Made in 1945, this morale boosting Soviet documentary/propaganda movie is about the Battle of Kursk during WWII. It was produced by Eduard Bushkin, written by Moisei Belenki, and edited by F. Chicago with the help of consultants Lt. Cols. Verzhbitski and Popov. It shows the course of the battle which was one of the largest tank engagements of WWII, and a major defeat for the Wehrmacht.
00:17 Map, showing the front line, with major Soviet-and German-held cities pointed out – Bryansk, Orel, Belgorod on the German side; L’gov, Kursk, Voronezh, Stary Oskol, Valuysk and others on the Soviet side.
0:27 German pincer-style battle plan against Kursk and the general direction of German advance had this plan succeeded.
0:45 Advancing (German) Pz-III and Pz-VI tanks
0:54 A group of Pz-III traversing a defensive anti-tank moat
0:59 A column of Sd. Kfz. 250, trucks, led by a motorcycle
1:05 German troops
1:10German armored column
1:12 German motorcycle troops
1:15 Ju-88 bombers
1:24 Soviet officers
1:47 Soviet armored column of T-34 and possibly KV tanks
1:52 Soviet infantry moving, equipped with anti-tank rifles and PPSh or its predecessor. A Caterpillar D7 tractor towing a 76-mm divisional gun.
2:03 Soldiers running in a trench
2:15 A row of 76mm guns.
2:24 Soviet infantry riding on a T-34
2:32 A political officer lecture
2:35 Soviet soldiers resting, writing letters before the battle
2:46 A tank factory
3:03 A train loaded with tanks and other military equipment
3:05 Nighttime artillery barrage.
4:01 a failed rocket mortar launch, the rockets can be seen spiraling out of control everywhere, followed by a successful rocket mortar launch.
4:18 Burning Sd. Kfz. Elefant
4:20 T-34s
4:36 Sappers setting up antitank mines
5:13 a burning Pz-IV. Soviet infantry attacking.
5:23 A medic evacuating a wounded soldier
5:38 A machinegunner attacking a Sd. Kfz. Elefant
5:40 Destroyed German tanks (Pz-IV, mostly) and dead German infantry
6:00 Il-2 ground attack planes are shown taking off, followed by the I-16 and Yak-3 interceptors.
6:20 Destroyed German planes
6:27 Soviet light tank with “For the motherland !” written on it
6:40 A Maxim gun
7:00 evacuating wounded soldier.
7:10 T-34 and IS tanks
7:45 Burning and damaged German tanks – Pz. III, Pz. IV
8:15 German soldier (or actor) sits on a destroyed field gun, holding his head.
8:30 R&R, political officer nearby.
8:55 An application letter from a “Batanovsky Nikolai Vassilievich” asking to let him join the Komsomol (VLKSM).
9:21 Soviet counteroffensive plan against Orel
9:28 Plan against the cities of Kharkov and Belgorod.
9:45 12th of July 1943 offensive
10:45 General Popov, commander of the Briansk army group
10:47 General Vasily Sokolovsky, commander of the Oryol army group
11:00 Sappers with their mine detectors advancing, cutting barbed wire and clearing mine fields under enemy fire.
11:07 General Konstantin Rokossovsky
12:19 Wounded soldier
13:25 Soviet soldiers enter a German bunker
13:29 Urban warfare
13:39 Surrendering Germans
14:20 General Nikolai Vatutin
14:30 General Ivan
14:44 Soviet troops nearing Belgorod
14:59 Oryol is liberated.
15:15 Civilians welcoming soldiers, ripping up German flags etc. in Belgorod and Oryol
15:40 Funeral ceremonies
16:23 Aftermath of smashed German planes, tanks, POWs and dead
17:10 Narrator: “Thus was won the Battle of Kursk, which became a decisive moment of the war.”
17:22 Official announcement of victory on August 5, 1943.
The Battle of Kursk occurred in July 1943, as Hitler’s response to the defeat at Stalingrad. Known as Operation Citadel, the battle was Germany’s last chance to regain dominance on the Eastern Front. Germany amassed over 2,700 tanks and assault guns and 2,500 aircraft to take Kursk. The Red Army was dug in and backed with 3,600 tanks, 2,650 aircraft and had 1,500 tanks in reserve. The Soviet counteroffensive, Operation Kutuzov, began north of Kursk roughly a week after the German offensive. The Red Army broke through German lines at the Orel salient and by July 24th pushed the Wehrmacht back beyond Operation Citadel’s launching point. The Soviets lost at least 800,000 men, compared to 200,000 Germans, but the die for German defeat in the East was now cast
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
