BattleTurning point
· Day 744 of 1418
The Battle of Kursk
The Kursk Bulge
- days the Battle of Kursk lasted
- 50
- days the Battle of Kursk lasted
- tanks on both sides
- ≈ 6,000
- tanks on both sides
On 5 July 1943 the enemy launched its last major offensive on the Eastern Front, at Kursk. But the Soviet command knew its plans and had prepared powerful defences. One of the largest battles in history began.
Intelligence had learned the date and even the hour of the attack. Minutes before the enemy moved, Soviet artillery struck its positions first. The enemy threw new Tiger and Panther tanks into battle, but advanced only 10–12 km in the north of the bulge and up to 35 km in the south.
The defences had taken months to build: eight lines, thousands of kilometres of trenches, hundreds of thousands of mines. People from nearby villages helped dig the trenches.
See it on the map