Operation Donnerschlag

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Operation Donnerschlag, meaning “Thunderclap,” was a German plan in December 1942 to break out of the siege of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) and meet up with the relief effort, Operation Wintergewitter. Donnerschlag would signal the start of Wintergewitter. The plan was downgraded to a defensive position after Hermann Göring boasted the Luftwaffe could resupply the surrounded troops by air. The attempt failed; the German Sixth Army remained encircled by the Red Army after Operation Uranus and surrendered in February 1943.