Stalingrad - the looming threat

5th November 1942: It becomes obvious that the Red Army is massing around the city of Stalingrad

General Paulus (right) with General Walther von Seydlitz-Kurzbach in Stalingrad, November 1942

In Stalingrad the German 6th Army under the command of General Friedrich Paulus was suffering terrible casualties. There was an urgent need for infantry officers, many of the front line platoons were being led by NCOs. Arrangements were in hand to transfer young officers across to the infantry - an unpopular move in the circumstances

German infantry in the wasteland of Stalingrad, ‘late Autumn’ 1942..

A Wehrmacht Hauptmann of the 6th Army overlooks the city of Stalingrad in a ruined town in 1942. The weapon he's holding appears to be a Captured Soviet PPSH-41 SMG. The Ruined town he's standing today is known as Gagarin Park

German infantry using a wrecked T-34 as cover in Stalingrad.

But the problems facing the 6th Army were much more serious than that. Military logic dictated that their position was extremely vulnerable, strung out at the end of an extended supply line, gradually getting weaker by the day. Proposals had been put to Hitler for a withdrawal.

Colonel Wilhelm Adam¹, ADC to Paulus, describes the situation at the beginning of November 1942:

At the end of October the land between the Don and the Volga lay under thick fog all day long. The reconnaissance activity of the Luftwaffe was completely immobilised. We had no exact picture of what the enemy was up to.

At last came a few clear autumnal days, offering good visibility. The first flights over the area on the northern flank confirmed what our divisions had reported from their observations. Excitedly we pored over the aerial photographs.

The Red Army had strongly extended their bridgeheads over the Don, especially in the area of Serafimovitch, Several new bridges had been erected, some of them ‘underwater bridges’ whose surface lay beneath the water level so as to reduce their visibility.

...

Parallel to this the enemy front was shown as a red line on the map. In front of the 6th Army’s left flank and the Rumanian 3rd Army, as well as in front of the right wing of the 4th Panzer Army, was shown a mass of Soviet units. General Paulus put one hand on the northern mass of enemy troops, the other on the southern, and then he pushed his hands together as if shutting a trap. What lay inside the trap, what was cut off by the arms of the trap, was us, our 6th Army.

Elchlepp commented laconically: ‘If Hitler whistles at our proposals again in this dangerous situation, the catastrophe is complete.’

The nervous tension among the army staff increased. After supper I escorted Paulus to his quarters. Both of us hardly noticed when we left the village street. Nevertheless a little later we were standing on the bank of the Don.

For a short time our eyes roved over the surface of the water, then Paulus broke the silence. ‘You know my requests, Adam. Hitler has rejected everything: the suspension of the fighting in Stalingrad, and the release of the XIVth Panzer Corps from the city. He went through the orders given to me at Vinniza on the 12th September and demanded the speeding up of the taking of the city by all means. That way we bleed. But that is not all. Stalingrad could become the 6th Army’s Cannae².’

Luftwaffe soldiers in the ruins of Stalingrad, October 1942.

1. With Paulus at Stalingrad

The inside story of the battle for Stalingrad from the German perspective. Colonel Wilhelm Adam was at Paulus’s side throughout and became a POW with him.

2. Battle of Cannae - one of the worst defeats for the Roman Empire - where their army was annihilated.