• 2 months ago
For educational purposes

Examining how Hitler responded to defeat at Stalingrad by increasing Germany's mass production of tanks - leading to the largest clash of armoured vehicles in history at Kursk.
Transcript
00:00In a bid to regain military supremacy on the Eastern Front, Hitler demands no more retreats.
00:13Germany must move to total war with Russia.
00:16This can kill enemy tanks at over a mile.
00:22It must outproduce Soviet war industry.
00:26Amazing.
00:27Look at this.
00:28It's incredible.
00:30And achieve decisive technical superiority.
00:33This is tiger-sized.
00:35This is panther-sized.
00:36For Hitler, this is the tank that he's been dreaming of.
00:42This is the story of Germany's drive to total war, culminating in the biggest tank battle
00:48in history.
00:50This is industrial war.
00:53It's a giant clash of steel.
00:55The Battle of Kursk.
00:58Fire!
00:59The biggest construction projects of World War II, ordered by Hitler and Stalin.
01:09Now they survive as dark reminders of the Fuhrer's fanatical military ambition and
01:14the Russians' fight to defeat him.
01:18These are the secrets of the Nazi megastructures.
01:248th of July, 1943.
01:30Kursk, Western Russia.
01:33A lone German Tiger tank is hunting an enemy armoured column.
01:37T-34s are approaching from the north-east.
01:40Proceed in the direction of the railway junction.
01:44Twenty-year-old tank commander from Austria, Franz Staudegger, is responding to reports
01:49of a large formation of Russian T-34 tanks.
01:53Enemy sighted.
01:54Load armour-piercing shell.
01:55Fire!
01:56Direct hit.
01:57Enemy destroyed.
01:58But I think we found the rest of the company.
02:11For Staudegger, the fight is just beginning.
02:26Conflict archaeologist, Professor Tony Pollard, has travelled to south-western Russia.
02:31He's searching for evidence of the greatest tank battle the world has ever seen.
02:38There it is.
02:40Imagine the scene.
02:42It's winter now, but in July 1943, this landscape would have been covered with hundreds of tanks,
02:49Germans and Russians.
02:51This is ideal tank-fighting country.
02:56This would have been a scene from hell.
02:59Burning tanks, dying men.
03:05Warfare on the eastern front was brutal.
03:08And no more so than here.
03:11The Battle of Kursk is a tipping point in the war on the eastern front.
03:17The origins of this battle begin with a change of fortunes for Germany.
03:23Since launching their invasion in June 1941, the Germans made steady progress into Soviet
03:28territory.
03:30And by autumn 1942, they'd reached the city of Stalingrad.
03:34But there, the German 6th Army was surrounded by the Russians.
03:40And after months of bitter fighting, they're forced to surrender.
03:47More than 250,000 soldiers are killed.
03:51A further 91,000 are taken prisoner.
03:54It's a humiliating defeat for Germany.
03:58There is this feeling now that they are not just in a desperate struggle to win the war,
04:03they are in a desperate struggle to keep Germany alive.
04:08It's the first time that it dawns on them, begins to dawn on them, that they might actually
04:13lose this war.
04:21In Berlin, Hitler's propaganda minister, Josef Goebbels, publicly acknowledges the country's
04:26crisis for the first time, but declares there must be no surrender.
04:34Instead, he calls for total war with Russia.
04:55German armaments production severely lags behind the Soviets, who are outproducing them
05:00in tanks at a rate of four to one.
05:03So the entire German population is to be mobilized for war work.
05:08What they can expect is extreme hardship in the coming weeks, months, and possibly even
05:14years.
05:15No stone can be left unturned in this drive to increase armament output.
05:2517th of February, 1943.
05:29Hitler visits Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, one of his key commanders in the fight against
05:34Russia.
05:36After defeat at Stalingrad, German forces are in retreat.
05:41Manstein argues that instead of trying to hold ground, they should give up key positions
05:45and fall back even further.
05:47As Oberbischef, commander in chief of the army, I cannot consent to tactics that could
05:52lead to the loss of such a strategic stronghold.
05:54Yes, mein Führer, we will give up ground in the short term, but it will repay us handsomely
05:59in the long term.
06:03Here on the front, I simply must be able, based on my first-hand experience, to make
06:07my own operational decisions.
06:10One of Hitler's most experienced commanders, Manstein had been the architect of the plan
06:15to invade France in 1940, had tried to save the 6th Army at Stalingrad, and is among the
06:21few commanders Hitler respects.
06:24Very well, Field Marshal.
06:30We will prepare the forces as you suggest.
06:34Yes, mein Führer.
06:39This is quite a big moment because, of course, since December 1941, Hitler has been commander
06:43in chief of the army himself.
06:45But he recognises that he needs to hand over that control to someone who is better placed
06:51to deal with the increasingly dire situation in which they're finding themselves.
07:00Meanwhile across the Third Reich, the move to total war kicks into gear.
07:08German professor Alexandra Ritchie has come to the site of a former gunpowder and ammunition
07:12factory in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
07:20I'm really beginning to get an idea of what this place was like, how vast it was.
07:25Standing here, I can see one, two, three huge buildings.
07:41Amazing.
07:42Look at this room, it's incredible.
07:46Everything is reinforced.
07:47There are these huge rings in the ceiling, and these were part of the process of creating
07:54gunpowder.
07:55And what they would do is they would bring nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin combined
07:59at the very top, mixed together.
08:01And then the process was that they would come back down through the factory.
08:05And as you ended up toward the end of the factory process, gunpowder could be made.
08:13I love the way this building is full of little details that still exist.
08:17And look up there, you can see there are curtain rods still here.
08:20And those would have been to create blackout curtains, because this factory would have
08:24been working every day, all day, 24 hours.
08:27And so, of course, at night, you'd have to protect this site from air raids.
08:35So this just gives an idea of how much work was going on over the site.
08:39There would have been about 10,000 people working day and night, producing armaments.
08:44The workforce at Bydgoszcz includes some skilled German workers.
08:49But the majority are either Polish or Russian prisoners of war,
08:53or forced civilian labour from occupied territories.
08:57So it was a whole amalgamation of people, of slave labourers who were forced to come
09:01here and work under the most terrible conditions.
09:06It just gives a measure of the number of human beings who were put to work
09:10for this total war effort for the Third Reich.
09:14GUNPOWDER
09:18Nearly all of the gunpowder made here went to the Eastern Front.
09:22By May 1943, Bydgoszcz doubles its January figures for production.
09:28And across Germany, armaments output increases by 120%.
09:38GUNFIRE
09:44Back at the front line, and just six weeks after defeat at Stalingrad,
09:48Manstein's tactic of retreat then counterattack has had stunning success,
09:53driving the Russians back around 60 miles.
09:57Despite this, Hitler is increasingly worried about the overall size of Soviet forces.
10:04Their reserves are seven times that of Germany.
10:08Germany's got around 500,000 men, half a million.
10:11Soviet Union's got 3.4 million.
10:14This is ultimately a numbers game.
10:16And the new front line created by the German advance
10:19is overstretching already outnumbered German troops.
10:25There is now a huge salient, a bulge in the front line around the city of Kursk,
10:31stretching 160 miles from north to south.
10:35If they can eliminate the bulge, they'll shorten the German front lines,
10:40freeing up tens of thousands of German soldiers.
10:49On the 13th of March, 1943,
10:52German high command issues the Kursk battle plan,
10:56codenamed Operation Citadel.
10:59But if it's to work, Hitler needs a huge increase in arms,
11:05and more troops.
11:13March, 1943.
11:15The Rasputitsa rainy season arrives on the eastern front in Russia.
11:20SS tank commander Franz Staudecke and his crew get an enforced rest.
11:26I would enjoy it while you can.
11:29When the rain stops, we'll be facing the enemy again.
11:32And from what I've heard, the Reds heavily outnumber us.
11:42As operations pause,
11:44in Nazi Germany they're maximising military production.
11:48New weapons are needed for Operation Citadel.
11:51The plan to launch a massive attack against the Russians at Kursk.
11:55One of the first effects of this call for total war
11:58is this big jump in steel production.
12:00That huge increase in steel
12:02does mean they've got more resources to build more tanks.
12:07To Hitler, increased tank production is crucial
12:10if they're to stand up to one of the Soviet's most formidable weapons.
12:21And here it is.
12:23I've come to the outskirts of Moscow
12:25to see what one German general described as the finest tank in the world.
12:29And it's the T-34.
12:36If a tank could be described as beautiful,
12:39the T-34 probably qualifies.
12:42This example's been put on a plinth next to the freeway
12:45so people can see it.
12:47It's almost like a holy relic.
12:51When the Germans first capture a T-34 in 1941,
12:54they examine it very closely.
12:56They've never seen anything like this.
13:02It's got these lovely sloping lines,
13:04but they serve a very practical purpose.
13:07It's all about strengthening the armour.
13:10Because if you've got armour plate like that,
13:13yes, you've got the thickness of the armour
13:15and it may or may not stop an anti-tank round coming in,
13:18but if you slope it,
13:20that tank round has to go through a thicker section of that armour
13:25because of the angle.
13:30This is a very agile tank
13:32and that's to do with the wide tracks.
13:35That allows the weight of the tank to be spread over a wider area.
13:41The Germans are also impressed by the T-34's 76mm gun.
13:47This is a very powerful gun.
13:49And on the battlefield,
13:51it was capable of killing German panzers at very long range.
13:55A much longer range than the Germans could respond within.
14:02But the Germans now have a new killer tank of their own.
14:08Their answer to the T-34
14:10and the most destructive tank in their arsenal.
14:13There's no mistaking the profile of the Tiger tank.
14:19It's etched on my consciousness
14:21and it has been since I was a child.
14:23And I used to make models of them.
14:25And even from here, I can see the quality of the build.
14:30The welds at the corners.
14:33And look at the armour.
14:35It's...
14:37It's...
14:39It's...
14:41Look at the armour.
14:43It's got...
14:453.9-inch armour at the front and on the turret.
14:50But it's not just thick, it's really strong.
14:53It's nickel-steel plate.
14:56And early on, when it starts being used in action in late 1942,
15:01the Soviets in their T-34s are horrified
15:04to see their tank shells literally bouncing off the sides of Tiger tanks.
15:09And most impressive is the Tiger's devastating firepower.
15:14It's an 88mm barrel there.
15:17This can kill enemy tanks at over a mile.
15:24Nothing can get close to that.
15:26So if you want to kill one of these,
15:28you've got to come in very close because of the thick armour.
15:32It's probably killed you long before you get that chance.
15:39But thick armour and a big gun comes at a price.
15:44This is incredibly heavy.
15:46It's about 50 metric tonnes.
15:48It's not the most manoeuvrable tank in the world.
15:52The Tiger's weight is often too much for bridges or boggy ground,
15:56and if it gets stuck, it's hard to recover.
16:00It's also very expensive to make
16:02and can't be produced as quickly as other tanks.
16:05But it strikes fear into the hearts of Germany's enemies.
16:10For the Russians, this weapon was a monster.
16:17And for the Germans, the Tiger gives them a sense of invincibility.
16:22Germans have this superiority complex.
16:25Everything they build has got to be better than anyone else's.
16:29So this is the best tank in the world.
16:31In terms of look, engineering, size of gun,
16:35it is clearly a superior weapon.
16:45Mid-March 1943.
16:48Field Marshal Manstein and Hitler meet again.
16:51Manstein is buoyed by his recent success against the Red Army.
16:55If Army Group Centre strikes now at Kursk,
16:58I'm sure we will take it without any great difficulty.
17:02But time is of the essence.
17:07I cannot agree with you, Field Marshal.
17:09If we pour all our troops into an offensive at Kursk,
17:12we'll be leaving ourselves open to attack here.
17:18Wary of spreading German forces too thinly,
17:21Hitler wants to delay the attack at Kursk.
17:24Determined they should wait until more troops and tanks are available.
17:29Field Marshal, you know better than anyone
17:32that the enemy has an almost inexhaustible supply of committed troops,
17:36willing to fight to the death.
17:40My answer is final, Field Marshal.
17:45The attack will be put on hold.
17:49It's a critical decision.
17:51Operation Citadel is postponed.
17:58April 1943.
18:00New German tanks start to arrive on the Eastern Front.
18:05Tank Commander Franz Staudiger is in southwestern Russia.
18:09His company is awaiting delivery of brand new Tiger tanks.
18:21Men!
18:23They're here!
18:2510 cm thick armour and an 88 mm gun
18:28powerful enough to pierce a T-34 from 1,500 metres.
18:38The Tiger outguns the Russian T-34 tank
18:41and has stronger armour.
18:43But there's a problem.
18:46The Germans just can't make enough of them fast enough.
18:49It takes a lot of resource to build a Tiger tank.
18:52A lot of technical know-how and a lot of armour.
18:55And bringing it together just takes too much time.
18:59The Germans need a tank they can build more quickly than the Tiger
19:03but that can still beat the T-34.
19:06Their hopes rest on a new kind of tank being tested
19:10and rushed into production.
19:12The Panther.
19:19Conflict archaeologist Gavin Lindsay has come to Kummersdorf in Germany.
19:25Deep in a pine forest lie the scattered remnants
19:28of what was a vast German military facility.
19:32A place where the prototype Panther tank was tested.
19:41Wow, would you look at that!
19:49It's incredible.
19:51You have a massive concrete wall here
19:54set into the bank right at the end of this long avenue.
19:58This looks really promising indeed.
20:01Need a closer look.
20:10What a mega wall.
20:12This is some pretty heavy duty reinforcement in this as well.
20:16But it looks like it's taken quite a beating.
20:22Looking at these holes,
20:24they've clearly been made by large high-velocity impacts.
20:28Now we know when they were developing the Panther tank
20:31they were looking for a high-velocity gun.
20:34So one that could fire its shell on a flat trajectory
20:38at a high speed that could punch through
20:41the thick sloping armour of the T-34 tank.
20:46And there's evidence that this shooting range
20:50is designed specifically to test velocity.
20:53Now this is interesting.
20:55We've not come very far down the range
20:58and there's this concrete structure dug into the side of the bank.
21:08A small room.
21:12Empty, except for this.
21:14This small observation window
21:19that looks back out across the range.
21:25Further down the range is another similar structure.
21:32You've got two observation posts down the range.
21:35One here and one down there.
21:37You've got shells hurtling down this range
21:40at thousands of feet per second
21:42between the gun and the target.
21:44These two points let you measure the speed of those projectiles.
21:49That gives you muzzle velocity
21:51and high muzzle velocity is what you want to beat a T-34.
22:00Just as important as the tank's firepower is its mobility.
22:04At Kummersdorf, these different gradients of road
22:07are designed to ensure a new tank like the Panther
22:10can climb steep slopes.
22:20Yeah, now this here,
22:22this is an obstacle that's just made for track vehicles.
22:26Look, have a look at this.
22:30This kind of damage on the concrete,
22:32this is made by tracks.
22:34You see how it's just been scarred and scored out here?
22:38And look at the spacings of these patches.
22:42One here and one here.
22:44This is a really wide vehicle.
22:46We're talking big tanks.
22:48You know, this is tiger size, this is Panther size.
22:55You beat these obstacles,
22:57you've got a tank ready to take to war.
23:08Six weeks after Hitler delayed Operation Citadel,
23:11he calls a conference
23:13to decide whether it should now go ahead.
23:16But an expert in tank warfare,
23:18General Heinz Guderian and Field Marshal Manstein
23:22are at loggerheads.
23:26Field Marshal, you were always eager to strike early.
23:31I believe that if we were to strike now,
23:35our superior military prowess
23:37can still win the day.
23:40But every day that passes
23:42gives the Russians more time to prepare.
23:46The Tiger has proven its worth in the field,
23:49but the new Panther is an unknown quantity.
23:54Even if we succeed,
23:56the operation would result
23:58in heavy armoured losses we cannot afford.
24:01Nasrin.
24:03Very well.
24:05It would be foolhardy to take them on
24:07without further armoured reinforcements
24:09reaching the front line.
24:13Operation Citadel is again delayed.
24:16Hitler postpones Citadel in spring of 1943
24:19because he's put great store in these new tanks
24:22and he knows they're simply not ready at that stage.
24:26But the delay has consequences.
24:28The Soviets now have intelligence
24:30of German troop movements
24:32and are building a series of defensive lines
24:34around Kursk,
24:36designed to blunt the massive tank attack
24:38they know is coming.
24:43June, 1943.
24:45In Germany, the new Panther tank
24:47is rolling off production lines.
24:49But none have yet reached the Eastern Front
24:52and Hitler views this tank
24:54as vital to the success of the war.
24:56The new tank is vital to the success
24:58of the planned attack at Kursk.
25:02Historian James Holland
25:04has come for a close-up look
25:06at this much-anticipated tank.
25:08Well, just look at that
25:10when you're thinking about
25:12Panzers, German tanks of World War II.
25:14This is what you're thinking about.
25:16The Panther is just big and mean
25:18and scary and terrifying
25:20and it's got a massive gun.
25:22And this is high velocity,
25:25around 2,800 feet per second.
25:27That is seriously quick.
25:29One of the badges it has
25:31is this incredible sloping armour.
25:33This is a complete response
25:35to the Russian T-34
25:37and that is a massive strength.
25:39It's frontal armour there
25:41about three inches thick.
25:43Just look at the width of these tracks.
25:45They're absolutely enormous
25:47and you've got this incredibly complex
25:49interleaved road wheels underneath
25:51but that does give it incredible
25:53I mean, this tank, big as it is
25:55can go around 30 miles an hour
25:57which is pretty fast
25:59so you're getting that mobility that you need.
26:03And the added bonus of all this
26:05is that it's not as heavy as the Tiger tank.
26:07It looks as monstrous
26:09but actually it's substantially lighter
26:11and cheaper to make.
26:13So what you've suddenly got here
26:15for Hitler is the tank
26:17that he's been dreaming of
26:19and which he's hoping will deliver him
26:21a decisive victory against the Red Army.
26:29By July 1943
26:31the Panthers are ready.
26:35Mein Führer.
26:37It's the moment Hitler has been waiting for.
26:41Herr Feldmarschall, Fieldmarschall
26:43I have received news that new reinforcements
26:45of Panther tanks have finally reached the front line.
26:47The time to strike is now.
26:51You can tell your officers
26:53to prepare for Operation Citadel.
26:55This must be a turning point
26:57in the war.
26:59Yes, mein Führer.
27:01Operation Citadel finally gets the go-ahead.
27:07Around 2,500 tanks
27:09among them nearly 200 new Panthers
27:11move into position.
27:13Following them
27:15are 750,000 troops
27:17supported by artillery
27:19anti-aircraft
27:21and anti-tank guns.
27:23The force assembled for Operation Citadel
27:25at Kursk is pretty impressive.
27:27We're talking about 3 quarters of a million men
27:29but where it really kicks in
27:31is in the amount of tanks they've got.
27:33This is where total war
27:35is really starting to kick in.
27:39The plan is that the German army
27:41to the north of the bulge in the front line
27:43will attack at the same time
27:45as Manstein's larger army group south.
27:47They're to meet up
27:49trap and destroy
27:51the Russian army's court in the salient
27:53and turn the war in the east
27:55decisively back in Germany's favour.
28:01Fourth of July
28:03the day before the attack
28:05German confidence is high
28:07bolstered by the new Panthers
28:09and the superiority of their Tiger tanks.
28:11With such a weapon
28:13you warriors of Germany
28:15are able to crush the enemy.
28:17That's the message German soldiers
28:19have been given by their commanding officers
28:21on the eve of the Battle of Kursk.
28:29In the early hours of the 5th of July
28:31the attack begins.
28:33Spearheading the advance
28:35are the tanks.
28:41Among Manstein's southern army group
28:43is Tiger tank commander
28:45Franz Staudiger.
28:49Stay in the column
28:51and keep your eyes peeled.
28:53And along with the Tigers
28:55the new Panthers quickly demonstrate
28:57they're more than a match
28:59for the Russian T-34s.
29:01When it comes to tank-on-tank combat
29:03the Panthers really do prove themselves.
29:05The high-velocity gun,
29:07the sloping, thick armour,
29:09the mobility of the tank
29:11and the speed of the tanks
29:13make the new Panthers
29:15one of the best tanks in the world.
29:17The Panthers really do prove themselves.
29:19The high-velocity gun,
29:21the sloping, thick armour,
29:23the mobility.
29:25All of those are massive plus points
29:27and they really do seem to be incredibly effective.
29:41But in the confusion of battle
29:43Franz Staudiger's Tiger
29:45is separated from the rest of his company.
29:47After dark
29:49he sets out to rejoin them.
29:55Stop! Stop!
29:57There's one of our tanks
29:59blocking the road ahead.
30:09What the hell are you doing?
30:11I could have crashed into you.
30:15What are you doing?
30:19The tank commander
30:21is Russian
30:23and the tank in front of Staudiger
30:25is a T-34.
30:41Watch out!
30:43Tank in front!
31:01For his courage,
31:03Staudiger is awarded the Iron Cross
31:05First Class.
31:09For the Germans, Operation Citadel
31:11is going well.
31:13Their tanks making steady progress.
31:15But the Russians have
31:17fearsome surprises in store.
31:276th of July, 1943
31:29Day 2 of the Battle of Kursk.
31:33The Germans face fierce Russian resistance.
31:37But Field Marshal Manstein's
31:39tank of South,
31:41which has the majority of the Tiger tanks
31:43and all the new Panthers
31:45has advanced nearly 10 miles.
31:49It's the first time Panther tanks
31:51have seen action in battle.
31:53Their firepower is proving
31:55extremely effective.
31:57But there's a problem.
31:59They keep breaking down.
32:05So this is a Maybach engine.
32:07150 horsepower.
32:09It's incredibly powerful
32:11but also incredibly complex.
32:13And because of the hurry
32:15development of the Panther tank
32:17this was one of the inevitable
32:19problems that arose.
32:21It kept catching fire.
32:23A whole host of issues
32:25started to emerge.
32:27And the Panther's complexity
32:29means it's difficult
32:31to repair in the field.
32:33So the only way you can get
32:35And the truth of the matter is
32:37by the time of the Battle of Kursk
32:39in July 1943
32:41all those teething problems
32:43still haven't quite been ironed out.
32:45And as it's going into battle
32:47that's potentially a massive problem.
32:49The teething troubles are felt
32:51most keenly by the young men
32:53fighting inside these Panthers.
32:57Wow.
32:59What an amazing
33:01amazing thing to be doing.
33:03From the outside it looks enormous
33:05but once you're in here
33:07this is dark and small and cramped.
33:09And you can just only imagine
33:11how frustrating it must have been
33:13being a crew in one of these tanks.
33:15Great when it's working
33:17fantastic when it's on the move
33:21but when it breaks down
33:23oh my goodness.
33:25This is just not an easy beast
33:27to repair at all.
33:30And while they struggle
33:32with their tank's reliability
33:34the Germans are also discovering
33:36the Russians have built a vast array
33:38of defences to counter their attack.
33:47Tony Pollard is searching for evidence
33:49of these Russian fortifications
33:51which extend more than
33:53125 miles behind the front lines.
33:55Hang on a minute.
33:59Wow.
34:04I just spotted this
34:06stretch of concrete.
34:13There we go.
34:15Beneath the snow is the
34:17embrasure of a pillbox.
34:19I can see what's happening now.
34:21We've got a lot of
34:23concrete wall here
34:25well over a metre thick.
34:27The gun would have been inside
34:29the muzzle protruding through here
34:33aiming in that direction.
34:35And this feature here
34:37this step feature on both sides
34:39increases the field of fire
34:41because it means you can swing
34:43the gun in that direction
34:45but it means that there's only
34:47a small hole at the back
34:49which minimises the
34:51chances of a shot going in.
34:53But the most interesting point
34:55is what it's looking at.
34:57What's down there
34:59that's made them build this here.
35:07Now I've cleared the snow away
35:09from the pillbox
35:11different features start to make sense
35:13together.
35:15That linear feature over there
35:17the bank with the ditch with the trees
35:19growing in it is definitely
35:21an anti-tank ditch.
35:23And I love this, this is what I do
35:25putting these things together
35:27and this is a genuine example of something
35:29working really cleverly.
35:31Let's assume that the enemy
35:33probably tank and infantry
35:35come into this valley.
35:39Lead tanks would go up that slope
35:41and all of a sudden discover
35:43that there's a ditch on the other side of it.
35:45They stop.
35:47The result is
35:49that you will have tanks and infantry
35:51milling around
35:53trying to work out what to do.
35:55You've got chaos really.
35:57That's when this comes into play.
36:03What they are doing from here
36:05is enfilading,
36:07shooting into the side
36:09of all of those troops and tanks
36:11that are milling about
36:13in what has become a killing ground.
36:25And this is just a fraction
36:27of the labyrinth of defences
36:29constructed across more than 15,000
36:31square miles of the Kursk battlefield.
36:35Frenchies, tank traps,
36:37pillboxes, a staggering feat.
36:39And the Germans
36:41are going to have to get through that.
36:43They're going to have to fight their way
36:45through all of this.
36:47As well as the deep defences,
36:49the Russians outnumber
36:51German troops, artillery and tanks
36:53by almost three to one.
36:55And in scenes reminiscent
36:57of World War I,
36:59the Soviets are prepared to throw
37:01more and more men and machines
37:03into the fray, confident
37:05they can be replaced.
37:07As the battle continues,
37:09tank commanders like Franz Staudiger
37:11face seemingly overwhelming odds.
37:218th of July, 1943.
37:23As the Battle of Kursk rages,
37:25Tiger tank commander Franz Staudiger
37:27receives reports of a large
37:29enemy armoured formation.
37:31Command have just informed me
37:33there are 50 to 60 Soviet tanks
37:35approaching our line.
37:37We need to get moving.
37:43T-34s are approaching
37:45from the north-east.
37:47Proceed in the direction of the railway junction.
37:49Staudiger and his crew
37:51are completely alone.
37:53But he's so confident in his Tiger tank's
37:55unrivalled firepower,
37:57it's a gamble he's willing to take.
37:59Enemy sighted!
38:01Load armour-piercing shell!
38:03Stop!
38:05Aim and prepare to fire!
38:09Fire!
38:13Direct hit!
38:15Enemy destroyed!
38:19But I think we found
38:21the rest of the company.
38:23Prepare to fire
38:25on the front tank!
38:27Fire!
38:29Direct hit!
38:31Reload!
38:33Aim at the rear!
38:35Fire!
38:39Incoming round!
38:41Raise!
38:43Prepare to fire in quick succession!
38:45Fire!
38:47Staudiger's Tiger
38:49takes out tank after tank.
38:51Fire!
38:55They are in modern parlance
38:57what's called a force multiplier,
38:59because you're getting Tiger tanks
39:01and you're knocking out
39:03six, ten, fifteen, twenty
39:05T-34s.
39:07Incoming round!
39:09Raise!
39:11And the Tiger's thick armour lives up to the hype.
39:13Staudiger's tank is hit
39:15sixty-seven times
39:17with little damage.
39:21Ammunition low!
39:23Prepare to disengage!
39:25Get us back to base!
39:27At the end of the day's action,
39:29Staudiger's Tiger has knocked out
39:31twenty-two T-34s.
39:33He receives
39:35the Knight's Cross for his exploits,
39:37one of Germany's highest honours.
39:39And a few days later,
39:41he's ordered off the battlefield
39:43to meet Hitler.
39:49Six days into the battle,
39:51Manstein's army have destroyed
39:53hundreds of Russian tanks
39:55with few losses.
39:57The mood is euphoric.
40:01The might of the German army
40:03cannot be thwarted.
40:05Our superior armour,
40:07troops and battlefield tactics
40:09have beaten through
40:11their last defences.
40:13The way to Kursk is open.
40:19Manstein believes he's on the brink
40:21of a famous victory.
40:25On the 12th of July, 1943,
40:27the biggest tank battle
40:29on a single battlefield
40:31takes place,
40:33close to the town of Prokhorovka.
40:35The German tanks
40:37are again outnumbered,
40:39more than three to one.
40:43Hordes of Soviet tanks
40:45charge towards the Germans
40:47and the German tanks
40:49are outnumbered.
40:51The Soviet tanks charge
40:53towards the Germans
40:55and it's always seen as kind of both sides
40:57knocking ten bells out of each other
40:59but in actual fact, the Russians are slaughtered.
41:03The Germans lose hardly any tanks at all.
41:05It is completely one-sided.
41:09Russian losses are horrendous.
41:11Close to 200 tanks
41:13in a single day.
41:17The Germans lose just five.
41:20Yet the Russians aren't finished.
41:22Even on this day when the Germans
41:24are knocking out vast numbers of T-34s
41:26to the south of Kursk,
41:28to the north, the Red Army
41:30is launching a massive operation
41:32with over a million men
41:34and three and a half thousand tanks.
41:36For the Germans, it just seems
41:38it doesn't matter how many times
41:40they shoot them down, knock down the Red Army,
41:42they just keep on coming.
41:46To Hitler, it seems the Russians
41:48keep rising from the dead.
41:50And worse,
41:52he now faces a new threat in the south.
41:54In July 1943,
41:56British and American forces
41:58land in Sicily.
42:00There is now a real danger
42:02that Hitler's ally, Italy,
42:04will be overcome.
42:06It forces Hitler to make a complete U-turn
42:08in strategy.
42:10Field Marshal,
42:12I need to withdraw units from the east.
42:15But I have troops standing by to take Kursk.
42:19Breaking off the action now
42:21would be throwing away victory.
42:24That is my final decision.
42:28You will prepare to withdraw forces
42:30from the front line.
42:34Hitler perceives
42:36a greater strategic threat
42:38to Germany from the south.
42:40And when the Allies invade Sicily,
42:42that is far closer
42:44to Berlin than distant Kursk.
42:50Operation Citadel
42:52is cancelled.
42:54At Kursk, the Germans have lost
42:56almost 57,000 men
42:58compared to nearly 178,000
43:00Russian losses.
43:02But they still fail in their objective.
43:06Field Marshal Manstein
43:08is dismissed by Hitler in March 1944.
43:10After the war,
43:12he is sentenced to 18 years
43:14for war crimes,
43:16but released after four.
43:18He dies in 1973.
43:22Tank ace, Franz Staudiger,
43:24survives the war
43:26and becomes an insurance salesman.
43:28He dies in 1991
43:30at the age of 68.
43:34The Battle of Kursk
43:36witnessed total war
43:38and devastating action.
43:40Despite superior technology,
43:42the Germans were overwhelmed
43:44by sheer numbers
43:46and the Russian will
43:48to sacrifice whatever it took
43:50to drive them back.
43:52Nazi Germany will never again advance
43:54on the Eastern Front.
43:56It's the beginning of the end
43:58for the Third Reich.

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