The Priority Measures on the Restoration of Stalingrad Region after the End of the Battle on the Volga

This paper is devoted to the study of the Stalingrad Group of Troops. That military division was created after the end of the Battle of Stalingrad. The the Group’s creation was aimed at rest and training of the soldiers and officers who had left bloody battles to prepare them for the further military operations. For the first time in the Great Patriotic War the Group faced the practical challenge to help the civil authorities and administration to restore the economy and infrastructure of the region including the network of river lines, railways and highways. The Stalingrad Group of Troops had to carry out mine clearing of the area of military operations, to participate in collecting trophies, burial of the remains of fallen soldiers. Process of mine clearing was assigned to engineering parts of the 62nd, 64th, 66th armies. Four engineering and mine crews, two specialized battalions and one company, staff of Osoaviakhim, Management of People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs were connected. The volume of the required works was considerable. The special plan was prepared, the territory was differentiated, terms were determined. During interrogations new developments of the German designers – mines, radio-controlled from Hamburg, and the jumping mines were found. Work on mine clearing of the district and collecting explosive objects continued during the whole reconstruction period. Activity of the Stalingrad Group of Troops allowed earlier beginning of the main reconstruction work in the city and the region