Stalingrad - battle for the Grain Elevator

18th September 1942: The Germans face a determined resistance inside the ruined city, where numerous small pockets of Red Army troops hold out

The grain elevator and silo in Stalingrad which was one of the most strongly defended Russian positions in the city, autumn 1942.

In Stalingrad the fighting was as intense as ever as the Germans threw everything they had into the battle in a 'last' attempt to capture the whole city. Yet they faced some of of the most determined resistance they had ever encountered.

A German map of Stalingrad in 1942, showing the areas still occupied by the Russians.

The Russians clung on to a strip of land on the west back of the Volga. All reinforcements and all munitions and supplies had to cross the wide Volga, which was continuously under fire from the German guns. Men who crossed were immediately flung into the battle. Life expectancy was little more than a day for Soviet infantrymen who crossed at this time.

The Germans were being made to fight for every building. Small groups of men would creep into houses after dark with sufficient ammunition to keep them going for a few days, fortify it as best they could, and then fight it out from their own personal 'Alamo', selling their lives as dearly as possible.