Hill 253.5

Operation Citadel had begun, but instead of the desired lightning breakthrough, the fighting had ta ken on the characteristics of World War I trench warfare. In four days of grueling combat the XL1 Panzer Corps had managed to penetrate the …

1943-07-09

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Operation Citadel had begun, but instead of the desired lightning breakthrough, the fighting had ta ken on the characteristics of World War I trench warfare. In four days of grueling combat the XL1 Panzer Corps had managed to penetrate the defenses of the Soviet 13th Army to a depth of only about five miles. The Corps, now being slowly forced onto the defensive by increasing enemy pressure, needed to secure a strong position o n which to anchor its left fla nk a nd free its mobile elements; such a spot was the commanding height of Hill 253.5 near the village of Ponyri, where some of the most intensive fighting of the entire Eastern campaign was taking place. On July 9th the Germans stormed and captured Hill 239.8 and to exploit this success an assault on Hill 253.5 was ordered.

Kursk, Russia

The Battle of Kursk was a Second World War engagement between German and Soviet forces on the Eastern Front near Kursk in the Soviet Union, during July and August 1943. The battle began with the launch of the German offensive Operation Citadel, on 5 July, which had the objective of pinching off the Kursk salient with attacks on the base of the salient from north and south simultaneously. After the German offensive stalled on the northern side of the salient, on 12 July the Soviets commenced their Kursk Strategic Offensive Operation with the launch of Operation Kutuzov against the rear of the German forces in the northern side. On the southern side, the Soviets also launched powerful counterattacks the same day, one of which led to a large armoured clash, the Battle of Prokhorovka. On 3 August, the Soviets began the second phase of the Kursk Strategic Offensive Operation with the launch of Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev against the German forces in the southern side of the Kursk salient.

Wikipedia: Battle of Kursk

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