Ian Johnson, War On The Rocks: The Motherland Calls: The Battle of Stalingrad, 75 Years Later
The most famous battle of World War II began a few days over three quarters of a century ago. More than four million combatants fought in the gargantuan struggle at Stalingrad between the Nazi and Soviet armies. Almost half – over 1.8 million people – became casualties. More Soviet soldiers died in this five-month contest than Americans died in the entire war. But months later, on February 2, 1943, when the Germans trapped in the city surrendered, it was clear that the momentum on the Eastern Front had shifted. The Nazis would never fully recover.
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WNU Editor: The Russian offensive to encircle the German Army at Stalingrad was my father's first major battle. When the war broke out he was part of a "press-gang" that took those who refused to enlist, and after that he was trained to command an artillery unit. He was studying math at the University of Kiev (Taras Shevchenko National University of Kiev) when the war broke out .... my guess is that his superiors probably felt that since he was good at math, he would not make that many mistakes when calculating where to point the artillery. And even though he was usually a few kilometres away from the front .... as he told me more than once .... the front was so fluid at times that he and his men sometimes found themselves behind enemy lines. Sighhh .... it is days like this that I miss him. One day .... time permitting .... I will give a brief bio of my father, especially what he saw and experienced during the Ukraine famine, the Second World War, and after the war . He definitely did not live a boring life.
7 comments:
"He definitely did not live a boring life."
That's certainly true. But it must've been a harrowing one.
D. Plowman,
I asked him once how many times was he almost killed during the war.
His response .... more than once.
A few examples ....
At the last moment he felt that it would be safer if he slept outside of a barn. A few minutes later that barn was hit by a German tank shell that killed everyone inside.
A rocket barrage was approaching his position .... everyone jumped into a bunker .... when my father regained consciousness he was the only survivor.
On the second to last day of the war a sniper killed a fellow soldier that was sitting beside my father.
You get the drift ....
My grandpa died in in primrose. A mental institution in kingston. He jumped for the brits in ww2. Never came back im told. Wish i had met him. His sacrifice has haunted many. May he rest in peace.
I hope Germany will never again commit such pitiful and repulsive acts again. When I hear about your father and what he must have gone through I hope both sides will never be at war again. And knowing Germany quite well, I can assure you that there's a great deal of remorse and regret still to this day, of having started this unjust war. Doesn't bring back your dad, but know that he not only helped in saving Russia, but by helping to fight Germany 's wrong ambitions he also changed its future to be a brighter one. Everyone is more free today than 70 years ago. A war your father and you can be proud of to have been on the right side.
Manstien,
Your grandfather .... like my father .... live within us.
Stalingrad was strategic and tactical mistake by Hitler. He should have taken the Caucasus oil fields first and then by passed Stalingrad and cut it off from supply. Mind you, even if they did do that they still would not have succeeded in slaying the Bear. Monty was right, rule number one in the book of war is don't attack Russia. It's too big and the people are too stubborn! And the winters!
After reading your blog for some time, I would be honored if you would share details about you father. So many people are ignorant of history and it repeats itself.
My grandfather only told me one thing about his was experience with an american tank destroyer unit. He said "the worst was listening to the TD beside you burning and the men screaming inside." Those were open topped.
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