WW2 BATTLE OF EUROPE

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On June 28 the Germans began a new offensive in the Kursk sector, 120 miles north of Kharkov, the object of which was to capture the important rail junction of Voronezh, on the Moscow-Rostov railway, 130 miles east of Kharkov. This would have given the Germans a strong defensive bastion on the flank of their attack farther south. By early July fighting on a tremendous scale had also developed in the Byelgorod and Volchansk areas (between Kursk and Kharkov), where thousands of tanks, closely followed by infantry and supported by masses of dive bombers, battered at the Russian positions. In face of tremendous pressure the Russian armies slowly withdrew in good order, taking terrible toll of the enemy as they retired. On July 7 the Germans succeeded in establishing bridgeheads on the east bank of the Don opposite Voronezh across which they managed to throw an infantry division and 100 tanks. The crossings, however, were under continual fire from Russian artillery and aerial bombardment by Stormovik dive bombers, and the Russians launched repeated counter-attacks with strong forces of tanks and infantry. According to Russian reports the Don was flowing red with the blood of dead Germans. Meanwhile, farther south, the enemy was pushing eastwards in an attempt to gain control of the middle reaches of the Don. On the 8th the Russians evacuated Stary Oskol, and two days later they abandoned Rossosh after severe battles in which as many as 8,000 tanks were locked in combat on a front 110 miles long. The picture shows the ruins of a bridge across the Don blown up by the Russians in an attempt to slow up the smashing tactics of the well armed and fast-moving Nazi invaders in this new drive for territory. German troops can be seen threading their way past smashed trucks and cars, which litter the ground for miles around