Battle At Arm’s Length

After a long night of struggling to secure little more than a tentative hold on the north bank of the Psel, the Totenkopfs Panzer Regiment received orders to expand the bridgehead and explore the Russian defensive positions in the region. Unbeknownst to them, the reinforced 95th Guards Rifle Division...

1943-07-11

K02

After a long night of struggling to secure little more than a tentative hold on the north bank of the Psel, the Totenkopfs Panzer Regiment received orders to expand the bridgehead and explore the Russian defensive positions in the region. Unbeknownst to them, the reinforced 95th Guards Rifle Division was moving into positions overlooking the village of Krasny Oktabyr. As the Germans moved up from the river’s edge, the two forces collided under a summer squall, mutual surprise giving way to ferocious fighting. The Russians charged through the rain into the midst of the German force. Fighting was at point blank range; tanks often shot each other at less than one hundred meters. Both sides lost several vehicles before they each fell back. The Germans aimed them selves at Hill 226.6, which clearly dominated the local landscape. This fight was only the first ofseveral fought this day as the Russians stmggled to hold them back.

Prokhorovka, 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

German

Russian