Battle of Kursk

File:Санинструктор Анна Соколова перевязывает раненого на Орловско-Курском направлении 2.jpg

Starshina Anna Sokolova, sanitary instructor of an anti-tank battery of the 15th Rifle Division, bandages a wounded in combat soldier in the Orel-Kursk area as an 82 mm mortar fires in the background.

The Battle of Kursk was part of World War II, and was the largest tank battle in history. It was a German offensive on the Eastern Front in the summer of 1943. The objective was to cut off and destroy Soviet forces in the Kursk salient.

The Soviets anticipated the attack and prepared a defense in depth. Moreover, the Soviet air force had become the equivalent of the Luftwaffe and took a heavy toll on the attackers moving in open country. The battle was a decisive Soviet victory and the Germans were forced to go on the defensive until the end of the war.