The Panzers of Prokhorovka: The Myth of Hitler’s Greatest Armoured Defeat

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Showalter, Dennis E. (2013). Armor and Blood: The Battle of Kursk, The Turning Point of World War II. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-8129-9465-0. The present academic consensus has it that the cream of Hitler’s armoured formations, the thuggish paramilitary SS Panzer Divisions, were smashed in this battle, losing hundreds of tanks, and never recovering their former capabilities. In reality, diligent archival research reveals that only 16 tanks from the SS formations were lost. In fact, by the end of the Kursk fighting, these units had more tanks than they started with. Today in Russia there are three official sacred battlefields: Kulikovo, where the Mongols were defeated in 1380; Borodino, where Russian troops slowed Napoleon's Grande Armée before Moscow in 1812; the third is Prokhorovka. This is widely described as the most critical tank battle of the Second World War, which saw the annihilation of Hitler's elite Panzer force in the largest armoured clash in history and left Hitler with no alternative but to halt Germany's offensive against the Kursk salient. Victory, on 12 July 1943, at Prokhorovka over Hitler's vaunted SS troops has traditionally been described as a turning point in the Second World War.

The Panzers of Prokhorovka - Bloomsbury Publishing The Panzers of Prokhorovka - Bloomsbury Publishing

Though Valeriy Zamulin, a Russian military historian and former curator of Prokhorovka, Museum, suggests a more modest figure for German losses, he still concludes that they lost as many as 80 tanks – against some 400 Russian losses. Losses in disputeThe German forces involved in the Battle of Prokhorovka were from the three Waffen-SS divisions of the II SS-Panzer Corps: Leibstandarte, Das Reich, and Totenkopf. [78] On the evening of 11 July, the serviceable armour strength of the II SS-Panzer Corps was 294 tanks and assault guns, which included 15 Tigers. The armoured strength of Leibstandarte, Das Reich, and Totenkopf were 77, 95, and 122 tanks and assault guns respectively. [77] Ten of the Tigers were to the north of the Psel River with Totenkopf, four were with Leibstandarte, and Das Reich had just one. [87] [76] Licari, Michael J. (2004). "The Battle of Kursk: Myths and Reality". Archived from the original on 8 July 2013 . Retrieved 1 November 2014. Pinkus, Oscar (2005). The War Aims and Strategies of Adolf Hitler. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-2054-4.

Battle of Prokhorovka - Wikipedia

Glantz, David (January 1991). Soviet Operational Art: In Pursuit of Deep Battle. London; Portland, OR: Taylor & Francis (Frank Cass). ISBN 0-7146-4077-8.The USSR went on to inflict a major defeat on Germany during the Moscow counter-offensive during the winter of 1941–1942, closing the door on the Germans ending the war on the terms Hitler set out. The later Battle of Stalingrad in 1942–1943 ended the possibility of German victory completely. The book is also a masterclass in source analysis. In other words, the examination of a document not only for what it says, but for its own history. Who produced it? And for what purpose? Wheatley shows that hard work and diligence with a source – questioning whether it may be biased or simply false – is so vital to good history. There is a brilliant lesson here for aspiring academics.