Armor and Blood

29 Army Group South’s attack Helmuth Spaeter, The History of the Panzerkorps Grossdeutschland, vol. 2, trans. David Johnston (Winnipeg: J. J. Fedorowicz, 1995), pp. 113–115.

30 XLVIII Panzer Corps’s sector “KTB, 4. Panzerarmee, 4.7.1943,” National Archives, T-313, roll 396; Spaeter, Grossdeutschland, vol. 2, pp. 116–120; Healy, Zitadelle, pp. 201–207. For the Russian side, see Glantz and House, Battle of Kursk, pp. 94–99.

31 The Stukas and medium bombers Bergstrom, Kursk: The Air Battle, pp. 26–34; Hardesty and Grinberg, Red Phoenix Rising, pp. 239– 240, 250–251.

32 Hoth’s decision to attack “KTB, 4. Panzerarmee, 27.6.1943,” National Archives, T- 313, reel 365; and Steven H. Newton, “Army Group South’s Initial Assault: Analysis and Critique,” in Kursk: The German View, pp. 382–385.

33 Major General Friedrich Fangohr Fangohr, “Fourth Panzer Army,” in Kursk: The German View, pp. 77–79.

34 Panthers had reached Army Group South on July 1 Jentz, Panzertruppen, vol. 2, pp. 96–100, excerpts reports describing technical and tactical issues in detail.

35 Hoth’s final attack orders Silvester Stadler, Die Offensive gegen Kursk 1943: II.SS-Panzerkorps als Stosskeil im Grosskampf (Osnabruck: Munin-Verlag, 1980), pp. 23– 27.

36 Constructed around its panzer divisions Showalter, Hitler’s Panzers, pp. 242–252 passim, is a bare-bones overview. Among the massive body of literature on the Waffen SS, the best overview remains Bernd Wegner, The Waffen SS: Organization, Ideology, and Function, trans. Ronald Webster (London: Blackwell Publishing, 1990). It is supplemented and developed by Rene Rohrkamp, “Weltanschaulich gefestigte Kampfer”: Die Soldaten der Waffen-SS 1933–1945 (Paderborn: Ferdinand Schoningh, 2010). For details of organization and equipment during Citadel, David Porter, Das Reich at Kursk: 12 July 1943 (London: Amber Books, 2011), is excellent and generally applicable to Leibstandarte and Totenkopf as well.

37 Mass and fighting spirit George M. Nipe, Blood, Steel, and Myth: The II. SS-Panzer-Korps and the Road to Prochorowka, July 1943 (Stamford, CT: RZM Publishing, 2012), p. 65–84, is detailed, clearly presented, and generally eschews SS mythmaking. Valeriy Zamulin, Demolishing the Myth: The Tank Battle at Prokhorovka, Kursk, July 1943: An Operational Narrative, trans. and ed. Stuart Britton (Solihull, UK: Helion & Co., 2011), pp. 92–102, presents the Russian perspective.

38 Third German trump card was the Luftwaffe Bergstrom, Kursk: The Air Battle, p. 30.

39 Army Detachment Kempf Cf. Colonel General Ehrhard Raus, “Armeeabteilung Kempf,” in Kursk: The German View, pp. 47–53, for a command perspective; Didier Lodieu, III. Pz. Korps at Kursk, trans. Alan Mackay (Paris: Histoire and Collections, 2007), for a tactical overview based heavily on unit war diaries; and Franz-Wilhelm Lochmann et al., The Combat History of German Tiger Tank Battalion 503 in World War II, trans. Fred Steinhardt (Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2008), pp. 107–108, for the role of the Tigers.

CHAPTER IV: GRAPPLE

1 Katukov, working in his undershirt “Katukov,” in Armstrong, Red Army Tank Commanders, pp. 58–59.

2 Vatutin’s high-risk decision Zamulin, Demolishing the Myth, pp. 104–110; Glantz and House, Battle of Kursk, pp. 101–103.

3 “Flying light” Bergstrom, Kursk: The Air Battle, pp. 56– 57.

4 A strongpoint in itself Spaeter, Grossdeutschland, pp. 120– 123; Mellenthin, Panzer Battles, pp. 55–56.

5 To the Pena River Traditionsverband der Ehemaligen 3. Panzer-Division, Geschichte der 3: Panzer Division Berlin-Brandenburg, 1935–1945 (Berlin: Buchhandlung G. Richter, 1967), p. 375; Zamulin, Demolishing the Myth, p. 116.

6 Infantryman who did not expect miracles Healy, Zitadelle, p. 236.

7 A network of fortified heights Cf. the day’s combat reports in Stadler, Offensive gegen Kursk, pp. 49–53, and the narrative in Nipe, Blood, Steel, and Myth, pp. 114–141, and Zamulin, Demolishing the Myth, pp. 114– 133.

8 “Tough and determined resistance” “18:00 Uhr., Tagesmeldung ‘LSSAH,’” in Stadler, Offensive gegen Kursk, p. 43.

9 Hoth’s orders for the next day “Panzerarmeebefehl Nr. 2,” in ibid., pp. 52–53.

10 “A complete success” KTB, 4, Panzerarmee, Chefnotizen fur 6.7.1943, National Archives T-313, roll 369.

11 Zeitzler refused Melvin, Manstein, p. 373.

12 Easier stated than achieved Lodieu, III. Pz. Korps, pp. 30– 46.

13 Arguing with his superiors Glantz and House, Battle of Kursk, pp. 113–115.

14 “Pick up the pace!” “Panzerarmeebefehl Nr. 2,” in Stadler, Offensive gegen Kursk, p. 53.

15 Stukas were overhead Bergstrom, Kursk: The Air Battle, p. 59.

16 Grossdeutschland was stopped in its tracks Spaeter, Grossdeutschland, pp. 121–122; Jentz, Panzertruppen, vol. 2, p. 96; Glantz and House, Battle of Kursk, pp. 126–129.

17 Success won by finesse and maneuver Spaeter, Grossdeutschland, p. 123.

18 Tigers at the apex Nile, Blood, Steel, and Myth, pp. 169– 175; Zamulin, Demolishing the Myth, pp. 134–137.

19 “Excellent Luftwaffe support” “18.00 Uhr.: Div. ‘Das Reich’ Tagesmeldung,” in Stadler, Offensive gegen Kursk, p. 60.

20 Corridor the Russians were determined to shut Ibid., p. 57.

21 Naked from shirttail to boots Otto Weidinger, Division Das Reich (Osnabruck: Munin-Verlag, 1969), pp. 177–178.

22 Hausser submitted his report to Hoth “22.40 Uhr.: Tagesmeldung an die Armee,” in Stadler, Offensive gegen Kursk, p. 61.

23 Fourth Panzer Army must be stopped Glantz and House, Battle of Kursk, pp. 113–114; Zamulin, Demolishing the Myth, pp. 138–139.

24 One of the hardest days in the Battle of Kursk Zamulin, Demolishing the Myth, pp. 95–96.

25 “Larger units” and “heavier tanks” Armstrong, Red Army Tank