Battle of Stalingrad issued on 5 February 1943, 22:00 said, The condition of the troops that surrendered was pitiful. British war correspondent Alexander Werth described the following scene in his "Russia at War" book, based on a first-hand account of his visit to Stalingrad from 3–5 February 1943, Out of the nearly 91,000 German prisoners captured in Stalingrad, only about 5,000 returned. Weakened by disease, starvation and lack of medical care during the encirclement, they were sent on foot marches to prisoner camps and later to labour camps all over the Soviet Union. Some 35,000 were eventually sent on transports, of which 17,000
Bombing of Stalingrad Stalingrad. During the Battle of Kalach, "Fliegerkorps VIII" provided the German XIV and XXIV Panzer Corps' with decisive air support as the Soviet 62nd Army was encircled and destroyed west of Kalach from 8–11 August through the application of superior German firepower from all sides and especially from above. 50,000 prisoners were taken by the Germans, 1,100 Soviet tanks were destroyed or captured and the road to Stalingrad was laid bare. LI Army Corps penetrated across the Don north of Kalach on 21 August, forcing the surprised and helpless Red Army formations to the south to fall back on Stalingrad.