"RED ARMY HOLDS NEAR KURSK"

[afc7883]

I am a fanatic about reading newspapers and LIFE magazines that were published during WWII, so I was happy to find this newspaper for sale on ebay...at a price I could afford. It tells of the "current Nazi offensive" at Kursk entering it's 4th day. Given the fact that we already know the outcome of this pivotal battle made this article even more prophetic to me. By day four the Germans had lost an estimated 1,843 tanks and 810 planes, and the reporter made the comment that "The Germans may now have involved themselves to the point where they could not extract themselves even if they wanted to." Now THAT to me is PROPHETIC! As we know, Hitler was directing the war himself now and ignoring the advice of his Generals, and both he and Stalin had a policy of "Not One Step Back", despite the huge losses on both sides of men and material. Hitler had grossly underestimated the vast reserves of the Russian Army (as he later admitted in a taped conversation) and now the tide was beginning to turn. When Hitler needed more troops and armour the most, he was forced to send many of his best divisions back to Italy in an attempt to hold back the Allied invasion of Anzio. In less than a year the invasion of Normandy took place, forcing the Germans to fight what could only be considered a delaying action as the borders of The Reich began to crumble. Dang! I get exited when I read old newspapers!

 

Dogdaddy

[Walt's Daughter]

Dang! I get exited when I read old newspapers!

 

I LOVE that ending. I can picture you jumping up and down!

 

I was just reading your post to hubby, and we were commenting that no matter how many times you read about Kursk, you still stop and say, "Oh wow!" It's just incredible. The magnitude of that battle is just mind-boggling!

 

And needless to say, thank God Hitler was taking command, for he made a lot of very dumb and unwise decisions and placed his downfall in an ever-quicker, ever-descending black hole.

 

Congrats on your latest acquistion!

[Dogdaddy]

The more you study different battles of WWII the more you can begin to better understand the Allied strategy, and how these invasions were carefully coordinated in order to bleed out Hitler's Armies on BOTH fronts. There is another article in this same newspaper that points to the fact that by 1943 Germany couldn't expect to receive any help from the Japanese as far as new offensives were concerned, as our forces in the Pacific had them back peddling for Tokyo by then.

Many historians believe that Stalingrad was the turning point on the Eastern Front, but just as many say it was the German's failed Offensive at Kursk that was the beginning of the end for Germany in the East. The panzer armies that were siphoned off in order to defend Italy may well have tipped the balance in favor of the Russians, who knows? There are just too many battles in WWII that could be considered pivotal in the Final Victory to say it was one or the other. One thing is for sure is that the world will probably never again see an armored battle of this scale between two conventional armies, and that is what makes Kursk so interesting! I can still remember in 1991 listening to the radio announcer talking about the tank battle taking place between the US Army and Iraq's Republican Guard, and saying "This is the biggest tank battle since WWII and the battle of Kursk!" I am so glad that it was as lopsided as it turned out to be. I remember that day very well, for it made me think about how it might have been to be listening to the radio back in July of1943...

 

Dogdaddy