The German army during the Second World War was famous for its excellent organization. During the fighting, the ammunition was always delivered on time, and the soldiers rarely went hungry. However, during the fighting at Stalingrad, the German quartermaster services showed exceptional indolence, often causing consternation or even the fury of their comrades under siege.
At the end of November 1942, as a result of the Soviet counteroffensive, the German 6th Army, the 4th Panzer Corps from the 4th Panzer Army and the Romanian formations:the 20th Infantry Division and the 1st Cavalry Division were found in the encirclement of Stalingrad. In total, it was about 270,000 people led by General Friedrich Paulus. Hitler did not agree to the evacuation of these units earlier. Now, until the relief and "cutting" of the corridor to Stalingrad, they were to be supplied by the Luftwaffe.
At that time, the situation of the German and Romanian troops in the cauldron was becoming desperate. Raging snowstorms and severe frost decimated the fighting soldiers.
There was a shortage of fuel and ammunition. Food rations were constantly being reduced. Eventually, 4,000 Romanian cavalry horses were eaten, for which there was no fodder anyway. However, it didn't do much. General William Adam, one of Paulus' closest associates, recalled it in his book "A Difficult Decision":
O d On December 15, the bread ration had to be reduced to one hundred grams a day. Two slices of bread a day, a thin soup made of horse meat, a few cups of hot herbal tea or malt coffee - had to be enough for the soldiers to live and fight, to resist frost, snow and storms.
When the horse ran out, German soldiers started catching Stalingrad cats and rats ...
The horses that were to be used for battle eventually served as ... food for the hungry soldiers.
The Luftwaffe comes to the rescue
The German command estimated that 700 tons of supplies per day were needed for the normal functioning of the German troops at Stalingrad. The minimum value of supplies was to be 500 tons:300 tons of fuel, 140 tons of food and medicine, and 30 tons of ammunition. Only bread, the encircled army needed about 40 tons a day.
"Day after day, week after week, all winter," was how Hitler solemnly assured Hitler of the Luftwaffe's commitment to the creation of an air bridge with Stalingrad, air force commander Herman Göring. Fat Hermann did not seem to have the courage to tell his Führer that, in principle, this was an impossible task. The German staff officers calculated that at least 800 Junkers Ju-52 transport machines were needed to transport even this minimal amount of supplies. Meanwhile, across the Luftwaffe, on all fronts, there were only 750 of them! In addition, all of them would have to be in a good technical condition at the same time.
So planes began to be collected from every corner of the Reich. By the end of November 1942, the Germans had managed to stockpile only 200 Ju-52s. They were supported by about 190 Heinkiel He-111 bombers, as well as two squadrons of outdated Junkers Ju-86. Later, the Germans threw everything that could float into the air into action. Focke Wulf FW-200 Condor, the new Heinkiel He-177 bombers, and even the huge prototype Junkers Ju-290, a powerful aircraft capable of reaching America, appeared over the skies of Stalingrad. Even flight school students and civilian Lufthansa crews were enlisted to pilot all these machines.
Stalingrad "elegant"
The first mishaps happened before the encirclement of Paulus' troops. In mid-November, to prepare the soldiers of the 6th Army for winter, the High Command was asked to provide winter clothing. At that time, they were sent whole wagons of clothes from the collection among citizens made for the fighters at Stalingrad. The stunned soldiers then reported to the army headquarters that:
when opening wagons filled with clothing, an almost grotesque image appeared. Next to useful items there were hundreds of women's fur coats, muffs, caracule coverlets and other furry goods, among them very expensive items, but at the front they were of no value. Apparently the clothing donated by the population was not looked at at all, but was passed on without any choice. Let the military think for themselves what to do with it . (quoted by Wilhelm Adam, Otto Rühle "Difficult decision")
Condoms and marjoram
After the boiler was closed, each kilogram of cargo delivered by air was of enormous importance for the Germans. It happened, however, that the tonnage, often paid for with the lives of airmen, was chosen thoughtlessly. In his book, Wilhelm Adam mentions the indignation of Paulus and his staff when, instead of the expected food or medicine, several large chests of Iron Crosses, Knight Crosses and German Crosses were sent to the encircled. Two huge chests of Croatian medals were also delivered, while there was only one regiment of Croatian artillery in the cauldron!
A color photo, but the lives of German soldiers were far from cheerful. Pictured is a Nazi officer during the Battle of Stalingrad.
One of the transports aroused particular fury in Paulus' soldiers. Wilhelm Adam quotes here the chief quartermaster of the 6th Army, Major Werner von Kunowski, who during one of the meetings said:
I can give you some other outrageous examples. (...) The last planes sent a dozen crates filled with protective agents for men, five tons of candy, four tons of marjoram and pepper, and two hundred thousand propaganda brochures. I would wish the bureaucrats responsible for this to sit in the cauldron if only for a week. They would not commit such idiocy anymore.
Nobody had any control over the organization of deliveries to the boiler and it seems that everything was being loaded onto the planes. In other transports, there were, for example, roofing felt or barbed wire. Meanwhile, the warehouses of the German army in Rostov were bursting at the seams with the much needed wheat flour and butter at Stalingrad.
Tragic operation of the German air force
The German rescue pilots, who were locked in the cauldron, could not be denied their involvement. Their destination was the Pitomnik airport - the only one that could accept large transport planes. The first supply flights were carried out on November 25, when 75 tons of supplies were delivered. However, as the weather worsened, missions grew increasingly risky. Due to the lack of visibility of the ground, snow blizzards, at minus 30 degrees Celsius, could fly only the most experienced crews. There were accidents.
Life on Stalingrad was not an easy life for the German airmen. The photo shows the German transport plane Messerschmitt Me 323 "Gigant".
Soviet fighters were also not idle, collecting a rich harvest in the form of German planes destroyed in the air and on the ground. In addition, the Soviets placed 1100 anti-aircraft guns around the perimeter of the boiler, searchlights for night shooting and barrier balloons appeared. During the day, Pitomnik was bombarded by the attack Iły-2, and at night it was harassed by the biplane "Kukuruźniki".
At its peak, on December 7, 1942, 282 tons of supplies were delivered to the boiler. So it was just over half of the assumed minimum - this was never achieved. There were also days when weather conditions meant that the transports did not arrive at all. The last German planes appeared in the Stalingrad area on the evening of February 2, 1943. For a dozen or so days they had nowhere to land, they could only drop supplies in parachute trays. That day, the Soviets suppressed the last fires of German resistance in the cauldron.
The Luftwaffe suffered heavy losses in operations over Stalingrad. The Germans lost a total of 487 transporters, of which 211 as a result of accidents. 1,100 airmen were killed. Such a terrible price was paid for the delivery of, among other things, several tons of condoms, spices, orders and propaganda press.
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