The German 6th Army is best known for fighting in the Battle of Stalingrad, during which it became the first entire German field army to be destroyed. After the battle of Stalingrad, approximately 107,800 soldiers of the 6th Army entered Soviet captivity, of which only about 6,000 survived the captivity. Originally numbered as the 10th Army, this combat unit was formed on 10 October 1939 with General Walther von Reichenau in command. Its primary mission was to guard the western defenses of Germany against British and French attacks during the Polish campaign. In 1940 during the invasion of the Low Countries the 6th Army linked up with paratrooper units destroying fortifications at Eben Emael, Liege and Namur during the Battle of Belgium. By June the 6th Army was involved in the breakthrough to Paris, before acting as a northern flank for German forces along the Normandy coast during the closing stages of the Battle of France. The 6th Army began its involvement in the Russian Campaign as the spearhead of Army Group South. General von Reichenau died in an aircraft accident shortly after being promoted to field marshal, while being transported to a hospital after a heart attack in January 1942. He was succeeded by his former chief of staff, General (der Panzertruppen) Friedrich Paulus. The 6th Army had a major victory at the Second Battle of Kharkov during the spring of 1942; this victory was also to seal the 6th Army's destiny and final fate as it lead to it being selected by the OKH for the attack on Stalingrad. On 28 June 1942, Army Group South began Operation Blau, the German Army's summer offensive into southern Russia. The goals of the operation were to secure both the oil fields at Baka, Azerbaijan and the city of Stalingrad on the river Volga to protect the forces advancing into the Caucasus. After two months, the 6th Army reached the outskirts of Stalingrad on 23 August. On the same day, over 1,000 aircraft of the Luftwaffe’s Luftflotte 4 bombed the city, turning it into a massive inferno. Destroyed in a matter of hours, Stalingrad was now a charnel-house; defended by the weak Soviet 62nd Army under the command of General Vasily Chuikov. Despite having the initiative, the 6th Army failed to obtain a quick victory. The Red Army put up determined resistance, taking the fight to the rubble-clogged city streets. Though having almost complete air superiority over Stalingrad, and with more artillery pieces than the Soviets, progress was reduced to no more than several meters a day. Soviet casualties in the ghastly urban fighting were horrendous, while German casualties were just as appalling. Eventually, by mid November, the 62nd Army had been pushed to the banks of the Volga; holding only three small bridgeheads along the riverfront. However, despite continued fighting, the 6th Army was unable to eliminate the remaining Soviet troops holding out in Stalingrad. On 19 November 1942 the Stavka (Russian high command) launched Operation Uranus, a massive attack by Soviet forces on the flanks of the German army. The first pincer attacked far to the west of the Don, with the second thrust beginning a day later attacking far to the south of Stalingrad. The 6th Army's flanks were protected by Romanian and Hungarian troops, who were ill-equipped to deal with such an attack. Very quickly, the Romanians and Hungarians were routed, and on 23 November, the pincers of the attack met at Kalach-na-Donu. The 6th Army was encircled, and a major relief operation, which quickly failed, was undertaken by Field Marshal Erich von Manstein on 12 December. After an additional month of fighting, the 6th Army was almost destroyed. Paulus was promoted by Hitler to the rank of Generalfeldmarschall on 31 January 1943, ostensibly in part because until that day no German field marshal had ever surrendered. Adolf Hitler expected Paulus to commit suicide, but Paulus soon surrendered to the Soviet forces, contrary to orders by his political chief. The remaining forces of the 6th Army, under the independent command of General Karl Strecker, surrendered two days later in the Tractor Factory, just to the north of the prominent hill Mamaev Kurgan. Although this was not the definitive end of the 6th Army, the Battle of Stalingrad was a military disaster, for the first time, an entire German field army had been destroyed During the last days of the Stalingrad encirclement, Hitler, in denial of events, had one man from every division in the 6th Army flown out in order to 'reconstitute' a new 6th Army (A.O.K. 6). This new formation became active on 5 March 1943, and was commanded by General Karl Adolf Hollidt and later fought in the Ukraine and Romania as part of Army Group South and Army Group South Ukraine. The army was again largely destroyed in a large encirclement during the Jassy-Kishinev Operation (Eastern Romania) 20th-29th August 1944;

• published: 17 Apr 2015
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