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The five biggest tank battles in history. ORD: Myths of World War II: About the largest tank battle

The five biggest tank battles in history. ORD: Myths of World War II: About the largest tank battle

13.10.2019

Battle of Prokhorovka

On July 12, 1943, the largest tank battle of World War II took place.

Battle of Prokhorovka was the culmination of a grandiose strategic operation that went down in history, as which was decisive in ensuring a radical change in the course of the Great Patriotic War.

The events of those days unfolded as follows. The Nazi command planned to carry out a major offensive in the summer of 1943, seize the strategic initiative and turn the tide of the war in their favor. For this, a military operation was developed and approved in April 1943, codenamed "Citadel".
Having information about the preparation of the Nazi troops for the offensive, the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command decided to temporarily go over to the defensive on the Kursk salient and bleed the enemy strike groups during a defensive battle. Thereby it was planned to create favorable conditions for the transition of Soviet troops to a counteroffensive, and then to a general strategic offensive.
July 12, 1943 near the railway station Prokhorovka(56 km north of Belgorod), the advancing German tank group (4th Tank Army, Task Force Kempf) was stopped by a counterattack by Soviet troops (5th Guards Army, 5th Guards). Initially, the main attack of the Germans on the southern face of the Kursk Bulge was directed to the west - along the operational line Yakovlevo - Oboyan. On July 5, in accordance with the offensive plan, German troops as part of the 4th Panzer Army (48th Panzer Corps and 2nd SS Panzer Corps) and the Kempf Army Group went on the offensive against the troops of the Voronezh Front, on the positions of 6- 1st and 7th Guards Armies on the first day of the operation, the Germans sent five infantry, eight tank and one motorized divisions. On July 6, two counterattacks were delivered against the advancing Germans from the side of the Kursk-Belgorod railway by the 2nd Guards Tank Corps and from the Luchki (north) - Kalinin area by the forces of the 5th Guards Tank Corps. Both counterattacks were repulsed by the forces of the German 2nd SS Panzer Corps.
To assist Katukov's 1st Panzer Army, which was fighting heavy battles in the Oboyan direction, the Soviet command prepared a second counterattack. At 11 pm on July 7, Front Commander Nikolai Vatutin signed Directive No. 0014/op on readiness to move on to active operations from 10:30 am on the 8th. However, the counterattack inflicted by the forces of the 2nd and 5th Guards Tank Corps, as well as the 2nd and 10th Tank Corps, although it eased the pressure on the brigades of the 1st TA, did not bring tangible results.
Without achieving decisive success - by this moment the depth of advance of the advancing troops in the well-prepared Soviet defense in the Oboyansky direction was only about 35 kilometers - the German command, in accordance with its plans, shifted the tip of the main attack in the direction of Prokhorovka with the intention of reaching Kursk through the bend of the Psyol River . The change in the direction of the strike was due to the fact that, according to the plans of the German command, it was in the bend of the Psel River that it seemed most appropriate to meet the inevitable counterattack of the outnumbered Soviet tank reserves. In the event that the village of Prokhorovka was not occupied by German troops before the approach of the Soviet tank reserves, it was supposed to suspend the offensive altogether and temporarily go on the defensive in order to use the favorable terrain for themselves, preventing the Soviet tank reserves from escaping from the narrow defile formed by the swampy floodplain the Psel River and the railway embankment, and prevent them from realizing their numerical advantages by covering the flanks of the 2nd SS Panzer Corps.

Destroyed German tank

By July 11, the Germans took up their starting positions to capture Prokhorovka. Probably having intelligence about the presence of Soviet tank reserves, the German command took action to repel the inevitable counterattack of the Soviet troops. The 1st division of the Leibstandarte-SS "Adolf Hitler", equipped better than other divisions of the 2nd SS Panzer Corps, took a defile and on July 11 did not attack in the direction of Prokhorovka, pulling up anti-tank weapons and preparing defensive positions. On the contrary, the 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich" and the 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf" providing its flanks fought active offensive battles outside the defile on July 11, trying to improve their position (in particular, the 3rd Panzer Division covering the left flank SS "Totenkopf" expanded the bridgehead on the northern bank of the Psel River, managing to transport a tank regiment to it on the night of July 12, providing flanking fire on the expected Soviet tank reserves in the event of their attack through the defile). By this time, the Soviet 5th Guards Tank Army had concentrated in positions northeast of the station, which, being in reserve, on July 6 received an order to make a 300-kilometer march and take up defenses at the Prokhorovka-Vesely line. The area of concentration of the 5th Guards Tank and 5th Guards Combined Arms Armies was chosen by the command of the Voronezh Front, taking into account the threat of a breakthrough by the 2nd SS Panzer Corps of the Soviet defense in the Prokhorovka direction. On the other hand, the choice of the specified area for the concentration of two guard armies in the Prokhorovka area, in the event of their participation in a counterattack, inevitably led to a head-on collision with the most powerful enemy grouping (2nd SS Panzer Corps), and given the nature of the defile, it excluded the possibility of covering the flanks of the defending in this direction of the 1st division of the Leibstandarte-SS "Adolf Hitler". The frontal counterattack on July 12 was planned to be carried out by the forces of the 5th Guards Tank Army, the 5th Guards Army, as well as the 1st Tank, 6th and 7th Guards Armies. However, in reality, only the 5th Guards Tank and 5th Guards Combined Arms, as well as two separate tank corps (2nd and 2nd Guards), were able to go on the attack, the rest fought defensive battles against the advancing German units. Against the front of the Soviet offensive were the 1st Leibstandarte-SS division "Adolf Hitler", the 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich" and the 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf".

Destroyed German tank

The first clash in the Prokhorovka area took place on the evening of 11 July. According to the memoirs of Pavel Rotmistrov, at 5 pm, together with Marshal Vasilevsky, during reconnaissance, he discovered a column of enemy tanks that were moving towards the station. The attack was stopped by the forces of two tank brigades.
At 8 am, the Soviet side carried out artillery preparation and at 8:15 went on the offensive. The first attacking echelon consisted of four tank corps: 18th, 29th, 2nd and 2nd Guards. The second echelon was the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps.

At the beginning of the battle, Soviet tankers got some advantage: the rising sun blinded the Germans advancing from the west. The high density of the battle, during which the tanks fought at short distances, deprived the Germans of the advantage of more powerful and long-range guns. Soviet tankers got the opportunity to accurately hit the most vulnerable places of heavily armored German vehicles.
South of the main battle, the German tank group "Kempf" was advancing, which sought to enter the advancing Soviet grouping on the left flank. The threat of coverage forced the Soviet command to divert part of its reserves to this direction.
At about 13:00, the Germans withdrew the 11th Panzer Division from the reserve, which, together with the Totenkopf Division, attacked the Soviet right flank, on which the forces of the 5th Guards Army were located. Two brigades of the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps were sent to help them, and the attack was repulsed.
By 2 p.m., the Soviet tank armies began to push the enemy to the west. By evening, Soviet tankers were able to advance 10-12 kilometers, thus leaving the battlefield in their rear. The battle was won.

The coldest day in the history of meteorological observations July, 12 was in 1887 year, when the average daily temperature in Moscow was +4.7 degrees Celsius, and the warmest - in 1903 year. That day the temperature rose to +34.5 degrees.

On the eve of the battle

In early July 1943, the Soviet leadership became aware that the main German strike would fall on Oboyan, and the auxiliary would be directed at Korocha. In the first case, the offensive was carried out by the second tank corps, which included the SS divisions "Adolf Hitler", "Dead Head" and "Reich". In just a few days, they managed to break through two lines of Soviet defense and approach the third, located ten kilometers southwest of the Prokhorovka railway station. She was at that time on the territory of the Oktyabrsky state farm in the Belgorod region.

German tanks near Prokhorovka appeared on July 11, overcoming the resistance of one of the Soviet rifle divisions and the second tank corps. Seeing this situation, the Soviet command sent additional forces to this area, which were finally able to stop the enemy.

It was decided that it was necessary to launch a powerful counterattack aimed at the complete destruction of the SS armored corps wedged into the defense. It was assumed that three guards and two tank armies would take part in this operation. But the rapidly changing environment has made adjustments to these plans. It turned out that only one 5th Guards army under the command of A.S. Zhadov, as well as the 5th tank army led by P.A. Rotmistrov, would participate in the counterattack from the Soviet side.

Full offensive

In order to pull back the Red Army forces concentrated in the Prokhorovka direction at least a little, the Germans prepared a strike in the area where the 69th Army was located, leaving Rzhavets and heading north. Here one of the fascist tank corps began to advance, trying to break through from the south to the desired station.

Thus began a full-scale battle near Prokhorovka. Its start date is the morning of July 12, 1943, when the headquarters of the 5th tank army of P. A. Rotmistrov received a message about the breakthrough of a significant group of German armored vehicles. It turned out that about 70 units of enemy equipment, having entered from the southwest, captured the villages of Vypolzovka and Rzhavets on the move and were rapidly moving on.

Start

In order to stop the enemy, a pair of consolidated detachments was hastily formed, which were assigned to command General N.I. Trufanov. The Soviet side was able to field up to a hundred tanks. The newly created detachments had to rush into battle almost immediately. All day long, a bloody battle continued in the area of Ryndinka and Rzhavets.

At that time, almost everyone understood that the battle of Prokhorovka decided not only the outcome of this battle, but also the fate of all units of the 69th Army, whose troops were in a semicircle of enemy encirclement. Therefore, it was not surprising that the Soviet soldiers showed truly massive heroism. Take, for example, the feat of an anti-tank platoon of Art. Lieutenant K. T. Pozdeev.

During the next attack, a group of fascist tanks with submachine gunners on board, numbering 23 vehicles, rushed towards his position. An unequal and bloody battle ensued. The guards managed to destroy 11 tanks, thereby preventing the rest from penetrating into the depths of their own battle formation. Needless to say, almost all the soldiers of this platoon died.

Unfortunately, it is impossible in one article to list the names of all the heroes who were taken away by that tank battle near Prokhorovka. I would like to briefly mention at least a few of them: Private Petrov, Sergeant Cheremyanin, Lieutenants Panarin and Novak, military assistant Kostrikova, Captain Pavlov, Major Falyuta, Lieutenant Colonel Goldberg.

By the end of the next day, the combined detachment managed to drive out the Nazis and take the settlements of Ryndinka and Rzhavets under their control. As a result of the advance of part of the Soviet troops, it was possible to completely localize the success that one of the German tank corps had achieved a little earlier. Thus, by their actions, Trufanov's detachment thwarted a major Nazi offensive and prevented the threat of the enemy entering the rear of Rotmistrov's 5th Panzer Army.

fire support

It cannot be said that the battles on the field near Prokhorovka took place exclusively with the participation of tanks and self-propelled guns. Artillery and aircraft also played an important role here. When the enemy strike group launched an offensive early in the morning of July 12, Soviet attack aircraft attacked the tanks that were part of the SS Adolf Hitler division. In addition, before Rotmistrov's 5th Tank Army began to counterattack the enemy forces, artillery preparation was carried out, which lasted about 15 minutes.

During heavy fighting in the bend of the river. Psel The 95th Soviet Rifle Division opposed the SS tank group "Dead Head". Here, the 2nd Air Army under the command of Marshal S. A. Krasovsky supported our military with their strikes. In addition, long-range aviation also worked in the area.

Soviet attack aircraft and bombers managed to drop several thousand anti-tank bombs on the heads of the enemies. Soviet pilots did everything to support the ground units as much as possible. To do this, they inflicted crushing blows on large concentrations of enemy tanks and other armored vehicles in the area of such villages as Pokrovka, Gryaznoye, Yakovlevo, Malyye Mayachki, etc. At the time when the battle of Prokhorovka was taking place, dozens of attack aircraft, fighters and bombers were in the sky . This time, Soviet aviation had undeniable air superiority.

Advantages and disadvantages of combat vehicles

The Kursk Bulge near Prokhorovka began to gradually turn from a general battle into individual tank duels. Here, the opponents could show each other not only their skills, but also their knowledge of tactics, as well as demonstrate the capabilities of their tanks. The German units were mainly equipped with medium tanks T-IV of two modifications - H and G, in which the thickness of the armored hull was 80 mm, and the turret - 50 mm. In addition, there were heavy tanks T-VI "Tiger". They were equipped with 100mm armored hulls and their turrets were 110mm thick. Both tanks were equipped with rather powerful long-barreled guns of 75 and 88 mm caliber, respectively. They could penetrate a Soviet tank almost anywhere. The only exceptions were heavy armored vehicles IS-2, and then at a distance of more than five hundred meters.

The tank battle near Prokhorovka showed that Soviet tanks were in many ways inferior to German ones. This concerned not only the thickness of the armor, but also the power of the guns. But the T-34 tanks, which were in service with the Red Army at that time, were superior to the enemy both in speed and maneuverability, and in cross-country ability. They tried to wedge themselves into enemy battle formations and shoot at close range on the side armor of the enemy.

Soon the battle formations of the warring parties mixed up. Too dense a concentration of vehicles and too short distances deprived the German tanks of all the advantages of their powerful guns. The tightness from a large accumulation of equipment prevented both from making the necessary maneuvers. As a result, armored vehicles collided with each other, and often their ammunition began to explode. At the same time, their torn towers soared several meters in height. Smoke and soot from burning and exploding tanks covered the sky, because of this, there was very poor visibility on the battlefield.

But the equipment burned not only on the ground, but also in the air. The wrecked planes dived and exploded right in the thick of the battle. The tank crews of both warring sides left their burning vehicles and boldly engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, while wielding machine guns, knives and even grenades. It was a real terrible mess of human bodies, fire and metal. According to the recollections of one of the eyewitnesses, everything around was on fire, there was an unimaginable noise from which the ears hurt, apparently, this is how hell should look like.

Further course of the battle

By the middle of the day on July 12, intense and bloody battles were going on in the area of \u200b\u200bheight 226.6, as well as near the railway. Fighters of the 95th Rifle Division fought there, who tried with all their might to prevent all attempts by the "Dead Head" to break through to the north. Our second tank corps succeeded in driving out the Germans to the west of the railway and began a rapid advance towards the Teterevino and Kalinin farms.

Meanwhile, the advanced units of the German Reich division moved forward, while occupying the Storozhevoy farm and Belenikhino station. At the end of the day, the first of the SS divisions received powerful reinforcements in the form of artillery and air fire support. That is why the "Dead Head" managed to break through the defenses of two Soviet rifle divisions and reach the farms of Polezhaev and Vesely.

Enemy tanks attempted to reach the Prokhorovka-Kartashovka road, but they were nevertheless stopped by the 95th Infantry Division. Only one heroic platoon, commanded by Lieutenant P. I. Shpetnoy, destroyed seven Nazi tanks. In battle, he was seriously wounded, but despite this, he took a bunch of grenades and rushed under the tank. For his feat, Lieutenant Shpetnoy was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the USSR.

The tank battle near Prokhorovka, which took place on July 12, led to significant losses in both the SS division "Totenkopf" and "Adolf Hitler", thereby causing great damage to their combat capabilities. But, despite this, no one was going to leave the battle or retreat - the enemy resisted furiously. The Germans also had their tank aces. Once, somewhere in Europe, one of them managed to single-handedly smash a whole convoy consisting of sixty vehicles and armored vehicles, but he died on the Eastern Front. This proves that Hitler sent selected soldiers here to fight, from which the SS divisions "Reich", "Adolf Hitler" and "Totenkopf" were formed.

Retreat

By evening, the situation in all sectors became difficult and the Germans had to bring into battle all available reserves. During the battle, a crisis ensued. In opposition to the enemy, the Soviet side also brought into battle its last reserve - a hundred heavy armored vehicles. These were KV tanks ("Klim Voroshilov"). That evening, the Nazis still had to retreat and later go on the defensive.

It is believed that it was on July 12 that the turning point of the famous Battle of Kursk, which the whole country was waiting for, came. This day was marked by the offensive of the Red Army units that are part of the Bryansk and Western fronts.

Unfulfilled plans

Despite the fact that the Germans lost the tank battle near Prokhorovka on July 12, the fascist command still intended to continue the further offensive. It planned to encircle several Soviet divisions that were part of the 69th Army, which were defending in a small area located between the Lipov and Seversky Donets rivers. On July 14, the Germans sent part of their forces, consisting of two tank and one infantry divisions, to capture the previously lost villages - Ryndinki, Shchelokovo and Vypolzovka. Further in the plans was an advance in the direction of Shakhovo.

The Soviet command unraveled the plans of the enemy, so P. A. Rotmistrov ordered the combined detachment of N. I. Trufanov to stop the breakthrough of German tanks and prevent them from reaching the desired line. Another fight ensued. In the next two days, the enemy continued to attack, but all attempts to break through were unsuccessful, since Trufanov's group went over to a firm defense. On July 17, the Germans decided to withdraw their troops, and the heroic consolidated detachment was transferred to the reserve of the army commander. Thus ended the greatest tank battle near Prokhorovka.

Losses

It should be noted that none of the warring parties fulfilled the tasks that were assigned to them on July 12, since the Soviet troops were unable to encircle the German group, and the Nazis failed to capture Prokhorovka and break through the enemy’s defenses.

In this difficult battle, both sides suffered not only significant casualties, but also a great loss of equipment. On the Soviet side, about five hundred tanks out of eight that took part in the battles were disabled. The Germans, on the other hand, lost 75% of their armored vehicles, that is, three out of four hundred vehicles.

After the defeat, the commander of the German tank corps, Paul Hausser, was immediately removed from his post and blamed for all the failures that befell the Nazi troops in the Kursk direction. In these battles, the enemy lost, according to some sources, 4178 people, which amounted to 16% of the entire combat strength. Also, 30 divisions were almost completely defeated. The largest tank battle near Prokhorovka broke the warlike spirit of the Germans. After this battle and until the end of the war, the Nazis no longer attacked, but only fought defensive battles.

According to some reports, there is a certain report by the Chief of the General Staff, A.M. Vasilevsky, which he provided to Stalin, which outlined the figures characterizing the outcome of the tank battle near Prokhorovka. It said that in two days of fighting (meaning July 11 and 12, 1943), the 5th Guards Army, as well as the 9th and 95th divisions suffered the greatest losses. According to this report, the losses amounted to 5859 people, including 1387 killed and 1015 missing.

It is worth noting that all the above figures are highly debatable, but we can say with confidence: it was one of the hardest battles of the Second World War.

It was opened in 2010 just 35 km from Belgorod and is dedicated to all the heroes who died and survived in that largest and most terrible tank battle, which has gone down in world history forever. The museum was named "The Third Military Field of Russia" (the first - Kulikovo, the second - Borodino). In 1995, the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul was erected on this legendary site. The soldiers who died near Prokhorovka are immortalized here - seven thousand names are carved on marble slabs covering the walls of the church.

The symbol of Prokhorovka is a belfry with an alarm bell hanging from it, which weighs about three and a half tons. It is visible from everywhere, because it is located on a hill, on the outskirts of the village of Prokhorovka. The center of the memorial is a truly grandiose sculptural composition consisting of six tanks. Its authors were the monumentalist F. Sogoyan and the Belgorod sculptor T. Kostenko.

Since the First World War, tanks have been one of the most effective weapons of war. Their first use by the British at the Battle of the Somme in 1916 ushered in a new era, with tank wedges and lightning-fast blitzkriegs.

Battle of Cambrai (1917)

After failures with the use of small tank formations, the British command decided to launch an offensive using a large number of tanks. Since the tanks had not lived up to expectations before, many considered them useless. One British officer noted: "The infantry thinks that the tanks have not justified themselves. Even the tank crews are discouraged."

According to the plan of the British command, the upcoming offensive was supposed to begin without traditional artillery preparation. For the first time in history, tanks themselves had to break through the enemy defenses.
The offensive at Cambrai was supposed to take the German command by surprise. The operation was prepared in strict secrecy. Tanks were brought to the front in the evening. The British were constantly firing machine guns and mortars to drown out the roar of tank engines.

In total, 476 tanks participated in the offensive. The German divisions were defeated and suffered heavy losses. The well-fortified "Hindenburg Line" was broken through to a great depth. However, during the German counter-offensive, the British troops were forced to retreat. Using the remaining 73 tanks, the British managed to prevent a more serious defeat.

Battle for Dubno-Lutsk-Brody (1941)

In the first days of the war, a large-scale tank battle took place in Western Ukraine. The most powerful grouping of the Wehrmacht - "Center" - advanced to the north, to Minsk and further to Moscow. Not so strong army group "South" was advancing on Kyiv. But in this direction there was the most powerful grouping of the Red Army - the South-Western Front.

Already in the evening of June 22, the troops of this front received orders to encircle and destroy the advancing enemy grouping with powerful concentric strikes by mechanized corps, and by the end of June 24 to capture the Lublin region (Poland). It sounds fantastic, but this is if you do not know the strength of the parties: in a giant oncoming tank battle, 3128 Soviet and 728 German tanks met.

The battle lasted a week: from 23 to 30 June. The actions of the mechanized corps were reduced to isolated counterattacks in different directions. The German command, through competent leadership, managed to repel a counterattack and defeat the armies of the Southwestern Front. The rout was complete: the Soviet troops lost 2648 tanks (85%), the Germans - about 260 vehicles.

Battle of El Alamein (1942)

The Battle of El Alamein is a key episode in the Anglo-German confrontation in North Africa. The Germans sought to cut the most important strategic highway of the Allies - the Suez Canal, and rushed to the Middle Eastern oil, which the Axis needed. The pitched battle of the entire campaign took place at El Alamein. As part of this battle, one of the largest tank battles in World War II took place.

The Italo-German forces numbered about 500 tanks, half of which were rather weak Italian tanks. The British armored units had over 1000 tanks, among which were powerful American tanks - 170 "Grants" and 250 "Shermans".

The qualitative and quantitative superiority of the British was partly offset by the military genius of the commander of the Italo-German troops, the famous "desert fox" Rommel.

Despite the British numerical superiority in manpower, tanks and aircraft, the British were never able to break through Rommel's defenses. The Germans even managed to counterattack, but the superiority of the British in numbers was so impressive that the German shock group of 90 tanks was simply destroyed in the oncoming battle.

Rommel, inferior to the enemy in armored vehicles, made extensive use of anti-tank artillery, among which were captured Soviet 76-mm guns, which proved to be excellent. Only under the pressure of the huge numerical superiority of the enemy, having lost almost all the equipment, the German army began an organized retreat.

The Germans had just over 30 tanks left after El Alamein. The total losses of the Italo-German troops in equipment amounted to 320 tanks. The losses of the British armored forces amounted to approximately 500 vehicles, many of which were repaired and returned to service, since the battlefield was eventually left to them.

Battle of Prokhorovka (1943)

The tank battle near Prokhorovka took place on July 12, 1943 as part of the Battle of Kursk. According to official Soviet data, 800 Soviet tanks and self-propelled guns and 700 German ones participated in it from both sides.

The Germans lost 350 armored vehicles, ours - 300. But the trick is that the Soviet tanks that participated in the battle were counted, and the German ones - those that were in general in the entire German grouping on the southern flank of the Kursk salient.

According to new, updated data, 311 German tanks and self-propelled guns of the 2nd SS Panzer Corps against 597 Soviet 5th Guards Tank Army (Commander Rotmistrov) participated in the tank battle near Prokhorovka. The SS men lost about 70 (22%), and the guards - 343 (57%) units of armored vehicles.

None of the parties managed to achieve their goals: the Germans failed to break through the Soviet defenses and enter the operational space, and the Soviet troops failed to surround the enemy grouping.

A government commission was set up to investigate the causes of the heavy losses of Soviet tanks. In the report of the commission, the military operations of the Soviet troops near Prokhorovka are called "a model of an unsuccessfully conducted operation." General Rotmistrov was going to be handed over to the tribunal, but by that time the general situation had developed favorably, and everything worked out.

On July 12, 1943, a grandiose tank battle took place near Prokhorovka as part of the Battle of Kursk. According to official Soviet data, 800 Soviet tanks and self-propelled guns and 700 German ones participated in it from both sides.

Since the First World War, tanks have been one of the most effective weapons of war. Their first use by the British at the Battle of the Somme in 1916 ushered in a new era, with tank wedges and lightning-fast blitzkriegs.

Battle of Cambrai (1917)

Battle for Dubno-Lutsk-Brody (1941)

Battle of El Alamein (1942)

The qualitative and quantitative superiority of the British was partly offset by the military genius of the commander of the Italo-German troops, the famous "desert fox" Rommel.

Battle of Prokhorovka (1943)

Battle of the Golan Heights (1973)

The major tank battle after 1945 took place during the so-called Yom Kippur War. The war got its name because it began with a surprise attack by the Arabs during the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur (Judgment Day).

Egypt and Syria sought to regain territories lost after the crushing defeat in the Six Day War (1967). Egypt and Syria were helped (financially and sometimes with impressive troops) by many Islamic countries - from Morocco to Pakistan. And not only Islamic ones: distant Cuba sent 3,000 soldiers to Syria, including tank crews.

On the Golan Heights, 180 Israeli tanks opposed approximately 1,300 Syrian ones. The heights were the most important strategic position for Israel: if the Israeli defenses in the Golan had been broken through, the Syrian troops would have been in the very center of the country in a few hours.

For several days, two Israeli tank brigades, suffering heavy losses, defended the Golan Heights from superior enemy forces. The most fierce fighting took place in the Valley of Tears, the Israeli brigade lost from 73 to 98 tanks out of 105. The Syrians lost about 350 tanks and 200 armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles.

The situation began to change radically after the reservists began to arrive. Syrian troops were stopped and then driven back to their original positions. Israeli troops launched an offensive against Damascus.