Were Russian troops at Stalingrad really fighting weaponless?

In the film 'Enemy At The Gates' (or something like that) it show Russian troops being sent to combat without a rifle. Did this really

In 'A Band of Brothers', Stephen Ambrose says that the 101st Airborne was rushed into the Battle of the Bulge before they were re-armed and re-supplied and that some of the men did not have rifles. He quotes a soldier w/o a rifle but carrying a big stick as saying 'I am going to take a rifle off the first German I see.' The soldiers from the 101st reportedly got weapons and ammo from other US soldiers who were retreating.

It was commonly done in the Chinese army. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the Russians did it as well.

Indeed, I have read of charges in which the first wave was unarmed, its duty being to throw itself upon the wire; the second was armed; and the third was not, since it could pick up the rifles of the second wavers. But this is very vague stuff. I'm not even sure what nationality was supposed to be involved.

all the best

It would appear so. In one of the episodes of 'Russia's War: Blood Upon the Snow' a Russian participant details these practices, and I believe also a German combatant describes it.

TE, Ret. www.carpetbaggerops.org

'Psymaster wrote

If there was one thing the Red Army should not have had a shortage of was small arms (anything from pistols to machineguns and mortars) and vast stockpiles were amassed in strategically located depots so that new units could be equipped in record time. Unfortunately many depots fell in German hands as they moved deeply into Russia. Combined with many supply and organisational problems, this meant that units were sent into combat without enough weapons. There would have been shortages in the early stages of the battle for Stalingrad, but other Soviet troops came well equipped. I recall an interview with a Stalingrad veteran who had his 'avtamat' PPSh submachingun, spare clips and several grenades as well as a shovel for close combat.

The fact that there were huge stockpiles of machineguns and mortars meant that the Soviets could supply newly formed units with small arms, but little else. Most artillery units often had to make do with mortars rather than proper artillery. It's only when production and supply finally began to work that the Soviets finally had access to heavier weapons.

In Stalingrad ? Highly doubtful.