Bombing of Stalingrad Begins
The bombing of Stalingrad in began on the 23rd August 1942 – the Soviet airforce was relatively weak and the block by block destruction was largely unopposed.
At 3:18pm on Sunday, August 23, 1942 the first bombs fell on Stalingrad. The Germans had concentrated the bulk of the Luftwaffe in the east for the assault – and they began a systematic block by block destruction of the city that lasted for five days. The Soviets had resisted evacuating the civilians from the city as it was a centre for war production – as a consequence over 40,000 would die in these early stages of the battle.