World War 2 BOX SET #3: Untold Daring Secret Missions & Raids by Ryan Jenkins

Author:Ryan Jenkins
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Tags: WWII, Retail, Nonfiction, History
Publisher: Success First Publishing
Published: 2014-07-07T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 2: Sergeant Yakov Pavlov, a Hero of Stalingrad

In the long history of warfare, there are a handful of battles that are so legendary that just speaking their name evokes an entire course of events and the images that go with them.

Among these battles are Thermopylae, Waterloo, Gettysburg, and Verdun. After 1943, another name was added – Stalingrad.

What these battles have in common is the defiant, stubborn defense of one side under the almost unrelenting assault of the other. At Thermopylae, the three hundred Spartan Greeks delayed the Persian assault with their lives, allowing the Greek city-states to successfully resist Persian domination. At Waterloo, the now famous “English Squares” of riflemen broke Napoleon's cavalry and defeated the Emperor's last chance of ruling France yet again. The entire battle of Gettysburg, from Chamberlain's Stand at Little Round Top to the courage shown by both sides during Pickett's Charge, was filled with examples of heroism. At Verdun, General Robert Nivelle gave word to the spirit of the French defenders of the battlefield when he exclaimed “Ils ne passeront pas!” (“They shall not pass!”)

At Stalingrad in 1942-43, the slogan was “Not one step back!,” and no one epitomized this more than Sergeant Yakov Pavlov and the defenders of an apartment building that came to be known as “Pavlov's House.”

Though it was later shown that a Lieutenant Afanasiev was the ranking officer at “Pavlov's House,” it was Sergeant Pavlov that organized the defense of the building, which was in downtown Stalingrad and covered the 9th of January Square, a railroad track entering the city, a tram line, and a major thoroughfare. Holding the apartment building would prevent the Germans from getting to the Volga River three hundred yards away, cutting the city into two parts.

On September 27th, 1942, one month into the battle which would prove one of the major turning points of the war, (Junior) Sergeant Pavlov's platoon was ordered to re-take the four story apartment building which had been captured by the Germans the day before. Pavlov, a veteran of the Red Army since 1938 and of many battles during the Red Army's retreats of 1941-42, was the ranking officer (commissioned and non-commissioned alike) of the platoon, the platoon lieutenant and senior sergeants having been killed in action.

With 30 men, Pavlov attacked the building. When Pavlov finally had taken control of the building, 26 of his 30 men had been killed. With these three other men, Pavlov set up a defense of the structure. The building had a clear one kilometer view to the east, north, and south (which, as it happened, was where the Germans were), and was made of very solid brick construction. In the basement were ten civilians, who remained there throughout the battle.[*]

Thus began a siege of the apartment building which would last for fifty-eight days. Shelling took place daily, snipers were a threat, and full scale German assaults took place nearly every day, aimed at recapturing or neutralizing the building and the surrounding area.

After a couple of

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