The agony continues in Stalingrad

15th January 1942: The Germans fight a losing battle against cold and hunger whilst the 'Kessel' shrinks under pressure from the Red Army

The Red Army maintained the pressure but now proceeded cautiously as the end neared.

Abandoned German transport in Stalingrad.

In Stalingrad, the appalling conditions of the trapped 6th Army kept getting worse. Men suddenly fell down dead for no apparent reason - severely weakened by the terrible cold and their desperate hunger.

“Kameraden, hold yourselves together. We don’t have far to go. We have to leave stragglers behind; they’ll freeze to death!”

The Red Army maintained constant pressure on the perimeter defence line, and the defended 'Kessel' was gradually shrinking.

Leutnant Adelbert Holl¹ found that his unit, in newly established positions, was rapidly becoming outflanked:

Division quickly recognised this situation: we also received the order to pull back to the new front-line. There was much cursing from the men, which I could totally understand. All the trouble and work over the past days was now all for nothing. We knew what we had constructed for ourselves here. But what was waiting for us in the new positions? If only it wasn’t for this atrocious cold.