Truth or holywood drama?

Hi all I remember seeing a moving sometime back.
It had a scene in it where russian soldier where being deployed In the battle of Stalingrad.In the scene the men where being paired with another man. the first man would have a rifle and bullets and the second man just bullets. the idea behind this the follow each other when the first man get shot the second man picks up the gun and keeps fighting.


I would like to know the following.

1. I there any truth in this scene?
2. Was there a big shortage of weapons on the Russian side?
3. Is it true that the Russians tried to retreat they where shot by there own men?

 

I believe the movie you're referring to is "Enemy at the Gates" with Jude Law. According to its Wiki article, Russian WWII vets have disputed the movie's depictions that you describe.

 

Today A Canadian Soldier carries around 300 rounds I can carry over 500 rounds do you know how heavy that is.

I've never read that, I do have the move in question, never noticed that will take a closer look next time I watch It.

Don't believe everything you see in the movies

Just like in the move a Bridge to Far, The part the US Army Crosses the river to attack the bridge on both sides with Robert Redford.
NOOOOOOOOO US troops were involved in that raft crossing.

 

Are you sure about that last claim friend? Read a couple more books and then come back and talk about it when you know something about that issue.

 

The movie is most likely Enemy at the Gates, I think the part about the bullets is true to a certain extent because of the rationing that happened in The Soviet Union at the time. Overall that movie is bulls**t and a majority of it is false. I don't understand the need for Hollywood to take war heroes, make "autobiographical accounts", insert a bogus love story, etc. Oh wait, the millions in revenue they make probably has something to do with it!

 

Do you mean the part where the alleged 504 PIR crosses the Waal River?

82nd Airborne, 504 PIR, Waal River Crossing near Nijmegen, Holland - September 20, 1944

YouTube - Thank You 82nd Airborne Division

Waal River Crossing

It seems people sure are wasting a lot of time making a fuss about something that didn't happen.

 

Looks to me like it happened. The river crossing that is .

 

Yeah, I saw it in a movie. So it had to be true. Movies don't lie you know....

 

I read a book a long time ago about the Battle of Stalingrad and I remember reading about the duel between two of the top snipers for the Russians and Germans. I was really disappointed with this movie.

 

Everything in that movie EATG is greatly exaggerated,if you look at photos from the battle the Soviet soldiers are armed with rifles or sub machine guns before even crossing the river to the city,I remember in V.Zaitsevs memoirs he say's everyone in his unit was armed with rifles in Vladivostok before even leaving for Stalingrad

 

That must have been a long train ride, from Vladivostok to Stalingrad. Good googly moogly. I wonder how hard it was to get a seat on the dining car....

 

It did seem a bit odd that the Luftwaffe was attacking the boats but not the dock right beside them. (been a while since I've seen the movie but that sounds right)

 

LOL...not to mention resetting your watch for every time zone you pasted through.

On a serious note, although the movie Enemy At The Gates had the same title as William Craig's book (even the cover was changed to the movie poster), only a few sentences described the German/Russian sniper duel. The movie was said to be more closely based on the novel, War of the Rats by David L. Robbins.

Greg C.

 

lol I thought the same when I seen that part,I may be getting too picky but what bothered me was the sniper rifles they used(M91/30 with PU scope) a little incorrect for the era - every photo of snipers Ive seen in Stalingrad they have a M91/30 with PE or PEM scope like in these photos from the battle

 

1. Not exactly.Small arms were manufactured in vast quantities by each side, and not to mention that there were many pre-war and WW1 bolt-action rifles still in service. For instance, a total of 37.000.000 Mosin-Nagant rifles were produced since 1891, and I think that it is safe to assume that relatively few were produced after 1945, given bolt-action rifles had started becoming obsolete by then. Other than that, there were 5.000.000 PPSh-41s, ~2.000.000 PPS-43, ~1.800.000 SVT-40s, ~600.000 Maxim, ~400.000 Degytarev LMGs, etc..

2. It did happen when retreating wasn't allowed, yes. It was most common in penal units. But naturally it did not happen for just any retreat; if that was the case the Red Army would have ended up committing suicide.

 

That business about one rifle, two or more men was telescoped from WW1 into the Battle of Stalingrad years later. The Tzar's troops were very short on small arms when they battled the Kaiser's men, but not Stalin's men when they battled Hitler's.

There might have been local shortages of some weapons in some areas, but no where near the endemic rate shown in the movie Enemy at The Gates. Ever hear of "poetic license"? That is what that was, fabrication for dramatic effect.

 

For the last time, there was no such duel between Zaitsev and a """Konigs""" at Stalingrad or anywhere else for that matter.

 

I have not seriously dwelled on this, but I have glossed over the accounts mentioned in the web site below, and noticed the same differences. They explain it better than I could.

!! ENEMY AT THE GATES !! The dual between KOENIG and ZAITSEV

Greg C.