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    Kursk 1943: Last German Offensive in the East
    Kursk 1943: Last German Offensive in the East
    Kursk 1943: Last German Offensive in the East
    Ebook204 pages2 hours

    Kursk 1943: Last German Offensive in the East

    By Ian Baxter

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    About this ebook

    An illustrated history of World War II’s largest tank battle that went down near the Russian city.
     
    In the summer of 1943, Nazi Germany launched Operation Zitadelle (Citadel), aimed at cutting off Soviet forces in the Kursk salient. This offensive resulted in the Battle of Kursk.
     
    Kursk quickly became a fierce contest of attrition, as Wehrmacht and elite Waffen-SS Panzer-Divisions with their powerful Tiger and Panther tanks unsuccessfully tried to hammer their way through the intricate lines of strong Soviet defensive positions. What followed was unabated fighting for two weeks as German units were slowly and systematically ground down in a series of brutal armored battles.
     
    During this ferocious fighting the Red Army savagely contested every foot of ground, finally ending German invincibility forever. For the first time in its short history, the blitzkrieg concept had failed. The reverberations caused by the defeat at Kursk were immense, and never again did the German war machine go on the offensive in the East. Stiff defensive action was now the stratagem placed upon the dwindling Panzerwaffe right to the gates of Berlin.
     
    With comprehensive captions and text, Kursk 1943 tells the story of this dramatic battle using rare and unpublished photographs, maps, and highly detailed artist profiles. The book reveals the events leading up to the battle in the first half of 1943 and the buildup of forces by both sides before their climatic showdown at Kursk.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCasemate Publishers
    Release dateDec 27, 2019
    ISBN9781612007083
    Kursk 1943: Last German Offensive in the East
    Author

    Ian Baxter

    IAN BAXTER is a military historian who specialises in German twentieth century military history. He has written more than twenty books and over one hundred articles. He has also reviewed numerous military studies for publication, supplied thousands of photographs and important documents to various publishers and film production companies worldwide. He also lectures to schools, colleges and universities throughout the United Kingdom and Southern Ireland.

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      Waste of time. Mediocre quality at best. Avoid, find different title.

    Book preview

    Kursk 1943 - Ian Baxter

    The Opposing Forces

    The German soldier on the Eastern Front in 1943 was transformed from the man he had been in June 1941. He had endured almost ceaseless fighting against a growing, ferocious enemy that was persistently and vigorously defending and attacking. Now, he was armed with more powerful, uparmored weapons to deal with the developing threat in order to try and restore his precarious situation.

    The German Soldier in 1943

    The opening months of 1943 for the German soldiers on the Eastern Front were very gloomy. They had fought desperately to maintain cohesion and hold their positions during battles that often saw thousands perish. By the end of January Stalingrad had been lost, which consequently allowed the Soviets to open a second offensive, codenamed Operation Star, with the cities of Belgorod, Kursk, and Kharkov as its objectives.

    What followed under Manstein’s command was to instruct the Wehrmacht to try and restore the front in southern Russia, which allowed Hitler to plan a new offensive on the Eastern Front. By March it was clear that this new offensive would be in the Kursk region with the objective being a rapid and concentrated attack by shock armies from the Belgorod area and south of Orel to annihilate the enemy.

    However, by May the German soldier was aware he had been severely weakened by the overwhelming strength of the Red Army. To make matters worse, during the first half of 1943 troop units had not been refitted with substantial replacements to compensate for the large losses sustained. Supplies of equipment, too, were often insufficient in some areas of the front and there was a quiet realization that they were now fighting an enemy who was often far superior to them, and with an inexhaustible supply of reinforcements. As a consequence, in a number of sectors of the front soldiers were able to realistically assess the situation and this in turn managed to save the lives of many who would have normally been killed fighting to the last man. In spite of the adverse situation in which the German soldier was placed during the first half of 1943, he was still strong, determined to fight with courage and skill.

    By June the German forces had expended considerable combat effort through lack of sufficient reconnaissance and the necessary support of tanks and heavy weapons, and yet the German war machine was still able to rearm for a massive offensive in the Kursk region, gambling virtually the whole of the Panzerwaffe in one single battle. This was in stark contrast to the fact that in many sectors of the front the Red Army was constantly outgunning the Wehrmacht. In spite of this, German soldiers in their thousands were directed to the German Central Front to build up their forces for the coming offensive.

    The German Soldier’s Personal Equipment and Weapons

    Adolf Hitler with his generals.

    The German soldier was still very well equipped by 1943. The rifleman, or schütze, wore the trademark model 1935 steel helmet, which provided ample protection whilst marching to the front and during combat. His leather belt with support straps carried two sets of three ammunition pouches for a total of 60 rounds for his carbine. The soldier also wore his combat harness for his mess kit and special camouflage rain cape or zeltbahn. He carried an entrenching tool, and attached to the entrenching tool carrier was the bayonet, a bread bag for rations, gasmask canister, which was invariably slung over the wearer’s shoulder and an anti-gas cape in its pouch attached to the shoulder strap. The infantryman’s flashlight was normally attached to the tunic and inside the tunic pocket he carried wound dressings. A small backpack was issued, though some did not wear them. The backpack was intended for spare clothing, personal items, and additional rations along with a spare clothing satchel.

    The weapons used by the German soldier varied, but the standard issue piece of equipment was the 7.92mm Kar98k carbine. This excellent modern and effective bolt-action rifle was of Mauser design. This rifle remained the most popular weapon used by the German Army throughout the war. Another weapon used by the German Army, but not to the extent of the Kar98k, was the 9mm MP38 or MP40 machine pistol. This submachine gun was undoubtedly one of the most effective weapons ever produced for the German war machine.

    The 7.92mm MG34 light machine gun was yet another weapon that featured heavily within the ranks of the German Army. The effectiveness of this weapon made it the most superior machine gun produced at that time. The MG34 and later the MG42 possessed impressive rates of fire and could dominate the battlefield both in defensive and offensive roles. The German Army possessed the MG34 in every rifle group, and machine-gun crews were able to easily transport this relatively light weapon onto the battlefield by resting it over the shoulder. Yet another weapon, which was seen at both company and battalion level on the battlefield, was the 5cm 1.GrW36 light mortar and 8cm s. GrW34 heavy mortar. Although they could both be effective weapons when fired accurately, the heavy mortar was far too heavy and too expensive to be produced on a large

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