September 1942

Eastern Front

Attacsk by the 1st Guards and 24th Armies fail to break through to the 62nd Army. The 66th Army joins the attack with an equal lack of success.

At first light the Luftwaffe arrives over Stalingrad, bombing the central raiway station in force. Heavy artillery fire then joins the attack, closely followed by infantry and armor. Under ferocious fire, a single battalion of the 13th Guards Rifle Division attempts to hold out but is forced to give ground. Fighting as they fall back, the Soviet troops make a stand in the Nail Factory. German attacks rapidly envelop this position, hitting the Soviets from three sides as fighting rages on through the night. Fierce battles also continue in the grain elevator as elements of the 92nd Rifle Brigade fight on.