Battle of Kursk

Nazi Stuka Ace Hans Rudel

By Ludwig Heinrich Dyck

In the village of Seiferdau, Southern Prussia, an eight-year-old boy with an umbrella jumped out of a second-story window. Read more

Battle of Kursk

Panzer General Strachwitz

By Ludwig H. Dyck

The wide tracks of Soviet T-34S and colossal KV-1S crunched through the snow. Night had fallen west of Belgorod on March 15, 1943. Read more

Battle of Kursk

Ace of Aces

By Kelly Bell

By May 8, 1945, Adolf Hitler had been dead for more than a week. Germany was in the act of formally surrendering to the Soviets and the Western Allies, so occupying Red Army troops in the eastern German town of Brunn were not expecting to witness what may have been World War II’s last dogfight over Europe. Read more

Battle of Kursk

Michael Wittmann: How the Legendary Panzer Ace Died in World War II

By Christopher Miskimon

During the late morning of August 8, 1944, the day famed tank commander Michael Wittmann would meet his end in combat, German SS-Oberführer (Colonel) Kurt “Panzer” Meyer sat in his staff car as his driver made his way toward the town of Cintheaux, France, near the front lines. Read more

Battle of Kursk

Otto von Knobelsdorff: Panzer Commander

By Harry Yeide

While many in the English-speaking world have heard of Erwin Rommel and Heinz Guderian, few today know the name of Otto von Knobelsdorff, a German panzer general who commanded troops in battles every bit as pivotal as his contemporaries did, in quantity and quality, and who also fought against General George S. Read more

Battle of Kursk

The Red Army’s T-34 Tank: The Eastern Front and Beyond

By Blaine Taylor

In 1942, careworn Nazi Führer Adolf Hitler lamented to his military intimates at his Wolf’s Lair headquarters near Rastenburg in East Prussia, “If I had known that there were so many of them, I would have had second thoughts about invading!” Read more

Battle of Kursk

Night Jump into Tragedy

By Victor Kamenir

In August 1943, immediately after the Battle of Kursk, the Red Army launched a series of follow up operations, resulting in the liberation of a large swath of Nazi-occupied Soviet territory. Read more

On orders from Premier Josef Stalin, Red Army Marshals Georgi Zhukov and Ivan Konev raced to capture the Nazi capital of Berlin.

Battle of Kursk

Georgy Zhukov and Ivan Konev: The Race to Berlin

by Michael Haskew

On orders from Soviet Premier Josef Stalin, the offensive that resulted in the capture of the Nazi capital of Berlin in April 1945, developed into a race between the army groups of two Soviet commanders, Marshal Georgy Zhukov and Marshal Ivan Konev. Read more

From Around the Network

  • Racing through shellfire on the Eastern Front in 1944, a German courier on horseback attempts to deliver a message.

    WWII

    Warhorses—collateral casualties of WWII
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  • The secret expedition in November 1864 to rescue Confederate prisoners at Johnson’s Island collapsed when one of those involved in the plot alerted authorities.

    Military History

    Intelligence: Confederate Spies Used Newspapers to Communicate
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  • In another photo taken from a captured German camera, a soldier from the 18th Volksgrenadier Division, 5th Panzer Army examines scattered boxes and other items while scavenging through the camp of the U.S. 14th Cavalry Group.

    WWII

    The outcome of the Battle of the Bulge might have been very different—starting for some of us at home.
    Read More