Stalingrad airlift last plane out

[James A Pratt III]

Thanks again it looks like 19 Injured is a typo. I didn't think getting this many men in a HE 111 was possible. There again I would people would be trying to get out of Stalingrad any way they could!

[Mikael Olrog]

19 men in a He 111 could well be correct. It is a spacious aircraft that was could carry 3250 kg of bombs on internal and external racks. With an average weight of 85 kg the aircraft could carry 38 people. WIth bomb racks removed and likely also starting with less than full tanks the weight would not be the limiting factor but rather space.



A Do 24 landed on 9 May 1945 in Sweden carrying 37 evacuees in addition to the crew...

[James A Pratt III]

Good point Mikael. Cb the author of BCRS V4 was rather critical of the Luftwaffe handling of the Stalingrad airlift. Other historians have critized them for bad organization ect until GFM Milch shows up towards the end. it looks like the Germans could have jammed more men in their outgoing planes from the book:
p153 7 FW 200 156 WIAs 22 per plane
p194-5 FW 200 shot down Soviets say for bailed out and 32 dead found in wreckage
p157 HE 111 downed 11 KIA 2 HE 111s fly out 27 WIAs
p158 HE 111 11 WIAs

I will admit that Stalinradskiy airfield wasn't that long and the pilots may have been worried about take off weight hence 9 WIAs. It also looks like some research is needed as to how many men can you jam in a HE 111.

[Richard Aigner]

My dad flew out of Stalingrad (Pitomnik) in a Ju52 on Dec. 14. 1942. He got on board the plane by running after it while taxiing. The dorsal gunner opened the door and pulled him into the moving plane.
Unfortunately I never asked how crowded the plane was. Dad died January 17, so no chance to find out.
Richard

[Brian Bines]

I suppose the number each aircraft loaded depended on if stretcher cases or walking wounded were carried .

[Thomas H]

Originally Posted by Larry deZeng

See "Luftwaffe Airfields" in the menu at www.ww2.dk"

Thank you Larry, much appreciated.

Regards, Thomas

[Larry deZeng]

Originally Posted by Richard Aigner

My dad flew out of Stalingrad (Pitomnik) in a Ju52 on Dec. 14. 1942. He got on board the plane by running after it while taxiing. The dorsal gunner opened the door and pulled him into the moving plane.
Unfortunately I never asked how crowded the plane was. Dad died January 17, so no chance to find out.
Richard

Terribly sorry for your loss, Richard. Any soldier who survived Stalingrad cauldron is a hero in my thoughts..............may he RIP.

So few left:

"THE PASSING OF THE WWII GENERATION
Every day, memories of World War II—its sights and sounds, its terrors and triumphs—disappear. Yielding to the inalterable process of aging, the men and women who fought and won the great conflict are now in their late 80s and 90s. They are dying quickly—according to US Department of Veterans Affairs statistics, 325,574 of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II are alive in 2020."
[https://www.nationalww2museum.org/wa...n-statistics?]

That figure is now down to about 240,000 according to other sources, or about 1½%. And that's just the Americans. The percentage should be about the same for the other countries as well.

Larry deZ.

[edwest2]

One feature I see over and over when people mention relatives who fought in the Second World War is that most spoke little about their experiences. My own father would say a bit here and there. When he was around 65 he would tell me more but not that much more. One day, I had looked through the one suitcase he was allowed to take with him when he came to the United States, which was through Canada. He was Polish infantry but I got very little about that.

I got the sense that most wanted to just put the war behind them and just settle down in their new home. They had done their duty.


God bless them,
Ed