German infantry shelter in a crater during the bitter Stalingrad fighting, 1942 (b/w photo)

A picture from Axis sources shows German soldiers, glad of the shelter of a crater in a Stalingrad street. It is the toughest job of the war yet, as the German caption admits. Every house, every heap of rubble, the roofs of factories and the cellars of buildings - They all spit fire at the aggressor. What is described a ‘The decisive battle’ for the city is now raging. Both men are armed with MP40 machine pistols, the standard German submachine during the Second World War. Over one million were made between 1939-1945. Picture issued: 17 October 1942. British Official Photograph: 774/H. Keystone.