Battlefield Detectives

Stalingrad (1x23)

Air date: Dec 23, 2005

Far from being the final step in the conquest of the USSR, Stalingrad proved a bloodbath. Half a million Germans were killed and almost three times as many Russians lost their lives. Total casualties are estimated to be over two million. The German Army was modern, well-trained and well-led, with state of the art military equipment, high morale and a string of victories behind it. By comparison the Red Army was inexperienced, old-fashioned and ill-equipped. So how did the Russians win? Legend has it that it was ‘General Winter’ who defeated the German Army - but forensic analysis and historical research show that coping with freezing weather was not the only ace in the Russians’ packs.