Operation Wintergewitter Sources

[Mr.No one]

Hi,
As I'm going to write a year-project about Unternehmen Wintergewitter, I want to find all the best sources on the topic, as that will complement the documents I will get hold off from BA-MA in Freiburg.

Until now I've found the following sources:

•Endgame at Stalingrad, Book Two, David M. Glantz
•Stalingrad: Analyse und Dokumentation einer Schlacht, Manfred Kehrig
•Das Deutsche Reich und der Zweite Weltkrieg, Band 6, Bernd Wegner
•Panzer Operations, Erhard Raus
•Panzer Battles, Friedrich von Mellenthin
•Lost Victories, Erich von Manstein
•Winter Storm, Hans J. Wijers
•Der Feldzug nach Stalingrad: Versuch eines operativen Überblicks, Hans Doerr
•Nach Stalingrad — 48 Kilometer!, Horst Scheibert
•Combat History of the 23. Panzer Division, Ernst Rebentisch
•Brennpunkte, Wolfgang Paul
•Beyond Stalingrad, Dana Sadarananda

This will get complemented with documents pertaining to the following forces:

6. Panzer Division
23. Panzer Division
17. Panzer Division
LVII. Panzer Korps
4. Panzer Armee

I will greatly appreciate all the sources you can find with relevance to this operation!

All the best,
Sean Hansen

[Dann Falk]

You have a great list of sources.

If you have the time, and money, I would add these to your list. They will add some details, but you already have the major sources.

1. Third Axis Fourth Ally by Mark Axworthy
2. Hitlers Stalingrad Decisions by Geoffrey Jukes
3. Stalingrad the air Battle by Christer Bergstrom
4. Atlas of the Battle of Stalingrad 19 Nov 1942- 2 Feb 1943 by David m Glantz.
5. and always...Hitler Moves East by Paul Carell

[Art]

•Panzer Operations, Erhard Raus
•Panzer Battles, Friedrich von Mellenthin

I strongly recommend to be careful with both. Very unreliable unless confirmed by other sources.

[Art]

I will greatly appreciate all the sources you can find with relevance to this operation!

This might be useful:
http://maparchive.ru/index.php/army-gro ... l-268.html
http://maparchive.ru/index.php/army-gro ... l-269.html
http://maparchive.ru/index.php/army-gro ... l-270.html

[Mr.No one]

Thanks for the reply,

I can easily get hold of all the sources mentioned until now, except for the Glantz atlas and the Paul's Brennpunkte, as the rest are in the Danish libraries or I'm planning to buy them.

As I'm only in the beginning phase of learning German, I'm gonna spend a considerable time consuming the some 200 relevant pages in Kehrig's book – probably the most definitive source up to this point. Also I hope I will be able to present some new information or analysis by utilising primary sources from the Militärarchiv in Freiburg im Breisgau. I´m gonna do that next summer, when I´ll visit it for a whole week, just delving into the documents!

Sean

[Mr.No one]

•Panzer Operations, Erhard Raus
•Panzer Battles, Friedrich von Mellenthin

I strongly recommend to be careful with both. Very unreliable unless confirmed by other sources.

The same goes for Manstein´s book. But thank you for the advise. My project will rely primarily on Glantz´s book, Kehrig´s book, the German divisional histories plus primary sources from Freiburg (and you! – thanks yet another time!!).

Hopefully my adviser on the project will be a Danish historian, who is head of the Danish Center of Military History, Niels Bo Poulsen.

Sean

[Jeff Leach]

Write to Mr. Glantz about the Atlas. He is usually very helpful when he can be. I wish someone who could, would offer to digitize all his self-published work so he could offer it for sell again (he stopped offer it for sell because the printer shop in his area closed).

Make sure you get the companion to Endgame at Stalingrad.

If you tell me the exact dates you are interested in (12.12.42 - 23.12.42?), I might be able to post the maps and Gliederungen from the HG Don records if there are any. I will check about the other units you listed.

Concerning the other NARA material 4th Panzer Army, LVII Panzer Corps and the division material is about 25 rolls and there might be more BA-MA Freiburg. Avoid it. Your list of secondary material will take most of your time. That said it might be worth scanning the NARA rolls for maps. Checking my sources it would be possible to get the KTB for the 4th Panzer Army and LVII Panzer Corps but a big warning you really need the Anlagen Band to make sence of the KTB and this is were you start to drown.

[Mr.No one]

Write to Mr. Glantz about the Atlas. He is usually very helpful when he can be. I wish someone who could, would offer to digitize all his self-published work so he could offer it for sell again (he stopped offer it for sell because the printer shop in his area closed).

Make sure you get the companion to Endgame at Stalingrad.

If you tell me the exact dates you are interested in (12.12.42 - 23.12.42?), I might be able to post the maps and Gliederungen from the HG Don records if there are any. I will check about the other units you listed.

Concerning the other NARA material 4th Panzer Army, LVII Panzer Corps and the division material is about 25 rolls and there might be more BA-MA Freiburg. Avoid it. Your list of secondary material will take most of your time. That said it might be worth scanning the NARA rolls for maps. Checking my sources it would be possible to get the KTB for the 4th Panzer Army and LVII Panzer Corps but a big warning you really need the Anlagen Band to make sence of the KTB and this is were you start to drown.

Yeah, I will probably contact David Glantz and maybe Jason Mark at some point, to find out if they have some recommendations for me. Regarding the Glantz Trilogy, I´m planning to get hold of all the books, and will read them before I´ll embark upon Wintergewitter solely, so I´ll be able to utilize the Companion volume as well.

In regard to your offer, I´ll be grateful for anything, but it is probably safest you don't find too much, because I haven't got any primary sources to offer you, as this is my first experience with a major historical project. The dates you've listed is probably within the time span I´ll find primary sources for, as Kehrig has loads of background information.

Finally I´m gonna figure out how much primary source material I´ll be able to utilize within the time limit of the project (it will run from the spring 2015-spring 2016). As I´m probably gonna write my project in English, I could offer my project as a "thank you" for the help, maybe.

Btw, I´ll be away until next Sunday, so I won't be here to answer your posts until then...

All the best,
Sean

[Jeff Leach]

I didn't ask for any compensation. I try and post some of the Army Group Don maps so you get an idea what they look like.

Here are some samples of parts of the maps from Army Group Don and the order-of-battle from 4th Panzer Army

[marthus]

Hello

On the operations of the 17th PZD during the winter-storm operation there are the following books:
-into the Den of the Bear of herman Pfaeffle
-The war diaries of panzer soldier of david Garden and kennet Andrew
- panzer on Europe of general von Senger und Etterlin for this last ilvre he(it) in about twenty pages with cards(maps) on the action(share) of the 17th PZD during this operation

Alain

[marthus]

Re....

On this operation seen of highly-rated Soviet citizen he ausi there the book of Marshal A.I.Eremenko, which details(retails) actions carried out by the 51th army

[marthus]

Re...

Always on the operation Wintergewitter or winter-storm, there is also a book:
Two soldiers, two lost Don A Gregory's fronts and Wilhelm Gehlen who concerns the 23rd PZD implied(involved) in this operation

I also already put a comment on this subject on axis-forum ' 51 Armed(Equipped) Soviet in winter storm a few months ago thus you must be still able to find him(it) on the site

Alain

[Mr.No one]

Back again...

Thank you very much Jeff Leach for all the photo scans; they certainly look interesting!

And to Marthus: thank you for the recommendations, although I unfortunately am not able to get them from the Danish libraries.

All the best,
Séan

[Mr.No one]

I have now spend 48 hours (a week) in the Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv in Freiburg, and can now confidently say, that I believe I have gone through pretty much everything there is on this operation lying there!

I started with the H.Gr. Don records, then went down to 4.Pz.Armee, then 6.Armee, LVII.Pz.Korps and then all of the three Panzer-Divisionen. On the last day I looked into some Luftwaffe records and Richthofen's diary and finished off with the diary of the 79.I.D. fighting in the cauldron.

So now I'll just have to wait about three weeks for the copies to arrive and I can start writing!

Cheers from here,
Sean

[marthus]

Hello

I too, am very interested in the operation Winter-storm on which I gather(collect) for several years every piece of information which I can find....
Read you both last ones voulume of D.Glantz?
Endgam at Stalingrad-december.1942-february 1943
Companion to Endgame at Stalingrad if yes, what conclusions pulled(fired) you?

Cordially