The Battle of Kursk, the largest tank battle in World War II, witnessed a fierce German offensive, clashing with determined Soviet defense. On the third day of the battle, near Teterevino village, a famous German tank ace confronted over 50 Soviet tanks, a legendary encounter with disputed details. For this controversial topic, we included both the Soviet and German perspectives, so you can decide. It's the 8th of July 1943.
A platoon of German soldiers takes cover under heavy fire with shells pummeling the ground and machine gun fire zipping over their heads in a brutal and disorienting frenzy. They peek over their embankment to the battlefield beyond, opening fire with their rifles. But they do little, because they aren't facing off against men, but a wall of heavy war machines. Up and down the front line, massive numbers of T-34 tanks roll through the rain of lead. It’s a giant counter-attack with 9 tank brigades and infantry. The entire line is alight with a thunder of war.
“Retreat!” The Germans retreat to their shallow trenches just as the Soviet tanks take full advantage, powering forward towards their lines. As the tanks approach, the German infantry have a plan. They have a new weapon, a shaped charge grenade. The tanks rumble over the German trench. The infantry hold their breath as machine gun fire takes out a few unfortunate souls. The tanks pass and the infantry throw the Panzer-Wurf mines at the backs of the T-34s.
Not all are successful, but two T-34s are taken out by this brave attack. The Soviets press on. However, they are unaware that a predator is lurking nearby. It is the mighty Tiger I heavy tank, under command of Unterscharführer Franz Staudegger of the 1st SS Panzer Division. The mighty beast brings horror to its enemies.
He isn't supposed to be fighting, he'd fallen behind his unit to repair a broken suspension But now three T-34 tanks roll across the field in front of him with no appreciable formation. They halt on occasion and fire at the rudimentary German trenches while surrounded by the smoke and haze of battle. It's too perfect. He gives the gunner a target to aim at and says, "Fire!" The Tiger fires its powerful weapons quickly, sending the 88mm shell upward. It streams green tracer behind it and then punches square through the enemy's front plate, stopping it where it stands.
The rest of the enemy tanks don't seem to notice, but that doesn't come as a surprise to Staudegger. He'll enjoy turning all the distracted enemy tanks to scrap. "Fire!" Another bang washes across the fields and with it another T-34 goes up in flames. "Good shot. Keep them coming!" The loader picks up another armor-piercing round and slams it into the breech, just as the gunner sets his sight on their third victim. "Fire!" The enemy machine is struck by the shell, which causes it to stop completely. Then, though, its turret begins to rotate. One more time. A follow-up shot slams the T-34, causing smoke to shoot out of the hatches. All three of the enemy tanks that are visible to him are destroyed in less than a minute without receiving a single retaliation shot.
Then more movement catches his eye. It's another T-34 and it's rolling over the railway embankment. And then another. And another. The bulk of the charge has arrived but Staudegger is undeterred Fire! Shells rain on the enemy vehicle and it suffers the same fate as his comrades before. The rest of the tanks take notice as even more T-34s roll over the embankment.
There are more than a dozen and they are still coming. But Staudegger’s Tiger strikes down another enemy and the Soviets finally spot the German machine. One of the T-34s rotates its turret and returns fire. It's shell striking the earth. And it only took them 5 dead tanks. Keep firing! Staudegger now keeps on the move, carefully moving from cover to cover. The German crew take expert aim. Another T-34 bursts into flames as the wall of armor wizens up to their situation.
The volume of fire, headed the Tiger's way, is increasing now by the second. Staudegger keeps changing his position constantly to avoid becoming an easy target. But the Soviet guns find him as an enemy shell slams into the armour with a deafening clang, but it fails to penetrate. Staudegger is completely unfazed, he knows his machine.
He knows this technology is superior. The Soviet 76mm is no match for the Tiger. “Target. 37 degrees.” Fire! The gunner obeys without hesitation and yet another T-34 explodes into a million pieces. More shells hit the tiger, reverberating through the hull as the loader hurries to slam another armour-piercing shell into the breach. Another shot rings, and then another, and then another! The tiger is doing its best to seek cover.
However, due to the intense enemy fire, the shells are bouncing off the armour and becoming lodged in it, making it impossible for the massive German tank that appears to be unbreakable to be damaged. Staudegger is still very calm, directing fire with cold and calculated precision. The Soviet losses mount, but they still don't turn back. In fact, they push harder. The T-34s rush across the open field, away from the cover of the embankment they just drove over.
“Come to me, my pretties.” The Tiger continues to take victims left and right, firing as fast as he can reload, while shells continue pinging off its armour. Its exterior is dotted with dozens, maybe hundreds of impacts, but the beast is still completely operational. “We’re out of armour-piercing shells, sir.”
They run out of armour-piercing ammunition, but the Germans are so confident that they switch to high explosive ammunition, and their grim work continues. Please support the channel, comment, like and subscribe on this video. Without any assistance, Staudegger and his Tiger bring the Soviet advance to a grinding halt.
Defeated, the T-34s finally see reason and reverse back to roll over the embankment into safety. Staudegger keeps barking orders to fire throughout, hellbent on getting as many as he possibly can. But in the end, they go, and silence descends upon the battlefield.
Before him are 17 burning wrecks. But it's not enough."Driver, prepare to accelerate! We are pursuing them. It's a really dangerous move. They would be leaving the safety of their ambush position while out of armour piercing ammunition and with a suspension that they've just repaired which may not be perfect. There’s nothing to be worried about. Go! But Staudegger doesn't care. Remarkably, despite the many hits, his tank tracks are undamaged. The Tiger's engine roars as it gets going. The driver being mindful of their adhoc suspension repairs as they drive all the way across the kilometer-long battlefield. Untill they reach the embankment.
Then they drive over the railway lines and on the other side they spot the surviving T-34 tanks and their crews , regrouping in the distance. The boom of the mighty 88mm washes over the battlefield one more time, propelling the shell at their targets who were totally unaware. The shell detonates into the gathered tanks, destroying one of them and taking out some of the men. The crews rush back to their vehicles and open fire, but their shots easily bounce off, just like every single one before them. The Tiger turns its turret and crushes the closest T-34 with a single brutal blow. While many flee in fear, some attempt to retaliate.
Other tanks remain parked, their crews having fled on foot with the arrival of the fearsome Tiger. When the dust settles, five more wrecks have been added to the pile for an incredible total of 22 destroyed tanks by a single lone Tiger I under Staudegger’s command. But his Tiger I was not unscathed, with 67 scars, left by the Soviet tank commanders. For his part in this battle Staudegger was awarded the Knight's Cross of Iron Cross.
It's 8th July 1943 and the 26th Tank Brigade of the 2nd Tank Corps are south-east of Prokhorovka village. The 282nd Battalion Commander, Captain Leonid Raigerodskii, waits nervously aboard his T-34. He's been given an extremely vague set of orders to attack the Germans and take over two villages. Teterovino near the expected line of engagement and Luchki a bit further on. 16:30 comes around and 32 T-34 medium tanks and 21 T-70 light tanks begin to roll. The villages were lost just the day before, battle plans are pretty much non-existent, and all five company commanders and both battalion commanders have no maps of the area.
No artillery support and mechanised infantry has been left in the rear. But orders are orders. Soon, they hear the crackle of gunfire against the hull and screams to open fire sound over the radio. The massive tanks come alive, firing volleys of high explosive shells into the German positions ahead. The 76mm guns slam backwards with recoil, filling the turrets with foul smoke.
Raigerotskii tries to keep focus. His view of the world is limited to his sight and a handful of vision slits. In the T-34-76 the commander is also a gunner, so he has a hard time looking around and finding targets. Then, through the explosions, ricocheting bullets and desperate combat chatter, he hears something. Something in the distance, growing louder. It's a howl, a howl of a Stuka.
"Excellent!" As the cry becomes louder and louder, a portent of doom ripping through every other sound to terrorize the souls of the Soviets, all he can do is keep marching and hope. A giant explosion sounds outside. The crew doesn't know if it got anyone nor can they check as "FORWARD" sounds in the radio. Five tanks on the right of Raigorodskii roll forward over the raised railway lines and disappear out of view. The sounds of battle grow louder and there are several huge explosions.
Now it's Raigorodskii's turn. He and a group of more Soviet tanks head up towards the railway lines. As they crest the railway lines and the tanks go nose down, what's revealed is a terrifying sight. From the five tanks that went over, three are already burning and the battle is ongoing and fierce. Raigorodskii's tank fires, pummeling the enemy lines.
Plumes of dirt rise into the air and flashes of orange pierce through the haze, exploding masses of metal that used to be Soviet tanks. The Soviets are under intense fire. Mortars, anti-tank grenades, artillery and tank fire is raining down upon them. The Germans are firing with all they have. Captain Raigorodskii sees his comrades falling all around him, never to rise.
“Into cover!” He orders his driver into cover behind a burning tank while he tries desperately to piece together the situation. Radio chatter is saturated with comrades calling out targets, trying to organise in vain and talking over one another. Raigorodskii searches the terrain on his own with his small and basic optic.
He sees nothing until suddenly a bright muzzle flash betrays the enemy's position. It's so far away, even knowing where he is he can barely see more than a dot. But he tries to aim anyway, their lives depend upon it. The crosshairs land on the source of the flash and he fires. The shell flies off. But he has no clue where it landed.
He fires again and again. All around him tanks open fire at the many enemies. But do little as one by one they're struck down. The situation is completely untenable. Raigorodskii is unable to take a kill shot. “Damn!” At last an order comes through the radio. The brigade commander orders the retreat.
“Retreat!” One by one, the T-34s begin to pull back. Then Raigorodskii joins them, backing up while shells crash all around them. Low caliber bullets ping off the armour as they all run for the safety of the embankment. But the Germans aren't letting off and another tank nearby explodes into flames. Safety's close, tantalisingly close. Another shell slams into the ground next to them. “Go!” “Faster!” Raigorodkii's heart is racing as they retreat in an attempt to save themselves.
“Maximum speed!” An 88mm shell zips across the battlefield. Its green tracer trails out behind it. It's heading straight for a T-34, Raigorodskii's tank. The shell punches straight through. The crew become yet another group of men on the list of the Soviet Union's massive tally of fallen. The remaining T-34s and T-70s roll over the railway lines, under fire all the way. The German panzers stopped firing. They're safe for now.
At the end of the day 21 T-34s and one T-70 would be destroyed in total. Five of the wrecks were located before the railway lines, out of sight of Staudegger, most likely victims of artillery or Stukas. In the main battle area the high volume of fire made it impossible to discern which kills were made by whom.
But that didn't stop German high command who disregarded the actions of the other participants in the battle. Instead they credited all the kills of the day to Staudegger, parading him as a war hero and using it as an example of and the might of the invincible Tiger. Unterscharführer Franz Staudegger would survive the war and was never prosecuted for his part in the SS. He passed away peacefully in 1991.