A Day of Turmoil and Reverses ETO (id:#65549)

(Dispatches from the Bunker #52 ID: DB165)   [next]   [previous]

Southern District Krasny Oktyabr, Stalingrad 1942-10-27 (7 others)

Overview:

Infanterie-Regiment 369, known as the Hrvatske Legije (Croatian Legion), had entered Russia as a reinforced regiment in October 1941. Fighting from Kharkov to Stalingrad had caused casualties, but the combat in the industrial city that bore Stalin's name had bled the legionnaires white. By the end of October, the Croatian Legion's 1st Battalion was holding around 400 meters of line in and around Halls 9 and 10, and eastward to within sight of the Volga River. Four hundred meters should have been a very manageable distance for a battalion to hold, however, by this point, the companies of the battalion counted their numbers by a few score legionnaires per company. The battalion's 14. Kompanie (antitank guns) was even being used as line infantry, so desperate was the need for man-power. Russian probes had likely detected this weakness for on the 27th of October, the Russians, launched a series of attacks from early morning onwards from the area of the Oil Reservoir against the Croatians.

Defender: German (I./Infanterie-Regiment 369, "Croatian Legion", 79 Infanterie-Division / Schutze Brietic's Detachment, 14. Kompanie / Reinforcements from I./Infanterie-Regiment 212)  

Errata (source)