KURSK PROKHOROVKA
The Battle of Prokhorovka, on 12 July 1943, was the culmination point of the southern pincer of Operation Citadel. The Soviets ultimately emerged victorious, despite suffering extremely heavy losses to their armour. Here, Dr Ben Wheatley recounts the struggle for one critical position during the battle: Hill 252.2
Six days after the Germans launched Operation Citadel, which threatened to surround and cut off several Red Army divisions of the Central and Voronezh Fronts, German panzers continued to make progress, with the II-SS Panzer Corps moving in on the city of Prokhorovka.
At 0850 on 11 July the German Leibstandarte SS Panzergrenadier Division overcame an anti-tank ditch that was to play an important role in the next day’s fighting. SS War Correspondent Johan King’s photos confirm the road bridge over this obstacle was captured intact. Beyond the anti-tank ditch stretched Hill 252.2 “like an enormous wave” – the Leibstandarte was now 1.6 miles (2.5km) from Prokhorovka.
The Soviet 9th Guards Paratroop Division put up a fierce defence of the heights, which delayed the German advance and forced the Leibstandarte to deploy its SPW (armoured personnel carrier) battalion (2nd SS Panzergrenadier Regiment III Battalion), panzer battalion and Sf Grille (selfpropelled heavy infantry guns) to complete the capture of Hill 252.2 and the hilltop Oktiabrskiy state farm. The heights were finally captured by the Leibstandarte at 1410. The Leibstandarte’s SPW battalion and Sf Grille would later embark on a probing attack in the direction of Prokhorovka. However, beyond Hill 252.2 the Germans came under intense Soviet bombardment, as a result of which the SPW battalion only managed to advance a short distance before having to retreat to its start lines. (King’s photographs captured some of the fighting for Hill 252.2).
On 12 July the Leibstandarte’s units remained widely dispersed. On the right wing, south of the railway embankment, stood 1st SS Panzergrenadier Regiment, and on the left, far forward in the wake of Hill 252.2, 2nd SS Panzergrenadier Regiment. The division’s panzer regiment, on the other hand, was recovering from its exertions of the previous day behind Hill 252.2 and the anti-tank ditch. At this time the Leibstandarte’s panzer regiment consisted of just one panzer battalion (its II) with three companies (47 operational Panzer IVs – it began Operation Citadel with 79 operational Pz IVs), to which a heavy panzer company had been attached (four operational Panzer VIs – Tiger tanks – the company began Operation Citadel with 12 operational Tigers). The panzer regiment’s other battalion (its I) was back in Germany undergoing conversion to the Panther tank. Therefore, on 12 July between the railway embankment and the River Psel two full-strength tank brigades of the 5th Guards Ta
