World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseAfter a two year stalemate, both the Soviets and Germans awaited major confrontations that would define the momentum for either side. This decisive battle would occur near the town of Kursk, a town on the Moscow-Rostov railway, in Southern Russia.

ww2dbaseIn Mar 1943, German general Erich von Manstein captured Kharkov, a city south of Kursk, and formed a long perimeter along the eastern side of the city. He allowed an opening through his line, allowing Soviet forces to advance, forming a bulge, before sending in his Panzers in two pincer movements to encircle the bulge. The German forces in this battle fielded some new weapons, including the Ferdinand self-propelled artillery and the tank Pather that was designed specifically to counter the Soviet T-34 tanks. The offensive to eliminate the surrounded Soviet forces were devised by Colonel General Kurt Zeitzler, at the insistence Adolf Hitler even though Heinz Guderian opposed risking so much for what he believed to be a small gain. By the time the Germans were finally ready to launch the actual offensive, Soviet spy network "the Lucy Ring" and the British intelligence both had already learned of the attack plans, and even without the spy network the massive tank build up would had alarmed the Soviet field commanders there. Marshall Georgi Zhukov was in command of the Soviet defensive forces, who convinced Josef Stalin to hold off on a summer offensive until he could defeat the impending German attack at Kursk first. To prepare for the defense, Zhukov summoned 300,000 civilians and built a series of defenses including tank traps, mine fields, and various defensive positions. Militarily, Zhukov wielded a strength consisted of 1,300,000 men, 3,600 tanks, 20,000 pieces of artillery, and 2,400 aircraft. On the other side, the Germans were about to attack with over 800,000 men (including three Waffen SS divisions), 2,700 tanks, and 1,800 aircraft.

ww2dbaseThe battle started on 4 Jul 1943 as a series of delays, including the desperate situation in Jun 1943 that took away attention from this offensive. Nevertheless, after sappers of the Großdeutschland Division bravely and efficiently cleared a path through the mine fields the previous night, German Stuka fighters led the attack targeting the lightly armored tops of Soviet tanks, followed by an artillery barrage then by the infantry and armor. The 2nd SS Panzer Corps, 3rd Panzer Corps, and the 11th Panzer Division stormed Soviet positions, making advances through the rest of the day, but the Soviets resisted fiercely and slowed the German advances. Main reasons for the slow German advance were often attributed to the defensive structures, especially mine fields, that the Soviets painstakingly set up. Also, Walther Model of the German Ninth Army was employing a rather conservative tactic with his tanks, withholding some in reserve instead of following the usual German tactic that poured all armor strength into battle immediately. Around midnight Zhukov, armed with good intelligence on German movement, ordered a bombardment by artillery pieces, mortars, and Katyusha rocket launchers accurately on German forces.

ww2dbaseOn the next day, Paul Hausser's 2nd SS Panzer Corp advanced under a newly devised tactic Panzerkiel, where Tiger tanks opened the way for other tanks, prying through enemy defensive lines. By the second day of the Kursk offensive, German troops had penetrated 20 miles into Soviet territory, at a high cost on both sides. At Prokhorovka Hausser's flanks were supposed to be protected by the 3rd Panzer Corps, which was unexpectedly stalled by the 7th Guards Army. To take advantage of the situation, the entire 5th Guards Tank Army was deployed to strike at the 2nd SS Panzer Corps on 12 Jul, which was to become the largest tank battle in history. Armor on both sides engaged in close-range combat, while air forces took their shots at the tanks on the ground amidst the fierce dogfights in the air. Armor-piercing anti-tank guns also made their share of damage during the battle. As tanks on both sides burned and sent thick smoke into the sky, aircraft could no longer tell friend from foe, and slowly disengaged themselves from ground targets in fear of striking friendly units. At the end of the day when the battle subsided, the Germans had lost 60 tanks and Soviets 822.

ww2dbaseAs casualties mounted high for both sides, Hitler made a surprising announcement to withdraw part of the German forces to reinforce Italy, a response to the successful western Allies' landing in Sicily. After the German strength weakened after the withdrawl, Soviet forces continued on to liberate Oryol, Belgorod, and Kharkov after the Battle of Kursk.

ww2dbaseAlthough the Soviet forces suffered heavier casualties at Kursk than the Germans, the engagement was a success for the Soviets in that they stopped a planned German offensive. Historians attributed a tactical victory to the Soviets at Kursk for that the German forces were depleted and demoralized at the end of the battle without support of reserve forces. Manstein made the recommendation to Hitler that a final reinforcement at Kursk could have turned the tides of the battle and destroyed the Soviet troops present in the area mending their recently received wounds, but Hitler had already made up his mind to shift his focus to Italy. At the end of the fighting in Kursk, the German forces had suffered 200,000 casualties and lost 500 tanks, while Soviet losses amounted to 860,000 casualties and 1,500 tanks. Although the Soviet losses in tanks were greater than that of the Germans, at this time the Kirov tank factory along with other factories on the east side of the Ural mountains were just reaching their peak production capability while the German factories were becoming stressed. In fact, German armor would never regain its numerical superiority over their Soviet counterparts again.

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Battle of Kursk Timeline

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4.  C. Peter Chen says:
19 Jan 2006 06:00:41 AM

At Prokhorovka the German losses were only about 50 (some claim slightly higher number, but none over ~80), not the entire course of the Kursk actions. The final tally is listed further below in the article, estimating the final losses to be about 500 tanks for the Germans and 1500 for the Russians. Please review the article once more for details, thanks!