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Description
On the morning of 12th July 1943, the scene had been set for what would be the biggest single tank battle in history , and perhaps one of the most decisive moments of the war, as more than two-thousand armoured vehicles and anti-tank guns from both sides converged on a large plain in the Battle of Kursk near the town of Prokhorovka. Some ninety kilometres south-east of Kursk the II SS Panzer corps , which included the 1st, 2nd and 3rd SS Panzer divisions met the 5th Guards Tank Army of the Red Army with a force of just under three-hundred vehicles including fifteen Tiger Is on a battlefield area spanning some twenty kilometers. Despite being outnumbered by more than three vehicles to one, the Waffen-SS divisions more than held their own, standing firm in the face of Soviet attacks.3rd SS, Totenkopf would take the northern route, 2nd SS Das Reich the souther, while the 1st SS Leibstandarte were to engage the enemy directly in advancing towards Prokhorovka. The Leibstandarte would have just under a hundred tanks at its disposal, most of which were Panzer IVs and older and lightly-armoured Panzer IIIs. They had only four fully serviceable Tigers, including that of Michael Wittmann , but did not lose any ground during a battle that had seen them successfully repel the enemy formations. After a day of intense fighting, the area around what had been designated Hill 252.2 was held by the Leibstandarte. When the figures were calculated at the end of the day, it would look like a overwhelming victory for the German forces. Only a handful of tanks had been lost, compared losses in hundreds on the Soviet side. The battle would however, be ultimately decided in the end by sheer weight of numbers. The smaller German formations, in spite of the skill and professionalism of their crews, found themselves being overwhelmed by wave after wave of Soviet T34/76s and KV Is. Despite the successes of the Tiger company and the LSSAH as a whole, Kursk still remained in the hands of the Soviets. Quite simply, the German forces had been overwhelmed by the sheer numerical strength of their opponents. The key battle around Prokhorovka may have been won, but the plan to close off the Kursk salient, Operation “Zitadelle” , had failed.

Description
On the morning of 12th July 1943, the scene had been set for what would be the biggest single tank battle in history , and perhaps one of the most decisive moments of the war, as more than two-thousand armoured vehicles and anti-tank guns from both sides converged on a large plain in the Battle of Kursk near the town of Prokhorovka. Some ninety kilometres south-east of Kursk the II SS Panzer corps , which included the 1st, 2nd and 3rd SS Panzer divisions met the 5th Guards Tank Army of the Red Army with a force of just under three-hundred vehicles including fifteen Tiger Is on a battlefield area spanning some twenty kilometers. Despite being outnumbered by more than three vehicles to one, the Waffen-SS divisions more than held their own, standing firm in the face of Soviet attacks.3rd SS, Totenkopf would take the northern route, 2nd SS Das Reich the souther, while the 1st SS Leibstandarte were to engage the enemy directly in advancing towards Prokhorovka. The Leibstandarte would have just under a hundred tanks at its disposal, most of which were Panzer IVs and older and lightly-armoured Panzer IIIs. They had only four fully serviceable Tigers, including that of Michael Wittmann , but did not lose any ground during a battle that had seen them successfully repel the enemy formations. After a day of intense fighting, the area around what had been designated Hill 252.2 was held by the Leibstandarte. When the figures were calculated at the end of the day, it would look like a overwhelming victory for the German forces. Only a handful of tanks had been lost, compared losses in hundreds on the Soviet side. The battle would however, be ultimately decided in the end by sheer weight of numbers. The smaller German formations, in spite of the skill and professionalism of their crews, found themselves being overwhelmed by wave after wave of Soviet T34/76s and KV Is. Despite the successes of the Tiger company and the LSSAH as a whole, Kursk still remained in the hands of the Soviets. Quite simply, the German forces had been overwhelmed by the sheer numerical strength of their opponents. The key battle around Prokhorovka may have been won, but the plan to close off the Kursk salient, Operation “Zitadelle” , had failed.