In  late  November  1942,  Soviet  forces  surrounded  General  Friedrich  Paulus’  Sixth  Army  in  a  pocket  at  the  Russian  city  of  Stalingrad.  In  response,  the  Germans  planned  a  relief  operation,  Operation  Winter  Thunderstorm,  intended  to  break  through  the  Soviet  forces  and  open  the  pocket,  releasing  the  encircled  units.  The  6th  Panzer  Division  was  the spearhead of the German relief force. The attack started on 12 December 1942 and was aborted on 23 December after heavy Soviet counterattacks. This failure sealed the fate of the German Sixth Army in Stalingrad. This account of the operation was first published in German in  1956,  written  by  the  well-respected  military  historian  and  retired  German  officer,  Horst  Scheibert,  who  was  a  tank commander in 6th Panzer Division during the attempt. Utilising  many  excerpts  from  war  diaries,  and  telegrams  sent during operations, it is a unique account of the entire operation from the situation in mid-November through the two  German  offensives,  the  Soviet  counteroffensive  and  ongoing  fighting  until  early  January.  This  book  includes  16  maps  from  the  original  edition  and  is  the  first  English  translation of this important German account.