Stalingrad: Death of an Army

By Ben Skipper

The very name Stalingrad has become synonymous with military folly and political arrogance. Its capture by the Wehrmacht was a crushing defeat, both militarily and politically, for the Red Army. The 6th Army was a highly experienced key element of Army Group South. In late June 1942 it rolled eastwards as part of the summer offensive to capture the vital oilfields of Baku and secure the city on the Volga that bore the name of the Soviet leader.

The 6th Army was the acme of German military might and on paper it should have easily overwhelmed the defenders of Chuikov’s 62nd Army. However its commander, General Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus, lacked field experience. His army would pay the price. Stalingrad was a new type of battlefield and it would test the mettle of attacker and defender to the very limit, all the while the thermometer plunged.

This Battle Craft title also looks at four pieces of military hardware that were involved in these legendary battles. Innumerable T-34’s, which often rolled off local assembly lines unpainted and straight into battle took on the Stug III assault gun as it supported troops fighting for mere meters of territory. Overhead, in the frigid air, deadly V, Ju87 Stuka and Yak 9s, were locked in battle for air superiority over the shattered remains of a once vibrant city.

The Quartermaster section provides the modeller with an insight into the development and operational use of the four chosen vehicles and aircraft that were involved in the Battles of El Alamein. A selection of historical and contemporary photos and illustrations feature alongside stunning showcase builds, providing the modeller with subjects to whet the creative appetite. It also features details of model kits and extras that can really help the modeller bring military history to life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pen and Sword
• Release date: May 4, 2023
• ISBN: 9781399007757

Ben Skipper

Ben Skipper, a RAF veteran, is an avid modeler and writer of military themes, specializing in 20th century subjects. Skipper’s work has been featured in previous Pen & Sword titles and has, on occasion, won prizes.His interest in British armor was cemented by a visit to the Kings Royal Hussars in the early 90s as an undergraduate in the Territorial Army. Upon graduation Ben Skipper joined the RAF, where he served for five years, clocking up the air miles in a range of RAF transport aircraft including the VC10 and C17.It was while serving with the RAF that his first foray into writing occurred, reporting on his experiences of a Kosovo/FYROM tour for an in-service trade magazine. On leaving the RAF, Skipper continued to develop his writing and research skills working within the third sector and NHS researching military and veteran subculture. Some of this work would be used to shape key government veteran policies.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

A symbol of defiance and of loss. The famous ‘Children’s Dance’ fountain on the station square in Stalingrad at the end of the battle. (Sergey Strunnikov)

On 28 June 1942 Axis offensive operations on the Eastern Front were relaunched with the start of Case Blue (Fall Blau). The plan was to deprive the Soviets of the life blood of modern warfare: oil. To do this two operations were launched using a divided Army Group South. Operation Edelweiss, with Army Group A, would see Axis troops drive south towards the Caucasus and capture the oil fields of Baku. To the north Operation Fischreiher (Heron), by Army Group B, would drive towards the Volga and Stalingrad.

On 26 July 1942 Army Group B, led by the Sixth Army, made contact with the first of the Soviet defences along the Don as it drove on towards Stalingrad. The Sixth Army was the acme of German military might and on paper it should have easily overwhelmed the Soviet defenders. However, its commander, General Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus, lacked field experience and his army would pay the price. Stalingrad was a new type of battlefield and it would test the mettle of attacker and defender to the very limit, and all the while the thermometer plunged.

Graduates of Chuikov’s ‘Stalingrad Academy of Street Fighting’ survey their handiwork. (RIA Novosti)

Planning the campaign: a relaxed Paulus meeting subordinates on the Eastern Front. (Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe)

Stalingrad would become the pyre upon which the effort to win the war in the East by the Axis powers would be thrown. It would see the hubris and hypocrisy of Hitler’s psyche exposed and witness the pitiful collapse and death of one of the most powerful armies of the age; Paulus’ Sixth Army.

Romanian cavalry saddles lie abandoned at the bridgehead. (RIA Novosti)

STALINGRAD – DEATH OF AN ARMY

Due to the sheer scale of the battle of Stalingrad a number of well known and notable commanders were involved on both sides; however, there are commanders whose quality and influence in battle marked them above their peers in one way or another, be it political or martial. It was these men whose experiences had prepared them for the task ahead.

Paulus, accompanied by General Hermann Hoth, observes the front through a Scherenfernrohr SF09 stereoscopic telescope. (Wydawnictwo Prasowe Kraków-Warszawa)

GERMAN COMMANDERS

General der Panzertruppe Friedrich Paulus was born on 23 September 1890 in Breitenau, Germany, the son of a treasurer. He initially tried to join the navy but was rejected due to his social background. After a brief period as a student at the University of Marburg studying law, Paulus joined the army in 1910. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 3rd Baden Infantry Regiment the following year. At the outbreak of the First World War Paulus was adjutant of the regiment’s 3rd Battalion and by 1915 was assigned to the staff of the 2nd Prussian Jäger Regiment. He was moved once again two years later to the operations staff of the Alpine Corps.

A portrait of Paulus taken in June 1942. Within six months Paulus would become a shadow of his former self, broken and isolated with the walls of Stalingrad closing around him. (Deutsches Bundesarchiv)

After the war Paulus served as adjutant of the 14th Infantry Regiment at Konstanz as part of the Reichswehr. In 1922 Paulus received General Staff training, joining Army Group 2 at Kassel the following year. From 1924 to 1927, he was posted as a General Staff officer at Wehrkreis (Military District) V at Stuttgart. Paulus’ behaviour as a staff officer attracted the attention of senior commanders with one commenting he was ‘slow, but very methodical’, whilst another complained that he ‘lacked decisiveness’. Yet Paulus continued to be promoted and in 1930 became a tactics instructor with the 5th Infantry Division.

Despite the Versailles Treaty’s restrictions on numbers the Reichswehr still needed to practise the craft of war and men like Paulus helped shape and develop a modern army. (Deutsches Bundesarchiv)

When is a tank not a tank? Early Reichswehr armoured manoeuvres used wheeled vehicles with body modifications to get around the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles. (IWM)

By 1934 Paulus held the rank of lieutenant colonel in charge of Section 3 of the now burgeoning Reichswehr motor transport pool. In September the following year Paulus succeeded Heinz Guderian as chief of staff to the commander of Germany’s mechanized forces, General der Panzertruppe Oswald Lutz. Considered to be an expert in the field of motorized warfare, Paulus was further promoted to major general. In 1939 he became director of training for Germany’s four light divisions which were made up of a tank battalion, two motorized infantry, one reconnaissance and one motorized artillery regiment.

Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, Paulus became General Walther von Reichenau’s chief of staff with the Tenth Army, later taking part in the invasion of Poland in September 1939. He remained with the Tenth Army for the Western offensive in Belgium and France.

German and Soviet soldiers fraternize in Sambor (Lwów Voivodeship), during the Nazi-Soviet invasion of Poland in September 1939. (Unknown)

June 1940 brought Paulus further promotion, this time to lieutenant general and in September he became deputy chief of the General Staff. In this role Paulus was to visit General Erwin Rommel in North Africa on a fact-finding tour. His report was highly critical of Rommel, his methods and troops, but the report was not acted upon. This mission was followed by a strategic survey of the Soviet Union in preparation for the proposed invasion, Operation Barbarossa. Paulus’ main point to senior commanders and Hitler was not to give the Red Army the opportunity to retreat into the interior of the Soviet Union, arguing that battles of encirclement would be far more effective. Paulus also suggested that the main advance eastwards should be made north, avoiding the Pripyat Marshes in southern Belarus and northern Ukraine, to enable the capture of Moscow.

Under the spotlight. Rommel, a famous self-publicist, had his campaign in North Africa scrutinised by Paulus. The report was far from positive. (Wydawnictwo Prasowe Kraków-Warszawa)

September 1942 and German armour pauses on its way to Stalingrad. (IWM)

Promoted to general on New Year’s Day 1942, Paulus took up his appointment as commander of the Sixth Army and fought his first battle at Dnepropetrovsk in central Ukraine. After heavy fighting which lasted until May 1942, Paulus and the Sixth Army were able to begin their advance eastwards towards Stalingrad as part of Case Blue operations.

SOVIET COMMANDERS

Colonel General Konstantin Rokossovsky was born in