Gate Of Hell ETO (id:#62213)

(Kursk - Gates of Hell ID: GoH#8)   [next]   [previous]

East on Ponyri Station, Russia 1943-07-08 (51 others)

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Overview:

In the opening moves of Operation ZITADELLE on 5 July 1943 the German 9th Army crashed into the defensive lines of the Soviet 13th Army on the northern face of the Kursk Salient. The advance was barred by a cluster of fortified towns and villages strung along high ground about 60 km north of Kursk. For six days one of those settlements, Ponyri Station, became the focal point of immense efforts by both sides. Ponyri Station, sitting astride the main rail link between Kursk and Orel, was a collection and distribution point for the collective farms in the vicinity; this in turn made it a natural goal in the German's North/South pincer move. The Soviets, being under no illusions that an attack would be forthcoming, had previously fortified Ponyri and were determined to hold the village. Among the many fierce battles of Kursk that around Ponyri Station was one the fiercest, the fighting being likened by both sides to a "little Stalingrad”.

Defender: German (II/167th Infantry Regt., 86th Infantry Division & Schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilungen 653)  

Errata (source)