posted on 1 year ago — updated on 1 year ago

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Osprey Publishing has recently published 'Stalingrad airlift 1942-43, The Luftwaffe's broken promise to Sixth Army', Kylie Newton takes a look

Basic description from the publisher, 'The story of what really led to Germany losing the battle of Stalingrad - the inability of the Luftwaffe to keep Sixth Army supplied throughout the winter of 1942–43 - and why this crucial airlift failed.' The book itself is 96 pages, so a day to read, with around 60 photos and at least 14 pages of colour illustrations, maps, and sidebars of text explaining a point in the main body of work; authored by William E HIESTAND, and illustrated by Adam TOOBY, this is number 34 in Osprey Air Campaign series, and a good one at that.

Contents cover: Origins, Chronology, Attacker's capabilities, Defender's capabilities, Campaign objectives, the Campaign, aftermath and assessment, further reading, and Index.

Clear maps, you get a sense of the immense distances involved.

not even on a good day, with a war to support, was the Luftwaffe going to make this work...

Review

The decision to hold Stalingrad and sustain the Sixth Army was out of all proportion to the realities on the ground, the logistics of which simply overwhelmed the men (and women) and machines of the Luftwaffe in every respect. Whilst a brief analysis of that, this book covers a lot of ground with sufficient information to make that clear.

The text is well supported with maps, photographs, and, where necessary, sidebars that give context to a point, or expand on a matter relevant to the narrative. For example, p.34 has the VVS order of battle, November 19, 1942, and at a glance you can see the amount of material, machines, and men the Soviets threw into the effort to defeat the Sixth Army. And have an appreciation of the size of the effort facing the Luftwaffe. In contrast, p.43 has the German side of the equation and the disparity is readily apparent. Equally, p.22 (see below) illustrates the limitations of the Luftwaffe to complete the task at hand, and you readily do appreciate that one side was on a hiding to nothing here.

An example of the great artwork.

What one side wanted

Conclusion

A very good introduction to the failure of the Luftwaffe to support the Sixth Army at Stalingrad, where the Luftwaffe's capabilities were overstated, and under-performed. Definitely recommended to those seeking to understand Stalingrad a little better (as an armor modeler of Axis subjects, this has expanded my knowledge on the subject), or those with an interest in logistics and how important careful planning is, grab 'Stalingrad airlift 1942-43', it is a worthwhile read.