The Battle of Stalingrad was arguably the bloodiest single battle in history (the Somme in World War I is perhaps a close second). Lasting for months (August 1942-February 1943), Stalingrad's casualty count was up to 2 million killed, wounded or captured. It also remains the greatest and most horrible instance of urban warfare ever. This set of photos, all from 1942, capture both sides of the struggle.
A German heavy mortar crew advance behind an infantry company
they support during the Battle of Stalingrad. September 1942
A German sniper takes aim with a Karabiner 98k rifle with mounted Soviet
Mosin Nagant PE scope on the outskirts of of Stalingrad, September 1942
A German Wehrmacht Oberstabsfeldwebel (Sergeant-Major) and a non-commissioned Stabsfeldwebel officer (First Sergeant, or Master Sergeant equivalent) battle enemy Soviet troops outside of Stalingrad, just prior to the Battle of Stalingrad, 10 June 1942
A rare moment of compassion is shown at the Battle of Stalingrad. A German soldier tends to a wounded Russian woman and shelters her infant a German trench. October 1942
A Soviet soldier prepares to launch an RGD-33 stick grenade
at a German position during the Battle of Stalingrad. November 1942
German Infantrymen pause in the ruins during heavy fighting with
Soviet forces during the Battle of Stalingrad. September 1942
German soldiers advance through the factory district
during the protracted Battle of Stalingrad. October 1942
German soldiers moving through the ruins of Stalingrad, October 1942
Portrait of a Soviet soldier with Degtyaryov machine gun in one of the
thousands of destroyed houses during the Battle of Stalingrad. 10 December 1942
Red Army unit trying to set down a field telephone line in Stalingrad.1942
Soviet Army soldiers fire a 82-BM-37 mortar into German positions
during the Battle of Stalingrad, 21 October 1942
Soviet Army soldiers of the Stalingrad Front inspect two abandoned German six-barrel 15 cm Nebelwerfer 41 rocket launchers during the Battle of Stalingrad, December 1942
Soviet soldiers advance on German positions during
the first days of the Battle of Stalingrad. August 1942
Soviet machine gunners take up positions against Axis forces in a destroyed factory during the Battle of Stalingrad, one of the bloodiest and most destructive battles in the history of warfare
Soviet soldiers advancing on German positions at the Battle of Stalingrad, 1942
Soviet soldiers firing at German positions in Stalingrad
Soviet soldiers move through the trenches amongst the
ruins during the Battle of Stalingrad. October 1942
Soviet troops armed with light machine guns attack German
positions during the Battle of Stalingrad. 26 November 1942
Soviet soldiers take the opportunity to clean their weapons during
a lull in fighting at the Battle of Stalingrad. December 1942