The Panzers of Prokhorovka: The Myth of Hitler’s Greatest Armoured Defeat

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Then everything changed, for the Soviet commanders had launched this vast number of tanks downhill towards German positions, forgetting that across the hill lay an anti-tank ditch, dug previously by their own forces. Prokhorovka, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union 51°2′11″N 36°44′11″E / 51.03639°N 36.73639°E / 51.03639; 36.73639 The 33rd Guards Rifle Corps was part of the 5th Guards Army, which was transferred from the control of the Steppe Front to the Voronezh Front on 8 July ( Glantz & House 2004, p.323). Of the army's two corps, only this one was present on the battlefield of Prokhorovka ( Glantz & House 2004, p.167). The other corps – the 32nd Guards Rifle Corps – was deployed further west, in the battlefield near Oboyan ( Clark 2012, p.230). The foundation of the myth of Prokhorovka was the need of the commander of the 5th Guards Tank Army, Lieutenant-General Pavel Rotmistrov, to explain the heavy losses suffered by the army under his command to Stalin, who was not well-known for a tolerant attitude to bad news. Zamulin, Valeriy (2017). Прохоровка. Неизвестное сражение Великой войны[ Prokhorovka: The Unknown Battle of the Great War] (in Russian). Moscow: Yauza. ISBN 978-5-906716-63-7.

The Panzers of Prokhorovka, by Ben Wheatley The Panzers of Prokhorovka, by Ben Wheatley

Stein, Marcel; Fairbank, Gwyneth (2007). Field Marshal von Manstein: The Janus Head. Solihull, UK: Helion & Company. ISBN 978-1-906033-02-6.

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In that sense, this book is not a “book”. It is an extremely detailed analysis of the evidence to support his argument. Whilst convincing, and no doubt authoritative, it has the feel of a thesis, more than a book. It pays limited attention to the wider strategic issues affecting the battle, the history and context leading up to the battle and does not offer the reader much in the way of analysis in command structures, intent, tactics and logistics. Bauman, Walter (1998). Kursk Operation Simulation and Validation Exercise – Phase II (KOSAVE II) (Report). Bethesda, MD: US Army Concepts Analysis Agency. Archived from the original on 20 June 2013. – A study of the southern sector of the Battle of Kursk conducted by the US Army Concepts Analysis Agency (under the US Army's Center for Strategy and Force Evaluation) and directed by Walter J. Bauman, using data collected from military archives in Germany and Russia by The Dupuy Institute (TDI).

Full article: Citadel, Prokhorovka and Kharkov: The Armoured

It was certainly one of the greatest tank battles of the war, but the claim that it was the greatest has been challenged by American historian David Glantz and Russian historian Valeriy Zamulin. Both have argued that the Battle of Brody, in June 1941, involved more tanks, and was of greater importance, putting an end to Hitler’s hopes of defeating the Soviet Union in a short war. If ever there was a time for a sober, authoritative dissection of the myths the Soviets fashioned from the Eastern Front, it is now.' - Oliver Moody, Berlin Correspondent for The Times Glantz, David M. (September 1986). "Soviet Defensive Tactics at Kursk, July 1943" (PDF). US Army Command and General Staff College. Ft. Belvoir, VA. Soviet Army Studies Office Combined Arms Center Combat Studies Institute (CSI Report No. 11). OCLC 320412485. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2015. Töppel, Roman (2021). "The Battle of Prokhorovka: Facts Against Fables". The Journal of Slavic Military Studies. 34 (2): 251–270. doi: 10.1080/13518046.2021.1990559.Bellamy, Chris (2007). Absolute War: Soviet Russia in the Second World War. London: Pan. ISBN 978-0-330-48808-2.