Operation Winter Storm (German: Unternehmen Wintergewitter) was a German offensive in December 1942 during World War II, in which the German 4th Panzer Army failed to break the Soviet encirclement of the German 6th Army during the Battle of Stalingrad.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Why it matteredThis military operation was a failed attempt by German forces to break the Soviet encirclement of their army during the pivotal Battle of Stalingrad.
Quick facts
- Date12–23 December 1942
- LocationSteppe south-west of Stalingrad, USSR
- German commanderErich von Manstein (Army Group Don)
- Attacking force4th Panzer Army under Hermann Hoth
- Soviet defendersIncluding 2nd Guards Army under Rodion Malinovsky
- GoalBreak through to the encircled 6th Army
- OutcomeSoviet victory; relief failed
Editor's Take:
Operation Winter Storm is the moment Stalingrad could, just possibly, have been different. German tanks came within about 50 km of the trapped army, close enough that men in the pocket hoped for rescue. But Hitler would not give up the city, Paulus would not disobey, and the Red Army struck elsewhere. The failure sealed the fate of the 6th Army and marked the turning point of the war in the east.
Profile
Operation Winter Storm: The Race to Save Stalingrad
South of Stalingrad, 12–23 December 1942
In November 1942, the Soviet Operation Uranus trapped the German 6th Army under Friedrich Paulus in and around Stalingrad. About 250,000 to 300,000 Axis soldiers were cut off, supplied only by air.
Hitler ordered Paulus to hold his ground and gave Field Marshal Erich von Manstein the task of breaking through to him. The plan was called Unternehmen Wintergewitter, Operation Winter Storm.
On 12 December 1942, General Hermann Hoth's 4th Panzer Army attacked north-east from Kotelnikovo. Its spearhead, the LVII Panzer Corps, fought its way forward through snow and Soviet counter-attacks and reached the Myshkova River, about 50 km from the trapped army.
There it stopped. Hitler refused to let Paulus break out to meet them, and Paulus would not act without orders. On 16 December the Soviets launched Operation Little Saturn against Italian troops on the Don, threatening the whole German southern front. By 23 December Manstein had to pull forces away, and the rescue was over.
Timeline
- 19 Nov 1942Operation Uranus: Soviet counter-offensive
- 23 Nov6th Army encircled: at Stalingrad
- 12 DecWinter Storm begins: from Kotelnikovo
- 16 DecOperation Little Saturn: Soviets strike on the Don
- 19 DecMyshkova River reached: about 50 km from the pocket
- 23 DecRelief abandoned: forces sent elsewhere
- 31 Jan 1943Paulus surrenders: southern pocket
- 2 FebBattle of Stalingrad ends: last Germans give up
Did you know?Hitler promoted Paulus to field marshal on 30 January 1943, expecting him to die rather than surrender, since no German field marshal had ever been captured. Paulus surrendered the next day.
Could the 6th Army have escaped?
Manstein hoped Paulus would launch his own break-out, code-named Donnerschlag (Thunderclap), to meet the relief force. It never happened.
Hitler wanted Stalingrad held, and the 6th Army's tanks had fuel for only a few dozen kilometres. Starving, freezing men would also have had to leave their wounded and heavy weapons behind.
How the Soviets stopped it
Soviet commanders, including Aleksandr Vasilevsky, rushed the strong 2nd Guards Army south to block the advance at the Myshkova.
Operation Little Saturn then broke through on the middle Don and threatened Rostov, the gateway to the German armies in the Caucasus. Manstein had no choice but to switch his forces.
The end at Stalingrad
Without relief, the 6th Army slowly died. Around 91,000 survivors went into Soviet captivity in early February 1943, and only a few thousand ever returned home.
The defeat ended Germany's run of victories in the east. Manstein's counter-attack at Kharkov in March 1943 stabilised the front, but the initiative had passed to the Red Army.
The 84th anniversary falls on December 12, 2026.
