|
|
|
Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad took place between the 23rd of August 1942 and 2nd of February 1943 and was the turning point of the war on the Eastern Front. It marked Germany's farthest eastward penetration, and after being defeated at Stalingrad, the German Army, despite launching a few desperate counterattacks, would be in retreat throughout Russia and Eastern Europe until the end of the war in May 1945.
In terms of total military casualties (both sides), the Battle of Stalingrad ranks as the costliest in modern history. Estimates vary, but most of them agree that at least 1,500,000 personnel were lost (killed, wounded or captured). Overall, Axis forces (in addition to Germany, Romania, Hungary, and Italy contributed substantial military forces to the battle) sustained an estimated total loss of 750,000 personnel. Many thousands of Axis (mostly German) warplanes, tanks, and artillery pieces were also destroyed or captured. Russian losses were equally appalling (or even worse: some sources put Russian military casualties at more than 1,100,000. However, Russian forces had the great advantage of fighting on home ground and being able readily to replace their losses from the rear, while Axis supply lines were over-extended, being many hundreds of miles long, and subject to constant harassment.
Put simply, the German war engine on the Eastern Front ran out of steam at Stalingrad.
Strategically, Germany's 'Case Blue' offensive, encompassing the attack on Stalingrad as part of the German drive into southern Russia and the Caucasus region during 1942, aimed to capture the Baku oil-fields on the western shore of the Caspian Sea; prevent Russia's use of the lower Volga River (which discharges into the Caspian Sea south of Stalingrad) to resist further German penetration or attempt to regain territory seized by the Germans; and interdict any Allied assistance to Russia coming north through the Caucasus region via the Middle East. The Battle of Stalingrad marked the end of Case Blue and a reversal of fortune for Russia.
After Stalingrad, like a bloodied but unbowed fighter sensing exhaustion in his opponent, Russian forces began applying unrelenting pressure across all sectors of the Eastern Front. Germany, with its vast military commitments in Scandinavia, Western Europe, North Africa, and the Balkans, could not muster sufficient resources to resist that pressure. Despite some attempts to regain the strategic initiative (notably at Kursk in July 1943), German forces in the East were essentially on the defensive for the remainder of the war.
The disintegration of the Eastern Front that began at Stalingrad also had knock-on effects on Germany's war effort in general. Not only did Stalingrad result in an enormous and irreplaceable loss of men and materiel, subsequent Russian advances led to a growing loss of morale among German line units elsewhere as word spread about the horrors of the Eastern Front, and a dawning realization among most senior military commanders that Germany (beset as well by the relentless destruction by air of its industrial and transportation infrastructures, successful Allied military operations in the Mediterranean theatre, and the expectation of a full-scale invasion along the Atlantic coast) could not avoid ultimate defeat.
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
|
Those known to have fought in Battle of Stalingrad during the Second World War 1939-1945. The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please
Add a Name to this List
|
|
|
The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.
Announcements
- The Wartime Memories Project has been running for 24 years. If you would like to support us, a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting and admin or this site will vanish from the web.
- 27th April 2024 - Please note we currently have a huge backlog of submitted material, our volunteers are working through this as quickly as possible and all names, stories and photos will be added to the site. If you have already submitted a story to the site and your UID reference number is higher than 264001 your information is still in the queue, please do not resubmit, we are working through them as quickly as possible.
- Looking for help with Family History Research?
Please read our Family History FAQ's
- The free to access section of The Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers and funded by donations from our visitors. If the information here has been helpful or you have enjoyed reaching the stories please conside making a donation, no matter how small, would be much appreciated, annually we need to raise enough funds to pay for our web hosting or this site will vanish from the web.
If you enjoy this site
please consider making a donation.
Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the War? Our
Library contains an ever growing number diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text. |
|
We are now on Facebook. Like this page to receive our updates.
If you have a general question please post it on our Facebook page.
Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to WW2. We would like to obtain digital copies of any documents or photographs relating to WW2 you may have at home. If you have any unwanted
photographs, documents or items from the First or Second World War, please do not destroy them.
The Wartime Memories Project will give them a good home and ensure that they are used for educational purposes. Please get in touch for the postal address, do not sent them to our PO Box as packages are not accepted.
World War 1 One ww1 wwII second 1939 1945 battalion
Did you know? We also have a section on The Great War. and a
Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.
|
|
Want to know more about Battle of Stalingrad? There are:0 items tagged Battle of Stalingrad available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
|
Karl Schumacher Artillery I am looking for information about my grandfather Karl Schumacher who was a horseman in the German Artillery during the Battle of Stalingrad. He was either killed or taken prisoner by the Russians.
|
Recomended Reading.Available at discounted prices.
|
|
|
