Comments by "Cary Black" (@caryblack5985) on "Paulus' success leads to his failure BATTLESTORM STALINGRAD E30" video.

  1. Don't believe any memoirs unless checked against other sources. Neither Soviet, Nazi UK or US.
    4
  2. I recommend Isaev Stalingrad City On Fire
    3
  3. Well they did attack areas on the east side of the Volga. However they could hardly stop giving almost total support to the German units attacking and since the Soviets were dug in and close to the German lines it mad it even more difficult. The Luftwaffe did their best to attack the small Soviet boats on the river but they were well camouflaged, hard to hit and operated at night when the only way you could bomb the was by flare. The idea you can win a land battle with mostly air power was totally discredited in WWII as the Allies learned.
    3
  4. Don't know where you got that info? SEE THIS From 1953–56 he lived in Dresden, East Germany, where he worked as the civilian chief of the East German Military History Research Institute. In late 1956, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and became progressively weaker. He died within a few months, in Dresden, on 1 February 1957, 14 years and one day after his surrender at Stalingrad. As part of his last will and testament, his body was transported to Baden-Baden, West Germany, to be buried at the Hauptfriedhof (main cemetery)[19] next to his wife, who had died eight years earlier in 1949, not having seen her husband since his departure for the Eastern Front in the summer of 1942.[Note 3]
    2
  5. No there were a number of attacks on the Kletskaya and Serifimovich bridgeheads and none of them eliminated the foothold. It would have taken a very much stronger and sustained attack and even then it might not have succeeded.
    2
  6. They sometimes could hold brcause they were dug in and fortified all the buildings the best they could.
    2
  7. What is?
    2
  8.  @valentine8988  They fought for the Soviet Union not Russia.
    2
  9.  @valentine8988  Evidently you don't know your own history. It was the USSR from 1918 till 1990. Ukrainians, Russians, Kazaks, Tatars and every other nationality fought in the Soviet forces in WWII not just Russians.
    2
  10. They bombed at Stalingrad. The Luftwaffe did not operate at night. They also used bi-planes that were low speed and were very maneuverable. SEE THIS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Witches
    1
  11. Hitler and Zeitzler insisted on Stalingrad being captured. If Paulus said I am going to pull out he would have been replaced.
    1
  12. Don't trust any Memoirs, Soviet, German, US or UK. All memoirs shade the truth to make the writer look better and there are many errors due to confusion, memory slips, rumors and other sources of error. Always verify memoirs against other sources of information to see if they are contradicted. Use memoirs only if there are no others ways to get the information and then be very cautious in their use.
    1
  13. Have to have the logistics and the planning to do so. Also there were strong Soviet forces on the east bank of the Volga.
    1
  14.  @TheImperatorKnight  Absolutely agree. memoirs usually attempt to make the writer look good. All memoirs should be verified against other accounts and documents.
    1
  15.  @valentine8988  I am talking about WWII not present day Russia. At that time all armed forces were Soviet.
    1
  16.  @valentine8988  I believe you are wrong. The government and ant official and otherwise said they were Soviet citizens. What did the Kazaks, Turkomen, and the other ethnics who came from their own region of the USSR say they were Russian? That would be nonsense. They told those peoples they were fighting for the Soviet Union. The vast majority had never been in Russia proper and had poor knowledge of the Russian language. This created problems in communication. I don't know why you deny the government that lasted for 72 years. By the way they were called Soviet citizens not Russians.
    1
  17. These were support troops. Cooks, supply, administrative ,truck drivers and anyone else who support the combat troops. Later there was a combat to get more of the rear area troops into the front lines. All were trained for combat but many were inexperienced because they had only done support work in the army.
    1
  18.  @russellblake9850  Well I am not an expert. but I always thought there were many more support troops in a division to keep them going. I have read 5 to 7 support for every combatant. You also have to take into account the casualty rate in combat troops is many times higher than the support troops which of course can change the ratio.
    1
  19. I did some further research. A WWII US army division had about 60% combat and 40% support. However an army and army group have many more additional troops which function not on a division level but assigned to administer and support at a corps and army level. This makes the number of support troops considerably higher. And of course as I stated casualties among the combat troops has a much greater effect than on support troops which has a strong effect on the ratio.
    1
  20. They tried and were not successful. The artillery was camouflaged and the AA fire was intense. The Soviets did all they could to hide the troops, marching them hundreds of kms from the trains and moving at night. The Germans expected an attack in the center Operation Mars and thought most of the troops were being built up for that. Finally the Germans were arrogant and thought they could not launch two operations at the same time and focused on the center.
    1
  21. Thanks There is also a very good book in English that covers the 138th Division by Jason D Mark Island Of Fire
    1
  22. Nazis are degenerate lying scumbags. Their word is worth nothing.
    1
  23. Well the Volga is a very long river and goes up to Mosco. The Urals are east of the Volga where Soviet tanks are made. Maybe you are only thinking about the area directly across from Stalingrad
    1
  24. Recent Russian accounts are much better. Isaev Stalingrad City On Fire is a good recent Russian account.
    1
  25. Yes they had fighter cover and the German pilots were more experienced.
    1
  26.  @simulatedpilot3441  Everything I have read has always said the Germans had complete air superiority. I don't know the number of planes the Soviets had but it seems to me that the Soviets would have had to have a very large surplus in planes to overcome the experienced German pilots. Where did you read that the Soviets had a greater number of planes than the Germans?
    1
  27. Army group B was the forces at Stalingrad. They were deep in the city or defending their flanks. They were not going to encircle anyone. Army Group A was deep in the Caucasus. They were trying to capture Grozny and oil. They were hundreds of miles from Stalingrad.
    1
  28. You are right that marine warfare meaning river boats were not possible for he German. however they did mine the Volga and concentrated artillery fire on the landing stages.
    1