largest tank battle battle of kursk pictures

This would allow Hitler to divert his forces to the Western Front. The Soviets had previously defeated and weakened the Germans at the Battle of Stalingrad in the winter of 1942-1943.Ĭode named ‘Operation Citadel,’ it was intended to eliminate the Red Army at Kursk and prevent the Soviet army from launching any offensives for the rest of 1943. The battle took place in 1943 between the Germans and Soviets from 5 July to 23 August. The Germans launched an offensive against the Soviets (source: Wikipedia & Robin Cross, author of The Battle of Kursk: Operation Citadel 1943 & bbc.From sailors on the U.S.S Arizona and West Virginia on Battleship Row to pilots at Hickam and Wheeler Fields, to young children who were waved at by Japanese pilots flying over their homes, these are some of their stories from December 7, 1941.

The Soviet counteroffensive - Kutuzov - was launched two days later.

By the time the Western Allies provided a further distraction with the invasion of Sicily on 10 July, the battle had already been lost. Stalin presided over a battle-hardened Red Army capable of riding German armoured punches. Stalin launched counteroffensives that over the following six weeks inflicted a crushing defeat on the Wehrmacht. Tigers and the 'monster' Ferdinand tank destroyer went in first, attempting to blast their way through.Īfter eight days the German attack had run out of steam. The German tanks were fewer in number but far superior in armour and firepower. It gave the Russians plenty of time to dig formidable defences and concentrate their own armoured units. Hitler delayed the offensive - codenamed Operation Citadel - to wait for the arrival of the new Panther. The Battle of Kursk pitted almost 3,000 German tanks against more than double that quantity of Soviet heavy armour. For the Soviets, the decisive victory gave the Red Army the strategic initiative for the rest of the war. For the Germans, the battle represented the final strategic offensive they were able to mount in the east. The German offensive was code-named Operation Citadel and led to one of the largest armoured clashes in history, the Battle of Prokhorovka. The Battle of Kursk was a World War II engagement between German and Soviet forces on the Eastern Front near Kursk in the Soviet Union in 5-16 July 1943. Will there ever be another battle involving thousands of tanks on each side or has armoured warfare had its day? It's 70 years since Kursk, the largest tank battle in history.

Largest tank battle battle of kursk pictures