17. Red Christmas: The Surprise Soviet Attack That Sealed the Nazis’ Fate at Stalingrad
On Christmas Eve, December 24th, 1942, the Red Army carried out the Tatsinskaya Raid, also known as “Red Christmas” or the “Christmas Raid” because of the date. It was an enterprising armored raid deep into the German rear to destroy the Tatsinskaya Airfield, from which Luftwaffe transport planes were frantically airlifting supplies to the besieged German 6th Army in Stalingrad. Planes flying out of Tatsinskaya were the surrounded Germans’ only lifeline, so its destruction, along with its irreplaceable Ju 52 transport planes, would seal the besieged Germans’ doom.
Conducted by the 24th Tank Corps, the raid hit the airfield from three sides and caught the Germans by surprise. T-34 tanks rolled down the tarmac, machine-gunning and shelling facilities and installations, as well as the precious planes. Some planes were still in crates on railway cars that had recently brought them to Tatsinskaya. When the T-34s ran low on ammunition, they simply rammed the airplanes, smashing through their aluminum frames and crushing them and their engines beneath tens of tons of armor. German pilots and crews, desperately racing to their airplanes to try and get them airborne and away to safety, were ruthlessly cut down or ran down and ground into pulp beneath Soviet tank treads.
