September 1942

Eastern Front

Soviet forces north of Stalingrad begin to redeploy. Over the next few days, the 1st Guards Army and the 24th Army switch sectors, the 1st Guards deploying on the extreme right flank to face the VIII Corps. The 1st Guards is also reinforced with 9 new rifle divisions.

At Stalingrad, the day opens with a series of spoiling attacks by the 62nd Army. Under massive German counter-fire, the Soviet units fail to make any headway and are then struck by the renewed German attacks. By early afternoon, the Tzaritsyn quarter has fallen to the XLVIII Panzer Corps, which links up with the LI Corps, penetrating to the Volga at Kuporosnoye. The central landing stages are brought under heavy mortar and machine-gun fire. Furious battles rage around the central hospital as the 76th Infantry Division smashes through the Soviet line south of Mamayev Kurgan. The central railway station falls to the 76th, while heavy fighting rages in the engineers' housing near by. Soviet counterattacks retake the central station later in the day, but then the Germans launch another attack that recaptures the station once more. By the end of the day the railway station has changed hands 4 times. During this bitter fighting, units of the 76th Infantry punch a corridor through to the Volga. The 295th Infantry Division reaches the base of the Mamayev Kurgan and after a furious assault takes the hill by the end of the day.

With the success of the German attacks toward the Volga, the 62nd Army has been severed. The larger northern group, isolated in the factory district and central portions of the city, fight against the attacks of the LI Corps, leading units of which ar only 800 yards from Chuikov's headquarters. To the south, the southern group remains in contact with the 64th Army in the Beketovka area but is under intense pressure. Repeated counterattacks fail to close the gap between the 64th and 62nd Armies.

After nightfall, Rodimtsev's 13th Guards begins to cross the Volga. Lead elements cross under heavy German fire from the central landing stages and immediately counterattack when they reach the west bank. Furious fighting erupts as the Guards claw a small bridgehead on the banks of the Volga.