How The Luftwaffe Decimated Germany’s Chances of Winning The Battle of Stalingrad

A critical tactical blunder and promises broken

(By Unknown author — https://albumwar2.com/fight-in-the-shop-of-the-stalingrad-factory-red-october/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=147069657)

The Battle of Stalingrad was one of the largest and most consequential in history. It was here at this critical Soviet city where the armies of Nazi Germany were stopped for the first time and thrown back. Germany lost hundreds of thousands of troops in the battle. While most people rightly point to the fact that this was where the Soviet Red Army finally stiffened up and managed to surprise the Germans with a brutal counterattack.

Much has been written about the Battle of Stalingrad, but many people miss a critical detail that ultimately doomed the Germans — the Luftwaffe.

On August 23rd, 1942, the Germans launched the largest aerial bombardment against the Soviets of the war. The Luftwaffe flew 1,600 sorties over the city in which a thousand tons of bombs were dropped. The bombs were a mixture of high explosives and incendiaries. The high explosive bombs flattened the buildings, and the incendiaries lit the rubble on fire. In twenty-four hours of bombing, the entire city was reduced to ruins. Over 90% of the houses were destroyed, and over 75% of the large buildings were flattened. Stalingrad was turned into a wasteland.