On 11 November 1942, 7 pioneer battalions, compressed into a front-line area Photo and editorial credit: www.stalingrad-info.com & www.leapinghorseman.com --------------------------------------- This should be interesting when it comes out, especial the information about the Sturminfanteriegeschütz
"Ostrov Lyudnikova" memorial zone. Summer 2004.
Exclusive interview with Red Army "trench soldier", who was wounded twice here.
After two months of gruelling combat in the ruins of Stalingrad, the men of
6. Armee were exhausted. Despite throwing everything they had at the Soviet
62nd Army, a thin bridgehead still existed along the Volga River. At the
beginning of November, Paulus (6. Armee) and his commander, Weichs
(Heeresgruppe B), discussed ways of juggling their forces in order to gather
enough strength to finally take the remaining areas of Stalingrad. Into this
situation stepped von Richthofen, the aggressive and abrasive commander of
Luftflotte 4, who demanded that four pioneer battalions be sent immediately
to Stalingrad. These high-level discussions set in motion events that would
lead to the most savage and desperate fighting ever seen!
barely 2km long, launched an attack against the Soviet bridgehead east of
the Barrikady Gun Factory held by the men of Colonel Ivan I. Lyudnikov's
138th Rifle Division and Colonel Gorishny's 95th Rifle Division. The
pioneers, well-trained and practised at taking fortified objectives, met
their match in the courageous Soviet soldiers. Flamethrowers, demolition
charges, panzers, assault guns - even the new 150mm Sturminfanteriegeschütz
33B - were used by the Germans in an effort to eradicate the stubborn Soviet
defenders. Individual buildings became daily objectives for the Germans.
Even after being cut off from the rest of their army and without supplies
from the east bank, Lyudnikov and his men held on. They had Germans in front
of them and on both flanks, while German artillery and machine-gun fire
swept the Volga behind them. They were completely cut off. They were an
island in a sea of Germans. The Soviet soldiers called it 'Ostrov
Lyudnikova' (Lyudnikov's Island). To others, it was simply called 'Ognenniy
Ostrov' - Island of Fire.
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Information has been gathered from archives in Russia, Germany and the USA.
The book will contain many eyewitness accounts from both German and Russian
veterans.
33B in combat!
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