Hiestand, William E./Noon, Steve (Illustr.) Soviet Tanks at Stalingrad 1942–43

The Battle of Stalingrad is generally considered the turning point in World War II. The 22 divisions and 250,000 troops of the German 6th Army were surrounded and destroyed, while the desperate defence of the city by the 62nd Soviet Army and the suffering of the starving German troops have received much well-deserved attention. Here, Soviet armoured expert William E. Hiestand draws attention to the less well-known aspect of the battle: the reborn Soviet armoured and mechanised corps that dealt the deathblow to Hitler's hopes. He explains how Soviet armoured forces failed to realise their potential in the summer of 1942. Although equipped with excellent T-34 and heavily armoured KV-1 tanks, the newly formed Red Army armoured corps were unable to coordinate their tank advances with supporting infantry and artillery, and their disjointed attacks were repeatedly crushed. However, by 19 November, the Soviets had developed their organisation, command and control, training and tactics to the point where the 5th Tank Army was able to launch the decisive breakthrough of the Romanian 3rd Army. Packed with rare archive photos and profiles of the tanks involved, this book shows how the Red Army's armoured spearhead at Stalingrad developed into a force capable of dominating the Eastern Front.