202 B - Prokhorovka: An Avalanche of Armor - WW2 - July 13, 1943

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  • Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
  • As dawn broke on 12th July 1943, the spearheads of the German II SS Panzer Corps and the Soviet 5th Guards Tank Army were shuffling into their positions. The battle of Zitadelle was entering a pivotal moment. Would the elite of the German Panzers finally achieve a breakthrough into open country? Or would the might of the Soviet Tank Army break them in a pre-emptive attack? The battle and fate of Operation Zitadelle was to be decided in front of a small village called Prokhorovka.
    Special thanks to Jason Shafer, pattygman46 and QuinnTheSpin for their support during this episode's premiere
    Join us on Patreon: bit.ly/WW2_202...
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    Check out our TimeGhost History RUclips channel: / timeghost
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    Hosted by: Indy Neidell
    Director: Astrid Deinhard
    Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
    Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
    Creative Producer: Marek Kamiński
    Community Management: Ian Sowden
    Written by: Indy Neidell and Markus Linke
    Research by: Markus Linke
    Map animations by: Daniel Weiss
    Map research by: Sietse Kenter
    Edited by: Miki Cackowski
    Artwork and color grading by: Mikołaj Uchman
    Sound design by: Marek Kamiński
    Colorizations by:
    Norman Stewart - oldtimesincolo...
    Daniel Weiss
    Mikołaj Uchman
    Source literature list: bit.ly/SourcesWW2
    Archive footage: Screenocean/Reuters - www.screenocea...
    Image sources:
    Bundesarchiv
    mil.ru
    IWM AYY 496/2-1
    Soundtracks from Epidemic Sound:
    Brightarm Orchestra - On the Edge of Change
    Johan Hynynen - Dark Beginning
    Max Anson - Darkness Closing In
    Dream Cave - Choirs of War
    Jo Wandrini - To War!
    Max Anson - The End is Nigh
    Jon Bjork - Sparring Partner
    Cobby Costa - Missing the Subtext
    A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.

Комментарии • 1,1 тыс.

  • @WorldWarTwo
    @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +176

    Join the TimeGhost Army: bit.ly/WW2_202B_PI
    We're only able to do double episodes like this, which really cover the war comprehensively, thanks to the resources provided by all of you in the TimeGhost Army. Join now so we can take on this war in ever more detail!

    • @rosaguevara9766
      @rosaguevara9766 2 года назад +1

      Is this the vreat tank battle?

    • @Yamato-tp2kf
      @Yamato-tp2kf 2 года назад +1

      And this is the tank battle that created the the legend of the German tank ace Wittman

    • @robertjarman3703
      @robertjarman3703 2 года назад +5

      Fields of Prokhorovka
      Where the heat of battle burned
      Suffered heavy losses
      And the tide of war was turned
      Driving back the Germans
      Fighting on four fronts
      Hunt them out of Russia
      Out of Soviet land

    • @Shauma_llama
      @Shauma_llama 2 года назад +1

      I've gone back to my keyboard and writing code, sending messages, and resisting the urge to be overly-dramatic in my messages. Still pumped up. One wonders about the emotion on the Soviet side that next morning. They lived through a titanic struggle, they stopped the Germans in their tracks, and the Germans are withdrawing. This summer will not see the Nazi armies rampaging across the Russian countryside. Now, they drive the narrative, they call the shots!

    • @oasis1282
      @oasis1282 2 года назад +2

      My great grandfather was killed during the advance to Orel

  • @eleanorkett1129
    @eleanorkett1129 2 года назад +844

    The TimeGhost army, with this episode, outdid even your best selves. Your ability to describe such a battle with such clarity is indeed an achievement. Prokhorovka lives on in memory as one of the most horrific armored battles of all times and enabled the Russians to take and hold on to the initiative until the end of the war. Bravo for great work.

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +112

      Thanks @Eleanor Kett! There isn't another group out there who do things quite like Indy and our production team do 🙂

    • @CrasusC
      @CrasusC 2 года назад +49

      Like Andy has pointed out before, “Soviets”, not “Russian”, as the Russians only accounted for slightly more than half of the manpower of the Red Army.

    • @cde9952
      @cde9952 2 года назад +4

      Technically it was a series of battles but yeah

    • @francomundkowsky4913
      @francomundkowsky4913 2 года назад +7

      But your source is outdated. IT is the narrativ of the sowjet victory. The german armor losses where only 5 Tanks compared to more than 100 of the soviet side. They lost them on there on tank Tranch. This Was no battle, this was a sloughter.

    • @Nickleby-je4qd
      @Nickleby-je4qd 2 года назад +5

      @@francomundkowsky4913 actually I haven't heard any mentions of "soviet victory" by Indy. Although the definitions of victory may be different. The most common is battlefield possession, but sometimes it's about objectives done. So neither side at Prokhorovka could claim victory clearly. Germans didn't break through and retreated, the soviets have lost a lot of tanks, but overall situation looks more like soviet victory, I think. There are a lot of myths about the eastern front. Soviet Army (in 1943 it's not Red anymore, hah) achieved enough victories besides this popular battle. There is no need to invent them

  • @HelloFutureMe
    @HelloFutureMe 2 года назад +302

    I don't often comment, but I want you to know how much this channel has become a part of my regular schedule. Thanks for all your work!

    • @theamici
      @theamici 2 года назад +10

      same here, always look forward to my saturday history time

    • @Game_Hero
      @Game_Hero 2 года назад +8

      Too bad there's no bending in these wars. Imagine a channel like this on the wars of the fire nation.

    • @jadonberg9364
      @jadonberg9364 2 года назад +13

      Always strange seeing the weird crossovers of interest here

    • @midnightstudio3742
      @midnightstudio3742 2 года назад +10

      It's wild to see Tim here of all people. A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one...

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +18

      I am a RUclips comment bender

  • @uncleeric3317
    @uncleeric3317 2 года назад +745

    Indy’s storytelling is riveting. I’m sure he has a time machine he uses to witness the events firsthand.

    • @lawrencesmeaton6930
      @lawrencesmeaton6930 2 года назад +29

      Ha, anyone who was there first hand would have had no idea what was going on until a week later.

    • @TheEvertw
      @TheEvertw 2 года назад +5

      And a high-altitude spy plane to get an overview of what is happening... Or perhaps a satellite.

    • @jonny-b4954
      @jonny-b4954 2 года назад +1

      @@TheEvertw But then you would lose the on the ground perspective. You must do both! And more!

    • @Briguy1027
      @Briguy1027 2 года назад +1

      He is my favorite narrator of this channel.

    • @TheEvertw
      @TheEvertw 2 года назад +2

      @@Briguy1027 no fair!
      The various sub-channels use different styles on purpose, Indy narrates events like it is a football match which would be wholly inappropriate for for example the WaH.

  • @enricototi5906
    @enricototi5906 2 года назад +480

    Indy's narration was brilliant as usual. Taking part to this battle must have felt like the whole world was coming to a crushing end

    • @siddharthbirdi
      @siddharthbirdi 2 года назад +41

      This battle must have felt truly apocalyptic.

    • @MrNicoJac
      @MrNicoJac 2 года назад +19

      For most, it probably truly did

    • @chrisstucker1813
      @chrisstucker1813 2 месяца назад

      The swan song of the ss. This was their peak and also their end; the three Germanic sister divisions fighting side by side and leaving it all out on the battlefield. Their performances in this battle are simply outstanding.

  • @elbeto191291
    @elbeto191291 2 года назад +260

    ​It feels like I'm witnessing history being made. Even after 79 years have passed. Thank you team!

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +28

      thanks for watching with us @elbeto191291

  • @CatNostril
    @CatNostril 2 года назад +304

    The surprise B episodes will always be my favourites!

    • @marcustulliuscicero.5856
      @marcustulliuscicero.5856 2 года назад +4

      He told there would be two parts😂

    • @CatNostril
      @CatNostril 2 года назад +23

      @@marcustulliuscicero.5856 goldfish memory brings a lot of nice surprises 😁

    • @marcustulliuscicero.5856
      @marcustulliuscicero.5856 2 года назад +2

      @@CatNostril 😂

    • @putlerkaputt9201
      @putlerkaputt9201 2 года назад

      1945 last april week might even have episodes c and d

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +5

      Thank you Cat! Stay tuned for more action every single week

  • @johnmayfield7662
    @johnmayfield7662 2 года назад +371

    I haven't 'sat on the edge of my seat' ever in my life. We all know how this offensive ends, but just seeing how close the German were to achieving strategic victories during the offensive has really captivated the audience.
    Of course the amazing writing and the passionate performance by Indy coupled with the delicately crafted maps , animations and cut outs seals this as one of the best and most documentaries on this battle that i have ever seen.
    This is better than all tv style documentaries out there.

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +36

      Thanks so much @John Mayfield

    • @TukozAki
      @TukozAki 2 года назад +28

      Indeed -- though the Soviets had prepared this to such a point that nothing the Wehrmacht could do would have been able to achieve more than a tactical victory. But yes, amid all the work at hand, here the selection of quotes (from both sides) and their narration makes for a truly amaaazing moment, documentary and memory. ty Markus, ty Indy.

    • @507764CAT
      @507764CAT 2 года назад +22

      I wouldn't really say they were close to a strategic victory at all. It was almost an operational victory, but even if they achieved an encirclement of that force south of Prokhorovka, it's unlikely they could have actually cleared that pocket with the extreme pressure on their flanks. With Model's withdrawal in the north of the Kursk salient, Manstein's southern force was pissing into the wind.
      With all that considered, even if the Germans had cleared the pocket, nothing would have changed at a strategic level. Model would still be in retreat. Manstein's forces would be bogged down clearing the pocket while the Soviets would be filling the gap with the reserves they still possessed. Manstein's remaining forces were exhausted, disorganized, depleted, and what little strategic surprise they had was gone.

    • @billcarruth8122
      @billcarruth8122 2 года назад +7

      The farther into Russia the Germans got the worse their logistics situation became. The bigger the battles the more they fell behind in terms of attrition. Paying too high a price for victories left them vulnerable to counter attack. German military accomplishments were pretty impressive if you look at them individually, but with the complete lack of a global strategy none of this was ever going to work. Russia is so immense that they have always been able to count on their number one ally to join the battle before being totally over run, namely winter.

    • @chrisstucker1813
      @chrisstucker1813 2 года назад +2

      Prokhorovka was basically “the operation was a success but the patient died” from the German perspective lol. The three Germanic SS divisions were kicking ass during this battle.

  • @steverennie5787
    @steverennie5787 2 года назад +161

    These last two episodes detailing the Battle of Kursk has been riveting and enthralling... thanks so much for putting in so much work! Its great!

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +10

      Glad that you have enjoyed them @Steve Rennie, thanks for watching with us!

    • @kinglars2280
      @kinglars2280 2 года назад

      @@WorldWarTwo your Battle of Kursk has many details. really cool. thank you.

  • @tokencivilian8507
    @tokencivilian8507 2 года назад +89

    This is truly one of your best episodes ever. Incredibly well done Indy. Incredibly well done. Kudo's to the entire Time Ghost Team.

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +2

      Thank you Token Civilian. The TimeGhost Army makes it all possible

  • @Kay2kGer
    @Kay2kGer 2 года назад +163

    Fields of Prokhorovka
    Where the heat of battle burned
    Suffered heavy losses
    And the tide of war was turned

    • @The_Devil_Himself
      @The_Devil_Himself 2 года назад +28

      Driving back the Germans
      Fighting on four fronts
      Hunt them out of Russia,
      Out of Soviet land

    • @Broken-bj8ly
      @Broken-bj8ly 2 года назад +20

      Reinforce the front line
      Force the axis to retreat
      Send in all the reserves
      Securing their defeat

    • @elkingoh4543
      @elkingoh4543 2 года назад +17

      Soldiers Soviet Union, broke the Citadel!
      Ruins all the armies, Axis rest in Hell!!

    • @rbgerald2469
      @rbgerald2469 2 года назад +1

      @@elkingoh4543 ...The end of the Third Reich grows near,
      Its time, has come to an end!
      The end of an era is here,
      It's time; to attack!!!

    • @elkingoh4543
      @elkingoh4543 2 года назад

      @@rbgerald2469 😂😂😂😂🤣

  • @zali13
    @zali13 2 года назад +28

    Truly gripping storytelling, good sir. Bravo! You stripped away all the BS of authors like Franz Kurowski and replaced them with the sheer horror of war where steel and fire turn metal and meat into so much red mist and charred remains.

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +8

      Thanks @Zali! This war is brutal and terrifying and that is how we are going to tell it

  • @Supergforce777
    @Supergforce777 2 года назад +6

    The fact that both these nations have this much equipment after years of fighting each other is scary and awe inspiring

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +3

      @Supergforce777 Very good point!

    • @davidblair9877
      @davidblair9877 Год назад

      Indy & co. did a special on the war economies of the belligerents in WWII (and WWI before that). The numbers are jaw-dropping. As an example, in 1941 the U.S. spent 1.4 percent of GDP on defence. In 1942, that figure jumped to 45 percent. Not 4.5 percent, *45* percent. I don’t even want to think how much war materiel the States could produce today with that kind of spending-or how thoroughly it would wreck the rest of the economy.

  • @quinlanels8503
    @quinlanels8503 2 года назад +27

    My great grandfather was in this battle as a Stuka pilot, he always told my grandmother. “They where always ready, they slaughtered our comrades on the ground.” This hits different 😬😔

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +8

      Thank you for sharing about your great grandfather. May he rest in peace

  • @troystaunton254
    @troystaunton254 2 года назад +7

    It honestly never ceases to amaze me how often cities that were pivotal battlefields in WW1 are mentioned time and again in ww2. Perhaps because I listen to the Great War and between 2 wars and ww2 week by week episodes from start to finish and after a month of music start again it piques my interest how I can here something about a city where 50,000 were killed in ww1 and then here about that same city in ww2 having another intense battle. It really show cases how rough it was in some places of the world for well over 50 years.

    • @bangscutter
      @bangscutter 2 года назад +4

      And now in 2022, the same cities of Belgorod and Kharkiv appear in war again, albeit at a much smaller scale. But still, for history buffs watching documentaries like this and also following current news, it's unsettling for the same places to come up again in conflict.

  • @MikeJones-qn1gz
    @MikeJones-qn1gz 2 года назад +117

    When an unstoppable force meets an immovable object… I was thinking about this battle starting the other day and all I could picture apart from the tanks was the constant stream of casualties into the medical stations on both side, the worst kind of wounds, gunshots, blown limbs, shrapnel wounds, burns…

    • @paulonelson8368
      @paulonelson8368 2 года назад +18

      Seing the pictures of Russian tankers on the Ukranian war of today really shows how tanks can become a steel caldrons

    • @cde9952
      @cde9952 2 года назад +19

      It is a moving metal box full of ammo basically.

    • @canadious6933
      @canadious6933 2 года назад +7

      @@georgecristiancripcia4819 Everyone talks about the immense manpower of the Soviet Army. But what boggles my mind is how they got the guns and ammunition for so many soldiers so quickly after such huge losses of material in 1941. The lend lease acts must have been larger than some claim

    • @frankiefierro7129
      @frankiefierro7129 2 года назад

      @@paulonelson8368 Even during the (Ongoing) Syrian civil war, tanks without infantry support are just steel coffins

    • @thexalon
      @thexalon 2 года назад +6

      @@canadious6933 Remember: Amateurs study tactics, professionals study logistics. And the fact is that in 1941, what they didn't lose was the ability to produce more materiel or draft more troops. Also, they're fighting on their own territory, which gives them an advantage in moving stuff to where it's needed.

  • @oOkenzoOo
    @oOkenzoOo 2 года назад +53

    On July 12 1943 at 8 a.m., the GC3 "Normandie" fighter group, made up of French airmen fighting alongside the Soviets, was engaged in the Operation Kutuzov, on the Orel salient. Fourteen pilots redeploy to the Khatenki airfield (55 km southwest of Kaluga). Their mission is to escort Pe-2 bombers for an attack on the German lines.

    • @ДмитрийМоскалец-щ8ю
      @ДмитрийМоскалец-щ8ю 2 года назад

      What is this GC3 "Normandie"? I know about the 1st Normandy Fighter Aviation Regiment

    • @oOkenzoOo
      @oOkenzoOo 2 года назад

      ​@@ДмитрийМоскалец-щ8ю The Groupe de Chasse n°3 or GC3 (Figther Group number 3) Normandie, founded on 1 September 1942 in Lebanon, was a Free French fighter group that fought on the eastern front within the 303rd Air Division of the Soviet 1st Air Army.
      At first it was only made of 14 pilots, 39 mechanics and 6 liaison officers, all volunteers. Later by the end of winter 1943, it will be reorganised into a regiment and, until June 1944,will increase in strenght and size up to 4 squadrons of 58 pilots flying on Yak9 and later Yak3 fighters.
      The regiment was awarded by decision of Marshal Stalin, in his September 1944 order of the day (which only reaches them on 28 November), the right to bear the name of Niemen for its participation in the battles of the Niemen River during the East Prussia campaign. Thus was born the Normandie-Niemen fighter regiment.

    • @ДмитрийМоскалец-щ8ю
      @ДмитрийМоскалец-щ8ю 2 года назад

      @@oOkenzoOo Why Fighter Group No. 3? If this is the Normandy fighter squadron as part of the 18th Guards Fighter Regiment? On July 5, 1943, the squadron was transformed into the 1st separate Fighter Aviation Regiment "Normandy". On November 28, 1944, the regiment was awarded the honorary name "Neman". The regiment's date of birth is July 5, 1943, not November 28, 1944. Order on conferring the honorary title of November 28, 1944 No. 0384. In September, they did not assign the name "Nemansky"

    • @oOkenzoOo
      @oOkenzoOo 2 года назад

      ​@@ДмитрийМоскалец-щ8ю A "Groupe de Chasse" (abbreviated as GC) is the French language term for "fighter group" or "fighter wing". More literal translations include "pursuit group" (the US term for fighter groups prior to 1942) and "hunting group" (similar to the German language Jagdgruppe or JG). It may include one to four squadrons, each of which comprises 10-12 aircrafts. Normandie was GC3 because it was the 3rd Free French GC formed at that time, GC1 was Alsace (created in september 1941 in Lebanon) and GC2 was Île-de-France (created in october 1941 in Great Britain). GC3 Normandie was formed on 1 September 1942 in Lebanon by order of General de Gaulle to fight in Russia.
      Indeed, Normandie was first assigned to the 18th Guards Fighter Regiment of the 303rd Air Division of the Soviet 1st Air Army. On 5 July 1943, Normandie received 12 new Yak9 fighters which allowed the creation of a 2nd squadron. Normandie became then a separate force in the 303rd Air Division, outside of the 18th Guards Fighter Regiment. However it was only in 29 December 1943 that Normandie gained the official status of Fighter Regiment R (R for Russian) with 4 squadrons.
      The name "Niemen" as i said, was awarded by Stalin to the Normandie regiment first in his order of the day in september 1944.... however it was only until 28 November 1944 that the news reached the Normandie regiment itself and it was then they started to use the famous Normandie-Niemen name.
      At least that's what the sources i have at hand say.

    • @ДмитрийМоскалец-щ8ю
      @ДмитрийМоскалец-щ8ю 2 года назад +1

      @@oOkenzoOo Thanks for the explanation. I did not know the history of the Normandy-Neman regiment before the USSR, although I conducted an inspection of it. On July 5, 1943, by order of the General Staff of the USSR Air Force,
      the Normandy group became "The first separate fighter aviation
      regiment of "Fighting France"". The commander of the Normandy regiment was
      Major Pierre Pouillade. The senior commander of the squadron "Rouen" became
      Lieutenant Gerald Leon and squadron "Le Havre" Captain Didier Begi. Maybe for France and on December 29, 1943, it became a regiment, but in the USSR - on July 5, 1943. I have already written that on November 28, 1944, by order of the Supreme Command No. 0384, the Normandy regiment was awarded the honorary name "Nemansky". If you have other information, please provide links. I was looking at an electronic document.

  • @Gszarco94
    @Gszarco94 2 года назад +39

    This is possibly the most dramatic episode so far, love it. Also, Indy's narration is impeccable, as always.

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +4

      Thank you GS Zarco! We appreciate it

  • @LLopes
    @LLopes 2 года назад +65

    AMAZING episode. This was, dare I say it, the best so far. It is yet another legendary clash between industrial powers like those we saw in WW1. I hate to say this, but I'm a sucker for this. I know about the loss of life, but I cannot deny that it is a spectacle.

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +24

      @Mídia Insana It is certainly gripping in both the awe it inspires and its awfulness. We are lucky to have the luxury of viewing it from so far away!

  • @kim-jong-poon
    @kim-jong-poon 2 года назад +1

    Of all the history channels on all of the RUclipss the Time Ghost history channels are by far the best.

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +1

      Kim Thank you for watching. We also have the best audience

  • @rafaeldiazsanchez
    @rafaeldiazsanchez 9 месяцев назад +5

    Dear algorithm, please choose this video every time somebody search for "Kursk battle" or something like that, a human watched it, and it is damn good.
    Yours truly

  • @abdullahmoiz8151
    @abdullahmoiz8151 Год назад +1

    This is one of my favorite episodes, Indy's storytelling is on another level

  • @mrnobody5669
    @mrnobody5669 2 года назад +38

    When I joined in on this series, Greece was still resisting the Italian invasion and Germany was only plotting its plans in the USSR. Chamberlain had just passed.
    I can hardly believe that now it's Italy that's being invaded, and Germany's Barbarossa plans feel like distant dreams. It's been such a pleasure to follow the war with you guys, it helped to feed an interest in history that I never knew I had. Thank you for your continued work. I hope I can join the Timeghost army before 1945. If the war lasts that long anyway ;) I guess we'll have to see.

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +3

      Thank you for your support watching. Join the TimeGhost Army whenever you're able, and til then tell your friends! www.patreon.com/join/timeghosthistory

  • @jonathanmcalroy8640
    @jonathanmcalroy8640 2 года назад +12

    How the hell do you create an episode like that? Beautifully written and told by Indy as though he were reciting a play. How do you do that? Amazing map work Sietse and Daniel, take the rest of the year off! Well done and thank you!

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +5

      @Jonathan McAlroy Thank you so much for your kind words! It takes a lot of work from a lot of experienced and talented people to put these together, and there is no way we'd be able to do this (I mean at all, never mind extra episodes like this!) without the support of the TimeGhost Army, so thanks to all of you out there too!

    • @danielweiss7396
      @danielweiss7396 2 года назад +1

      Haha Thanks! :)

  • @gunman47
    @gunman47 2 года назад +122

    Been waiting for this extra B episode for a while, a welcome surprise. Prokhorovka reminds me of the many matches I had when playing in the map of the same name in World of Tanks...

    • @gatling216
      @gatling216 2 года назад +4

      It’s one of my favorite maps, but I never seem to win in German tanks for some reason.

    • @pnutz_2
      @pnutz_2 2 года назад +4

      so good they made a special version with more tanks and explosions and planes flying around

  • @luispt77
    @luispt77 2 года назад +52

    Indy's narration is simply astonishing. Yet, we will never be able to grasp the sheer scale and horror of this battle. It must have been a spectacle and hell that no one could ever describe. Most likely (and hopefully) the biggest and most ferocious battle in human history.

    • @dubya85
      @dubya85 2 года назад +3

      There are some really good first hand account books from the battle out there. The artilery in particular was absolutely devastating

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +5

      Luis Thank you for watching

  • @goldenageofdinosaurs7192
    @goldenageofdinosaurs7192 2 года назад +16

    Thank you, Marcus-This was fantastic work!
    And, as always, Indy, thank you for all the work you do👍

  • @jacobnewell7845
    @jacobnewell7845 2 года назад

    I love the opening commercials you've added. They're perfectly designed period pieces

  • @guillermosobernesspeare6066
    @guillermosobernesspeare6066 2 года назад +21

    Today´s script transmited a lot of emotion, really liked it.

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад

      Thank you for watching, guillermo. Stay tuned for more every week

  • @LoneWanderer727
    @LoneWanderer727 Год назад

    I cant even imagine the sheer awe of the battle at Kursk. One tank is impressive. Several are intimidating. But hundreds...upon hundreds...with thousands of artillery guns and dive bombers raining hell on the battle field. The pinnacle of humanities technological progress massed for one purpose - war.

  • @stevekaczynski3793
    @stevekaczynski3793 2 года назад +10

    4:16 - minor note on uniform detail - Rotmistrov is wearing a sort of transitional garment common in the Red Army in 1943. An M1935 tunic (turndown collar) updated in line with the new uniform regulations introduced at the start of the year by having the Tsarist-style shoulder boards attached.

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +1

      Thanks Steve, great background info.

  • @christophergunn7322
    @christophergunn7322 2 года назад

    Hats off to Markus - smashing prose in this episode!

  • @indianajones4321
    @indianajones4321 2 года назад +40

    Did not expect a part B, awesome

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +1

      Thank you for watching as always Doctor Jones

  • @Marcus-cv9gr
    @Marcus-cv9gr 2 года назад

    one of the best episodes, absolutely nuts

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад

      Thank you for watching, Marcus

  • @vojtechslezak4553
    @vojtechslezak4553 2 года назад +3

    Thanks for the episode.
    As always, it was too short but thats somethink i have been complaining since 1914 :D
    But you guys are stil the best World Wars chanel ever. Thank you and Carry on.

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +1

      Thanks so much @Vojtěch Slezák! We will carry on until the very last bullet is fired, and probably even beyond that

    • @vojtechslezak4553
      @vojtechslezak4553 2 года назад

      @@WorldWarTwo when the last bullet is spent we will fix bajonets and charge to glory.

  • @triveonscb855
    @triveonscb855 2 года назад +8

    This is undoubtedly THE BEST episode in this series so far. So great to see Indy and team out performing themselves every time. The sheer depth of this battle couldn't have been put into words any better. Take a bow everyone🙏

  • @CrimsonDragon15
    @CrimsonDragon15 2 года назад +46

    At Stalingrad the Russians broke the German's greatest army. At Kursk they broke their ability to make major offensives. The initiative has been passed. The Russians have turned the tide.

    • @Palora01
      @Palora01 2 года назад +9

      The Germans broke them selves into the Soviet wall. At the start of Barbarosa the Axis could launch a continent wide attack, after it could only attack on one third towards Stalingrad, after that it could only mount a provincial assault at Kursk and after this they were done for good, unable to do much more than throw their forces in hopeless delaying counterattacks around individual cities.

    • @serdradion4010
      @serdradion4010 2 года назад +3

      Couldn't be done without the American help in the Operation Torch, and the British and Free French in North Africa.

    • @neuromancer886
      @neuromancer886 2 года назад +20

      @@serdradion4010 Its funny whenever Soviets manage to do something there's always someone to bring up Lend-Lease but no one mentions that D-Day/Falaise/Ardennes went better for the western allies since the Soviets had bled the Wehrmacht dry. When faced with hardcore Eastern front units as in Caen/Market Garden even western allies had to pay a heavy price in blood.

    • @serdradion4010
      @serdradion4010 2 года назад

      @@neuromancer886
      Lend-lease is minor contribution.
      Main one is that American landing in Op.Torche overturned the French to the Allied side, creating Free French, concentrating the half a million force in the North Africa, joint with the British.
      They redirected reserve hardened Axis troops from the Eastern Front to the North Africa.
      Finally, there was captured around 250.000 hardened Axis troops, with the around 250 tanks, 200 planes destroyed,
      much fuel, ammo and Italian ships.
      If all that went to the East, it would not be that easy for the Soviets.
      Again, history repeated at the D-day, when tank divisions went to the France instead to the East.
      War was decided by Allied heavy bombers, unstoppable bunch.
      So, just Allied side was more numerous than the Axis one.

    • @lycaonpictus9662
      @lycaonpictus9662 2 года назад +7

      @@serdradion4010 There was absolutely nothing minor about lend-lease. By war's end 2/3 of all the vehicles doing the logistical heavy lifting for the Red Army were supplied via lend-lease. The massive Soviet offensives that destroyed the German army simply would not have been possible without them. That the Soviet Union was getting most of the vehicles it needed through lend-lease also meant that more of it's factories could be churning out things like tanks or airplanes instead of needing to be retooled to produce trucks. In short, it also meant thousands more Soviet tanks and aircraft.
      That's just one area where lend-lease was absolutely vital, but it often gets overlooked because amateur military buffs are often bored by logistics (even though it's more often than not the single most important factor that determines the outcome of campaigns or wars) and because we've had more than half a century of the Soviet/Russian state pushing forth a national myth that the Soviet Union could have won the war without the Western Allies.
      Here is what Zhukov, someone who presumably knew a thing or two about what contributed to Soviet successes, had to say about lend-lease: "Now they say that the allies never helped us, but it can't be denied that the Americans gave us so many goods without which we wouldn't have been able to form our reserves and continue the war...We didn’t have explosives, gunpowder. We didn’t have anything to charge our rifle cartridges with. The Americans really saved us with their gunpowder and explosives. And how much sheet steel they gave us! How could we have produced our tanks without American steel? But now they make it seem as if we had an abundance of all that. Without American trucks we wouldn’t have had anything to pull our artillery with."

  • @BarringtonDrive
    @BarringtonDrive 2 года назад +1

    Thanks, Markus!

  • @gunman47
    @gunman47 2 года назад +34

    This week in July 1943, there are not one, but five video games (Call of Duty: United Offensive, Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, Medal of Honor: Breakthrough, Medal of Honor: Airborne and even Mafia II) that have missions starting this week in either Sicily or near Kursk. This post will focus on the levels *Ponyri* and *Kursk* , as well as *Sicily 1 & 2* from the 2004 video game *Call of Duty: United Offensive* that takes place on July 11 1943 and July 12 1943 respectively in Kursk and Sicily.
    As *Private Yuri Petrenko* in the *Ponyri level* , you will first capture a German held train station as well as the rest of the town. Afterwards, you will assault a tank depot and clear it of German resistance.
    Next in the *Kursk* level, you will use your T-34 tank as part of a tank group to destroy several PAK anti-tank guns that are on the route, as well as clear buildings of anti-tank infantry. Soon enemy Panzer IVs and Tiger tanks will appear, which will need to be eliminated as well. This level is somewhat similar to the tank levels in Call of Duty 1.
    At the same time as *Sergeant James Doyle* in the *Sicily 1 & 2 levels* , you will first destroy a lighthouse with explosive charges and get into the base unnoticed through a hole in the wall. You will next destroy the Comms Station to prevent German reinforcements and set charges on enemy guns. Once back on the surface, you will get in a Kubelwagen and make your escape to a Kriegsmarine patrol boat before the explosives on the guns explode.

    • @TruetoCaesar
      @TruetoCaesar 2 года назад +6

      That bike chase with Doyle was awesome

    • @elbeto191291
      @elbeto191291 2 года назад +4

      You're doing God's work man!

    • @gunman47
      @gunman47 2 года назад +4

      @@elbeto191291 Thanks man, there will be more posts on the regular episode this Saturday as the rest of the posts are on Sicily itself.

    • @enixbluerain7213
      @enixbluerain7213 2 года назад +4

      The tank battle featured in this episode, at the bridge of the River Psel, is also the tank battle level in Call of Duty: United Offensive.

    • @GeneralSmitty91
      @GeneralSmitty91 2 года назад +3

      Those Kursk levels in United Offensive were intense

  • @russbrown6453
    @russbrown6453 Год назад

    Brilliant story telling! I was biting nails. Incredible. Eastern front; the most savage battle of all time!

  • @alexhussinger3550
    @alexhussinger3550 2 года назад +15

    Honestly, if you look at the relative casualty numbers, the Germans did astoundingly well at Kursk. Their losses in tanks and heavy guns were something like a quarter of that of the Soviets, but by this point in the war, that is still a winning ratio for the Red Army, especially with the looming threat of the new Italian and potential Western Front opening up.

    • @dubya85
      @dubya85 2 года назад +1

      Yep

    • @lycaonpictus9662
      @lycaonpictus9662 2 года назад +7

      The Germans did very poorly at Kursk. They achieved almost none of their objectives and failed to achieve the decisive breakthrough, the entire point of the campaign. Moreover the impact of the defeat, along with the invasion of Sicily by the Western Allies, was that the strategic initiative was ceded permanently to the Allied powers. It all but assured that Germany's defeat in the war would be total.
      Germany did have some tactical successes, but strategically Kursk was a dismal failure from start to finish and the Germans were at no point close to victory.

    • @dpeasehead
      @dpeasehead 2 года назад +5

      @@lycaonpictus9662 And their losses at Kursk prevented the Germans from being able to effectively respond to ANY of the long planned series of Soviet summer offensives.

    • @stevekaczynski3793
      @stevekaczynski3793 2 года назад

      It is likely that for example the Russians lost more troops in the 1812 campaign than the Grande Armee, not counting civilian losses which were also extensive. But at the end of the day the Grande Armee was virtually destroyed and Napoleon was on borrowed time. Napoleon's reluctant allies, the Prussians and Austrians, went over to the Russian side.

    • @UltraTotenkopf
      @UltraTotenkopf 2 года назад +4

      *this is not true, since the Wehrmacht and the Red Army adopted different methods for calculating losses in personnel and equipment; I will give an example if the tank of the German tank battalion was seriously damaged and is under long-term repairs in the repair units, then it is not considered as lost in the Red Army with the same option, the tank will be considered lost because of this, in many historical Western publications, the losses of the Red Army are not correctly considered and this has often been speculated on lately! This is where the fantastic number of Red Army tanks lost as a result of the Great Patriotic War comes from. Western analysts voice the number of damaged tanks that were repaired and were recorded as lost in tank units, but do not voice the number returned to service after repair!*

  • @MrPedroleiria
    @MrPedroleiria 2 года назад

    Amazing. It really described what absolute hell this battle was.

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад

      António Thank you for watching

  • @radishinglad998
    @radishinglad998 Год назад +4

    5 months later this is still one of absolute favorite episodes. Kursk kind of gets overshadowed in the story of the Eastern Front compared to the harrowing stories of Stalingrad or Leningrad.
    All of this hellish fighting and truly unimaginable horror in what seems to be a pretty normal village in Russia. Imagine living in that little town and watching the crux of mass armored warfare crash on the place you have called home.

  • @randomlyentertaining8287
    @randomlyentertaining8287 2 года назад +2

    Ahh, the greatest tank engagement of the largest tank battle in human history. I'd like to point out that the Battle of Prokhorovka was not the largest tank battle it's often claimed to be. The Battle of Brody in 1941 was larger. However, when it's stated that the Battle of Kursk is the largest tank battle in military history, it's referring to the entirety of the events of July 5 through August 23 and the overall Battle of Kursk is bigger than Brody by nearly to over double (Brody - 4,250 tank involved, Kursk - over 8,000 during Operation Citadel alone, 10,600 during the Soviet counter-attack)

  • @kronos5014
    @kronos5014 2 года назад +7

    Hello Indy and Crew. First of all I love your Show and am thrilled everytime you release a new Video. Only this specific Video left me with a few Questionmarks floating around.
    I spent some time learning about Prokhorovka (purely out of curiosity) in the past and had up to this day, a in some ways different Picture of this Battle, shortly summarized by the following statements:
    1. Only the Action on July 12th is considered to be this "Battle of Prokhorovka" not the Combat of the following Days (Though i would like to state that i am by no means unhappy that you covered this as well)
    2. The Battle on July 12th was not a battle of encounter (?) (The German Term would be: Begegnungsschlacht) but the Soviet Forces attaced a somewhat surprised German Force who had intendet to enter combat much later in the day and therefore weren't prepared for a fight. They managed to beat back the soviets anyways due to bad preperation on the side of the soviets.
    3. During this Combat on July 12th the German SS-Units had only minor casualtys in stark Contrast to the soviets who had a verry high deathtoll that day.
    I'd love to hear your Opinion (or of course the Opinion of the Comment Section) on this matter.
    Keep up the geat Work and Greetings from Bavaria Kronos
    Ps. Most of what i have learned about Prokhorovka so far is based on the Work of Dr. Roman Töppel. A german Historien who spent a lot of his time reaserching the Battle of Kursk and who has devoted a lot of time and effort into dissolving the "Myth" of Prokhorovka as he calls it. Just in Case someone is wondering.

    • @Mortrag
      @Mortrag 2 года назад +3

      Yeah it is disappointing, that this channel also fell in the myth-trap.

    • @randallturner9094
      @randallturner9094 2 года назад +1

      This was disappointing. :/

    • @capajo02
      @capajo02 2 года назад

      I thought I was the only one who was very confused here. Glad some others commented with concerns.

  • @GeneralSmitty91
    @GeneralSmitty91 2 года назад

    An excellent part two to Kursk, the elaborate poker game between Vatutin and Manstein is a fascinating element. The savagery of this battle was insane.

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад

      Benjamin Thank you for watching

  • @TheSciuzzo
    @TheSciuzzo 2 года назад +6

    Part B? Oh you sure know how to spoil us Indy.

  • @mohammedsaysrashid3587
    @mohammedsaysrashid3587 2 года назад

    Thanks Time Ghost Army for Sharing These wonderful Videos

  • @blitzcrieg101
    @blitzcrieg101 2 года назад +7

    I've heard that Kursk was the biggest tank battle, I just didn't know it was this insane. Armies just losing everything they've been taught and flat out blast eachother, point blank, completely effecting the vision and sound of the area at a very high level. Words can't describe it

    • @andrejg4136
      @andrejg4136 5 месяцев назад +1

      I'm almost 40 and have consumed a lot of documentary material around WW1 and 2. How Europe still exists is a minor miracle, to be honest. Almost the entire first half of the 20th Century was like the Gates of Hell itself opening.

  • @caryblack5985
    @caryblack5985 2 года назад

    Dramatic and exciting presentation of the battle at Prokhorovka.

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад

      Thank you for watching and fielding questions in the comments as always, Cary.

  • @ferdinanddelasalle8006
    @ferdinanddelasalle8006 2 года назад +6

    For the whole show a good episode. But one important part of the battle was not told. Rotmistrov´s Tanks oversaw a big own buildt trench tank an lost hundreds of tanks running into this trench. They were an easy target for german tankers and antitank weapons.

  • @Free-Bodge79
    @Free-Bodge79 2 года назад +2

    Amazing work as always. Brilliant stuff. Thanks you guys 💯💛💛👍

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад

      Thanks for watching with us @Jonathan Bartrop

  • @Maple_Cadian
    @Maple_Cadian 2 года назад +7

    Cue the Asiatic Horde myths, Clean Wehramcht myth and Wehraboos.

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад

      @David Liu Sadly as soon as an event becomes a mythic event of the war, as with battles like this, it will get co-opted into propaganda. We will keep fighting those dark historiographies here and on WAH

  • @scipioafricanus6417
    @scipioafricanus6417 2 года назад +3

    While I really do appreciate the extra episodes, and this one was presented with Indy's usual enthusiasm and story-telling, I can't help but feel disappointed.
    For a 17min episode about an individual battle, something you rarely cover, there wasn't much information about actual maneuver and tactics. More "the division secured or fought for this area" and less vague and unprecise remarks about how fierce the combat was; too much subjectivity.
    The flowery language, while sometimes useful in the regular episodes to close the week, isn't suited at all for serious historical presentation. The comparison between SS panzers and their crews with knights fighting forces of nature is more than borderline German propaganda, even though not intended.
    There was also little effort to nuance the battle's image. Except for pointing out its relative strategic pointlessness, you didn't try to downplay the typical German and Soviet narratives about the battle: losses were faaar lower than claimed by each side and the Soviets didn't charge mindlessly (which you didn't claim directly, but didn't actively refute either).
    I hope the real estimated losses are elaborated on next Saturday.
    The rest of the Kursk coverage has been cool though!
    The episode about the order of battle should have gone a little more into detail about what exactly the relatively new Soviet Tank Armies and Germa Waffen SS corps are, as those haven't been vey prominent until now.

  • @joachimbatke7396
    @joachimbatke7396 2 года назад +5

    If you read the 2017 book from Dr. Roman Töppel, "Kursk" , or watch his lecture about this battle in den german tank museum in Munster (can be found on youtube), he gives a complete different view about this battle. The SS Panzerkorps lost a total of 5 tanks on this day. There were a lot of tanks destroyed , but Indy was clever enough not to tell how many where lost by whom. A lot of soviet books written by generals form this battle claimed that the german panzerkorps had lost hundreds of tanks, but the documents in the archives tell a different story.

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +4

      @Joachim Batke I'll paste an answer given by Indy to a similar comment here and also point out that the latest popular (published) analyses do not necessarily overturn all of the historiography that has gone before. Indy - "I get ya. But it’s true- it is not possible to know how many tanks each side lost. There are too many wildly differing primary sources. The newest claims are that the SS Panzers lost just five- but that’s destroyed- they absolutely had many dozens disabled, out of action, or out of gas. And Of course the Soviets lost way more as they always do. I tend to usually agree with David Glantz on numbers, who’s good at downplaying hype, so check out his Battle of Kursk for details that seem to me to be likely closest."

    • @randallturner9094
      @randallturner9094 2 года назад +1

      @@WorldWarTwo well, even Glantz, whose writing generally favors the Soviet version, credits the Germans with a 9:1 advantage at Prokhorovka.

  • @elijahnelson8139
    @elijahnelson8139 2 года назад +1

    This may be my favorite episode

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад

      Glad you enjoyed it @Elijah Nelson, thanks for watching with us!

  • @ShigaWSX
    @ShigaWSX 2 года назад +7

    I don't know about you guys, but this episode has been the most intense one so far. Indy's way of narrating the battle(s) is simply capturing. I've even had goosebumps all the way through.
    This episode is one to remember. Thank you.

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +1

      Thanks for your kind words and for watching with us @Qu Bird

  • @davidr1037
    @davidr1037 2 года назад +1

    Great episode

  • @nemiw4429
    @nemiw4429 2 года назад +7

    Stall in Grad.
    Stall = "Slow down"
    In = "in"
    Grad in English = "City"
    Should have seen that comming. Literally says your gona "stall in this city".

  • @jsma9999
    @jsma9999 2 года назад

    thank you, Marus for work

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +1

      Thanks for watching with us @james m

  • @macleunin
    @macleunin 2 года назад +7

    Man, no one can beat Indy’s narration of the ferocity of battle, I stayed on the edge of my seat the whole time!

  • @ageingviking5587
    @ageingviking5587 2 года назад +1

    Great stuff as always Indy. Thank you!

  • @bobmetcalfe9640
    @bobmetcalfe9640 7 месяцев назад +3

    God help us, there's a lot of purple prose in the story of that tank battle.

  • @garynew9637
    @garynew9637 2 года назад

    Great story telling. Excellent!

  • @c.8276
    @c.8276 2 года назад +3

    Germans had lost 35 tanks, Soviets - more than 300 in that battle.

  • @Conn30Mtenor
    @Conn30Mtenor 2 года назад

    This is my favorite lecture on Kursk- the second half gives an excellent overview and comparison of tank production by the belligerent nations by Jonathan Parshall (who cowrote the best history available on the Battle of Midway).

  • @3DiversionsDeep
    @3DiversionsDeep 2 года назад +4

    I have been to the german tank museum in Munster yesterday, and was completely overwhelmed seeing the tanks there. These machines are truly massive and intimidating. I can't imagine what such a mass of them must've been like.

  • @AkiraNakamoto
    @AkiraNakamoto Год назад +2

    15:23 Actually Vatutin didn't have more machines/tanks to throw into the fray. The Soviet also had exhausted its tank reserve according to their military records made public after 1991 Soviet's collapse. This explains the reason why Vatutin could not chase Mainstein when Germans were in "the most dangerous of all military maneuvers - the withdrawal from a hopeless position, while in direct contact with the enemy." Vatutin was equally hopeless at the moment.

  • @schroedingersdog7965
    @schroedingersdog7965 2 года назад +6

    17:27 за родину = "za rodinu" = "for the motherland"
    A brilliant presentation! Many thanks!

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад

      Thank you Schroedinger's Dog!

  • @grahamgilbert4883
    @grahamgilbert4883 2 года назад +2

    Highly entertaining and fairly reliable, although I think it rather over-emphasises the periods of close tank contact. Russian tank losses were several times those of the Germans. But it is very doubtful, due to pressures elsewhere, that even a breakthrough at Prokhorovka would have ultimately led to a strategic victory for the Germans. Looked at in the light of Manstein's altered objective of reducing Soviet tank reserves, Prokhorovka could be seen as a tactical success.

  • @Nintendo0994
    @Nintendo0994 2 года назад +3

    Did anyone else notice the fly on Indy's left shoulder at 16:13 ?

  • @siem8254
    @siem8254 2 года назад

    man indy the way you tell the story! amazing its so good i could imagen being above the battlefield and seeing it all happen. love your and the whole teams work keep on going

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад

      The whole team appreciates your kind words, Siem. Stay tuned, much more to come.

  • @Reddy_Santhosh_
    @Reddy_Santhosh_ 2 года назад +8

    Finally Panzerkampf

    • @stryker214
      @stryker214 2 года назад

      The end of the third Reich draws near
      Its time has come to an end
      The end of an era is here
      Its time to attack

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +1

      Thank you for watchingm Reddy

  • @paulroberts4446
    @paulroberts4446 2 года назад +1

    Loved it. Great job. Well Done

  • @cademaverick1285
    @cademaverick1285 2 года назад +6

    I love every pic I see of Vatutin lmao. Just a jolly general.

  • @diedertspijkerboer
    @diedertspijkerboer 2 года назад +2

    Spoiler: panzer division das Reich would later commit the Oradour massacre, Leibstandarte AH the Malmedy massacre, while Totenkopf was probably the most most brutal of the three. It consisted mostly of former concentration camp guards and would commit, among others, the Le Paradis massacre.
    Their leader, Paul Hausser survived the war and the post-war trials and kept insisting that the SS was an apolitical organisation...
    Never forget that we're dealing with murderers here. But then again, the whole war that Germany fought was, of course, one big murder campaign. We just don't call a military campaign a massacre, or a genocide.

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +1

      Thank you for watching, Diedert

  • @Punkska4
    @Punkska4 2 года назад +8

    I got money on Germany winning 5-4 in overtime

    • @Edax_Royeaux
      @Edax_Royeaux 2 года назад

      It's a messy debate as to who won Prokhorovka. You might not see any money for the next thousand years.

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад

      😬

  • @thomasteneyck5670
    @thomasteneyck5670 2 года назад

    It was well worth the wait. I'm a big fan of Time Ghost and Eastory. Thank you

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +1

      Thank you Thomas! We're still big Eastory fans, but now our maps and animations are done in-house by Sietse and Daniel. Give them big props, they're busting their asses. Stay tuned my friend

    • @thomasteneyck5670
      @thomasteneyck5670 2 года назад

      Wow. I apologize for my ignorance. Mad respect to your map team. They are doing an excellent job. I really appreciate the presentation of your content on all of your channels. I've learned a great deal. My favorite part is the chronology. On regular media, I couldn't put together, that all these parts of history were going on at the same time. You all really paint a mural on a massive scale, of how crazy and insane it was in that time. So Thank You.
      Also, maps are my thing period. I can kill it in trivia or jeopardy thanks to time ghost.
      Much love

  • @jayjones7891
    @jayjones7891 2 года назад +5

    This episode is simply a masterpiece. I cannot express the gratitude I have in the work you guys have done. Growing up, we were never taught in school this much detail about WW2, the battles, the strategies, the people outside of the national leaders/generals than what you guys have put together.

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +2

      Jay thank you for your support. Stay tuned for even more coverage

  • @metarus208
    @metarus208 2 года назад

    Thanks for a separate one on Prokhorovka. Wish you had done a separate one for July 5th, when the offensive started rolling on both sides of the Kursk salient.

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад

      Thank you for watching

    • @Southsideindy
      @Southsideindy 2 года назад

      We did- the deployment special that covered the entire deployments in early July before the battle.

    • @metarus208
      @metarus208 2 года назад

      @@Southsideindy Wanted a separate one just covering the events on and immediately before July 5. Like you did for Barbarossa apart from the deployment, which I love. Hope you can do for August 5 for the fall of both Orel and Belgorod as a part of Operation Kutuzov and Rumyantsev

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад

      Except for simply not having the time, there is one thing that ties our hands in creating major special projects like this one- getting the funding to actually be able to produce it.
      It is highly unlikely that we could raise the hundreds of thousands of Euro to do a project like this one on Bagration (or Kutuzov and Rumyantsev) for example. People who are interested in and study the war know of it, but the mainstream audience doesn't, and to raise the kind of money needed we'd have to have a project that appeals to the mainstream.
      There's also the point that covering the events of a single day plays into our chronological narrative, while Bagration covers weeks, as do many other such "highlights" of the war. Any big special project needs a format, a "packaging" that works, and a hook- for D-Day it's easy; it's 24 hours of coverage. But what would it be for Bagration?
      As for doing a huge Stalingrad something or other- that's big enough in people's minds, but it would've had to begin being worked on back in January (at least), and by then we had just finished the Pearl Harbor Minute-by-Minute, so realistically we wouldn't have been able to get the financing for a new special project together so quickly.
      Also, after working 70 hour weeks on Pearl Harbor for months, nobody on the team was in any shape to dive into a new extra workload on top of the regular content work straight away.
      Because that is the reality of it: any special project we do is indeed extra, and is done on top of the work we do with the regular content, which is well over 40 hour weeks as it stands. We still plan on doing all sorts of specials and extra regular episodes and things like that for all major events of the war, so it's not like we're actually leaving something out.

    • @metarus208
      @metarus208 2 года назад

      @@WorldWarTwo My apologies. I did not intend to crib. Rather a wish that time and money were available to you guys in abundance. I greatly enjoy what you guys do and that's why I support you guys on Patreon. Looking forward to August for the liberation of Orel, Belgorod and Kharkov. And soon the liberation of Smolensk and Kiev.

  • @Vanukass
    @Vanukass 2 года назад +23

    Thank you for your great work with this series! This episode was intense.
    Also greetings from Finland. At this time of the war, I guess our soldiers were mainly still manning the trenches along our border with soviets, waiting to see which side would prevail.

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад

      Vanukass Thank you for watching 🇫🇮

  • @samzeyt730
    @samzeyt730 Год назад +1

    When the snatched German soldier told the soviets about the kursk attack coming the next day and Zhukov decided to surprise them with a preemptive strike at their start time. Did that artillery barrage hinder the Germans strike plans or do any damage at all?

  • @TheSlazzer
    @TheSlazzer 2 года назад +3

    strapping gasoline barrels to the side of one's tank actually isn't much of a risk, at least according to trusted tanker Chieftain. Maybe you could consult him and clarify in a "chair of infinite wisdom" episode :D

    • @Raskolnikov70
      @Raskolnikov70 2 года назад

      @@captainhurricane5705 Molotovs are made with a fuel + thickener that allows it to stick to what you throw it at, versus plain fuel which runs off like water and goes out fairly quickly. Not as effective as they're typically shown in Hollywood movies but they do work if you hit the vehicle in the right spot.

  • @finscreenname
    @finscreenname 2 года назад

    Another great job as always Indy!! 👍👍

  • @epictetusepictetus5033
    @epictetusepictetus5033 2 года назад +5

    Rudolf von Ribbentrop, son of minister Ribbentrop was awarded Iron Cross for destroying number of Soviet tanks at Prokhorovka.

  • @oliversherman2414
    @oliversherman2414 2 года назад

    I love your channel keep up the great stuff!

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад

      Thank you Oliver! We love you too. Stay tuned for more every week

  • @matteoorlandi856
    @matteoorlandi856 2 года назад +24

    INTO THE MOTHERLAND THE GERMAN ARMY MARCH!

    • @Duke_of_Lorraine
      @Duke_of_Lorraine 2 года назад +13

      In the Soviet Union, summer 1943
      Tanks lined up in thousands, as far as the eye can see

    • @angeledduirbonesu1989
      @angeledduirbonesu1989 2 года назад +9

      Ready for the onslaught
      Ready for the fight

    • @jakobnuernberger94
      @jakobnuernberger94 2 года назад +7

      Waiting for the Axis
      to march into the trap

    • @j.e.clockwork3058
      @j.e.clockwork3058 2 года назад +4

      Mines are placed in darkness
      in the cover of the night
      Waiting to be triggered
      When the time is right

    • @ivvan497
      @ivvan497 2 года назад +3

      Imminent invasion, imminent attack
      Once the battle started
      There’s no turning back

  • @Westkane11
    @Westkane11 2 года назад

    I almost can't believe, that we have reach the point, there Germany have lost all of it moment towards the USSR. Great work guys.

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад

      Thank you for watching. Stay tuned for more

  • @teto85
    @teto85 2 года назад +5

    80 years later and turrets of Soviet built tanks are still blasting off meters into the air.

    • @a.t1313
      @a.t1313 2 года назад

      And Nazis are still being evicted from Ukraine

  • @TheEvertw
    @TheEvertw 2 года назад

    This is gripping stuff!

  • @perihelion7798
    @perihelion7798 2 года назад +5

    Wow! Terrific job, Marcus! At the risk of appearing obsequious, the narration of this episode was awesome.
    What a joy it is for me to watch these videos. They bring alive events 80 years in the past. Remarkable.
    War is not a video game, where you respawn when killed. Death is permanent. Injuries last a lifetime.
    Hell on Earth near Prokhorovka. Kudos to all on this one. Thanks so much.

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад

      Perihelion Thank you for your always kind words of support. See you next time my friend

  • @genekelly8467
    @genekelly8467 2 года назад +1

    After this, every German general knew the war was lost-there was no way that Germany could replace their losses in this futile battle. Too bad the generals didn't have the guts to remove Hitler then-millions of unnecessary deaths would not have happened.

    • @Spiderfisch
      @Spiderfisch 2 года назад +1

      Killing hitler would not make a difference as the allies only accepted unconditional surrender

    • @francesconicoletti2547
      @francesconicoletti2547 2 года назад

      They tried. It turns out Generals are very bad a killing people.

  • @gianniverschueren870
    @gianniverschueren870 2 года назад +2

    This te is SHINY! Feel like I have to wear sunnies for this one. 4/5

  • @piarpeggio
    @piarpeggio 2 года назад +4

    Been waiting and hyping up this episode in my head ever since this series began. All that expectation and you guys still managed to deliver. Thank you so much!

    • @WorldWarTwo
      @WorldWarTwo  2 года назад +1

      Piarpeggio We know you've been looking forward to it! Thank you for joining us & please stay tuned

  • @bowsewr7074
    @bowsewr7074 2 года назад +1

    This week of 1943 is the birthday of my 1943 Willys MB. My grandpa sold it to me for a single dollar for me to restore it. Making progress. Miss you grandpa

  • @Ben-fk9ey
    @Ben-fk9ey 2 года назад +4

    This must be the pinnacle of the show and your narration Indy, absolutely enthralling!

  • @gwyn.thomas
    @gwyn.thomas 2 года назад

    Oh my gawd that was an exciting episode, I just thank my lucky stars I wasn’t there.

  • @lapurta22
    @lapurta22 2 года назад +30

    A case can be made that this was the most pivotable battle of the entire war. There could easilly be one or two more episodes devoted entirely to this battle.

    • @PalleRasmussen
      @PalleRasmussen 2 года назад +12

      Nah, it would have made no difference. After Stalingrad at the latest, Germany had lost the war. I would argue that they lost with the Stop order during Fall Gelb.

    • @102ndsmirnov7
      @102ndsmirnov7 2 года назад +1

      @@PalleRasmussen I wrote a very similar comment on a past video lol. There is only one truth after all.

    • @MrPedroleiria
      @MrPedroleiria 2 года назад +1

      Not gonna lie, I am a bit disapointed they didn't do like Pearl Harbour and have a special in colaboration with World of Tanks.

    • @Aethelhald
      @Aethelhald 2 года назад +9

      That case can't be made. Kursk wasn't pivotal. It was massive, it was apocalyptic, but it wasn't pivotal. The sheer concentration of Soviet forces was such that even if Germany had somehow won the battle they would've paid too high a price for the victory and the subsequent advance wouldn't be sufficient to deal any kind of a real blow to Russia, then the Russians would spend the winter replenishing their forces for the next campaigning season while Germany simply couldn't do that anymore and now they're facing a second (Italy) AND a third (France) front opening up the following year.
      Much is made of the battle of Kursk but ultimately the fact is that it just wasn't all that important, except that it probably shortened the war a little because Germany squandered their last truly significant concentration of armour and air power attacking an extremely fortified enemy that outnumbered them in everything AND knew exactly when and where they were going to come.

    • @parallelworldsguy
      @parallelworldsguy 2 года назад +4

      @@Aethelhald After Stalingrad German military victory was no longer possible but Soviet victory was not assured. There could have been a long draw on the battlefield (as there basically was between Stalingrad and Kursk) leading to a negotiated cessation of hostilities on the Soviet front. After the Soviet victory at Kursk, German defeat was assured and a negotiated peace became out of the question.

  • @bluesteel8376
    @bluesteel8376 2 года назад

    Love the bonus episode. Great content as always!

  • @elveheim
    @elveheim 2 года назад +3

    Like