Romanian armies in the Battle of Stalingrad

Battle of Stalingrad from Romania side
Part of Battle of Stalingrad

Romanian troops in the Don-Stalingrad area, 1942
Date19 November 1942 – 2 February 1943
Location
Stalingrad, USSR
Result Soviet victory
Belligerents
 Romania
 Germany
 Hungary
 Italy
 Croatia		  Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Kingdom of Romania Petre Dumitrescu
Kingdom of Romania Constantin Constantinescu-Claps		 Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov
Units involved
North:
Kingdom of Romania 3rd Army
South:
Kingdom of Romania 4th Army		 North:
Soviet Union 1st Guards Army
Soviet Union 5th Tank Army
Soviet Union 21st Army
Soviet Union 65th Army
Soviet Union 3rd Guards Army
South:
Soviet Union 51st Army
Soviet Union 57th Army
Strength
North:
171,256 men
140 tanks
South:
75,380 men		 448,631+ men[1][2]
10,819 artillery pieces
1,183 tanks
790 aircraft
Casualties and losses
158,854 casualties
100 tanks
 Heavy[3]
127+ tanks

Two Romanian armies, the Third and the Fourth, were involved in the Battle of Stalingrad, helping to protect the northern and southern flanks respectively, of the German 6th Army as it tried to conquer the city of Stalingrad defended by the Red Army in mid to late 1942. Underpowered and poorly equipped, these forces were unable to stop the Soviet November offensive (Operation Uranus), which punched through both flanks and left the German 6th Army encircled in Stalingrad. The Romanians suffered enormous losses, which effectively ended their offensive capability on the Eastern Front for the remainder of the war.[4]

  1. ^ Mark Axworthy, Third Axis, Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941-1945, Arms & Armour Press, ISBN 1-85409-267-7, p. 91
  2. ^ Axworthy, p. 107
  3. ^ Axworthy, p. 113
  4. ^ Murrey, Jr, Tom W. (2020-11-07). "Romania's Disaster at Stalingrad". Warfare History Network. Retrieved 2024-04-03.