Battles in Russia

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Battles in Russia
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Battle of Leningrad July 1941

• Involved 516,000 Germans and Russians
• Initial battle lasts 83 days
• Germany retreats and regroups
• 2nd German attack results in another retreat
• August Germany takes over railroads
• 641,000 Russians die from starvation
• Start shipping supplies across Lake Ladoga and
  air drops
• Lasted 900 days

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Battle of Stalingrad

• Germans (General Paulus)
• 500 tanks
• 25,000 horses
• 7.000 guns and mortars
• Killed or captures around 50,000 Russian solders
• Advance was usually delayed by supplies
• Luftwaffe bombs city killing thousands
• Tanks roll into city to find a well fortified army

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Russians in Stalingrad

• Snipers, machine guns nest camouflaged
  artillery
• Tanks less effective in city
• Moscow falls but fighting continues
• "You may rest assured that nobody will ever drive
  us out of Stalingrad." Hitler
• 40,000 German solders are lost by this time

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Continued Stalingrad

• Paulus asks for reinforcements more tanks and
  engineers arrive
• Oct. 19 Paulus controls 90 of city
• Paulus launches last offensive even though his
  lack ammunition and food
• Red army repels attack
• Germans stand their ground, but at a terrible
  loss

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Battle of Stalingrad ends

• The battle for Stalingrad was over. Over 91,000
  men were captured and a further 150,000 had died
  during the siege. The German prisoners were
  forced marched to Siberia. About 45,000 died
  during the march to the prisoner of war camps and
  only about 7,000 survived the war.

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Battle of Kursk

• last major offensive launched by the Germans on
  the Eastern Front.
• Turning point in the war
• Largest tank battle in history
• Russians amassing 1,300,000 men, 3,600 tanks,
  20,000 artillery pieces and 2,400 aircraft. The
  Germans also assembled a formidable fighting
  force which was slightly smaller with 900,000 men
  2,700 tanks 2,000 aircraft. As well as the three
  premier Waffen SS divisions taking part.    

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Losses

• The total number of losses for the whole
  offensive were put at 100,000 men killed or
  wounded. The Soviet  casualty figures were not
  released until the end of the communist regime in
  the USSR and were recorded at 250,000 killed and
  600,000 wounded. They also lost 50 of their tank
  strength.