Unternehmen Zitadelle | The tank dogfight between the „Leibstandarte ϟϟ“ and Soviet T-34 crews continued in Prokhorovka on July 12 1943 – the high watermark of the Battle of Kursk

SS-Sturmbannführer Joachim Peiper

Panzergrenadiers of the Leibstandarte SS

The Soviet third line of defence was holding up – but only just. Satisfied with their success over the Psel and in front of Prokhorovka, SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS Paul Hausser's staff now set about planning the following days drive to complete the piercing of the Soviet third defence line. During the evening of July 11 1943, the SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Leibstandarte SS mustered 52 Panzers and four Tigers. In total, II.SS-Panzerkorps had 211 operational tanks available for action (Totenkopf had 94 and Das Reich possessed 61). They had no idea that only a few kilometers from the Waffen-SS advance posts, a Soviet force of more than 850 tanks and assault guns were massing to strike at them the following morning. The three tanks corps of the Soviet 5th Guards Tank Army received orders to move westwards to engage the Waffen-SS and stop them taking a town called Prokhorovka. The force included 500 T-34s, with remainder being T-70s or lend-lease British Churchill and American General Lee tanks. Battle was joined on July 12 1943. Credit: British author Tim Ripley. Left image: Knight's Cross holder SS-Sturmbannführer Jochen Peiper wearing a SS Palmenmuster camouflage smock on July 11 1943, the day before the Battle of Prokhorovka. Still from Die Deutsche Wochenschau. Right image: young Leibstandarte SS panzergrenadiers on the Ukrainian Steppe in their camouflage smocks. Because of the heavy casualties suffered during the Kharkov fighting, the Waffen-SS divisions were a mix of experienced men and recruits who had not seen their first battle. These young men played a decisive part in offensive and defensive operations against the growing might of the Soviet Red Army. By the end of the bloodbath of Kursk, they would be veterans too, if they survived. Photo taken during Op. Citadel by Leibstandarte SS war correspondent Max Büschel. U.S. NARA.

II.ϟϟ-Panzerkorps in the Battle of Prokhorovka

Unternehmen Zitadelle – Offensive against the Kursk salient

Unternehmen Zitadelle – Offensive against the Kursk salient

Unternehmen Zitadelle – Offensive against the Kursk salient

Almost like clockwork, at 06:30 hours on July 12 1943 both the Leibstandarte SS panzers and the Soviet 24th Tank Corps were waved forward by their commanders. The SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 3 Deutschland of the Das Reich Division was lined up as well advancing northwards on the south side of the Leibstandarte SS. In the morning haze, the Waffen-SS Panzer crews spotted a mass of Soviet tanks directly in front of them. Two Soviet tank corps faced the SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Leibstandarte SS in an area little more than 8 km by 8 km. In the ensuing fighting, the outnumbered Leibstandarte inflicted heavy casualties on the Soviets as they continued to surge forward, the 50 or so SS Panzers started to pick off the Soviets tanks for almost no loss thanks to their long-range gunnery skills. The field was soon littered with burning Soviet T-34s and T-70s. More were following behind in a second wave, along with hordes of Red infantry. The SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Das Reich likewise was facing tough opposition against the weight of 2nd Guards Tank Corps. Images: frontline footage from the opening days of Citadel, also called The Battle of Kursk. Clips showing German troops advancing on the Kursk salient or bulge in July 1943. Footage from Die Deutsche Wochenschau - the official Nazi German war newsreel from 1940 until production discontinued in March 1945. It received film stock from special Waffen-SS and Wehrmacht war reporting units. Today the preserved Wochenschau short films make up a significant part of the audiovisual records of the Nazi era. Fair use.

Combat Record of II.ϟϟ-Panzerkorps during the Battle of Prokhorovka

SS-Pz.Gren.Div. LSSAH

SS-Pz.Gren.Div. LSSAH

At the end of the day both sides had fought each other to a standstill and German strategic advance Operation Citadel had been halted. The fighting had been intense, often at point-blank range, and both sides displayed a high degree of determined courage. But the men of SS-Obergruppenführer Paul Hausser's SS-Panzer Corps proved the stronger, and the Soviet Chief Marshal Pavel Rotmistrov was forced to withdraw. The Soviet 5th Guards Tank Army paid a heavy price during the Battle of Prokhorovka, losing more than 400 tanks. On July 13 1943, Chief Marshal Rotmistrov admitted that his tank army could only field 100-150 combat-ready tanks out of the 850 committed for action at Prokhorovka on the previous day. The SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Leibstandarte SS alone claimed 192 Soviet tanks destroyed. Paul Hausser could scarcely believe his eyes walking around the hulks, numbering them with chalk to confirm the kills. Waffen-SS tank losses on July 12 1943 were 70-80, the majority of which were lost by the Totenkopf in defensive actions against Soviet attacks on the Psel bridgehead. The Leibstandarte SS itself only lost 11 Panzers. Considering the Soviet losses it might be classed as one of the most disastrous actions in military history; however the Soviet counterattack had stalled the German advance and the Leibstandarte SS was pulled back. Fighting continued on July 13 1943, but the focus of the Soviet attack had shifted to the Totenkopf, to the left of the Leibstandarte. Left image: Leibstandarte SS Panzergrenadiers riding on the deck of a Panzer after an engagement on the Kursk salient. Photo by SS-Uscharf. and KB Max Büschel. U.S. NARA. Right image: an SS-Stubaf. of the Leibstandarte SS, himself wounded in the hand, comforts a more severely wounded comrade. c. Bundesarchiv.

ϟϟ-Division „Totenkopf“ in the Battle of Psel Bridgehead

SS-Obersturmführer Walter Gerth

SS-Pz.Gren.Div.Totenkopf

In the afternoon of July 12 1943, on the south bank of the Psel, the SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 5 Thule of the Totenkopf Division was hit by two Soviet Corps, 23rd Guards Rifle Corps and 31st Guards Corps. In ferocious combat the SS-Panzergrenadiers managed to halt the Soviet assault, but the fearful encounter left the division battered and bleeding. Next day after the Battle of Prokhorovka the Soviets started to push their infantry forward again in major attacks, backed by heavy artillery fire, to compensate for their enormous tank losses. The Totenkopf was the main target. The divisions understrength Panzer kampfgruppe acted as a fire brigade inside the Psel bridgehead, moving to threatened sectors to seen off these human-wave infantry assaults. Soviet tank losses continued to mount along the River Psel, with 38 T-34s alone being destroyed by the divisions antitank battalion during one 20-minute incursion. The Soviet counterattacks against the Totenkopf were repulsed after hand-to-hand fighting in the villages around the Psel bridgehead. By July 15 1943, it was estimated that Totenkopf had lost half its operational Panzers and Sturmgeschütz to enemy action. Left image: KC holder SS-Ostuf. Walter Gerth of the SS-Panzer-Artillerie-Regiment 3 of the Totenkopf. He ended the war as an SS-Stubaf. Walter Gerth died aged 80 on Jan. 10 1995 in Kassel in Hessen. Photo by SS-KB Peter Adendorf, himself holder of the Panzer Assault Badge in Bronze as well as the Close Combat Clasp in Silver. c. Bundesarchiv. Right image: an unidentified SS-Uscharf. and Pz Commander of the Totenkopf. The vertical closure of the Waffen-SS pattern Panzer tunic is shown clearly in the picture. FU.

The Cancellation of Operation Zitadelle

Ernst August Krag as SS-Obersturmführer

Waffen-SS with captured Red Army soldier at Kursk

On the morning of July 15 1943, the SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Das Reich linked up with the elite 7.Panzer-Division to close the ring around several thousand Soviet Red Army soldiers of 48th Rifle Corps and 2nd Guards Tank Corps. As the Das Reich battled forward, the Leibstandarte SS and the Totenkopf prepared themselves for another push northwards to finish off the 5th Guards Tank Army for good. They were not to get the opportunity. Feldmarschall Erich von Manstein also had a significant unit that remained unused during the Battle of Kursk containing of two highly experienced divisions: SS-Panzer-Gren.Division Wiking under command of SS-Brigadeführer Herbert Otto Gille and 17.Panzer-Division under command of Generalleutnant Walter Schilling, which, like all the others at the beginning of Kursk, were at full strength in men and material. The corps had moved up from the Kharkov area to the vicinity of Belgorod on July 10 1943. Von Manstein, however, had not employed them before Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler redirected the corps back to Isyum on July 16 1943. Because of Hitler's decision, von Manstein lost the availability of a powerful mobile formation that could have been very useful in the battle. The final nails in the coffin of Operation Citadel were new Soviet offensives near Orel and far to the south along the Mius Front on July 17 1943. II.SS-Panzerkorps were pulled out of the battle for the Kursk salient and sent southwards to neutralize this new threat. Unternehmen Zitadelle was officially over. The German Reich could not recover from the losses incurred during the previous two years of campaigning, and Soviet resources seemed limitless. Soviet industrial output was several times that of the German war industry, and the Germans were at a significant manpower disadvantage even after the horrendous Soviet losses from the previous years of fighting. The Soviet advantage in tanks, aircraft, artillery, and men would only get worse for the Germans in the remaining years of the war, especially after the Western Allies landed in Normandy. Credit: hist. Valor Dodd and Col. Prof. Jon Klug. Left image: SS-Obersturmführer Ernst August Krag of SS-Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung 2 of Das Reich during the Kursk battle. Krag survived the most epic tank battle in history and in June 1944, almost a year after Citadel, he took command of the SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 2 Das Reich, which he led on the invasion front in France. By war's end Krag had earned the prestigious Oakleaves to the Knight’s Cross. He ended the war with the rank of SS-Sturmbannführer and died aged 79 on May 24 1994 in Niedernhausen. Bottom image: SS men and a captured Soviet POW standing in a shallow trench. It is believed to have been taken by SS-KB Max Büschel at the Kursk salient July 1943. Credit: Johannes Dorn. c. Bundesarchiv.

Combat Record of II.ϟϟ-Panzerkorps during Operation Zitadelle

Paul Hausser's II.SS-Panzerkorps

Waffen-SS Panzer VI Tiger at the Kursk salient

The Waffen-SS alone claimed a huge number of tank kills – 1,149 in total – during Operation Citadel, along with the destruction of 459 antitank guns, 85 aircrafts and 47 artillery pieces. SS-Obergruppenführer Paul Hausser's men also took 6,441 prisoners. This, indeed, could be considered a great victory. However, from Soviet viewpoint the Battle of Kursk was a strategic success. Their defence tactics worked, preventing the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS breaking through into open and using their Blitzkrieg-style of warfare to outflank, confuse and surround the Soviets. But any hope the Soviets may have had of dealing a major defeat to the II.SS-Panzerkorps ended. Prokhorovka was believed to have been a significant German defeat but was actually a stunning reversal for the Soviets. Careful study of the daily reports and combat records of II.SS-Panzerkorps, available on microfilm at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., provides information that the Germans may have been near a success on the southern flank of the Kursk salient. As Feldmarschall Erich von Manstein suggested, Prokhorovka may truly have been a lost German victory. However, Kursk ended any hope of a stalemate in the east. Top image: Leibstandarte men raising the SS runes in their camp on the Kursk salient in June 1943. Photo by SS-KB Waldbach. U.S. NARA. Bottom image: a Tiger of the SS moves forward on the exposed Russian steppe during Citadel. Credit: Wydawnictwo Militaria N°230. c. Bundesarchiv.

Operation Zitadelle: Casualties and losses

SS-Pz.Gren.Div. Das Reich south-west of Prokhorovka

Waffen-SS Panzer men during a break in the Kursk fighting

Battlefield grave of an SS MG gunner at the Kursk salient

The Battle of Prokhorovka has been hailed by Soviet as a great victory. Soviet propaganda claimed more Tigers destroyed during the battle than the actual number engaged in the whole Operation Citadel. Soviet Chief Marshal Rotmistrov's alleged comment "The Tigers are burning!" is definitely a wild exaggeration. According to microfilm at the U.S. National Archives in Washington 15 Tigers were damaged on July 12 1943; 7 Tigers at Prokhorovka and 8 elsewhere on the Southern Front. All were returned to service by July 18 1943. While it is true that the engagement severely weakened the involved units on both sides, the German units were able to maintain their tank strength at a nearly constant level after the first three days of fighting. The number of available German tanks after the battle at Prokhorovka remained at a relatively steady state. According to Russian military historian Grigoriy Krivosheyev Soviet casualties at Kursk during Citadel were 177,874 including 70,330 killed. According to German historian Karl-Heinz Frieser, Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS units suffered 54,182 casualties, including 10,996 killed and missing. Despite the remarkable efforts of the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS Panzer Divisions during July and August 1943, the Third Reich found itself in a strategic retreat for the remainder of the campaign in the east. Total casualties and looses in the whole Battle of Kursk, which includes the subsequent Soviet counterstrikes that followed the German offensive Citadel, can be studied at the post Faces of War. Top image: Das Reich Tigers manoeuvre on the Russian steppe west of Yakhontov in the Belgorod Oblast during the Kursk Offensive. Tiger Commander SS-Oscharf. Johann T. Doroschuk can be seen to the left of the picture in the cupola of Tiger S14. Photo by SS-Ostuf. and KB Friedrich Zschäckel. c. Bundesarchiv. Middle image: an SS-Hstuf. and his tank crew during Citadel in July 1943. They are all wearing the SS tanker's Eichenlaub camouflage coverall. Credit: Karl Mensburg. U.S. National Archives.