Two NCOs (looks to be a Feldwebel on the left and perhaps a Stabsfeldwebel on the right) from the 24. Panzer Division, signal troops to advance.

Taken near the Stalingrad southern railway station, September 24th, 1942.

The 24th Panzer Division was one of the spearheading units of the southern push into Stalingrad in August/September 1942. They faced the Soviet 62nd Army who despite being inadequately supplied (lacking in artillery and armor), put up a stout defense.

The 24th Panzer Division had been so depleted by this time (having fought through the chaos of Voronezh to Stalingrad’s southern limits), that it could often only field around 3 dozens tanks. Its commander was seriously wounded and his replacement killed.

To add to the chaos, by mid-September the division was the only armored unit pushing through Stalingrad’s suburbs as the 14th Panzer Division was diverted south to attack the Soviet 64th Army’s bridgehead over the Volga. By the time this photograph was taken, the Panzer Division had less than a company’s worth of tanks still operational.

Nonetheless, with the support of the Luftwaffe who were flying 3x the number of sorties compared to their Soviet contemporaries, the 24th Panzer Division launched a successful offensive action in mid-September that forced the survivors of the 62nd Army to dig in amongst the Grain Elevator, Lumberyard, and Food Combine - all locations that would become infamous in the story of Stalingrad.

Comments

A great story about a little bit of 'humanity' during a terrible war.

A great story about a little bit of 'humanity' during a terrible war. In April 1945, 2nd Lt. Peter During was a South African fighter pilot (N.7 Squadron) running missions over Italy when his Spitfire was shot down by German AA fire. He managed to crash land his plane behind enemy lines where he was immediately captured. Whilst been escorted to a German Lufwaffe Prisoner of War (POW) camp (he was a pilot and thus his interrogation and imprisonment was the responsibility of the German airforce), he opened a conversation with his captors. He was quickly able to establish that they could already see the writing on the wall, that the war was at an end and Germany would lose it. ...

He said the family were "acutely aware" there were "extremists of all sides who are keen to hijack this incident for their own ends".

The family of a man who was kicked in the head by police at Manchester Airport has appealed for "calm in all the communities", an MP has said. Paul Waugh, Rochdale MP, said the "traumatised" family wanted to make it clear they had "no political agenda whatsoever" and did not condone political violence. Anger over the video led to protests outside Rochdale police station on Wednesday and Thursday nights, with another protest also held in Manchester city centre on Thursday. Mr Waugh said the family would not be attending any protests or giving any media interviews as they wanted their privacy protected. "The strong message they wanted to give is that they have no political agenda whatsoever," he told BBC Breakfast. "They wanted me to issue an appeal for calm among all sorts of different communities in Rochdale. "We've had a history of unfortunate division in our town and we do not want to go back to those days." He said the famil...

Battle of Hat Dich Begins.

Battle of Hat Dich Begins On the 3rd of December 1968, Australians from the 1st Australian Task Force participated in the Battle of Hat Dich as part of Operation GOODWOOD. This operation involved the clearing of Hat Dich and its surrounding areas in a three month operation which would involve Australian, New Zealand, American and South Vietnamese forces. The battle was marked by sustained Australian patrols throughout the Hat Dich area and ambushes on tracks used by the enemy. American, South Vietnamese and Thai forces also operated in direct support of the ANZACS as part of the division-sized action. Under the codename Operation GOODWOOD, the battle of Hat Dich lasted 78 days, and saw 21 Australians, one New Zealander and 31 South Vietnamese killed. The Royal Australian Regiment, the 3rd Cavalry Regiment and 1st Armoured Regiment were subsequently awarded the battle honour award “Hat Dich”, one of only five presented to Australian units during the war. don't forget to...

WORLD OF ALL

Search This Blog