"The Tigers Are Burning: The Story of the Battle of Kursk- The Greatest Single Land-and-Air Combat Engagement in Military History," by Martin Caidin

 Review of

The Tigers Are Burning: The Story of the Battle of Kursk- The Greatest Single Land-and-Air Combat Engagement in Military History, by Martin Caidin

Five out of five stars

The battle that inverted aggressor and defender

 The battle of Kursk in what was then the Soviet Union remains the largest land battle in the history of warfare. Not only were there massive forces on both sides, but the major action was concentrated into an area that was relatively small compared to the numbers in opposition. As one of the soldiers interviewed said, “The noise was deafening, the smoke blinding and the smell was sickening.” The congestion reached the point where opposing tanks would suddenly encounter each other only a few feet apart.

 It is impossible to understate the significance of the battle. While Stalingrad was the battle that blunted the power of the German military machine, after it was over the Germans could still mount significant offensive firepower. After Kursk, the Germans were permanently on the defensive, only capable of limited offensive operations against their now powerful Red Army adversary.

 One very important and recurring point relates to the tactics of Soviet Marshall Zhukov. His tactics were simple, to carry out attacks without regard to the level of casualties. His focus was always on winning, the body count on his side was considered to be of no consequence. His tactics presupposed that he had an unlimited amount of manpower, relative to the German side he did. Many women also served in combat positions alongside the men.

 Another important point is the descriptions of the role of the air arms of both the German and Soviet sides. Kursk is often rightly described as the largest tank battle in history. Sometimes lost in this is the vast numbers of airplanes that were committed by both sides.

 Two other interesting points relate to fundamental weaknesses in the German military equipment. The first was the lack of detachable belly tanks on German fighter plans. This meant that during the battle of Britain the German fighter planes defending the bombers could only operate over Britain for a short time. The second is the lack of defensive machine guns on the German tanks. This made them very vulnerable to determined and fanatical infantry if they did not have an infantry escort.

 Covering the battle and much of the complicated machinations within the militaries, this book describes the battle that inverted the positions of the attacker and defender on the Eastern Front.