Survivors Of Stalingrad - Eyewitness Accounts From The Sixth Army 1942 - 1943

This English Edition first Translated & Edited (2014)

Edited & Collected by Reinhold Busch, Translated & Edited Geoffrey Brooks

In November 1942 as the Battle for Stalingrad reached its peak, the Russians launched a devastating counter-attack from their own defensive positions outside of the city, surprising and overwhelming Axis Forces, their actions effectively ended the German siege and any hope of capturing the city. The once attacking Wehrmacht force is soon fighting for its very survival after having been quickly cut off, encircled, and trapped behind the Russian advance. 

Now remaining inside this defensive pocket are a mixed force of some 290 000 surviving members of the Wehrmacht - mainly members of 6. Armee - who against all odds went onto hold out for almost 12 weeks after encirclement. These now besieged soldiers and their support units were to find themselves forced to endure atrocious weather & battle conditions, and were soon almost totally reliant on the Luftwaffe for their own survival. After such a dramatic reversal of fortune effected the attacking force, morale fell almost as quickly as their dwindling food and ammunition supplies - casualty numbers increased as did losses due to starvation, frostbite or infection. This important oral history reconstructs the well known grim fate of 6. Armee, along with other overlooked groups like Luftwaffe Airmen, Wounded and Prisoners Of War. The Author has located & edited previously unpublished reports, interviews, diaries and newspaper accounts to reveal the experiences of soldiers, airmen, nurses and support units of all ranks in their own words.