In this long-awaited second volume of a series dedicated to studying German armoured operations at Stalingrad, the combat history of Panzer-Regiment 2 is examined in detail. This regiment was one of the first panzer formation established in the mid-1930s and participated in most of the campaigns that forged the reputation of the Panzerwaffe: the Sudetenland, Poland, France, the Balkans and the Soviet Union.

The Regiment spearheaded many deep lunges during Operation Barbarossa – at Verba, Monastyrishche, Pervomaisk, Voznesensk, Nikolayev, the Kiev pocket – and often found itself holding the eastern face of a pocket. Although victoriously concluded, all of these encirclement battles took a ghastly toll on the Regiment’s men and machines. The dramatic winter of 1941-1942 saw the weakened Regiment deployed in company-sized detachments with various infantry divisions along the southern front.

The Regiment’s shining moment came during the 1942 campaign when it led 16. Panzer-Division from the Don River to the Volga north of Stalingrad in a single day, a bold advance that sent shockwaves through the Soviet leadership and threatened the Red Army’s hold on Stalin’s city. It then played a critical role in holding the northern flank of 6. Armee for almost three months while infantry formations attempted to completely capture the city. When the Soviet counteroffensive began on 19 November 1942, the Regiment was hustled westward to parry the armoured spear-tips lunging towards the Kalach bridge. After this miscarried mission, the remaining panzers were pulled back into the nascent pocket, some kept in reserve for a potential break-out, others being committed to local counterattacks to stop the ever-pressing Soviets. The Regiment resisted until fuel, ammunition and morale were depleted; a few lucky men made it out, the majority eked out the final days of the battle and trudged off into captivity.

Access to casualty reports has permitted the life and death of the Regiment to be analysed in detail. The narrative is enhanced by hundreds of rare photos laboriously collected by the author, drawn from private collections and provided by veterans themselves.