The FReeper Foxhole's TreadHead Tuesday - Kursk-Largest Tank Battle Ever?(Jul 1943)-Mar. 29th, 2005

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[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

.................................................................. .................... ...........................................

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Operation Zitadelle

The Battle of Kursk was a significant battle on the Eastern Front of World War II. It remains the largest armored engagement of all time, and included the most costly single day of aerial warfare in history. Though the Germans planned and initiated an offensive strike, the Soviet defense managed to stop their ambitions and launch a successful counteroffensive.

Background

The German Army relied on armored forces to push through enemy lines at high-speed (the famous Blitzkrieg tactic). This meant they could only assume the offensive during the summer when the Russian continental climate had dried out the ground enough to give tanks a high degree of mobility. The Eastern Front war in 1941 and 1942 had thus developed into a series of German advances in the summer, followed by Soviet counterattacks in the winter.



In the winter of 1942/1943 the Soviets conclusively won the Battle of Stalingrad. One complete army had been lost, along with about 500,000 Germans and allies, seriously depleting the Axis strength in the east. With an Allied invasion of Europe clearly looming, Hitler realized that an outright defeat of the Soviets before the western Allies arrived had become unlikely, and he decided to force the Soviets to a draw.

In 1917 the Germans had built the famous Hindenburg line on the Western Front, shortening their lines and thereby increasing their defensive strength. They planned on repeating this strategy in Russia and started construction of a massive series of defensive works known as the Panther-Wotan line. They intended to retreat to the line late in 1943 and proceed to bleed the Soviets white against it while their own forces recuperated.



In February and March 1943 Erich von Manstein had completed an offensive during the Second Battle of Kharkov, leaving the front line running roughly from Leningrad in the north to Rostov in the south. In the middle lay a large 200 km wide and 150 km deep Soviet-held salient (bulge) in the lines between German forward positions near Orel in the north, and Manstein's recently captured Kharkov in the south.

German Plans

Von Manstein pressed for a new offensive based on the same successful lines he had just pursued at Kharkov, when he cut off an overextended Soviet offensive. He suggested tricking the Soviets into attacking in the south against the desperately re-forming 6th Army, leading them into the Donets Basin in the eastern Ukraine. He would then turn south from Kharkov on the eastern side of the Donets River towards Rostov and trap the entire southern wing of the Red Army against the Sea of Azov.



The OKW did not approve von Manstein's plan, and instead turned their attention to the obvious bulge in the lines between Orel and Kharkov. Three whole Soviet armies occupied the ground in and around the salient, and pinching it off would trap almost a fifth of the Red Army's manpower. It would also result in a much straighter and shorter line, and capture the strategically useful railway town of Kursk located on the main north-south railway line running from Rostov to Moscow.

In March the plans crystallized. Walther Model's 9th Army would attack southwards from Orel while Hoth's 4th Panzer Army and Army Detachment Kempf under the overall command of Manstein would attack northwards from Kharkov. They planned to meet near Kursk, but if the offensive went well they would have permission to continue forward on their own initiative, with a general plan to create a new line on the Don River far to the east.



Contrary to his recent behavior, Hitler gave the General Staff considerable control over the planning of the battle. Over the next few weeks they continued to increase the scope of the forces attached to the front, stripping the entire German line of practically anything remotely useful for deployment in the upcoming battle. They first set the attack for May 4, but then delayed it until June 12, and finally until July 4 in order to allow more time for new weapons to arrive from Germany, especially the new Panther tanks.

One could instructively contrast this plan with the traditional (and successful) blitzkrieg tactic used up to this point. Blitzkrieg depended on massing all available troops at a single point on the enemy line, breaking through, and then advancing as fast as possible to cut off enemy front-line troops from supply and information. Blitzkrieg involved avoiding direct combat at all costs: attacking a strongpoint makes no sense if an invader can achieve the same ends by instead attacking the trucks supplying the strongpoint. And Blitzkrieg worked best by attacking at the least expected location -- hence the Germans had attacked through the Ardennes in 1940, and towards Stalingrad in 1942.



The OKW's conception of the attack on the Kursk salient, Operation Citadel formed the antithesis of this concept. Anyone with a map could confidently predict the obvious point of attack: the German plan reflected World War I thinking more than the Blitzkrieg. A number of German commanders questioned the idea, notably Heinz Guderian who asked Hitler: Was it really necessary to attack Kursk, and indeed in the east that year at all? Do you think anyone even knows where Kursk is?. Perhaps more surprisingly Hitler replied: I know. The thought of it turns my stomach.

Simply put, Operation Citadel embodied an uninspired plan.

Soviet Plans

The Red Army had also begun planning for their own upcoming summer offensives, and had settled on a plan that mirrored that of the Germans. Attacks in front of Orel and Kharkov would flatten out the line, and potentially lead to a breakout near the Pripyat Marshes. However, Soviet commanders had considerable concerns over the German plans.



All previous German attacks had left the Soviets guessing where it would come from, and in this case Kursk seemed too obvious for the Germans to attack. However, Moscow received warning of the German plans through a spy ring in Switzerland.

Stalin and a handful of the Red Army Stavka (General Staff) wanted to strike first. They felt that history had demonstrated the Soviet inability to stand up to German offensives, while action during the winter showed their own offensives now worked well. However the overwhelming majority of the Stavka, and notably Georgi Zhukov, advised waiting for the Germans to exhaust themselves in their attack first. Zhukov's opinion swayed the argument.



The German delay in launching their offensive gave the Soviets four months in which to prepare, and with every passing day they turned the salient into one of the most heavily defended points on earth. The Red Army laid over 400,000 landmines and dug about 5,000 kilometers of trenches, with positions as far back as 175km from the front line. In addition they massed a huge army of their own, including some 1,300,000 men, 3,600 tanks, 20,000 artillery pieces and 2,400 aircraft.

The Germans had good information on the Soviet defensive preparations. Why they did not then switch targets remains a mystery.

[SAMWolf]

Operation Citadel

It took four months before the Germans felt ready, by which time they had collected 200 of the new Panther tanks, 90 Elefant tank destroyers and every flyable Henschel Hs 129 ground attack aircraft, as well as a host of Tiger Is, late model Panzer IVs and even a number of captured T-34/76s. In total they assembled some 2,700 tanks and assault guns, 1,800 aircraft and 800,000 men. It formed the greatest concentration of German fighting power ever put together. Even so, Hitler expressed doubts about its adequacy.

Preliminary fighting started on 4 July 1943. In the afternoon Junkers Ju 87 Stukas bombed a two-mile-wide gap in the front lines on the north in a short period of 10 minutes, and then turned for home while the German artillery opened up to continue the pounding. Hoth's armored spearhead, the 3rd Panzer Korps, then advanced on the Soviet positions around Zavidovka. At the same time the Großdeutschland Panzergrenadier Division attacked Butovo in torrential rain, and the 11th Panzer Division took the high ground around Butovo. To the west of Butovo the going proved tougher for Großdeutschland and 3rd Panzer Division, who met stiff Soviet resistance and did not secure their objectives until midnight.

In the south the 2nd SS Panzer Korps launching preliminary attacks to secure observation posts, and again met with stiff resistance until assault troops equipped with flame-throwers cleared the bunkers and outposts. At 22:30 the Soviets hit back with an artillery bombardment which, aided by the torrential rain, slowed the German advance. By this time Zhukov had received briefings on the information about the start of the offensive gained from captured Germans: he decided to launch a pre-emptive artillery bombardment on the German positions.

The real battle opened on 5 July 1943. The Soviets, now aware even of the exact time of the planned German offensive, commenced a massive artillery bombardment of the German lines 10 minutes prior. There soon followed a massive attack by the Soviet Air Force on the Luftwaffe airbases in the area, in an attempt to turn the tables on the old German "trick" of wiping out local air support within the first hour of battle. The next few hours turned into probably the largest air battle ever fought. The Luftwaffe defended itself successfully and lost very little of its fighting power, but from now on the Soviets challenged it strongly.

The 9th Panzer Army in the north found itself almost unable to move. Within only minutes of starting forward they found themselves trapped in the huge defensive minefields, and needed engineering units to come up and clear them under artillery fire. Model's army had fewer tanks than Manstein had in the south. He also used a different tactic, using only some units at a time, thus saving the others for later use, whereas the Germans usually would attack with everything they had got in order to maximise the effect. They could do this because of their superior training of low-ranking officers and individual soldiers. For some reason Model did not use this tactic, though.

After a week the Wehrmacht had moved only 10km forward, and on the 12th the Soviets launched their northern arm against the 2nd Army at Orel. The 9th had to withdraw, their part in the offensive over. Their casualty rate versus the Red Army stood at about 5:3 in their favour. However, this fell short of the usual figures, and failed to keep up with the steady influx of new soldiers and materiel for the Red Army.

In the south things went somewhat better for the Germans. The armored spearhead of the Hoth's 4th Panzer Army forced its way forward, and by the 6th had reached some 30km past the lines at the small town Prokhorovka. Considering that they had attacked without the element of surprise against a dug-in and numerically superior enemy, this marked quite an achievement.

The Red Army were forced to deploy troops originally reserved for the counteroffensive. The German flank, however, stood unprotected as the Soviet 7th Guards Army stalled Kempf's divisions, aided by heavy rain, after the Germans had crossed the River Donets. The 5th Guards Tank Army held positions to the east of Prokhorovka and had started to prepare a counterattack of their own when II SS Panzer Korps arrived and an intense struggle ensued. The Soviets managed to halt the SS - but only just. Little now stood in the way of the 4th Panzer Army, and a German breakthrough looked like a very real possibility. The Soviets decided to deploy the rest of the 5th Guards.

On 12 July the Luftwaffe and artillery units bombed the Soviet positions as the SS divisions formed up. Traditionally the description of this battle goes like this: The German advance started and they were astonished to see masses of Soviet armor advancing towards them. What followed was the largest tank engagement ever, with over 1,500 tanks in close contact. The air forces of both countries flew overhead, but they were unable to see anything through the dust and smoke pouring out from destroyed tanks. On the ground, commanders were unable to keep track of developments and the battle rapidly degenerated into an immense number of confused and bitter small-unit actions, often at close quarters. The fighting raged on all day, and by evening the last shots were being fired as the two sides disengaged. German losses amounted to over 300 tanks with the Soviets losing a similar number.

The Germans destroyed most Soviet tanks at long range, and relatively few became involved in short-range exchanges of fire. German units actually incurred relatively light casualties, and for most of the day they fought in good order. The Soviets lost 322 tanks (more than half of them beyond repair), had more than 1000 dead and an additional 2500 missing or wounded. German losses reached less than 20% of that. The Germans had however planned to attack that day, and because of the Red Army advance they lost their impetus.

The overall battle (of Kursk) still hung in the balance. German forces on the southern wing, exhausted and heavily attrited, nevertheless faced equally weak defenses and had an excellent position, clear of the defensive works and with no forces between them and Kursk. The German generals had held relief forces ready for just this moment, maybe they could still win the battle.

Allied landing on Sicily

On 10 July, in the midst of Citadel, US, Canadian and British forces landed on Sicily during Operation Husky. Hitler called Günther von Kluge and von Manstein to his Wolfsschanze headquarters in East Prussia and declared his intention of calling off Operation Citadel. Von Manstein, furious, argued that one final effort could win Kursk. Hitler would have none of it, particularly as the Soviets had launched their counteroffensive in the north.

Some German units immediately departed for Italy, and only limited attacks continued in the south, to get rid of a Soviet force squeezed between two German armies.

Soviet counteroffensive

Although the Red Army remained unaware of the change in Hitler's plans, German attacks near Kursk obviously diminished. The Soviets put their pre-Citadel plans into action. On 15 July the attacks on Orel opened with the release of the entire Soviet Central Front. The Germans withdrew to the partly prepared Hagen line at the base of the salient. German forces transferred from the south to the north to help cover the retreat. Although the retreating German forces inflicted severe casualties upon the Red Army, this action marked the first time that the Soviets had advanced in the summer, drastically boosting Soviet morale.

To the south the Red Army needed more time to re-group after the severe beating they had taken during July, and could not open their counterattack until 3 August. Aided by diversionary attacks further south they took von Manstein's hard-won Belgorod. Fireworks in Moscow marked the capture of Belgorod and Orel, a celebration that henceforward became an institution with the recapture of each Soviet city. On 11 August the Red Army reached Kharkov, a city Hitler had sworn to defend at all costs. The German units now suffered greatly from fatigue, having fought daily for several weeks. They had reduced manpower and shortages of equipment. On 20 August all German forces in the area had to withdraw.

Battle ends

By 22 August utter exhaustion had affected both sides and fighting (officially) drew to a close. The Soviets had suffered much higher casualties than the Germans. The Germans however had for the first time lost substantial territories during summer and had failed to achieve their goals. A new front had opened in Italy, diverting their attention. Both sides had their losses, but only the Soviets had the manpower and the industrial production to recover fully, as well as the substantial aid from American lend-lease, including jeeps and trucks that were of significant help during the counter-offensive at Kursk. The Germans never regained the initiative after Kursk.

Moreover the loss convinced Hitler of the incompetence of his General Staff. When given the chance, his generals selected a poor plan, and he decided to make sure this would not happen again. The opposite applied to Stalin, however. After seeing his generals' intuition justified on the battlefield, he stepped back from the strategic planning and left that entirely to the military.

Predictable results ensued for both sides: the German army went from loss to loss as Hitler attempted to personally micromanage the day-to-day operations of what soon became a three-front war, while the Soviet army gained more freedom and became more and more fluid as the war continued.

The casualties of the Battle of Kursk vary. The Soviet Union claimed that the Germans had over 500,000 killed, wounded and missing. That turned out to be Soviet propaganda. In reality, Germany suffered about 60,000 killed and missing with about 150,000 wounded. The official Soviet casualty figures did not emerge until after the split in 1991; it comprised of 80,000 deaths during the battle itself and another 150,000 in the months-long offensive that followed. Red Army wounded and missing were up to 500,000. The USSR also lost 50% of its tank strength during the entire Kursk operation.

[SAMWolf]

Kursk Reconsidered:
Germany's Lost Victory

New evidence suggests that the Germans may have been closer to victory at Kursk than previously recognized.



Following their disastrous defeat at Stalingrad during the winter of 1942-43, the German armed forces launched a climactic offensive in the East known as Operation Citadel on July 4,1943. The climax of Operation Citadel, the Battle of Kursk, involved as many as 6,000 tanks, 4,000 aircraft and 2 million fighting men and is remembered as the greatest tank battle in history. The high-water mark of the battle was the massive armor engagement at Prochorovka (also spelled Prokhorovka), which began on July 12. But while historians have categorized Prochorovka as a victory of improved Soviet tactics over German firepower and heavy tanks, new evidence casts the struggle at the "gully of death" in a very different light.

The Germans' goal during Citadel was to pinch off a large salient in the Eastern Front that extended 70 miles toward the west. Field Marshal Günther von Kluge's Army Group Center would attack from the north flank of the bulge, with Colonel General Walther Model's Ninth Army leading the effort, General Hans Zorn's XLVI Panzer Corps on the right flank and Maj. Gen. Josef Harpe's XLI Panzer Corps on the left. General Joachim Lemelsen's XLVII Panzer Corps planned to drive toward Kursk and meet up with Field Marshal Erich von Manstein's Army Group South, Col. Gen. Hermann Hoth's Fourth Panzer Army and the Kempf Army, commanded by General Werner Kempf.

Opposing the German forces were the Soviet Central Front, led by General Konstantin K. Rokossovsky, and the Voronezh Front, led by General Nikolai F. Vatutin. The Central Front, with the right wing strengthened by Lt. Gen. Nikolai P. Pukhov's Thirteenth Army and Lt. Gen. I.V. Galinin's Seventeenth Army, was to defend the northern sector. To the south, the Voronezh Front faced the German Army Group South with three armies and two in reserve. The Sixth Guards Army, led by Lt. Gen. Mikhail N. Chistyakov, and the Seventh Guards Army, led by Lt. Gen. M. S. Shumilov, held the center and left wing. East of Kursk, Col. Gen. Ivan S. Konev's Steppe Military District (renamed Steppe Front on July 10, 1943) was to hold German breakthroughs, then mount the counteroffensive.



If their plan succeeded, the Germans would encircle and destroy more than five Soviet armies. Such a victory would have forced the Soviets to delay their operations and might have allowed the Wehrmacht desperately needed breathing room on the Eastern Front. Model's Ninth Army never came close to breaking the Soviet defenses in the north, however, and soon became deadlocked in a war of attrition that it could not win. On the southern flank, Kempf's III Panzer Corps, commanded by General Hermann Breith, also encountered tough Soviet resistance. By July 11, however, Hoth's Fourth Panzer Army was in position to capture the town of Prochorovka, secure a bridgehead over the Psel River and advance on Oboyan. The Psel was the last natural barrier between Manstein's panzers and Kursk. The Fourth Panzer Army's attack on the town was led by SS General Paul Hausser's II SS Panzer Corps, General Otto von Knobelsdorff's XLVIII Panzer Corps and General Ott's LII Army Corps. Hausser's corps was made up of three panzer divisions--the 1st Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler (Adolf Hitler's bodyguard), 2nd SS Das Reich (The Empire) and 3rd SS Totenkopf (Death's Head). Although all three were technically Panzergrenadier divisions, each had more than 100 tanks when Citadel began. Knobelsdorff's corps was composed of the 167th and 332nd infantry divisions, the 3rd and 11th panzer divisions, Panzergrenadier Division Grossdeutschland and Panther Brigade Decker, and Ott's corps contained the 25th and 57th infantry divisions.

Opposing Hausser at Prochorovka was the newly arrived and reinforced Fifth Guards Tank Army, commanded by Lt. Gen. Pavel A. Rotmistrov. The Fifth Guards was the Soviet strategic armored reserve in the south, the last significant uncommitted armored formation in the sector, with more than 650 tanks. The Soviet operational armored reserve, General Mikhail E. Katukov's First Tank Army, was already in action against Hoth's Fourth Panzer Army south of the Psel. Katukov's army had been unable to prevent the Germans from reaching the river, however. His VI Tank Corps, originally equipped with more than 200 tanks, had only 50 left by July 10 and 11, and the other two corps of Katukov's army also had sustained serious losses. On July 10, the 3rd SS Division Totenkopf, commanded by SS Maj. Gen. Hermann Priess, had established a bridgehead over the Psel, west of Prochorovka. By July 11, the division's panzer group had crossed the river on pontoon bridges and reached the bridgehead. What was left of Katukov's armor regrouped to oppose the XLVIII Panzer Corps below Oboyan or counterattack the Psel bridgehead. Reinforced with the XXXIII Rifle Corps and X Tank Corps, Katukov launched continuous attacks on the Totenkopf units on the north bank of the river.



During the evening of July 11, Hausser readied his divisions for an assault on Prochorovka. Totenkopf anchored the left flank of the corps, while Leibstandarte, commanded by SS Maj. Gen. Theodore Wisch, was in the center, assembled west of the town between a rail line and the Psel. Das Reich, commanded by SS Lt. Gen. Walter Krüger, moved into its attack zone on the corps' right flank, which was several kilometers south of Tetrevino and southwest of Prochorovka.

While Hausser's SS divisions prepared for battle, there was feverish activity in the Soviet camp as well. On July 11, the Fifth Guards Tank Army arrived in the Prochorovka area, having begun its march on July 7 from assembly areas nearly 200 miles to the east. The army consisted of the XVIII and XXIX Tank Corps and the V Guards Mechanized Corps. Rotmistrov's 650 tanks were reinforced by the II Tank Corps and II Guards Tank Corps, increasing its strength to about 850 tanks, 500 of which were T-34s. The Fifth Guards' primary mission was to lead the main post-Kursk counteroffensive, known as Operation Rumyantsev, and its secondary mission was as defensive insurance in the south. The commitment of Rotmistrov's army at such an early date is stark evidence of Soviet concern about the situation on the Psel. The Fifth Guards' arrival at the Psel set the stage for the Battle of Prochorovka.



Prochorovka is one of the best-known of the many battles on the Eastern Front during World War II. It has been covered in articles, books and televised historical documentaries, but these accounts vary in accuracy; some are merely incomplete, while others border on fiction. In the generally accepted version of the battle, the three SS divisions attacked Prochorovka shoulder to shoulder, jammed into the terrain between the Psel and the railroad. A total of 500 to 700 German tanks, including dozens of Panzerkampfwagen Mark V Panther medium tanks with 75mm guns and Panzerkampfwagen Mark VI Tiger heavy tanks with deadly 88mm cannons, lumbered forward while hundreds of nimble Soviet T-34 medium tanks raced into the midst of the SS armor and threw the Germans into confusion. The Soviets closed with the panzers, negating the Tigers' 88mm guns, outmaneuvered the German armor and knocked out hundreds of German tanks. The Soviet tank force's audacious tactics resulted in a disastrous defeat for the Germans, and the disorganized SS divisions withdrew, leaving 400 destroyed tanks behind, including between 70 and 100 Tigers and many Panthers. Those losses smashed the SS divisions' fighting power, and as a result Hoth's Fourth Panzer Army had no chance to achieve even a partial victory in the south.

While it makes a dramatic story, nearly all of this battle scenario is essentially myth. Careful study of the daily tank strength reports and combat records of II SS Panzer Corps--available on microfilm at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.--provides information that forces a historical reappraisal of the battle. These records show, first of all, that Hausser's corps began with far fewer tanks than previously believed and, more important, that they suffered only moderate losses on July 12, 1943. As those reports were intended to allow the corps commander to assess the combat strength of his divisions, they can be considered reasonably accurate. Considering that information, it seems that the Germans may have been near a limited success on the southern flank of the salient.



The number of SS tanks actually involved in the battle has been variously reported as high as 700 by some authorities, while others have estimated between 300 to 600. Even before the Battle of Kursk began, however, the II SS Panzer Corps never had 500 tanks, much less 700. On July 4, the day before Operation Citadel was launched, Hausser's three divisions possessed a total of 327 tanks between them, plus a number of command tanks. By July 11, the II SS Panzer Corps had a total of 211 operational tanks--Totenkopf had 94 tanks, Leibstandarte had only 56 and Das Reich possessed just 61. Damaged tanks or tanks undergoing repairs are not listed. Only 15 Tiger tanks were still in action at Prochorovka, and there were no SS Panthers available. The battalions that were equipped with Panthers were still training in Germany in July 1943.

On July 13, the day after the Battle of Prochorovka, Fourth Panzer Army reports declared that the II SS Panzer Corps had 163 operational tanks, a net loss of only 48 tanks. Actual losses were somewhat heavier, the discrepancy due to the gain of repaired tanks returned to action. Closer study of the losses of each type of tank reveals that the corps lost about 70 tanks on July 12. In contrast, Soviet tank losses, long assumed to be moderate, were actually catastrophic. In 1984, a history of the Fifth Guards Tank Army written by Rotmistrov himself revealed that on July 13 the army lost 400 tanks to repairable damage. He gave no figure for tanks that were destroyed or not available for salvage. Evidence suggests that there were hundreds of additional Soviet tanks lost. Several German accounts mention that Hausser had to use chalk to mark and count the huge jumble of 93 knocked-out Soviet tanks in the Leibstandarte sector alone. Other Soviet sources say the tank strength of the army on July 13 was 150 to 200, a loss of about 650 tanks. Those losses brought a caustic rebuke from Josef Stalin. Subsequently, the depleted Fifth Guards Tank Army did not resume offensive action, and Rotmistrov ordered his remaining tanks to dig in among the infantry positions west of the town.



Another misconception about the battle is the image of all three SS divisions attacking shoulder to shoulder through the narrow lane between the Psel and the rail line west of Prochorovka. Only Leibstandarte was aligned directly west of the town, and it was the only division to attack the town itself. The II SS Panzer Corps zone of battle, contrary to the impression given in many accounts, was approximately nine miles wide, with Totenkopf on the left flank, Leibstandarte in the center and Das Reich on the right flank. Totenkopf's armor was committed primarily to the Psel bridgehead and in defensive action against Soviet attacks on the Psel bridges. In fact, only Leibstandarte actually advanced into the corridor west of Prochorovka, and then only after it had thrown back initial Soviet attacks.

Additional Sources:

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www.battlefront.co.nz
fisherts.home.mindspring.com

[SAMWolf]

Early on July 12, Leibstandarte units reported a great deal of loud motor noise, which indicated massing Soviet armor. Soon after 5 a.m., hundreds of Soviet tanks, carrying infantry, rolled out of Prochorovka and its environs in groups of 40 to 50. Waves of T-34 and T-70 tanks advanced at high speed in a charge straight at the startled Germans. When machine-gun fire, armor-piercing shells and artillery fire struck the T-34s, the Soviet infantry jumped off and sought cover. Leaving their infantry behind, the T-34s rolled on. Those Soviet tanks that survived the initial clash with SS armor continued a linear advance and were destroyed by the Germans.



When the initial Soviet attack paused, Leibstandarte pushed its armor toward the town and collided with elements of Rotmistrov's reserve armor. A Soviet attack by the 181st Tank Regiment was defeated by several SS Tigers, one of which, the 13th (heavy) Company of the 1st SS Panzer Regiment, was commanded by 2nd Lt. Michael Wittmann, the most successful tank commander of the war. Wittmann's group was advancing in flank support of the German main attack when it was engaged by the Soviet tank regiment at long range. The Soviet charge, straight at the Tigers over open ground, was suicidal. The frontal armor of the Tiger was impervious to the 76mm guns of the T-34s at any great distance. The field was soon littered with burning T-34s and T-70s. None of the Tigers were lost, but the 181st Tank Regiment was annihilated. Late in the day, Rotmistrov committed his last reserves, elements of the V Mechanized Corps, which finally halted Leibstandarte.

Das Reich began its attack from several kilometers southwest of Prochorovka and was quickly engaged by aggressive battle groups of the II Tank Corps and II Guards Tank Corps. Fierce, somewhat confused fighting broke out all along the German division's axis of advance. Battle groups of 20 to 40 Soviet tanks, supported by infantry and ground-attack planes, collided with Das Reich regimental spearheads. Rotmistrov continued to throw armor against the division, and combat raged throughout the day, with heavy losses of Soviet armor. Das Reich continued to push slowly eastward, advancing into the night while suffering relatively light tank losses.



Meanwhile, on the left flank, Soviet First Tank Army elements unsuccessfully tried to crush Totenkopf's bridgehead. The SS division fought off the XXXI and X Tank Corps, supported by elements of the XXXIII Rifle Corps. In spite of the Soviet attacks, Totenkopf's panzer group drove toward a road that ran from the village of Kartaschevka, southeast across the river and into Prochorovka.

The fighting, characterized by massive losses of Soviet armor, continued throughout July 12 without a decisive success by either side--contrary to the accounts given in many well-known studies of the Eastern Front, which state that the fighting ended on July 12 with a decisive German defeat. These authors describe the battlefield as littered with hundreds of destroyed German tanks and report that the Soviets overran the SS tank repair units. In fact, the fighting continued around Prochorovka for several more days. Das Reich continued to push slowly eastward in the area south of the town until July 16. That advance enabled the III Panzer Corps to link up with the SS division on July 14 and encircle several Soviet rifle divisions south of Prochorovka. Totenkopf eventually reached the Kartaschevka­Prochorovka road, and the division took several tactically important hills on the north edge of its perimeter as well. Those successes were not exploited, however, due to decisions made by Adolf Hitler.



After receiving the news of the Allied invasion of Sicily, as well as reports of impending Soviet attacks on the Mius River and at Izyum, Hitler decided to cancel Operation Citadel. Manstein argued that he should be allowed to finish off the two Soviet tank armies. He had unused reserves, consisting of three experienced panzer divisions of XXIV Panzer Corps, in position for quick commitment. That corps could have been used to attack the Fifth Guards Tank Army in its flank, to break out from the Psel bridgehead or to cross the Psel east of Prochorovka. All of the available Soviet armor in the south was committed and could not be withdrawn without causing a collapse of the Soviet defenses. Manstein correctly realized that he had the opportunity to destroy the Soviet operational and strategic armor in the Prochorovka area.

Hitler could not be persuaded to continue the attack, however. Instead, he dispersed the divisions of the II SS Panzer Corps to deal with the anticipated Soviet diversionary attacks south of the Belgorod­Kharkov sector. On the night of July 17-18, the corps withdrew from its positions around Prochorovka. Thus, the battle for Prochorovka ended, not because of German tank losses (Hausser had over 200 operational tanks on July 17) but because Hitler lacked the will to continue the offensive. The SS panzer divisions were still full of fight; in fact, two of them continued to fight effectively in southern Russia for the rest of the summer.



Leibstandarte was ordered to Italy, but Das Reich and Totenkopf remained in the East. Those two divisions and the 3rd Panzer Division, which replaced Leibstandarte, were transferred to the Sixth Army area, where they conducted a counterattack from July 31 to August 2 that eliminated a strong Soviet bridgehead at the Mius River. Without pause, the three divisions were then transferred to the Bogodukhov sector in early August 1943. Under the command of the III Panzer Corps, they were joined by another unit, the Fifth SS Panzergrenadier Division Wiking. During three weeks of constant combat, the four divisions played a major role in stopping the main Soviet post-Kursk counteroffensive, Operation Rumyantsev. They fought Rotmistrov's Fifth Guards Tank Army, rebuilt to 503 tanks strong, and major portions of the First Tank Army, now at 542 tanks.

By the end of the month, Rotmistrov had less than 100 tanks still running. Katukov had only 120 tanks still in action by the last week of August. While at no time did any of the German divisions have more than 55 tanks in operation, they repeatedly blunted the thrusts of the two Soviet tank armies, which were also reinforced by several rifle corps.



Totenkopf repeatedly cut off and defeated all of the First Tank Army's thrusts toward the Kharkov­Poltava rail line. Das Reich threw back two Soviet tank corps south of Bogodukhov and blunted Rotmistrov's last major attack west of Kharkov, and the III Panzer Corps halted Operation Rumyantsev.

After Kharkov itself fell, however, the German front gradually collapsed. The Soviets regrouped, committed additional strong reserves and renewed their attack toward the strategically important Dnepr River. Army Group South was subsequently forced to abandon much of southern Ukraine in a race for the safety of the Dnepr. Despite the remarkable efforts of the German army and Waffen SS panzer divisions during July and August, the Germans were too weak to hold the Kharkov­Belgorod­Poltava sector after their summer losses.



It is apparent from their operations during the late summer that the SS panzer divisions were not destroyed at Prochorovka. This reassessment of the battle provides food for thought regarding possible German successes if Manstein's panzer reserves had been utilized as he had intended.

To what extent the course of events in Russia would have been changed is, of course, unknown, but it is interesting to speculate. If Army Group South's panzer reserve had been used to encircle and destroy the Fifth Guards Tank Army and the First Tank Army, the outcome of the war in Russia might have been significantly different. Although it was beyond the German army's capabilities to force a military end to the war by the summer of 1943, a limited victory in the south could have resulted in a delay of Soviet strategic operations for months or perhaps longer. It is doubtful, however, that this pause would have lasted long enough for the Germans to transfer enough forces to the West to defeat the June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion.



But one fact is beyond any question, regardless of the number of tanks possessed by the Germans or Soviets or what might have been possible. Due to Hausser's panzer corps' failure to take Prochorovka on July 12 and the subsequent misuse of German panzer reserves, the momentum of the Fourth Panzer Army was slowed dramatically. When Hitler abandoned Operation Citadel on July 13, the Germans' last opportunity to influence events on a strategic level in the East was lost.

It is interesting that the information regarding German tank losses at Prochorovka has not been made available before now. Due to the lack of crucial primary-source information--especially the records of the II SS Panzer Corps on the Eastern Front--there had been no evidence to correct the erroneous accounts and impressions given in previous studies of the Eastern Front.



Waffen SS formations' records of their Eastern Front operations were not declassified until 1978­1981. By that time, many of the major works about the Eastern Front had already been published. Later authors accepted the accounts of the battle as given in the earlier books and failed to conduct additional research. As a result, one of the best known of all Eastern Front battles has never been understood properly. Prochorovka was believed to have been a significant German defeat but was actually a stunning reversal for the Soviets because they suffered enormous tank losses.

As Manstein suggested, Prochorovka may truly have been a lost German victory, thanks to decisions made by Hitler. It was fortunate for the Allied cause that the German dictator, a foremost proponent of the value of will, lost his own will to fight in southern Ukraine in July 1943. Had he allowed Manstein to continue the attack on the two Soviet tank armies in the Prochorovka area, Manstein might have achieved a victory even more damaging to the Soviets than the counterattack that had recaptured Kharkov in March 1943.



George M. Nipe, Jr.
World War II Magazine 1998

[SAMWolf]

Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

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Actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

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We here at Blue Stars For A Safe Return are working hard to honor all of our military, past and present, and their families. Inlcuding the veterans, and POW/MIA's. I feel that not enough is done to recognize the past efforts of the veterans, and remember those who have never been found.

I realized that our Veterans have no "official" seal, so we created one as part of that recognition. To see what it looks like and the Star that we have dedicated to you, the Veteran, please check out our site.

Veterans Wall of Honor

Blue Stars for a Safe Return

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UPDATED THROUGH APRIL 2004



The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul

Click on Hagar for
"The FReeper Foxhole Compiled List of Daily Threads"

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LINK TO FOXHOLE THREADS INDEXED by PAR35

[snippy_about_it]

"FALL IN" to the FReeper Foxhole!



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************Snippy, I bequeath to you the FR TH PL.

148 posted on 08/24/2004 11:39:45 AM PDT by Cannoneer No. 4 (I've lost turret power; I have my nods and my .50. Hooah. I will stay until relieved. White 2 out.)

Good morning Cannoneer, fall in. :-)

[JSteff]

"T-70 tanks"

Uhmm was there even a T-70 built yet?

[alfa6]

Treadhead Tuesday Bump for the Freeper Foxhole

Will post some updated "War Zone" pics later today

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[alfa6]

Russian light tank succesor to the T-60

hat tip to http://www.wwiivehicles.com for the pic

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[Light Speed]

Hans Ulrich Rudel

[Iris7]

Broke the back of the Wehrmacht.

The Germans nearly succeeded in breaking through in the south.

[PzLdr]

Model was burdened with the Tiger "Ferdinands", named for Dr. Porsche, who submitted their design for consideration when the German Army decided to make the Tiger I. Porsche's Ferdinands were built at the order of Hitler. Basically an 88mm armed self propelled gun, Ferdinands Ad NO secondary MGs, so the couldn't protect themselves from infantry, except by using the main gun. Since one of the Russian tactics was to separate tanks from supporting infantry, the Ferdinands were destroyed by hunter - killer teams once they had passed the first Russian lines, and denuded of their accompanying infantry.

One the southern front, the Germans used the tactic of the Panzerkiele, or wedge, with Tigers and /or Panthers at the front of the formation, and "weaker" armed Mark IIIs and IVs echelon ed on the flanks.

While it is interesting to speculate on what might have happened, it can't be done in a vacuum. Model was immobile, and the Russians were on interior lines. Had the battle continued, I would have expected Zhukov to move some troops from north the south.

One thing the article doesn't give much play to is the extensive use by both sides, of dedicated "tank buster" aircraft. The Russians had the redoubtable Sturmovik, and the Germans not only found a new use for the Ju 87 Stuka, by mounting 37mm cannons on the wheel struts (Rudel became an ace at tank busting, but the Henschel 129, an aircraft dedicated to antitank ground support.

Suggested reading:"The Battle of Kursk", by Glantz and House; "Citadel:The Battle of Kursk" by Robin Cross; "Lost Victories" by von Manstein; "Panzer Battles" by von Mellenthin; "Tiger Ace: The Life Story of Panzer Commander Michael Wittman.

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Foxhole.

[The Mayor]

March 29, 2005

The Forest And The Tree

Read:
Genesis 3:17-24

Blessed is the man who endures temptation. -James 1:12

Bible In One Year: 1 Samuel 11-13

All of us have been so close to a temptation that we've lost our perspective. It may have involved something as small as a rumor that we knew shouldn't be passed along, but the urge to gossip blocked out our sense of love and good judgment.

Adam and Eve faced a similar problem. They became so preoccupied with one plant in their garden paradise that they couldn't see the forest for the tree.

Just look at what it cost them. The Garden of Eden had been created especially for them. In it they knew no evil, no trials, no sickness, no death. They enjoyed the company of the Creator Himself. Yet they gave up everything they had-just to eat the fruit of that one forbidden tree.

Their mistake still plagues us. How often do we miss the whole forest of God's goodness for a single tree of testing? The moment of temptation seems so overwhelming, the idea so irresistible, our twisted logic so justifiable.

Think about all that Adam and Eve left behind in the Garden. Fill your mind with the truths of God's Word and rely on the Holy Spirit's moment-by-moment guidance and strength. Then you'll experience the lasting joy of God's blessing rather than temporary pleasure. -Mart De Haan

How To Handle Temptation
Seek God with your whole heart (Psalm 119:9-16).
Listen to wisdom (Proverbs 8:1-11).
Resist the devil; draw near to God (James 4:7-8).

Your response to temptation will make you or break you.

FOR FURTHER STUDY
What In The World Is Satan Doing?

[The Mayor]

Please say a Prayer for my wife.
At 7am we will be at Sister's and she will be having hernia surgery..
I'll report back in a few hours.

[GailA]

Good morning

[Mudboy Slim]

"Shed Powers!!"
(To be sung to the Rolling Stones' "Dead Flowers")

Folks, when you're sitting there, thinkin' 'bout supportin' Kerry...
Votin' fer some rich bloke you don't know...
Well, Hanoi John LOATHES the FRee...prefers Sosh'list Tyranny!!
He's a Massachusetts Lib'ral to the bone!!

Devolve Power, Prez'dent Dubyuh!! Devolve Power!!
Our Righteous dreams can be real if Bush leads US now!!
That's Right...we can devolve Power to individuals...
Must devolve Power to the States...
States, devolve Power to the Counties...
Folks, it's time we Liberate the U.S. of A.!!

Now hear me, DemonRATS...Right did Liberate Iraq!!
Folks're FRee 'cuz George Dubyuh led the way!!
Ol' MUD'll be in his basement room, laughin' while FReepin' Leftist tunes...)8^D!!
In a Righteous Quest fer Independence Day!!

Devolve Power, RightWing Congress!! Devolve Power!!
Our Righteous dreams can be real if Bush leads US now!!
That's Right...we can devolve Power to individuals!!
Must devolve Power to the States!!
States, devolve Power to the Counties!!
Bush, it's time we Liberate the U.S. of A. - yeah!!

(guitar-pickin' and strummin' interlude)

Devolve Power, Prez'dent Dubyuh!! Devolve Power!!
Our Righteous dreams can be real if Bush leads US now!!
That's Right...we can devolve Power to individuals!!
Must devolve Power to the States!!
States, devolve Power to the Counties!!
Folks, it's time we Liberate the U.S. of A.!!
Bush, it's time we Liberate the U.S. of A.!!

Mudboy Slim (07/29/2004)

[alfa6]

Hey, I had that done about a year ago, Anyways Good Luck and will keep y'all in our thoughts today.

Will be looking forward to the good news report later today.

Kind Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on March 29:
1561 Santorio Sanctorius Trieste Italy, physician/burned at stake/heretic
1602 John Lightfoot English theologist/literary (Horae Hebraicae)
1790 John Tyler Charles County VA, (D/W) 10th President (1841-1845)
1813 John Letcher Governor (Confederacy), died in 1884
1816 James Gallant Spears Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1869
1819 Edwin Drake drilled 1st productive US oil well
1819 Isaac Mayer Wise rabbi, founded American Hebrew Congregations
1821 Joshua Thomas Owen Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1887
1829 Ritta & Christina Siamese twins, in Sardinia
1829 Robert Emmet Rodes Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1864
1867 Cy [Denton True] Young Gilmore OH, winningest pitcher (511 wins, 1890-1911)
1875 Lou Henry Hoover 1st lady-Herbert Hoover (1929-33)
1875 Paul Rubens composer
1883 Donald Dexter Van Slyke US chemist (Micromanometric analysis)
1888 James E Casey founder (United Parcel Service)
1889 Warner Baxter Columbus OH, actor (In Old Arizona, Cisco Kid)
1892 József Mindszenty [Joseph Prehm], Hungarian cardinal
1905 Annunzio Mantovani Venice Italy, orchestra leader (Mantovani)
1908 Dennis O'Keefe Fort Madison IA, actor/director (T-Men, Fighting Seabees)
1911 Philip Ahn Los Angeles CA, actor (Master Kan-Kung Fu)
1916 Eugene J McCarthy Watkins MN, (Senator-Democrat-MN, Presidential candidate 1968)
1917 Man O'War racehorse (winner of 20 out of 21 races & $249,465)
1918 Pearl Bailey Newport News VA, singer (Hello Dolly)
1918 Sam Walton billionaire CEO (Wal-Mart)
1927 John McLaughlin TV commentator (McLaughlin Group)
1937 Billy Carter Plains GA, brother of President Carter
1939 Nancy Kwan Hong Kong, actress (Flower Drum Song, Night Creature)
1941 Terence Hill Venice Italy, actor (Super Fuzz, They Call Me Trinity)
1943 Eric Idle South Shields Durham England, comedian/actor (Monty Python)
1943 John Major British Prime Minister (C, 1990-97)
1943 Vangelis [Evangelos Papathanassiou] Valos Greece, composer/keyboardist (Chariots of Fire)
1944 Denny McLain Detroit Tiger pitcher (1968 American League MVP/Cy Young/31 wins)
1945 Walt "Clyde" Frazier NBA guard (New York Knicks)
1947 Aleksandr Stepenovich Viktorenko cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-3, 8, 14, 20)
1954 Karen Anne Quinlan Scranton PA, famous comatose patient (right to die case)
1955 Earl Campbell NFL running back (Houston, New Orleans, 1977 Heisman)
1956 Kurt Thomas US, gymnast (Olympics), actor? (Gymkata)
1959 Marina Sirtis London, actress (Deanna Troi-Star Trek: The Next Generation)
1964 Elle Macpherson Sydney Australia, model (Sports Illustrated 1986, 87, 88)/actress(?) (Sirens)
2334 Beverly Crusher Copernicus Luna, doctor-Star Trek Next Generation

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Deaths which occurred on March 29:
1058 Stephen IX [Frederik van Lotharingen], 1st Belgian Pope (1057-58), dies
1546 Cardinal Beaton English archbishop of St Andrews, murdered
1745 Robert Walpole 1st British premier (1722-42), dies at 68
1788 Charles Wesley hymn writer, dies
1792 King Gustav III King of Sweden (1771-92), dies of wounds
1848 John Jacob Astor chartered American Fur Company, dies at 84
1912 Robert F Scott British pole explorer (Antarctica), dies
1959 Barthelemy Boganda Central African Republic's 1st President, dies
1966 Harry Daugherty trombonist (Spike Jones & City Slickers), dies at 50
1980 [Annunzio Paolo] Mantovani orchestra leader, dies at 74
1981 Eric Williams Prime Minister (Trinidad & Tobago), dies at 79
1983 Richard O'Brien actor (Rocky Horror Show), dies of cancer at 65
1990 Germaine Montenesdro 2nd victim of NYC's Zodiac killer, shot dead
1991 Lee Atwater political strategist (R), dies of brain tumor at 40
2001 John Lewis, pianist and musical director of the Modern Jazz Quartet, died in Manhattan at age 80
2003 Italian Dr. Carlo Urbani (46), a WHO expert on communicable diseases, died of SARS in Thailand

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GWOT Casualties

Iraq
29-Mar-2003 6 | US: 6 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Staff Sergeant James Wilford Cawley Not reported Hostile - vehicle accident
US Private 1st Class Michael Russell Creighton-Weldon Najaf Hostile - hostile fire - suicide bomber
US Corporal Michael Edward Curtin Najaf Hostile - hostile fire - suicide bomber
US Private 1st Class Diego Fernando Rincon Najaf Hostile - hostile fire - suicide bomber
US Sergeant Eugene Williams Najaf Hostile - hostile fire - suicide bomber
US Lance Corporal William Wayne White South-central part Non-hostile - vehicle accident

29-Mar-2004 2 | US: 2 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Private 1st Class Sean M. Schneider Al Habbaniyah (near) Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
US Specialist Jeremiah J. Holmes Ramadi Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack

Afghanistan
03/29/03 Frazier, Jacob L. Staff Sergeant 24 Air National Guard 169th Air Spt., 182nd Airlift Wing, Illinois ANG Hostile fire - ambush Geresk, Afghanistan St. Charles Illinois
03/29/03 Morales, Orlando Sergeant 33 Army A Co., 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group Hostile fire - ambush Geresk, Afghanistan Manati Puerto Rico


http://icasualties.org/oif/
Data research by Pat Kneisler
Designed and maintained by Michael White

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On this day...
0502 Bourgundy King Gundobar delegates royal power
1461 Battle near Towton Field, 33,000 die (War of the Roses)
1638 1st permanent white settlement in Delaware (Swedish Lutherans)
1673 English King Charles II accepts Test Act: Roman Catholic excluded of public functions
1795 Beethoven (24) debuts as pianist in Vienna
1798 Republic of Switzerland forms
1814 Battle at Horseshoe Bend AL: Andrew Jackson beats Creek-Indians
1827 20,000 attend Ludwig von Beethovens burial in Vienna
1847 12,000 US troops capture Vera Cruz, Mexico
1848 Niagara Falls stops flowing for 30 hours due to an ice jam
1849 Britain formally annexs Punjab after defeat of Sikhs in India
1852 Ohio makes it illegal for children under 18 & women to work more than 10 hours a day
1864 Union General Steeles troops reach Arkadelphia AR
1865 Appomattox campaign, Virginia, 7582 killed
1865 Battle of Quaker Road, Virginia
1867 British North America Act (Canadian constitution) is passed
1867 Congress approves Lincoln Memorial
1871 Albert Hall is opened by Queen Victoria in London
1882 Knights of Columbus chartered for Catholic men
1886 Chemist John Pemberton begins to advertise for Coca-Cola (with cocaine)
1897 Japan adopts Gold Standard
1912 Captain Robert Scott, blizzard-bound in a tent 18 km from the South Pole, makes last entry in his diary "the end cannot be far"
1927 Henry O D Segrave races his Sunbeam to a record 203.79 mph at Daytona; 1st auto to exceed 200 mph (322 kph)
1928 Yeshiva College (now University) chartered (New York NY)
1932 Jack Benny debuts on radio
1936 10,000 watch the 200" mirror blank passing through Indianapolis
1936 Nazi propaganda claims 99% of Germans voted for Nazi candidates
1941 WPAT radio in New Jersey begins broadcasting (country music format)
1943 Meat, butter & cheese rationed in US during WWII (784 gram/week, 2 kilogram for GI's)
1949 Turkey recognizes Israel
1951 "King & I" opens at St James Theater NYC for 1246 performances
1951 Julius & Ethel Rosenberg convicted of espionage
1959 "Some Like it Hot" with Marilyn Monroe & Jack Lemmon premieres
1961 23rd Amendment is ratified, allows Washington DC residents to vote for President
1961 After a 4½ year trial Nelson Mandela is acquitted on treason charge
1962 Jack Paar's final appearance on the "Tonight Show"
1963 Final episode of soap opera "Young Doctor Malone"
1964 1st true Pirate Radio station, Radio Caroline (England)
1966 Muhammad Ali beats George Chuvalo in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
1969 Communist New People's Army found in Philippines
1971 1st Lt. William L Calley Jr found guilty in My Lai (Vietnam) massacre
1971 Chile President Allende nationalizes banks/copper mines
1971 Conrad Van Emde Boas becomes West Europe's 1st sexology professor
1971 Development of a serum hepatitis vaccine for children announced
1971 Jury in Los Angeles recommendes the death penalty for Charles Manson and three female followers for the 1969 Tate-La Bianca murders.

1973 Last US troops leave Vietnam, 9 years after Tonkin Gulf Resolution


1974 Mariner 10's, 1st fly-by of Mercury, returns photos
1976 8 Ohio National Guardsmen indicted for shooting 4 Kent State students
1981 Tiina Lehtola ski jumps female record 110 meter
1985 Wayne Gretzky breaks own NHL season record with 126th assist
1986 Beatle records officially go on sale in Russia
1987 Wrestlemania III-93,173 watch Hulk Hogan beat Andre the Giant
1987 Yitzhak Shamir re-elected chairman of right wing Herut Party
1988 US Congress discontinues aid to Nicaraguan contras
1989 1st Soviet hockey players are permitted to play for the NHL
1989 1st US private commercial rocket takes suborbital test flight (New Mexico)
1989 I M Pei's pyramidal entrance to the Louvre opens in Paris France
1989 Michael Milken, junk bond king, indicted in New York for racketeering
1990 Houston's Akeen Olajuwan scores the 3rd NBA quadruple double 18 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists & 11 blocks vs Milwaukee
1990 NYC's Zodiac killer shoots 2nd victim, Germaine Montenesdro
1994 Coach Jimmy Johnson quits Dallas Cowboys
1996 Cleveland Browns choose new name, Baltimore Ravens
1998 Body of Mohiyedine Sharif, a master bomb-maker for Hamas, was found at the scene of an exploded car in Ramallah. His body had bullet holes. Israel denied involvement in the killing.
2000 President Clinton told a news conference he was appalled when he first learned his campaign had taken illegal foreign donations in 1996 _ contributions he called both wrong and unneeded. (Translation: DAMN! We got caught.)
2000 A federal judge ruled that President Clinton "committed a criminal violation of the Privacy Act" by releasing personal letters to undermine the credibility of Kathleen Willey, one of his accusers.
2001 James Kopp, the fugitive wanted in the 1998 slaying of Dr. Barnett Slepian, a Buffalo, N.Y., abortion provider, was captured in France
2003 11th day of Operation Iraqi Freedom a suicide bomber driving a taxi killed four American soldiers at a checkpoint near Najaf, Iraq. US jets destroyed a building in Basra where paramilitary fighters were meeting and 200 were reported killed.
2003 Two US special forces soldiers were killed and another wounded in an ambush in southern Afghanistan. Fighting there killed four Taliban with 6 captured.
2004 Ireland outlaws smoking in workplaces, imposing the strictest anti-tobacco measure ever adopted by any country on earth

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Central African Republic : Death of President Boganda Day (1959)
Delaware : Delaware Swedish Colonial Day (1638)
Madagascar : Commemoration Day/Memorial Day (1947)
Taiwan : Youth Day/Martyr's Day
Vietnam : Veterans' Day (1973)
US : Know Your Stockbroker Day
US : Smoke and Mirrors Day
Herb Month in Missouri

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Religious Observances
Lutheran : Commemoration of Hans Hauge, renewer of the Church
Anglican : Commemoration of John Keble, priest

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Religious History
1523 German reformer Martin Luther wrote in a letter: 'There has never been a great revelation of God's Word unless God has first prepared the way by the rise and the flourishing of languages and learning, as though these were forerunners, a sort of John the Baptist.'
1638 The first Swedish colonists in America established a Lutheran settlement at Fort Christiana in the Colony of Delaware.
1832 The Kentucky Baptist Convention was organized in Frankfort with delegates representing nine congregations within the state.
1847 Birth of Winfield Scott Weeden, American sacred chorister and hymnwriter. During his life he led music and singing schools for the YMCA and Christian Endeavor. Of his several musical compositions, Weeden is best remembered today for the hymn, "I Surrender All."
1882 The Knights of Columbus, founded by Father Michael J. McGivney, was chartered by the General Assembly of Connecticut. Established as a lay fraternal society, the K of C encourages benevolence, patriotism and racial tolerance among its members.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls."

[Soaring Feather]

Good Threadhead Tuesday morning everyone.