 01
The Germans are attacking the Orlovka salient. The trapped
battalion holds out for 5 days !
Some divisions of the 62nd Army are down to 2.000 men.
The luftwaffe attacked the city's oilreservoirs.
02
The Red October factory is under German attack. Also the center
of the city.
The 37th Guards Division reached the city but their anti-tank
and T-34s are too
big to cross the Volga.
After finding Chuikov's headquarters the Germans start bombing
it. The oilreservoir
above the headquarters is burning. Although, Chuikov staus here
until October the 5th.
03
Near the factory complexes 62th Army is pushed back to the bank
of the Volga
Paulus is planning a new major attack for the next day.
The Russian defenders (the division of Sologoeb) retreats over
the Metsjetka.
04
Adolf Hitler wants Stalingrad taken by October 15th.
Hitler announced that, after the Stalingrad is completely
captured, Paulus will become
his new Chief of Staff.
At night the 84th Tank brigade crosses the Volga.
05
Stalin declares : Stalingrad must not be taken by the enemy.
That part of Stalingrad which
has been captured must be liberated.
Chuikov replaces his headquarters again. 500 meter closer to the
Tractor Factory.
On the bank of the Volga river.
06
At 18.00hr One salvo of katusha rockets kills a
complete German battalion west
of the railway bridge of the Metsjetka river. Today the Germans
lost 4 batallions and 16 panzers.
During an air-raid the luftwaffe bombs kills the Staff of the
339th Infantry Regiment.
07
In the morning German soldiers captured a bathinghouse
near the Red October factories.
The Russians recaptured the house 5 times that day.
08
The Germans starts digging in and are waiting for
reinforcements. Althought the Germans
have 334.000 soldiers in the area but only 67.000 are combat
soldiers.
09
Late that night a German soldier, Willi Brandt is captured by a
Russian Commando Group.
They want some explanation about the German troop movement
starting earlier that day. The
soldier tells them that Hitler ordered to capture Stalingrad by
the 15th October. Instead of
taking the soldier prisoner or shoot him, the Russians release
him. While he’s walking back to the
German lines he’s waving the Russian Goodbey.
10
Chuikov is told about the new planned German offensive. He
orders some small counter
attacks on several specific German positions to disturb the
preparation of the new German
offensive.
11
Roumenian 3th Army is taken position to protect the left flank
of the German 6th Army at
Stalingrad.
12
Mindful of the previous winter’s experiences with the weather
in Russia, Hitler already
orders the entire Army to take defensive postures, and hold its
current positions throughout
the season. Paulus, after gathering his forces for another surge
against the Russians still
fighting inside Stalingrad, attacks headlong into the Red Army.
13
With the 14th and 24th Panzer Divisions behind the 305th
Infantry Division attacked into the
Tractor Factory.
14
Near the Tractor Factory about 200 German panzer breaking
through the Russian lines.
2000 Luftwaffe sorties are flown on this day alone, in support
of the effort to get the fight
over with. Even for the veterans of 6th Army, this fighting is
described as unprecedented
in ferocity.
5000 of the 8000 soldiers of the 37th Russian Brigade were
killed in action.
15
The tractor factory is attacked by the 305th German infantry and
it splits the 62nd Army.
At the north end of the factory the 24th Panzer Division reaches
the bank of the Volga.
16
Stalin is ordering all available planes to the Stalingrad area.
17
Paulus is asking his subordinate division commanders for his
actual ration strength
vice combat strength. On hand he has 334,000 men. Only 66,549
are combat troops.
18
Since the battle for Stalingrad started 17.000 wounded
German soldiers went back home
by train and/or aircraft.
19
The Germans are continueing their attack but it is apparant that
both sides are nearly exhaust.
German prisoners indicating that the moral in their army is
dropped to a new low.
20
At "Pavlov’s" house a handfull of Russians are
firing on four German tanks
Commining up with a group of infantry. They put one tank out of
action and are scattering
the infantry so that the whole group ducked for cover. The
russians are not licked yet.
21
Some positive changes for the Russians. The Russian aircrafts
are now dominating the
night sky over Stalingrad., much to the surprise of the Germans.
A new German attack
on the factories is taken place.
22
The new attack of yesterday is bringing the Germans into the Red
October and Barrikady
factories. But Paulus’s operations are eating up his infantry
strength at the rate of a division
Every five days. And there are no more replacements for him.
23
The Germans are holding the tractor factory and most of the
Barrikady factory.
24
The Russians holed up inside the furnaces of the Red October
factory, with the
Germans at the other end of the foundry.
25
The Germans 100th Division is to attack in the Barrikady area
along a railroad embankement.
They are waiting for the Stuka’s to pave the way for them. The
Stuka’s are there but their
bombs are falling almost on the Germans. The attack failes. The
Germans are capturing the
center of Spartakovka. The 6th Army is nearly reaching the Volga
here. But they are pushed
back.
26
The 100th division is attacking again. This time the artillery
is putting up the heaviest
barrage the infantry had ever seen and it blasted the Russian
positions. The shelling is
lasting half an hour. After the shelling German soldiers jumped
up and the squads plunged
into this no-man’s land. They are between the barrikady plant
and the Red October factory,
less than fourhundred yards from the Volga. This means the last
remaining Russian ferry landing
on the western shore is under direct fire of the Germans. and
the men of the 100th Division are
breaking into cheers. They are sure the the Russians are
finished and the battle for
Stalingrad is over .
27
Once again the Russian are in need of manpower. Reinforcements
for the 62 Army, the 45th
Infantry Division Are reaching the fighting area before dawn.
They are going into the line of the
two factories with arders to stop the Germans. They are holding
until the evening but then their
left flank is forced back a hundred yards. The cost is awful.
Half the men of the two battalions
are gone in one day of fighting.
28
More reinforcements are on their way to the Russians. But the
question is : Can General
Chuikov hold out for another day ? The Germans are moving slowly
into the direction of the
Volga.
29
The Germans are holding nine-tenths of the city and the other
tenth was under heavy
Fire. The Russians are still on Mamayev Hill and they are
holding a few buildings and a
narrow strip Of the bank of the Volga., several miles long but a
few hundred yards wide.
30
The fighting is continueing but the Geramn attacks are growing
weaker. The 62nd Army is
surviving but it is actually a triumph of grim determination and
willingness to sacrifice lives
31
Arial reconnaissance proved and confirmed that the 65th Soviet
Army is crossing the Don and
estabishing itselfs In a deep bridgehead on the southern bank of
the river. The Germans can do
nothing about it because of the scattering of the German troops.
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