Battle of Stalingrad the battle a watershed moment. At the time, the global significance of the battle was not in doubt. Writing in his diary on 1 January 1943, British General Alan Brooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, reflected on the change in the position from a year before: At this point, the British had won the Battle of El Alamein in November 1942. However, there were only about 50,000 German soldiers at El Alamein in Egypt, while at Stalingrad 200,000 Germans had been lost. Regardless of the strategic implications, there is little doubt about Stalingrad's symbolism. Germany's defeat shattered its reputation
Bombing of Stalingrad an immediate, all-out attack to take the city. Hermann Hoth's 4th Panzer Army, immobilized for days far to the south of Stalingrad due to a lack of fuel, recommenced its offensive on 28 August with strong support from the Stukas and Fw 190s of "Fliegerkorps VIII". Hoth's Panzer Divisions outflanked the Soviets on 29 August, who fell back on Stalingrad. On 30 August Richthofen, believing the fall of Stalingrad to be imminent, ordered fresh terror attacks on the city to break the Soviet will to resist. That day and the next, "Fliegerkorps VIII" launched full-scale bombing operations against the city,