Breakout from the Don Pocket 1943

 
Following the Red Army’s successfull Operation Uranus in November 1942 which led to the encirclement of 300,000 Axis troops from General Von Paulus's 6thArmy at Stalingrad, Hitler then gave the Wehrmacht High Command (OKW) strict orders for the besieged troops not to retreat nor to breakout from the city.
On recieving this order the (OKW) then embarked on relieving the 6th Army believing in the over confident assurances of the Reichmarshall Herman Goering that his depleted Luftwaffe could re-supply the encircled  troops.
Whilst this futile exercise was under way, the remaining Axis forces on the outskirts of Stalingrad who weren't cut off re-grouped into Army Group Don under the command of Field Marshal Erich Von Manstein.
In an attempt to create a safe corridor to Paulus's 6th Army, Army Group Don's 4th panzer Army under Hermann "Papa" Hoth commenced Operation Winter Storm on December 12th. 
 
 
 
Four days later on December 16th the Red Army launched a counteroffensive pincer movement, Operation Little Saturn orchestrated by Marshal Zhukov, that was designed to destroy Manstein's Stalingrad relief troops, this fresh Soviet offensive resulted in a further encirclement of another 130,000 German & Eighth Italian Army troops on the Don.
Begining on January 17th 1943 and through fierce & heavy fighting 45,000 from the encircled 130,000 troops of Army Group Don managed to breakout and retreat to safer ground. 
 
 
A very small proportion of the dead at Stalingrad.
 

 

After the futile attempts of Goering's Luftwaffe and Manstein's Army Group Don to relieve the 6th Army, General Paulus was now in the situation were Hitler promoted him to Field Marshal in the belief that he should never surrender and continue fighting to the last man. 

Paulus refused to obay Hitler's order and on the day following his promotion he along with 91,000 of his remaining 6th Army walked into captivity were he would later propose a toast with his captures to the "Victorious Red Army".

 

 

 
 
 
                                                 Field Marshal Von Paulus on the 6th Army's capitulation. 
                                                               
 
 
 
 
 
                                                     The remaining 6th Army on their way to Soviet Gulags. 
 
 
 
                                                                 
 
Memorial death card of German soldier from Paulus’s 6th Army, taken prisoner on 31st January 1943, died from
Typhus 7th April 1943 in Russian captivity.

                                                                             (from author’s collection)

 
 
 
'Breakout from the Don Pocket'  was a 36hr Living History event held on 17-18 January 2009 based on replicating the events of Army Group Don 66 years to the day after the real events took place.
 
 
                                                                                     Images (Copyright) Nick Halling.