Orders of Battle at Stalingrad

Both the Soviets and Germans poured troops into the Battle of Stalingrad. Having said that the aims were different. Hitler wanted to win in the city. Stalin, or more accurate Zhukov, wanted to hold in the city and win elsewhere. So where as the Germans massed troops the Soviets merely fed in sufficient troops to retain a presence on the western bank of the Volga.

German

Aug 1942

The implication from Beevor (1999) is that XLVII Panzer Corps of 4th Panzer army comprised 29th Motorised Infantry Division, and 14th and 24th Panzer Divisions. Presumably the latter two units subsequently joined 6th Army.

October 1942

From Fowler (2005)

Sixth Army (von Paulus)

VIII Army Corps (Heitz)

11th Infantry Division (von Armin)
76th Infantry Division (Rodenburg)

XI Army Corps (Strecker)

384th Infantry Division (von Gablenz)
44th (Austrian) Infantry Division (Deboi)
376th Infantry Division (von Daniels)

XIV Panzer Corps (Hube) *

16th Panzer Division (Angern)
3rd Motorised Infantry Division (Schlömer)
60th Motorised Infantry Division (von Arenstorff-Oyle)

LI Army Corps (von Seydlitz-Kurzbach)

71st Infantry Division (von Hartmann)
79th Infantry Division (von Schwerin)
295th Infantry Division (Korfes)
305th Infantry Division (Steinmetz) including

578th Infantry Regiment – from the northern shores of Lake Constance which Ludger Fischer tells me means it is a Swabian unit

389th Infantry Division (Magnus)
100th (Austrian) Jaeger Division (Sanne) including:

Croatian Regiment 369

14th Panzer Division (Kuhn) including

103rd Panzer Grenadier Regiment

24th Panzer Division (von Lenski)

Luftflotte IV

* Fowler (2005) says XXIV in the order of battle, but XIV in the text. Beevor (1999) supports the latter.

The 94th (Saxon) Division was also active. It included the 267th Infantry Regiment.

The Wehrmacht recruited Russian ‘volunteer helpers’ (Hiwis or Hilfswilige) to help with shortages in manpower (Beevor, 1999). Many were prisoners of war. Originally they provided labour but soon moved into combat roles. Considered ‘ex-Soviet citizens’ by their compatriots, they were almost always executed when recaptured. Sixth Army had over 50,000 Hiwis in its front line divisions, with 71st and 76th Infantry divisions each having 8,000 in mid-November, i.e. 50% of their ration strength.

Soviet

17 Jul 1942

64th Army

29th Infantry Division

112th Infantry Division

214th Infantry Division (Biryukov)

229th Infantry Division

783rd Infantry Regiment
804th Infantry Regiment

66th (Motorised) Naval Infantry Brigade

154th (Motorised) Naval Infantry Brigade (Smirnov)

40th Armoured Brigade

137th Armoured Brigade

5 Heavy Tanks
10 T-34
20 T-60

October 1942

From Naval Infantry Brigades, Chuikov (1963), Fowler (2005), Erickson (1993) and Beevor (1999):

62nd Army (Chuikov)

10th NKVD Rifle Division (Sarayev)

2 x Infantry Brigades

13th Guards Rifle Division (Rodimtsev) – landed 14 Sep 1942 – including:

34th Guards Regiment
39th Guards Regiment
42nd Guards Regiment (Yelin)

35th Guards Rifle Division (Dubyanski)

37th Guards Rifle Division (Zholudev) – landed 2 Oct 1942 – including:

1st Guards Rifle Regiment
114th Guards Rifle Regiment
117th Guards Rifle Regiment (bit confusing, I’ve got them in the 39th Guards too.)

Initially without anti-tank guns

39th Guards Rifle Division (Guriev) – landed 30 Sep 1942 – including

117th Guards Rifle Regiment (bit confusing, I’ve got them in the 37th Guards too.)
118th Guards Rifle Regiment (probably based on their fighting on 11 Nov)

Raised from 5th Parachute Corps in Aug 1942.

45th Rifle Division (Sokolov)

95th Rifle Division (Gorishny) including

161st Rifle Regiment
241st Rifle Regiment

At some point sailors from the far east reinforced this division.

112th Rifle Division (Sologub) including:

416th Rifle Regiment
524th Rifle Regiment

138th Rifle Division (Lyudnikov) including

650th Rifle Regiment

193rd Rifle Division (Smekhotvorov) – landed 22 and 27 Sep – including

685th Rifle Regiment

196th Rifle Division

Comprised mostly of Kazakh, Uzbek and Tartar men.

244th Rifle Division

284th (Siberian) Rifle Division (Batyak) – landed 22 Sep

308th (Siberian) Rifle Division (Gurtiev) – landed 2 Oct 1942 – including

117th Rifle Regiment

84th Tank Brigade – landed 2 Oct 1942

20 T-70s
5 KVs
24 T-34s

137th Tank Brigade

189th Tank Brigade

92nd Naval Infantry Brigade – landed 16 Sep 1942

2 Battalions

42nd Special Brigade (Batrakov)

115th Special Brigade (Andryusenko)

124th Special Brigade (Gorokhov)

140th Special Brigade

160th Special Brigade

8th Air Army

I’m a little confused some some units Chuikov (1963) mentions:

  • a division under Glazkov fighting of 14 Sep
  • 38th Motorised Infantry Brigade (Burmakov) fighting of 14 Sep
  • 92nd Infantry Brigade fighting of 14 Sep, which is two days before the 92nd Naval Infantry Brigade landed.
  • 143rd Infantry Brigade in northern group on 9 Oct.
  • 149th Infantry Brigade (Bolvinov)

The ‘Special Brigades’ were militia units mainly made up of the factory workers who were not essential for producing weapons (Beevor, 1999). Many men only received weapons after a comrade was killed. They operated under Colonel Sarayev, the commander of 10th NKVD Rifle Division (Sarayev). Their morale was not great and blocking detachments of Komsomol volunteers or NKVD troops were sometimes placed behind them to discourage retreat.

Civilians also found their way into the regular formations (Beevor, 1999). Divisions press ganged any men they found – soldier or civilian – to replace casualties. The civilians, however, could easily escape across the Volga, however, as they were still wearing civilian cloths and were allowed to retain their passport.

References

Beevor, A. (1999). Stalingrad. Penguin.

Chuikov, V. I. (1963). The Beginning of the Road: The story for the Battle for Stalingrad. Macgibbon and Kee.

Clark, A. (1965). Barbarossa. Cassell.

Erickson, J. (1993). The Road to Stalingrad: Stalin’s war with Germany: Volume One. London: Weidenfeld.

Fowler, W. (2005). Stalingrad: The Vital 7 Days. Spellmount.

Naval Infantry Brigades

RKKA in WW2: Maps 1942 South-Western Direction

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