mid-November, but the battle—which

would continue until February 1943—had reached a turning point.

The Red Army was about to launch a counteroffensive that would

begin to turn the tide of the war (see pp.152–153).

STALINGRAD

UNDER SIEGE

One of the most colossal conflicts of the war, the Battle

of Stalingrad became a symbol of Soviet patriotism as

civilians fought alongside soldiers to defend the city

street by street. The battle halted Germany’s advance

in the east, marking a turning point in the war.

◁ Soviet hero

Red Army sniper Vasily

Zaytsev (left) killed 225

Axis soldiers and officers,

including 11 enemy snipers,

between November 10 and

December 17, 1942, during

the Battle of Stalingrad.

“PAVLOV’S HOUSE”—A SYMBOL OF RESISTANCE

The Soviets turned ordinary

buildings into “fortresses” in

their defense of Stalingrad. A

platoon of Soviet soldiers, led

by Sergeant Yakov Pavlov, held

this apartment building for two

months against daily German

assaults. They fortified it with

minefields and barbed wire,

dug trenches for supply lines,

and placed machine guns at

windows and an anti-tank

gun on the roof to pick off

approaching German forces.

Soviet soldiers take aim from the

windows of “Pavlov’s House”

“It is time to finish retreating.

Not one step back!”

JOSEPH STALIN, ORDER NO. 227, JULY 28, 1942

Sep 7 The Germans

capture an airfield just

outside Stalingrad, which

the Luftwaffe use in their

firebombing campaign.

THE BOMBING OF STALINGRAD

AUGUST 23–NOVEMBER 22, 1942

To prepare the way for their assault, the Luftwaffe

began heavily firebombing Stalingrad. The city

was bombed block by block, setting it ablaze

and reducing the buildings to burned-out rubble.

Thousands of civilians and soldiers were killed as

air strikes continued until late November 1942.

1

SURROUNDING THE CITY

AUGUST 23–SEPTEMBER 13, 1942

On August 23, the German 6th Army reached

the outer suburbs of Stalingrad. Fighting through

Soviet “workers’ militias,” including young female

volunteers manning antiaircraft guns, they reached

the River Volga north of the city by month’s end.

When the German 4th Panzer Army arrived from

the south on September 2, the Soviet 62nd and

64th Armies in Stalingrad were surrounded, with

their backs to the river. The Soviets used any

buildings still standing to anchor their defense lines.

2

German advance

Aug 23–Sep 13

Soviet front line Sep 13

German-held

territory by

Sep 13, 1942

3

Artillery belt

Supply lines

Temporary bridge

Ferry crossing

SOVIET DEFENSES

AUGUST 23–NOVEMBER 18, 1942

With the west bank enclosed, the Soviet army

built up an artillery belt on the east bank of the

Volga, from which they bombarded the German

positions. They also commandeered the Volga

fishing fleet and constructed several temporary

bridges to carry supplies and men across the

river, providing a steady stream of reinforcements.

The Soviet air force provided air cover and

dropped supplies to the west bank, despite

the constant threat from the Luftwaffe.

US_150-151_Siege_of_Stalingrad.indd 150 20/03/19 2:20 PM