Wehrmacht (Stalingrad)

The Battle of Stalingrad is considered by many historians to have been the turning point in World War Two in Europe. The battle at Stalingrad bled the German army dry in Russia and after this defeat, the Germany Army was in full retreat. One of the ironies of the war, is that the German Sixth Army need not have got entangled in Stanlingrad. Army Groups A and B were well on their way to the Caucasus in south-west Russia, when Hitler ordered an attack on Stalingrad. From a strategic point of view it would have been unwise to have left a major city unconquered in your rear as you advanced. However, some historians believe that Hitler ordered the taking of Stalingrad simply because of the name of the city and Hitler's hatred of Joseph Stalin. For the same reason Stalin ordered that the city had to be saved.

The Battle for Stalingrad was fought during the winter of 1942 to 1943. In September 1942, the German commander of the Sixth Army, General Paulus, assisted by the Fourth Panzer Army, advanced on the city of Stalingrad. His primary task was to secure the oil fields in the Caucasus and to do this, Paulus was ordered by Hitler to take Stalingrad. The Germans final target was to have been Baku.

Stalingrad was also an important target as it was Russia's centre of communications in the south as well as being a centre for manufacturing.

In early September 1942, the German Army advanced to the city. The Russians, already devastated by the power of Blitzkrieg during Operation Barbarossa, had to make a stand especially as the city was named after the Russian leader, Joseph Stalin. For simple reasons of morale, the Russians could not let this city fall. Likewise, the Russians could not let the Germans get hold of the oil fields in the Caucasus. Stalin's order was "Not a step backwards".

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[christof139]

@SoldatenArvidsjaur23, There may have been 2 -3 SS Police Battalions in Stalingrad, but I got that info. from old sources that mentioned 'specialists in street fighting being sent to Stalingrad such as the 6-9 Assault Pioneer Battalions.

[Vejonsunvelviensotrs]

GOOD JOB! Heil Wehrmacht!

[gmodfreakrper]

My Opa died in Stalingrad.... Russians through a grenade in the back of the wounded troop carrier, blew him and everyone else in the carrier up.... he was shot and wounded, they were taking him to the nearest aid station..... Opa, Ich Vermisse Dich!!!!!

[Fastline1000]

@themanroom126, man I´m sorry for you and your family. My grandpa was one of 14 kids, the youngest one. He was born in todays Serbia, which belonged in this time,1912, to the empire of K.U.K (Austria and Hungary).In WW2 he lost 12 brothers and sisters and also his parents, aunts and uncles. My other grandpa was submariner in WWI and later in WW2. He died when I was 2 or 3 years old, I can´t remember him really much. I just remember what my mother told me and my grandma. Yes, it was all a mess.

[themanroom126]

@Fastline1000 My aunt's fiance was killed in Russia.... I also had some relatives that were fighting partisans in Yugoslavia. Another uncle was fighting in Greece and a few close family members were in Africa, fighting the British.....all with the "blessing" of the Italian Gov't. Europe was a mess and just about everyone was hurt in one way or another.

[Fastline1000]

@themanroom126, I know this fact. But he was educated from the SS as translator. He could speak most of the eastern languages, like Russian, Hungarian and the Serborcrotian language. Maybe he was a translator in the gulag, too. Before he fighted in Russia he was in Finland and in Yugoslawia. Pleas don´t ask, what he did, can be, he was involved in the fights against partisans, I don´t know.

[themanroom126]

@Fastline1000 He is lucky. Most SS men were executed by the Russians

[Fastline1000]

My grandpa was also serving at the Waffen-SS in WW2, and he was in Russia, too, I don´t know where he was exactly, cause he didn´t talk abouT the years between 1940 and 1944. I just know that he was as POW in a russian Gulag in Sibiria. He came home in 1948.

[SoldatenArvidsjaur23]

You know Waffen SS didn't serve in the 6th army, and most of the 6th army was wiped out so how could you be right?

[AlexAmerling19]

wait there was no SS in Stalingrad. so how could your grandpa have been there?