Island of Fire Tour - the Battle for the Barrikady Gun Factory in Stalingrad.
Stalingrad was one of the largest, bloodiest, and most famous battles in history as well as one of the major turning points of World War II. For four months during the battle, German and Soviet forces fought over a single factory inside the city of Stalingrad.
For those WW2 history buffs who have studied the Battle of Stalingrad in detail and for many years we designed this special detailed tour with visit of the area where the final German attack was followed by the Russian counter-attack in November 1942.
During this special unique tour of Stalingrad we will drive along industrial area of modern Volgograd, will see many buildings that survived the battle after heavy enemy artillery shelling. We will visit the area of Russian defence line and follow in the footsteps of German special troops who were trying to capture these important Soviet positions, and visit all Russian strong points including the building known as Kommisarhaus (The Commissar’s House) – known also as U/П-shaped building, the ruined command post of HQs of 138th Rifle division, the Volga shore etc.
The battlefield east of the Barrikady blazed with the most violent and profligate clash the world would ever see. Stalingrad was without doubt the epitome of hand-to-hand fighting, and nowhere was it more brutal, more savage, more relentless, than in the Barrikady.
On 8th of November 1942 few days before the launch of the last attack, secret name Hubertus, to the Barrikady Gun Factory Adolf Hitler pronounced his famous rousing speech in Munich where he mentioned Stalingrad as follows:
“I wanted to come to the Volga, to a definite place, to a definite city. It accidentally bears the name of Stalin himself, but do not think that I went after it on that account. Indeed, it could have an altogether different name. But only it is an important point, that is, there 30 million tonnes of traffic can be cut off, including about 9 million tonnes of oil shipments. There, all the wheat pours in from those enormous territories of the Ukraine, of the Kuban territory, then to be transported to North. There, the manganese ore was forwarded. A gigantic terminal was there; I wanted to take it. And do you know, we’re modest: that is, we have it; there are only a couple of very small places left there.”
October 1942 was one of the difficult months for the defenders of Stalingrad. By the middle of the month the enemy managed to reach the Volga north of the Barrikady plant. At this time, on the right (West) bank of the river crossed the 138-th Infantry Division, commanded by Colonel Ivan Lyudnikov. The division was tasked to prevent the Nazis from seizing the plant.
The 138-th Rifle divison was able to carry out their orders. The troops restrained the onslaught of the enemy and did not let enemy into the Barrikady. However, the enemy, pulling up fresh forces, managed in November to reach the Volga south of the plant. Thus, the division of Colonel Lyudnikov was cut off from its neighbors and pressed against the river. In front, left and right - the enemy, behind - the Volga. The division appeared to be on an“island”. And the symbolic island was not that big - 700 meters on the front and 400 meters in depth. The enemy could shoot through from all directions except from the side of the Volga river which was behind the defenders.
The 138th Rifle Red Banner division had to fight with the pursuing enemy in complete isolation, in isolation from the main forces of the 62nd Army, neighbors and even their rear, which were beyond the Volga. This historic battle entered into the history as defence of Island of Lyudnikov or simply - the Island of Fire.
The tour to the Barrikady Gun Factory can be perfectly combined with other 3-4 hour city tours on the same day.
The main highlights of Island of Fire tour – the Battle for the Barrikady Gun Factory in Stalingrad:
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3 steps to book the Island of Fire tour in Stalingrad today Volgograd:
