Shock troop units
By the end of October 1942 the German advance
in Stalingrad was almost stopped. Luftwaffe
General von Richthofen blamed Paulus that he
didn't made any advantage of the Luftwaffe's
support he received. von Richthofen said that
the infantry and the artillery were not used to
fight street battles and he sugested Paulus to
fight with smaller "shock troop units".
Paulus refused. Von Richtofen contacted General
Jeshonnek in Berlin and asked
his friend to make Hitler see that Paulus would
better fight with smaller units to destroy the last
Russian strongholds. The Germans already held
9/10th of the city. The last part to be captured
were a few Red Army strongholds in the industrial
part of the city (northern part). The Russian
strongholds were situated in the huge factories.
Hitler agreed and ordered Paulus to attack with
smaller shock troop units. The "land" between
the factories was attacked by newly formed battle
groups of the 71th, 79th, 100th, 295th,
305th, 398th Infantry Divisions and 14th and 24th
Panzer Division. The strongholds in the factory
were attacked by 4 extra battalions
of Pioneers and the 389th Pioneer Battalion
The battalions, posted in Millerovo and Rossosj,
"near" Voronezh, a city at the Don river,
about 480 km or 300 miles west from Stalingrad,
flew to Stalingrad on November 6th, 1942.
50th*, 162th, 294th and 336th Pioneer
Battalion. Commanded by Chief of Pioneers,
Colonel Herbert Selle, the orders for Major Josef
Linden were clear : cleaning up the
Russian strongeholds inside the factories and
the major buildings around.
Buildings :
The Commissars's House (Red House) and the Chemnist
Shop.
Factories :
Red October Factory, Barrikady Factory and the
Tractor Factory.
Hour Zero :
November 9th, 1942 at 09.00 am. (untill November
12th, 1942)
Results :
The Germans captured the both buildings and several
parts of the factories. Some of them
reached the Volga but it was clearly to them
that it was a Pyrrhic victory.
Weapons :
Flamethrowers, machine pistols, dynamite....
Major Josef Linden
Parts of the given orders :
For the Battlegroup of 305th Division
and reinforcement Pioneer Battalion 162 :
1) The enemy, with powerful units, in Hall 4 (the
Martinhofen Hall)
of the Red October factory, must be destroyed
November 11th (1942).
2) Reinforced Pioneer Battalion 162 must clean
the hall complete by.....
and advance to the Volga.
....
8) Signal : White (each five minutes) : here
we are
Red : Counterattack
Green : Demanding reinforcements
9) Fieldhospital : 50 meter north west of Hall
4
10) Battlegroup headquarters :
First : House between Hall 2 and 4
Second : after captured : Hall 4
....
Notes :
1) 50th was a Panzer Pioneer Batttalion.
2) The 5 battalions were part of the 161st Division
and 294th Division.
3) The attack was a 5 km wide front between Volchovstrojevskaj
street and the Banni ravine.
4) Parts of the battalions were punished German
soldiers, tough guys doing "dirty" jobs
5) Colonel Herbert Selle was under command of
General Erwin Jaenecke, General
of Pioneers.
6) From the 5 Battalions, 3000 men, about 1000
died and most of the other were wounded.
After the attack, Colonel Herbert Selle, reformed
the 5 battalions into 1.
|