greatest tank battles battle of kursk video

The German Army launched a massive counterattack, and brutal trench warfare ensued.īy the end of the battle, almost all the British gains were lost, over 100 tanks were lost or destroyed, and both sides suffered around 40,000 casualties each. The British had torn through four miles of German defenses and captured up to 7,500 prisoners with low casualties.īut by the end of the day, more than half of the tanks were out of action due to mechanical failure. The initial attack on November 20th was met with huge success.

Nineteen British divisions were assembled for the battle, including 476 tanks and five horsed cavalry divisions. The objective was to take the commune of Cambrai, an important supply point for the Germans at the heart of the Hindenburg Line, in order to reduce the pressure on the French. The Battle of Cambrai was the first time tanks were used on a large scale for a military offensive. It often indicates a user profile.Ī Mark IV (Male) tank of 'H' Battalion, 'Hyacinth', ditched in a German trench while supporting 1st Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment near Ribecourt during the Battle of Cambrai, 20 November 1917. After advancing a mere eight miles, the German attack ground to a halt.Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. To make matters worse, the Germans were now coming under fire from ground-attack aircraft. He had survived arrest, torture and imprisonment during Stalin’s purge of army officers in 1937. Soviet Commander of the northern sector of the Kursk salient. He was mortally wounded in an attack by Ukrainian nationalists in February 1944.

Soviet Commander of the southern sector of the Kursk salient. He committed suicide at the end of the war. Nicknamed the Führer’s Fireman, Hitler considered Model one of his best generals. He had been key in the defeat of France in 1940 and, earlier in 1943, had stabilised the front after German failure at Stalingrad.Ĭommander of the northern German pincer. Between them, these four men commanded around 2.8 million men, 8,000 tanks and 4,200 aircraft…Ĭommander of the southern German pincer.

Greatest tank battles battle of kursk video