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Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad took place between the 23rd of August 1942 and 2nd of February 1943 and was the turning point of the war on the Eastern Front. It marked Germany's farthest eastward penetration, and after being defeated at Stalingrad, the German Army, despite launching a few desperate counterattacks, would be in retreat throughout Russia and Eastern Europe until the end of the war in May 1945.
In terms of total military casualties (both sides), the Battle of Stalingrad ranks as the costliest in modern history. Estimates vary, but most of them agree that at least 1,500,000 personnel were lost (killed, wounded or captured). Overall, Axis forces (in addition to Germany, Romania, Hungary, and Italy contributed substantial military forces to the battle) sustained an estimated total loss of 750,000 personnel. Many thousands of Axis (mostly German) warplanes, tanks, and artillery pieces were also destroyed or captured. Russian losses were equally appalling (or even worse: some sources put Russian military casualties at more than 1,100,000. However, Russian forces had the great advantage of fighting on home ground and being able readily to replace their losses from the rear, while Axis supply lines were over-extended, being many hundreds of miles long, and subject to constant harassment.
Put simply, the German war engine on the Eastern Front ran out of steam at Stalingrad.
Strategically, Germany's 'Case Blue' offensive, encompassing the attack on Stalingrad as part of the German drive into southern Russia and the Caucasus region during 1942, aimed to capture the Baku oil-fields on the western shore of the Caspian Sea; prevent Russia's use of the lower Volga River (which discharges into the Caspian Sea south of Stalingrad) to resist further German penetration or attempt to regain territory seized by the Germans; and interdict any Allied assistance to Russia coming north through the Caucasus region via the Middle East. The Battle of Stalingrad marked the end of Case Blue and a reversal of fortune for Russia.
After Stalingrad, like a bloodied but unbowed fighter sensing exhaustion in his opponent, Russian forces began applying unrelenting pressure across all sectors of the Eastern Front. Germany, with its vast military commitments in Scandinavia, Western Europe, North Africa, and the Balkans, could not muster sufficient resources to resist that pressure. Despite some attempts to regain the strategic initiative (notably at Kursk in July 1943), German forces in the East were essentially on the defensive for the remainder of the war.
The disintegration of the Eastern Front that began at Stalingrad also had knock-on effects on Germany's war effort in general. Not only did Stalingrad result in an enormous and irreplaceable loss of men and materiel, subsequent Russian advances led to a growing loss of morale among German line units elsewhere as word spread about the horrors of the Eastern Front, and a dawning realization among most senior military commanders that Germany (beset as well by the relentless destruction by air of its industrial and transportation infrastructures, successful Allied military operations in the Mediterranean theatre, and the expectation of a full-scale invasion along the Atlantic coast) could not avoid ultimate defeat.
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Those known to have fought in Battle of Stalingrad during the Second World War 1939-1945. The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
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Karl Schumacher Artillery I am looking for information about my grandfather Karl Schumacher who was a horseman in the German Artillery during the Battle of Stalingrad. He was either killed or taken prisoner by the Russians.
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