0:00:19 > 0:00:24Over 60 years ago, a battle was fought in this great Russian city
0:00:24 > 0:00:27that would be the turning point of the Second World War.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31It was one of the longest and hardest fought battles of all time.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41For five months, German and Soviet troops fought each other
0:00:41 > 0:00:45street by street, building by building, and room by room.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49Ferocious German attacks
0:00:49 > 0:00:52met exceptionally stiff Soviet resistance.
0:00:52 > 0:00:57It led to the most intense fighting of the Second World War.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02I'll be revealing what it was really like for the soldiers on the ground.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07And I'll be explaining how the leaders' tactics
0:01:07 > 0:01:10drove their armies to the brink of destruction.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14The stakes could not have been higher.
0:01:14 > 0:01:19The outcome of the entire war hung on what happened here in 1942
0:01:19 > 0:01:21in the Battle of Stalingrad.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44In the summer of 1941,
0:01:44 > 0:01:47the world was at war.
0:01:49 > 0:01:54Adolf Hitler's ruthless ambition and overwhelming military strength
0:01:54 > 0:01:57made Nazi Germany seem unstoppable.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04Hitler was at the peak of his power.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08He and his allies dominated Europe and North Africa.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10He seized France, the Netherlands,
0:02:10 > 0:02:14most of Scandinavia and Eastern Europe.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18And then he launched the biggest invasion force in history,
0:02:18 > 0:02:21more than three million men, at the Soviet Union.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27He was determined to destroy Communism
0:02:27 > 0:02:30and expand his empire still further.
0:02:30 > 0:02:35By the spring of 1942, after nine months of fighting,
0:02:35 > 0:02:38the Germans had pressed deep into Soviet territory
0:02:38 > 0:02:41but failed to secure complete victory.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50So, in April, Hitler drew up a new battle plan.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54In the far south of the country there were vast oil reserves
0:02:54 > 0:02:57crucial to the Soviet war effort.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02Hitler wanted to stop the oil getting to Soviet troops and industry,
0:03:02 > 0:03:07first by preventing oil tankers transporting it up the River Volga,
0:03:07 > 0:03:11and then by seizing the oil fields themselves.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14Oil was the key to the war.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20Hitler knew Stalin would fight tooth and nail to protect his oil.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23Without it, the Soviet war machine would grind to a halt.
0:03:28 > 0:03:33In May 1942, Hitler put his plan into action.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37He sent two million men, nearly two thirds of all his troops
0:03:37 > 0:03:39in the Soviet Union,
0:03:39 > 0:03:42through the Russian steppe towards the oil fields.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06With the hot sun beating down on them,
0:04:06 > 0:04:08the German troops sped across Southern Russia.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12Despite pockets of fierce resistance, they seemed unstoppable.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15Some of them even felt like heroes,
0:04:15 > 0:04:19pioneers of a new empire for the German people.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27"What great spaces the Soviets occupy.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30"What rich fields there are to be had here after the war was over -
0:04:30 > 0:04:34"only let's get it over with quickly.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36"I believe that the Fuhrer
0:04:36 > 0:04:39"will carry the thing through to a successful end."
0:04:41 > 0:04:45The speed of the German advance, their technical superiority
0:04:45 > 0:04:48and the experience of their troops was too much for the Soviets.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55Throughout May and June 1942,
0:04:55 > 0:04:59Soviet troops fell back in widespread disarray.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02Hundreds of thousands were killed or wounded
0:05:02 > 0:05:06as they conceded swathes of land to the advancing Germans.
0:05:10 > 0:05:15And for civilians, the arrival of German forces into their villages
0:05:15 > 0:05:17was a terrifying prospect.
0:05:20 > 0:05:25Nazis murdered, raped, looted without hesitation.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31Villagers could see the dust cloud from approaching German tanks
0:05:31 > 0:05:33up to 40 miles away,
0:05:33 > 0:05:36and knew that there was little they could do to escape.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49Some were rounded up and transported to prison camps.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55Others were killed on the spot and their bodies discarded.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03"The world has never seen a more cursed enemy.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07"I have seen how the enemy treats the civilian population,
0:06:07 > 0:06:11"stealing everything and killing wives and children.
0:06:11 > 0:06:17"If I'm killed, let my sons make the enemy pay tenfold.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20"I urge my sons to avenge their father's blood."
0:06:27 > 0:06:32Throughout June and July 1942, Hitler's generals reported
0:06:32 > 0:06:36German victories ever deeper into Southern Russia.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43Hitler was so confident and impatient for victory
0:06:43 > 0:06:47that he decided to alter his plan of attack.
0:06:47 > 0:06:52Instead of trying first to block the Volga and then take the oilfields,
0:06:52 > 0:06:56he decided to attack both targets at the same time.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00One army would drive south to the oilfields,
0:07:00 > 0:07:04the other would seize a city on the banks of the Volga
0:07:04 > 0:07:08that would give them a stranglehold on the river's vital supply line.
0:07:08 > 0:07:14It was the city that bore the name of the Soviet leader himself -
0:07:14 > 0:07:16its name was Stalingrad.
0:07:23 > 0:07:28Stalingrad was one of the most vibrant cities in Southern Russia.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34Huge factories made equipment for the army.
0:07:34 > 0:07:39And workers could relax by strolling along the grand boulevards and parks
0:07:39 > 0:07:42leading down to the banks of the river.
0:07:44 > 0:07:51The city was the showpiece of the Soviet Union and its leader, Stalin.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56Josef Stalin was a ruthless dictator.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00Stalin wasn't his real name, but it meant "man of steel",
0:08:00 > 0:08:03and fitted his terrifying reputation.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07His orders had led to the death of millions of Soviet citizens.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11He had absolute control over the Soviet war effort
0:08:11 > 0:08:15and was now increasingly alarmed by the German advance.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24Faced with a threat to his oilfields and to the city of Stalingrad,
0:08:24 > 0:08:27Stalin decided to take desperate measures
0:08:27 > 0:08:29to stiffen Soviet resistance.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32In July 1942, his order went out -
0:08:32 > 0:08:36from now on, there would be no step backwards.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40Surrender or retreat would not be tolerated.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44Deserters and cowards would be shot.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49Throughout Stalingrad, over three quarters of a million people
0:08:49 > 0:08:52were told to get ready for war on their doorstep.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55Anti-aircraft guns were placed on the high ground
0:08:55 > 0:08:58and the civilians helped the military in a desperate attempt
0:08:58 > 0:09:00to prepare the city's defences.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06Women and children helped dig
0:09:06 > 0:09:12anti-tank trenches and built bomb shelters under the city streets.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15Soviet soldiers began to surround the city,
0:09:15 > 0:09:20and brutal anti-German propaganda filled the newspapers.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24One very famous piece of Soviet propaganda was
0:09:24 > 0:09:29published in the form of a poem. It urged Soviet troops to kill Germans.
0:09:29 > 0:09:34It said, "Kill him, so tears should flow in his home, not in yours.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37"Kill him, kill him every time you see him".
0:09:37 > 0:09:39The tone was being set
0:09:39 > 0:09:43for one of the most savage battles in modern history.
0:09:52 > 0:09:57On the 23rd of August 1942, aircraft of the German Luftwaffe
0:09:57 > 0:10:01began a colossal aerial assault on Stalin's city.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21German pilots flew 2,000 sorties,
0:10:21 > 0:10:24dropping 1,000 tons of bombs in 48 hours -
0:10:24 > 0:10:28even more than was dropped on London at the height of the Blitz.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34Incendiary bombs turned neighbourhoods of wooden houses
0:10:34 > 0:10:35into infernos.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39Even the modern brick buildings of the city centre
0:10:39 > 0:10:40were gutted by flame.
0:10:40 > 0:10:45The air was thick with smoke, and in every direction the city was ablaze.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50Homes and factories burned uncontrollably through the night.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59Bombs hit fuel storage tanks on the riverbank,
0:10:59 > 0:11:02unleashing torrents of burning oil onto the water.
0:11:02 > 0:11:07A column of black smoke rose over 3.5 kilometres into the sky.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20The first few days of the bombardment,
0:11:20 > 0:11:24civilians were refused permission to evacuate the city.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27Their only chance of survival lay in finding shelter in basements
0:11:27 > 0:11:30and cellars, but for many it was hopeless.
0:11:30 > 0:11:34Over 25,000 Russians died in just two days.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40"There are planes flying day and night.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42"My heart is bursting.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46"I don't know what to do, and what's going to happen to us.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50"I have got nowhere to go to, and I don't want to die here.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53"You say to me in each letter that we'll see each other soon.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55"Your words make me glad, my dear,
0:11:55 > 0:12:00"but it seems to me that we're unlikely ever to meet.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03"I think we have already parted forever."
0:12:10 > 0:12:14Stalingrad was all but destroyed.
0:12:14 > 0:12:19Its elegant avenues and grand buildings had been bombed to ruins.
0:12:21 > 0:12:26But the fight for Stalingrad was only just beginning.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30It was about to enter a new and even more deadly phase.
0:12:37 > 0:12:42Hitler now ordered over 100,000 ground troops to seize Stalingrad
0:12:42 > 0:12:44and deliver him a rapid victory.
0:12:47 > 0:12:52The task was given to the men of the Sixth Army.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55It was Hitler's most powerful and best equipped force.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00They'd stormed through Poland, France and the Ukraine
0:13:00 > 0:13:01and never known defeat.
0:13:03 > 0:13:09Their commander was General Friedrich Paulus.
0:13:09 > 0:13:14He was a fine strategic planner, but not an inspiring leader.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18Above all else, he was totally loyal to Hitler.
0:13:26 > 0:13:31As his army swept towards Stalingrad, Paulus set up his headquarters
0:13:31 > 0:13:35in this small village, 30 miles to the west of the city.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41Paulus understood his task very clearly.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45Hitler wouldn't be content just with occupying Stalingrad,
0:13:45 > 0:13:47he wanted it annihilated.
0:13:47 > 0:13:52All Paulus had to decide was his line of attack.
0:13:54 > 0:13:59Paulus cast his eyes over maps on this very table.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03In front of him, Stalingrad sprawled for 30 miles
0:14:03 > 0:14:06along the west bank of the River Volga.
0:14:06 > 0:14:11It divided roughly into three areas - a factory zone in the north here,
0:14:11 > 0:14:15a civic centre here and residential suburbs further south.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17The Germans, shown here in blue,
0:14:17 > 0:14:21had reached the Volga to the north and to the south of the city.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23The Soviet Red Army had been pushed back
0:14:23 > 0:14:27and were now isolated and outnumbered two to one.
0:14:27 > 0:14:31With the river at their backs, the Soviets were now entirely dependent
0:14:31 > 0:14:35on supplies and reinforcements being ferried across the Volga
0:14:35 > 0:14:38from the east bank to the west.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42Stalingrad looked easy prey for Paulus.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47Paulus's plan for a ground assault
0:14:47 > 0:14:51targeted two key landmarks in the city.
0:14:51 > 0:14:56The central landing stage, where the Red Army unloaded their supplies,
0:14:56 > 0:15:01and this prominent hill, Mamayev Kurgan.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03It was the city's highest point.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05If Paulus could capture this,
0:15:05 > 0:15:11his guns would have the river and most of Stalingrad in their sights.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26You can see at a glance how vital this hill is...
0:15:27 > 0:15:32..commanding the city as it does, right the way along the Volga River
0:15:32 > 0:15:36from the industrial area behind me down to the city centre right there.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50At dawn on the 14th of September,
0:15:50 > 0:15:54just two weeks after the Luftwaffe air raids,
0:15:54 > 0:15:56Paulus put his plan into action.
0:16:00 > 0:16:05The city shuddered from the ferocity of the onslaught.
0:16:13 > 0:16:19And with each passing hour, the Soviets were rapidly losing control.
0:16:26 > 0:16:28In little over 24 hours,
0:16:28 > 0:16:32German forces had stormed the southern part of the city.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36The main railway station was in their control...
0:16:37 > 0:16:41..and the landing stage was surrounded and under heavy fire.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45Mamayev Kurgan, the city's highest point,
0:16:45 > 0:16:49was also under attack from the Germans.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54The main Soviet force defending the city was the 62nd Army,
0:16:54 > 0:16:56but it had been battered by air raids
0:16:56 > 0:17:00and was having difficulty holding off the German attacks.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03Its men were outnumbered, exhausted and dispirited.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08But what they did have was a tough new commander.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12His name - General Vasili Chuikov.
0:17:12 > 0:17:16He was chosen for being a dogged and instinctive fighter
0:17:16 > 0:17:18with an almost unshakable nerve.
0:17:18 > 0:17:24But he knew his troops inside the city were on the verge of collapse.
0:17:29 > 0:17:34Chuikov's only hope of preventing the immediate fall of Stalingrad
0:17:34 > 0:17:37lay on the opposite bank of the River Volga.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51Here on the east bank there were 10,000 Soviet reinforcements
0:17:51 > 0:17:54preparing to enter the city. They were elite troops,
0:17:54 > 0:17:56but they were short of ammunition,
0:17:56 > 0:17:58and one in ten of them didn't even have a rifle.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02Nevertheless, at 7pm, they received orders to cross.
0:18:15 > 0:18:16Heavy German artillery fire
0:18:16 > 0:18:19rained down on the boats crossing the river.
0:18:19 > 0:18:24The water soon filled with burning debris and floating human remains.
0:18:27 > 0:18:28As the troops neared the shore,
0:18:28 > 0:18:31the scale of the devastation would have become clear.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34They would even have been able to smell the stench of corpses
0:18:34 > 0:18:35rotting in the summer heat.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40But there was no chance of turning back.
0:18:42 > 0:18:43Chuikov's reinforcements
0:18:43 > 0:18:47were thrown straight into the heart of the battle.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50Some stormed the shore and secured the landing stage.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54From there, they moved quickly through the streets in order
0:18:54 > 0:18:56to retake the main railway station.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00Others joined the battle for Mamayev Kurgan,
0:19:00 > 0:19:03where the fighting was increasingly ferocious.
0:19:08 > 0:19:12Artillery fire had turned this whole hilltop into a moonscape of
0:19:12 > 0:19:15blackened craters. It was also deafeningly noisy.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19One Russian soldier compared it to having steel needles
0:19:19 > 0:19:21pushed through his eardrums into his brain.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28Bodies of the dead and wounded lay everywhere throughout the city.
0:19:31 > 0:19:36"We're often sent into battle armed with nothing but our bare hands.
0:19:36 > 0:19:41"And this is happening not just to our division but to others too.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44"People hungry and exhausted,
0:19:44 > 0:19:49"launched into battle with bare hands, that's how we are fighting.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51"Things are bad."
0:19:59 > 0:20:04Despite all this, the reinforcements held up the German advance,
0:20:04 > 0:20:06at least for the time being.
0:20:13 > 0:20:19But it came at a terrible cost. 80% of those Soviet reinforcements
0:20:19 > 0:20:22were killed or wounded within a week.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29Chuikov had averted a disaster
0:20:29 > 0:20:32and he had also sent Paulus a clear message -
0:20:32 > 0:20:37Stalingrad would be defended, no matter what the human cost.
0:20:37 > 0:20:42But Chuikov knew that if he was to hold on, he'd have to go further.
0:20:42 > 0:20:48He'd have to find some weakness in the seemingly-invincible German army.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52The German military tactics
0:20:52 > 0:20:55which had been so effective in the war across Europe
0:20:55 > 0:20:59relied on carefully co-ordinated attacks from aircraft
0:20:59 > 0:21:00of the German Luftwaffe,
0:21:00 > 0:21:02and tanks on the ground.
0:21:06 > 0:21:07In wide-open territory,
0:21:07 > 0:21:11this combination had made the Germans unstoppable.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17But the fight for Stalingrad
0:21:17 > 0:21:21was now confined to the streets of a ruined city. Chuikov realised
0:21:21 > 0:21:25this gave him a chance to outsmart the German tactics.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31Chuikov told his men to stick so close to the Germans,
0:21:31 > 0:21:36the Luftwaffe couldn't bomb them without fear of hitting its own men.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40What's more, the streets were so full of rubble and collapsed buildings
0:21:40 > 0:21:43that the German tanks found it difficult to manoeuvre.
0:21:43 > 0:21:46They were particularly vulnerable fighting at close quarters.
0:21:46 > 0:21:51Chuikov said, "Every German must be made to feel he lives
0:21:51 > 0:21:53"under the muzzle of a Russian gun".
0:21:56 > 0:21:58"Our troops are often separated from the enemy
0:21:58 > 0:22:01"by only a few dozen metres.
0:22:01 > 0:22:06"While the enemy holds one part of the building, we hold another.
0:22:06 > 0:22:11"It often comes to hand-to-hand fighting.
0:22:11 > 0:22:16"The hand grenade, the bottle of incendiary fluid, the bayonet -
0:22:16 > 0:22:19"such are the weapons which are often used in street
0:22:19 > 0:22:21"and house-to-house fighting."
0:22:27 > 0:22:30The Soviet troops did their best.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35But the Germans' overwhelming firepower
0:22:35 > 0:22:37was still too much for them.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49On 26th September, the Germans declared that they controlled
0:22:49 > 0:22:53the entire south and centre of the city.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02But Chuikov's troops still stubbornly refused to give in,
0:23:02 > 0:23:05and now, hiding in the ruins of the city,
0:23:05 > 0:23:11they found a new way to strike back at the Germans.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15Snipers were an invisible predator that could kill without warning.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29'To find out more about why snipers were so effective in Stalingrad,
0:23:29 > 0:23:35'Dan and I went to the British Army's sniper training centre in Wales.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41'I would take on the role of a German commander,
0:23:41 > 0:23:44'and Dan would be part of a Soviet sniper team.'
0:23:54 > 0:23:57What we have set up here, Peter, is your headquarters.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00It would be far enough back from the front line
0:24:00 > 0:24:02to provide you with some limited protection,
0:24:02 > 0:24:05but it would be close enough for you to influence the battle.
0:24:05 > 0:24:10'My headquarters also had radio operators working inside
0:24:10 > 0:24:12'and a machine gunner to protect me.
0:24:13 > 0:24:18'The task for Dan and his sniper team was to disable the headquarters,
0:24:18 > 0:24:20'either by shooting me or my team.
0:24:20 > 0:24:25'In this exercise, it would count as a hit if the sniper could identify
0:24:25 > 0:24:29'the letter written on my helmet, and then fire a blank round.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32'We also gave a letter to the machine gun sentry.
0:24:32 > 0:24:38'So the targets were Q, Quebec, and D, Delta.'
0:24:42 > 0:24:46A sniper's first job is to find a hiding-place,
0:24:46 > 0:24:48from where they can fire at the enemy.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53So what are you seeing, Dean? Anything suspicious?
0:24:53 > 0:24:56Not yet. Keep looking.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59Hopefully, we'll be able to locate anyone that's out there,
0:24:59 > 0:25:03- any suspicious movement. - It could be anywhere.- Absolutely.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05If there's a sniper it could be anywhere.
0:25:11 > 0:25:15It would have been extremely difficult in a large city
0:25:15 > 0:25:19that had been so devastated like Stalingrad to identify a sniper
0:25:19 > 0:25:22moving around, and in position.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32'We'd managed to get into our building without being spotted,
0:25:32 > 0:25:34'but to stay hidden, we had to change our camouflage
0:25:34 > 0:25:37'to blend in with the new environment -
0:25:37 > 0:25:39'just like the snipers in Stalingrad.'
0:25:39 > 0:25:43They would have something just like this, different colours of paint,
0:25:43 > 0:25:46mud, dirt and just paint the whole thing up.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49Bearing in mind all the contacts, all the firing,
0:25:49 > 0:25:52was at really short distance. So the better they could blend in,
0:25:52 > 0:25:55the better for them if they're being detected.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58'Our plan was that, rather than attacking the front,
0:25:58 > 0:26:01'we would cover the rear exit from the headquarters.'
0:26:02 > 0:26:05OK, you can see straight through there, that is the target area.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07That looks to be like a HQ.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12'It was now just a question of sitting and waiting,
0:26:12 > 0:26:14'but without losing my concentration.'
0:26:17 > 0:26:20As I'm sitting here, I'm realising that one of the challenges
0:26:20 > 0:26:22to being a sniper is maintaining that focus.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25And the guys at Stalingrad would be doing that for a day or even longer.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28You just don't know when the target's going to appear and,
0:26:28 > 0:26:32as a result, your nerves are on edge the whole time.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39'While we kept watch at the back,
0:26:39 > 0:26:43'two more snipers - the rest of our team - climbed into position
0:26:43 > 0:26:46'in a small building directly in front of the headquarters.'
0:26:46 > 0:26:50If they were in one of these buildings they'd be using the shadow
0:26:50 > 0:26:52inside the building to hide themselves.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55Set back from the window, nice and still.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07'The team at the front were now in position.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09'They decided to attack the machine gunner,
0:27:09 > 0:27:13'because he was the most immediate threat.'
0:27:14 > 0:27:19- Keep the enemy on target. Delta.- Wait.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24If he's a reasonably-trained sniper, he's well-practised,
0:27:24 > 0:27:27you would pretty much guarantee a hit with the first round.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30Range, 225 metres.
0:27:30 > 0:27:34You should be able to achieve a shot on to your centre of mass
0:27:34 > 0:27:37- at approximately 900 metres. - 900 metres?- 900 metres.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39Shot from just ahead.
0:27:42 > 0:27:43Send it.
0:27:47 > 0:27:48GUNSHOT
0:27:48 > 0:27:51- Delta.- Target down.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53We've got to move.
0:27:53 > 0:27:54Delta confirmed kill.
0:27:57 > 0:28:01'Inside the building, I thought I would be safe from the snipers.'
0:28:01 > 0:28:03Right...
0:28:03 > 0:28:05We know he's out there somewhere.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08Confirm one kill. Delta is down.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10All other call signs moved into the building.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17'With our target inside the building, we decided to use a tactic
0:28:17 > 0:28:20'used by snipers in Stalingrad. We called in artillery fire
0:28:20 > 0:28:24'on to his headquarters to force him out onto the open.'
0:28:24 > 0:28:26O zero, this is two zero delta.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28All call signs in building.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31Request alpha one, one alpha,
0:28:31 > 0:28:34fires X-ray zero zero one, five, now, over.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38GUNFIRE
0:28:38 > 0:28:41Now they're shooting at us, aren't they, with artillery?
0:28:44 > 0:28:48That's the artillery going in now. That should push them out.
0:28:51 > 0:28:52It would only be a matter of time
0:28:52 > 0:28:55before you've got a direct hit from the mortars on to this location.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57- We have got to move.- OK.
0:28:57 > 0:29:01'We decided to move to our vehicle at the back of the building
0:29:01 > 0:29:04'and use smoke to hide ourselves from the snipers at the front.'
0:29:04 > 0:29:08We now have smoke obscuring our view.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29Mortars coming rather close.
0:29:34 > 0:29:36I can see a Q on his head.
0:29:37 > 0:29:40I heard a shot.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44I heard a shot. It was somewhere over there. Goodness knows where.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47I think that might have been Dad.
0:29:47 > 0:29:49- So that's me done for?- Absolutely.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55Here they are. Hi, Dan.
0:29:55 > 0:29:59- I had no idea where you were. No idea at all.- We could see you.
0:29:59 > 0:30:00Are you sure you hit me?
0:30:00 > 0:30:02- Absolutely.- It was frightening,
0:30:02 > 0:30:04because I had no idea where you guys were.
0:30:04 > 0:30:07It demonstrates how a very small number of people,
0:30:07 > 0:30:11lightly equipped, can keep a serious command post in real trouble.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14Really, really quite terrifying, it must have been.
0:30:17 > 0:30:20"You don't see them at all. They have established themselves
0:30:20 > 0:30:23"in houses and cellars and are firing on all sides,
0:30:23 > 0:30:25"including from our rear.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29"Barbarians! They use gangster methods."
0:30:38 > 0:30:41Soviet snipers were very effective.
0:30:42 > 0:30:46The German troops knew that, if they broke cover, they risked being shot.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55German snipers were soon brought into the city as well,
0:30:55 > 0:30:59and, as the fighting raged above the ground,
0:30:59 > 0:31:04the soldiers were driven down into a terrifying new arena.
0:31:16 > 0:31:20Troops on both sides began to fight underground.
0:31:24 > 0:31:26Soldiers ran through cellars,
0:31:26 > 0:31:29tunnels and even sewers like this one,
0:31:29 > 0:31:32as they attempted to gain an advantage over the enemy.
0:31:35 > 0:31:39The German soldiers soon had a new name for this kind of fighting.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42they called it Rattenkrieg - war of the rats.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49It was fighting of an intensity and terror unlike anything
0:31:49 > 0:31:51the soldiers had experienced before.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57It's hot, it's filthy and it's stinking.
0:31:57 > 0:31:59And they knew that anywhere in the darkness,
0:31:59 > 0:32:02the enemy could be waiting for them.
0:32:09 > 0:32:13"I am alive but, in a moment, I might be dead.
0:32:13 > 0:32:17"You can get killed any second here.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22"The fighting is very heavy and so many people have been killed.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26"Corpses lie on the ground and it's dreadful to look.
0:32:26 > 0:32:31"Our poor soldiers and Germans lie there, rotting unwanted.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35"Tanks drive over dead bodies as if they were logs of wood.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38"The tanks are all covered in blood.
0:32:38 > 0:32:40"It is a horror to see."
0:32:47 > 0:32:50In mid-October, after over a month of fighting,
0:32:50 > 0:32:53buildings had been reduced to empty shells.
0:32:53 > 0:32:57Thousands of civilians were inside the city.
0:32:57 > 0:32:59Some stole food to survive,
0:32:59 > 0:33:04but many more died of starvation or from drinking polluted water.
0:33:14 > 0:33:16Alongside them, in the ruins,
0:33:16 > 0:33:20were tens of thousands of soldiers, also struggling to survive.
0:33:29 > 0:33:33The fight for Stalingrad had descended into a vicious series
0:33:33 > 0:33:35of battles over individual buildings,
0:33:35 > 0:33:37sometimes with the Soviets and the Germans
0:33:37 > 0:33:39on different floors of the same one.
0:33:40 > 0:33:44Troops could spend days trapped in a single room.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48In all the chaos, any sign of a clear front line simply vanished.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51But despite the tenacious Soviet defence,
0:33:51 > 0:33:55the Germans were increasing their stranglehold on the city.
0:33:59 > 0:34:01The landing stage where vital Russian supplies
0:34:01 > 0:34:06were brought across the River Volga remained under heavy German fire,
0:34:06 > 0:34:08and fighting continued to rage
0:34:08 > 0:34:13for control of the city's highest point, Mamayev Kurgan.
0:34:13 > 0:34:17It had now changed hands several times, without
0:34:17 > 0:34:19either side establishing control.
0:34:19 > 0:34:23After six weeks of fighting, the German forces
0:34:23 > 0:34:27had managed to gain control of much of the shattered city.
0:34:29 > 0:34:33The Soviets only had this narrow strip of land,
0:34:33 > 0:34:36but somehow they were clinging on.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41Hitler was becoming increasingly impatient and demanded that
0:34:41 > 0:34:45Paulus launch a decisive blow, this time, on Stalingrad's
0:34:45 > 0:34:50industrial heart - the factories in the north of the city.
0:34:52 > 0:34:54They were the Soviets' last major refuge.
0:34:54 > 0:34:59If they lost these, they would have almost nothing left of the city.
0:34:59 > 0:35:02Their key stronghold was the tractor factory
0:35:02 > 0:35:05that dominated the entire area.
0:35:10 > 0:35:12The factory had been converted to tank production
0:35:12 > 0:35:17to support the war effort and, despite the battle raging around it,
0:35:17 > 0:35:20tanks continued to roll out through its gates.
0:35:27 > 0:35:28A lack of raw materials meant
0:35:28 > 0:35:31they couldn't actually make new tanks here, but they could repair
0:35:31 > 0:35:34battle-damaged ones and get them back into operation.
0:35:34 > 0:35:37Sometimes, they were driven straight out into combat
0:35:37 > 0:35:38by the factory workers themselves.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46But that was soon to end.
0:35:47 > 0:35:52On October 14th, the attack on the factories began.
0:36:01 > 0:36:05Luftwaffe air raids blitzed the entire factory district.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12Planes flew 3,000 sorties a day,
0:36:12 > 0:36:17even more than in the original blitz on the city seven weeks earlier.
0:36:23 > 0:36:24Supported by 200 tanks,
0:36:24 > 0:36:29thousands of German infantry began to storm the factory complex.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32Explosions shattered these enormous windows,
0:36:32 > 0:36:35sending deadly shards of glass raining down
0:36:35 > 0:36:37on the troops below.
0:36:39 > 0:36:42Even by the brutal standards of Stalingrad, it was clear
0:36:42 > 0:36:47that the fight for the city had reached a new level of ferocity.
0:36:52 > 0:36:568,000 Soviet Commandoes tried to defend the factory,
0:36:56 > 0:36:59but soon the walls were covered with blood.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02Over half of them were killed or wounded, including their commander.
0:37:02 > 0:37:04He was buried alive up to his neck
0:37:04 > 0:37:08in rubble when his command post received a direct hit.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12He was rescued a few hours later, but he collapsed in shock
0:37:12 > 0:37:15when he tried to tell General Chuikov what had happened.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20With the resistance in the factories crumbling,
0:37:20 > 0:37:24Chuikov realised that even he would now have to retreat.
0:37:27 > 0:37:31The German advance through the factory district forced Chuikov
0:37:31 > 0:37:35to pull his headquarters back here to the bank of the Volga.
0:37:35 > 0:37:37He was suffering severe casualties.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39More than a quarter of all his men
0:37:39 > 0:37:43had been killed or wounded since the attacks on the factories began.
0:37:43 > 0:37:46Units which had come to Stalingrad
0:37:46 > 0:37:51with 7,000 or 8,000 men were now down to a few hundred survivors.
0:37:52 > 0:37:57The Soviets were once again staring defeat in the face.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04The unrelenting German attacks had forced Chuikov's troops
0:38:04 > 0:38:09back into a handful of enclaves only 200 metres -
0:38:09 > 0:38:12just over 200 yards - deep in some places.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15One up here in the north...
0:38:16 > 0:38:20..another toehold in the factory area,
0:38:20 > 0:38:22and the larger area further south.
0:38:22 > 0:38:28Chuikov had lost 90% of Stalingrad but still refused to admit defeat.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37The battle was well into its third month,
0:38:37 > 0:38:40and the heat of the summer was a distant memory.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43Temperatures had plummeted to well below zero.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46But just as it seemed that things couldn't get any worse
0:38:46 > 0:38:50for Chuikov's men, the River Volga started to freeze.
0:38:50 > 0:38:54This made it hard for boats to ferry supplies into the city.
0:38:54 > 0:38:59The men were cold, hungry, exhausted and running out of ammunition.
0:39:02 > 0:39:06"Everyone has lost the belief that we will hold Stalingrad.
0:39:06 > 0:39:10"Now it's clear we will not be victorious.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13"Our poor motherland,
0:39:13 > 0:39:16"you have been crippled and dropped into the abyss."
0:39:24 > 0:39:28Hitler was now convinced that the city was finally in his grasp.
0:39:28 > 0:39:32In a speech to party veterans on the 8th of November,
0:39:32 > 0:39:35he effectively claimed victory.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46But the Germans were in for a dreadful shock,
0:39:46 > 0:39:50because while Hitler was obsessed with the fighting in the city,
0:39:50 > 0:39:54Stalin's High Command had been planning a bold offensive
0:39:54 > 0:39:58that would change the course of the whole battle.
0:40:05 > 0:40:09On 19th November, the Soviets launched one of the most awesome
0:40:09 > 0:40:14counter-attacks in modern history. Field guns, mortars and rockets
0:40:14 > 0:40:19began a ferocious bombardment 75 miles to the west of Stalingrad.
0:40:19 > 0:40:24It was the earth-pounding product of two months' secret planning.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28For 80 minutes, artillery thundered,
0:40:28 > 0:40:32then, at 8.40am, they suddenly fell silent.
0:40:41 > 0:40:45Just minutes later, wave upon wave of Soviet tanks broke out
0:40:45 > 0:40:47from beneath their camouflage.
0:40:49 > 0:40:53The key phase of the Soviet battle plan was now under way.
0:40:53 > 0:40:57Hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops and thousands of tanks
0:40:57 > 0:41:00had been hidden in the countryside around Stalingrad,
0:41:00 > 0:41:02and now they were on the attack.
0:41:05 > 0:41:07The weather was appalling.
0:41:07 > 0:41:08Snow and freezing fog
0:41:08 > 0:41:12made it almost impossible to see where they were going.
0:41:12 > 0:41:16Urged on by their commanders, the troops surged forward.
0:41:18 > 0:41:22Infantrymen carrying their rifles ran alongside the tank
0:41:22 > 0:41:26and some even hitched a ride. They clung on the back up here
0:41:26 > 0:41:29as the tank plunged through gullies and banks of snow.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37These men were leading a great Soviet comeback,
0:41:37 > 0:41:40thrusting deep into enemy-held territory.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48Paulus got the news at his headquarters here.
0:41:48 > 0:41:50This is it on our map case right here.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53The German front line ran from down here,
0:41:53 > 0:41:56through Stalingrad, in front of Paulus,
0:41:56 > 0:41:59and right the way back to his rear.
0:41:59 > 0:42:03It was here in the north that the Soviets had mustered a massive force
0:42:03 > 0:42:06which had broken through behind Paulus.
0:42:06 > 0:42:10There was even worse news to come. Just 24 hours later,
0:42:10 > 0:42:14more Soviet tanks broke through the front line in the south
0:42:14 > 0:42:18and headed north to link up with the others.
0:42:20 > 0:42:25Soviet forces were closing like huge jaws around Paulus
0:42:25 > 0:42:27and his entire Sixth Army.
0:42:27 > 0:42:33On 24th November, the jaws closed near the town of Kalach.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36The terrible reality dawned on Paulus.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40As many as 300,000 men in Stalingrad
0:42:40 > 0:42:45and the surrounding countryside were trapped in an area
0:42:45 > 0:42:48that became known as the "Kessel", a German word for "cauldron".
0:42:50 > 0:42:52The Soviet troops were jubilant.
0:42:52 > 0:42:56They had outwitted and outmanoeuvred the Germans.
0:42:56 > 0:42:57Just five days before,
0:42:57 > 0:43:01the Soviets had been on the brink of defeat in Stalingrad.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05Paulus was stunned.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08No-one had believed the Soviets had the strength
0:43:08 > 0:43:10to mount such a massive operation.
0:43:10 > 0:43:14Paulus asked Hitler permission to withdraw from Stalingrad
0:43:14 > 0:43:18and to punch a hole in the ring of Soviet troops surrounding him.
0:43:18 > 0:43:23But, just like Stalin four months earlier, Hitler told his troops
0:43:23 > 0:43:27there was no question of their being allowed to withdraw from Stalingrad.
0:43:29 > 0:43:33Hitler ordered his troops inside the Kessel to continue fighting
0:43:33 > 0:43:36while he prepared two tank divisions
0:43:36 > 0:43:39to break through the encirclement from the outside.
0:43:41 > 0:43:45But it would take weeks for the forces to get into position
0:43:45 > 0:43:46and ready for the assault.
0:43:46 > 0:43:50Inside the Kessel, cut off from their supply lines,
0:43:50 > 0:43:54conditions for the trapped German troops were deteriorating rapidly.
0:43:56 > 0:44:00Food, fuel and ammunition were all running out.
0:44:00 > 0:44:01To make matters worse,
0:44:01 > 0:44:04many of the German soldiers had never received winter uniforms.
0:44:04 > 0:44:07There was little they could do except huddle together
0:44:07 > 0:44:09in whatever shelter they could find.
0:44:09 > 0:44:14Hitler's decision to leave his army trapped inside the Kessel
0:44:14 > 0:44:16was an enormous gamble.
0:44:16 > 0:44:20He believed he would be able to keep them fighting
0:44:20 > 0:44:22with the support of an airlift.
0:44:27 > 0:44:33Flying supplies into airfields in the Kessel was a huge undertaking.
0:44:33 > 0:44:37There were 300,000 troops trapped around here
0:44:37 > 0:44:41and Hitler's staff calculated that it would require
0:44:41 > 0:44:44800 cargo planes flying night and day.
0:44:46 > 0:44:48It was an extraordinarily ambitious plan,
0:44:48 > 0:44:52but the head of the German Air Force, the bombastic Herman Goering,
0:44:52 > 0:44:54convinced Hitler that it would work.
0:44:56 > 0:45:01To succeed, they would need to land, here at airfields in the Kessel,
0:45:01 > 0:45:05an absolute minimum of 300 tonnes of supplies every single day.
0:45:23 > 0:45:26But they had made some fatal miscalculations.
0:45:31 > 0:45:33Within days of the airlift starting,
0:45:33 > 0:45:36it became clear that Hitler and Goering had massively
0:45:36 > 0:45:41overestimated the capacity of their air force to supply the Sixth Army.
0:45:41 > 0:45:45The combination of Soviet fighter aircraft and appalling weather
0:45:45 > 0:45:49meant that, on average, only 120 tonnes of supply
0:45:49 > 0:45:54reached the Kessel each day - less than half of what was required.
0:45:56 > 0:45:59"We have no winter clothes.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03"We have been swindled and have been condemned to death,
0:46:03 > 0:46:07"and we shall die of the war or the frost."
0:46:21 > 0:46:24Inside Stalingrad, the fighting continued,
0:46:24 > 0:46:27and the Soviets unleashed a new kind of assault.
0:46:30 > 0:46:34Day and night, loudspeakers throughout the Kessel broadcast
0:46:34 > 0:46:36propaganda messages in German.
0:46:38 > 0:46:42They called Stalingrad a mass grave
0:46:42 > 0:46:45and urged German soldiers to surrender.
0:46:51 > 0:46:56"I can tell you that it's terrible to sit in this trap.
0:46:59 > 0:47:01"In the dugouts, it's dark...
0:47:02 > 0:47:07.."and outside, the temperature is minus 20 or 30.
0:47:10 > 0:47:14"I can only say that if it wasn't for our strength of will
0:47:14 > 0:47:18"and our inspiration in the fight for Germany,
0:47:18 > 0:47:22"the whole business would have been broken long ago."
0:47:26 > 0:47:31Despite the psychological battering, the frostbite and the starvation,
0:47:31 > 0:47:34most German troops still refused to surrender.
0:47:34 > 0:47:38Some feared that they'd be tortured or shot by their Russian captors,
0:47:38 > 0:47:42but most simply refused to believe that Hitler would abandon them.
0:47:42 > 0:47:46Then, at long last, a rumour went round that salvation was on the way.
0:47:49 > 0:47:53Two German tank divisions, backed up by infantry
0:47:53 > 0:47:54and aircraft of the Luftwaffe,
0:47:54 > 0:47:58were on the way towards their colleagues trapped in the Kessel.
0:48:01 > 0:48:06Leading the attack was one of Hitler's most successful commanders.
0:48:06 > 0:48:10His name was Field Marshal Erich von Manstein.
0:48:10 > 0:48:14He had masterminded Germany's whirlwind victory in France
0:48:14 > 0:48:18and now he was leading the mission to rescue the Sixth Army.
0:48:24 > 0:48:26With the airlift failing,
0:48:26 > 0:48:32everybody realised that this was the last chance for the starving troops.
0:48:34 > 0:48:38Manstein's tanks had to break through the front line,
0:48:38 > 0:48:41which was now down here, and then fight their way
0:48:41 > 0:48:45across the Soviet controlled territory surrounding the Sixth Army.
0:48:45 > 0:48:49The German troops surged forwards towards their stranded colleagues,
0:48:49 > 0:48:54but, within days, the Red Army intercepted the German advance
0:48:54 > 0:48:5630 miles short of the trapped Sixth Army.
0:49:04 > 0:49:09The Soviet defences had formed an impenetrable barrier,
0:49:09 > 0:49:13and Manstein's rescue attempt could advance no further.
0:49:14 > 0:49:19But on the 20th of December, the news got even worse.
0:49:22 > 0:49:25Manstein heard that the Soviets had launched a new offensive
0:49:25 > 0:49:27way off to the west
0:49:27 > 0:49:31which threatened to cut off all the German forces in Southern Russia.
0:49:31 > 0:49:36He had no choice but to veer off to deal with this new threat
0:49:36 > 0:49:39and abandon his attempt to breakthrough to Paulus.
0:49:39 > 0:49:45With Manstein's departure went the last hope of the Sixth Army.
0:49:48 > 0:49:53"The Russian radio has announced the defeat of Manstein.
0:49:53 > 0:49:57"Ahead of us is either death or captivity."
0:50:00 > 0:50:02Realising their fate,
0:50:02 > 0:50:06many German soldiers now wrote letters to their families.
0:50:10 > 0:50:15"We are men who know how to bear everything.
0:50:15 > 0:50:19"The main thing is that you and the children are all right.
0:50:19 > 0:50:20"Don't worry about me.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23"Nothing can happen to me any longer.
0:50:23 > 0:50:26"Today, I have made my peace with God.
0:50:28 > 0:50:31"I give you all my love and a thousand kisses.
0:50:31 > 0:50:33"I love you to my last breath."
0:50:47 > 0:50:49Six weeks into the encirclement,
0:50:49 > 0:50:52Soviet planes dropped thousands of leaflets into the Kessel.
0:50:52 > 0:50:55They promised the Germans safety,
0:50:55 > 0:50:59food and medical attention if their commander conceded defeat.
0:50:59 > 0:51:02But the message ended with a chilling warning.
0:51:02 > 0:51:06If surrender was rejected, everyone inside the Kessel
0:51:06 > 0:51:07would be wiped out.
0:51:16 > 0:51:21Once again, Hitler refused to allow his troops to surrender,
0:51:21 > 0:51:24so, on the 10th of January 1943,
0:51:24 > 0:51:26the Soviets began the final operation
0:51:26 > 0:51:30to destroy all German troops that remained inside the Kessel.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05Frozen, weakened by starvation and exhausted,
0:52:05 > 0:52:09the Sixth Army was no longer capable of defending itself properly.
0:52:13 > 0:52:14The only chance of escape
0:52:14 > 0:52:18was to make it to one of the two airstrips inside the Kessel
0:52:18 > 0:52:20and try to squeeze on to a plane.
0:52:24 > 0:52:28This is all that remains of Gumrak Airfield, just west of Stalingrad.
0:52:28 > 0:52:33It's difficult to imagine the scene of chaos and desperation here,
0:52:33 > 0:52:36in the New Year of 1943.
0:52:38 > 0:52:42Everyone knew that each plane leaving here could be the last.
0:52:42 > 0:52:46And people were crushed in the fight to get aboard.
0:52:46 > 0:52:50Some desperate men even clung to the wings of taxiing aeroplanes,
0:52:50 > 0:52:52but as the pilots accelerated,
0:52:52 > 0:52:55one by one, these men tumbled to the ground.
0:53:06 > 0:53:08For two more weeks,
0:53:08 > 0:53:13German troops inside the Kessel were pushed relentlessly back.
0:53:15 > 0:53:18The German airfields were soon overrun.
0:53:18 > 0:53:21Now there was no way out.
0:53:24 > 0:53:29Survivors were chased into the freezing ruins of Stalingrad.
0:53:29 > 0:53:31Among them was General Paulus.
0:53:36 > 0:53:40Paulus moved his headquarters to the basement of this shop
0:53:40 > 0:53:42in the city centre.
0:53:42 > 0:53:43He was now a broken man.
0:53:45 > 0:53:50But Hitler wanted to portray Paulus and his Sixth Army as martyrs,
0:53:50 > 0:53:55fighting to the death for Germany. On the 31st of January, 1943, Paulus
0:53:55 > 0:54:00received a message from Hitler, promoting him to Field Marshal.
0:54:00 > 0:54:04No German Field Marshal had ever given himself up alive,
0:54:04 > 0:54:09and Hitler no doubt expected Paulus to commit suicide.
0:54:14 > 0:54:19Within hours, Soviet troops had surrounded Paulus.
0:54:19 > 0:54:24Trapped in his basement, he made his decision.
0:54:33 > 0:54:40At 7.45am, on the 31st of January, 1943,
0:54:40 > 0:54:45Paulus chose not to commit suicide but to surrender himself.
0:54:46 > 0:54:50Under armed guard, he was taken to a house on the outskirts of the city.
0:54:52 > 0:54:57Two days later, after five months of horror, the fighting finally ended.
0:55:13 > 0:55:17The Battle of Stalingrad was over. The whole world had witnessed
0:55:17 > 0:55:21a catastrophic defeat for Hitler's Nazi Empire,
0:55:21 > 0:55:25and for the Fuhrer himself, it was a personal disaster.
0:55:25 > 0:55:28He had been totally committed to victory,
0:55:28 > 0:55:31and was now utterly humiliated.
0:55:31 > 0:55:36The aura of invincibility that had surrounded Hitler's army
0:55:36 > 0:55:39for so long was gone forever.
0:55:43 > 0:55:48In Stalingrad alone, 150,000 German troops had been killed.
0:55:51 > 0:55:55And 90,000 more were now beginning the long slow journey
0:55:55 > 0:55:58to Soviet prison camps.
0:55:59 > 0:56:04Only 5,000 of them would ever return home.
0:56:13 > 0:56:17In this grassy field on the outskirts of the city
0:56:17 > 0:56:20was one of the last German command posts.
0:56:20 > 0:56:22It still bears the scars of battle.
0:56:24 > 0:56:29More than 60 years later, the evidence is everywhere.
0:56:31 > 0:56:36These are just some of the thousands of bones discovered every year.
0:56:36 > 0:56:40A gruesome reminder of the horrific death toll.
0:56:48 > 0:56:52Although his city lay in ruins, Stalin had won.
0:57:00 > 0:57:03But victory had come at a terrible price.
0:57:05 > 0:57:10The Soviets lost more men and women during the Stalingrad campaign
0:57:10 > 0:57:14than Britain and America lost during the entire war.
0:57:18 > 0:57:22This park is a monument to the defenders of Stalingrad
0:57:22 > 0:57:26who ultimately helped change the course of the Second World War.
0:57:26 > 0:57:29Stalingrad was the battle that marked
0:57:29 > 0:57:31the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany.
0:57:35 > 0:57:36Over the next two years,
0:57:36 > 0:57:40Stalin chased Hitler's armies all the way back to Berlin.
0:57:40 > 0:57:44In 1945, the Nazi Empire was finally crushed
0:57:44 > 0:57:49between Britain, America and their allies in the West,
0:57:49 > 0:57:51and Soviet forces in the East.
0:57:58 > 0:58:00The irony is that Stalin went on
0:58:00 > 0:58:04to replace one oppressive empire in Eastern Europe
0:58:04 > 0:58:07with another of his own. And the Soviet Union,
0:58:07 > 0:58:11which had been the West's ally during the Second World War,
0:58:11 > 0:58:15became its bitter opponent during the Cold War,
0:58:15 > 0:58:18which lasted another half century.
0:58:23 > 0:58:26Next time, we bring you the battle for Korea.
0:58:26 > 0:58:30I will be describing the enormous shifts in the fortunes
0:58:30 > 0:58:32of the United Nations allies,
0:58:32 > 0:58:34as they fought against a communist enemy.
0:58:34 > 0:58:37And I'll be telling the story of what it was like for
0:58:37 > 0:58:41the ground troops when these two very different armies clashed.
0:58:41 > 0:58:42In three long years of war,
0:58:42 > 0:58:46one of the most decisive battles was fought here.
0:58:46 > 0:58:50It was the battle of the Imjin River.