This week in the war, the Red Army was maintaining the initiative across the Eastern Front and was making steady progress in the Stalingrad sector.

Following the Soviet Operation Uranus, the German troops in and around Stalingrad—which included General Friedrich Paulus’s 6th Army—had been encircled since the latter part of November. Over 200,000 Axis troops were trapped.

Despite Goering’s assurances that the Luftwaffe could fly in sufficient supplies, the airlift failed to manage even 100 tons per day and over 400 transport planes were lost.