Beyond Barbarossa:

Smolensk has a war history that is far more significant than its size would suggest. In September 1943, it was a key to Soviet Red Army strategy, and for the German defence. The best English-language podcast for staying up to date on the war in Ukraine is Ukraine: The Latest from the Daily Telegraph. Its creator and executive producer was David Knowles, who passed away unexpectedly in September.   My condolences and sympathies to Mr. Knowles' family, friends, co-workers and colleagues. Map 1: Battle of Smolensk, 1943     Map 2: Operation Suvorov  Map 2: Smolensk region  This gives you an idea of where the smaller towns are in relation to Smolensk. Photo 1: Gen. Yeremenko (right) with Nikita Khrushchev (left) during the Battle of Stalingrad.  Photo 2: Yeremenko in about 1970   Photo 3: Gen. Vasily Sokolovsky in 1946    Sources: Antony Beevor, The Second World War. London, UK: Little, Brown and Co., 2012.  Robert Forczyk, Smolensk 1943: The Red Army's Relentless Advance. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2019. Evan Mawdsley, Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941–1945. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016. Anthony Tucker-Jones, Slaughter on the Eastern Front: Hitler and Stalin’s War 1941–1945. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press, 2017 Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smolensk_operation.

After the Battle of Kursk, Stalin and the Stavka set their sights on recapturing Smolensk, and farther south, the wealth of the Donbas and eastern Ukraine. Map 1: The Chernihiv-Poltava Offensive Map 2: The Red Army perspective I guess you have to be a Red Army officer to understand this one.   Photos: Ivan Konev, Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1945   General Nikolai Vatutin, Commander of the Voronezh Front, 1943      Konstantin Rokossovsky, Marshal of the USSR.    

When Germany attacked Kursk in 1943, they found an enemy that had prepared a complex strategy, and assembled immense forces poised to act as soon as the German attacks stalled. This strategy began with three operations named for three Russian generals from history: Kutuzov, Rumyantsev, and Suvorov — the practice for Operation Bagration. Map 1: Operation Kutuzov and revenge for Kursk   Map 2: Operation Rumyantsev and the Fourth Battle of Kursk    Map 3: Operation Suvorov, the liberation of Smolensk 

This was armoured warfare at its most brutal, with tanks slugging it out at point-blank range. The tanks were as close as 10–15m. Once hit, many of the crews had little chance of bailing out and were splattered all over the insides of their tanks. Those who did try to escape their blazing tanks were mown down and their lifeless bodies left obscenely charred and shrivelled. Map 1: The Kursk Salient   Map 2: The battle of Kursk — the southern sector   Map 3: The northern sector Map 4: Another look at the battle of Prokhorovka    Sources: Ian Baxter, Kursk 1943: Last German Offensive in the East. Havertown, PA: Casemate Publihsers (US), 2019. Antony Beevor, The Second World War. London, UK: Little, Brown and Co., 2012.  Robin Cross, Citadel: The Battle of Kursk. UK: Lume Books, 2018. Evan Mawdsley, Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941–1945. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016. Anthony Tucker-Jones, Slaughter on the Eastern Front: Hitler and Stalin’s War 1941–1945. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press, 2017 Wikipedia: The Battle of Kursk. Katyusha sound effect by Sound Effect by kuiycb from Pixabay Some tank sound effects by Dennis from Pixabay

The iconic battle on the Kursk salient in July 1943 builds into the greatest confrontation between armoured forces ever — and a four-part series on Beyond Barbarossa. Map 1: The Kursk salient, 5 to 11 July 1943    Map 2: The northern sector    Source: OnWar.com Map 3: The southern sector    Sources: Ian Baxter, Kursk 1943: Last German Offensive in the East. Haverstown, PA, USA: Casemate Publishers (US), 2019. Antony Beevor, The Second World War. London, UK: Little, Brown and Co., 2012.  Robin Cook, Citadel: The Battle of Kursk. London, UK: Lume Books, 2018. Evan Mawdsley, Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941–1945. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016. Anthony Tucker-Jones, Slaughter on the Eastern Front: Hitler and Stalin’s War 1941–1945. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press, 2017 Wikipedia: The Battle of Kursk.