Kursk Order of Battle: Protagonists Part 2: The Russians

Kursk Protagonists Part 2: Soviet Forces 

Western Front 

(Vasily Sokolovsky)

50th Army (Ivan Boldin)

11th Guards Army (Ivan Bagramyan)

1st Air Army (Mikhail Gromov)

Bryansk Front 

(Markian Popov)

3rd Army (Alexander Gorbatov)

61st Army (Pavel Belov)

63rd Army (Vladimir Kolpakchi)

15th Air Army (Nikolai Naumenko)

Central Front 

(Konstantin Rokossovsky)

13th Army (Nikolay Pukhov)

48th Army (Prokofy Romanenko)

60th Army (Ivan Chernyakhovsky)

65th Army (Pavel Batov)

70th Army (Ivan Galanin)

2nd Tank Army (Alexei Rodin)

16th Air Army (Sergei Rudenko)

Voronezh Front 

(Nikolai Vatutin)

6th Guards Army (Ivan Chistiakov)

7th Guards Army (Mikhail Shumilov)

38th Army (Nikandr Chibisov)

40th Army (Kirill Moskalenko)

69th Army (Vasily Kriuchenkin)

1st Tank Army (Mikhail Katukov)

2nd Air Army (Stepan Kravsovsky)

Steppe Front 

(Ivan Konev)

5th Guards Army (Alexei Zhadov)

5th Guards Tank Army (Pavel Rotmistrov)

5th Air Army (Sergei Goriunov)

 Composition of forces: 

1. Western Front 

(Vasily Sokolovsky)

50th Army (Ivan Boldin)

 38th Rifle Corps (Alexei Tereshkov)

17th Rifle Division

326th Rifle Division

413th Rifle Division

49th Rifle Division

64th Rifle Division

212th Rifle Division

324th Rifle Division

11th Guards Army 

(Ivan Bagramyan)

8th Guards Rifle Corps

11th Guards Rifle Division

26th Guards Rifle Division

83rd Guards Rifle Division

16th Guards Rifle Corps

1st Guards Rifle Division

16th Guards Rifle Division

31st Guards Rifle Division

169th Rifle Division

36th Guards Rifle Corps

5th Guards Rifle Division

18th Guards Rifle Division

84th Guards Rifle Division

108th Rifle Division

217th Rifle Division

1st Air Army (Mikhail Gromov)

2nd Assault Air Corps

2nd Fighter Air Corps

8th Fighter Air Corps

1st Independent Tank Corps (Vasily Butkov)

5th Independent Tank Corps (Mikhail Sakhno)

2. Bryansk Front (Markian Popov)

3rd Army (Alexander Gorbatov)

41st Rifle Corps (Viktor Urbanovich)

235th Rifle Division

308th Rifle Division

380th Rifle Division

269th Rifle Division

283rd Rifle Division

342nd Rifle Division

61st Army (Pavel Belov)

9th Guards Rifle Corps (Arkady Boreiko)

12th Guards Rifle Division
76th Guards Rifle Division
77th Guards Rifle Division
97th Rifle Division
110th Rifle Division
336th Rifle Division
356th Rifle Division
415th Rifle Division

63rd Army (Vladimir Kolpakchi)

5th Rifle Division

41st Rifle Division

129th Rifle Division

250th Rifle Division

287th Rifle Division

348th Rifle Division

397th Rifle Division

15th Air Army (Nikolai Naumenko)

1st Guards Fighter Air Corps

3rd Assault Air Corps

 25th Rifle Corps

186th Rifle Division

283rd Rifle Division

362nd Rifle Division

1st Independent Guards Tank Corps

3. Central Front (Konstantin Rokossovsky)

17th Guards Rifle Corps (Andrei Bondarev)

6th Guards Rifle Division

70th Guards Rifle Division

75th Guards Rifle Division

18th Guards Rifle Corps (Ivan Afonin)

2nd Guards Airborne Division

3rd Guards Airborne Division

4th Guards Airborne Division

15th Rifle Corps (Ivan Liudnikov)

8th Rifle Division

74th Rifle Division

148th Rifle Division

29th Rifle Corps (Afanasy Slyshkin)

15th Rifle Division

81st Rifle Division

307th Rifle Division

48th Army (Prokofy Romanenko)

42nd Rifle Corps (Konstantin Kolganov)

16th Rifle Division

202nd Rifle Division

399th Rifle Division

73rd Rifle Division

137th Rifle Division

143rd Rifle Division

170th Rifle Division

60th Army (Ivan Chernyakhovsky)

24th Rifle Corps

42nd Rifle Division

112th Rifle Division

30th Rifle Corps

121st Rifle Division

141st Rifle Division

322nd Rifle Division

Independent 55th Rifle Division

65th Army (Pavel Batov)

18th Rifle Corps

69th Rifle Division

149th Rifle Division

246th Rifle Division

27th Rifle Corps

60th Rifle Division

193rd Rifle Division

37th Guards Rifle Division

181st Rifle Division

194th Rifle Division

354th Rifle Division

70th Army (Ivan Galanin)

28th Rifle Corps (Aleksandr Nechaev)

132nd Rifle Division

211th Rifle Division

280th Rifle Division

102nd Rifle Division

106th Rifle Division

140th Rifle Division

162nd Rifle Division

354th Rifle Division

2nd Tank Army (Alexei Rodin)

3rd Tank Corps

16th Tank Corps

16th Air Army (Sergei Rudenko)

3rd Bombing Air Corps

6th Mixed Air Corps

6th Fighter Air Corps

Independent 9th Tank Corps

Independent 19th Tank Corps

4. Voronezh Front (Nikolai Vatutin)

6th Guards Army (Ivan Chistiakov)

22nd Guards Rifle Corps

67th Guards Rifle Division

71st Guards Rifle Division

90th Guards Rifle Division

23rd Guards Rifle Corps

51st Guards Rifle Division

52nd Guards Rifle Division

375th Rifle Division

Independent 89th Guards Rifle Division

7th Guards Army (Mikhail Shumilov)

24th Guards Rifle Corps (Nikolai Vasilev)

15th Guards Rifle Division

36th Guards Rifle Division

72nd Guards Rifle Division

25th Guards Rifle Corps (Gany Safiulin)

73rd Guards Rifle Division

78th Guards Rifle Division

81st Guards Rifle Division

Independent 213th Rifle Division

38th Army (Nikandr Chibisov)

50th Rifle Corps

167th Rifle Division

232nd Rifle Division

340th Rifle Division

51st Rifle Corps (Petr Avdeenko)

180th Rifle Division

240th Rifle Division

Independent 204th Rifle Division

40th Army (Kirill Moskalenko)

47th Rifle Corps

161st Rifle Division

206th Rifle Division

237th Rifle Division

52nd Rifle Corps (Frants Perkhorovich)

100th Rifle Division

219th Rifle Division

309th Rifle Division

Independent 184th Rifle Division

69th Army (Vasily Kriuchenkin)

48th Rifle Corps (Zinovy Rogozny)

107th Rifle Division

183rd Rifle Division

307th Rifle Division

49th Rifle Corps

111th Rifle Division

270th Rifle Division

1st Tank Army (Mikhail Katukov)

6th Tank Corps (Andrey Getman)

31st Tank Corps

3rd Mechanized Corps

2nd Air Army (Stepan Kravsovsky)

1st Bombing Air Corps

1st Assault Air Corps

4th Fighter Air Corps

5th Fighter Air Corps

35th Guards Rifle Corps

92nd Guards Rifle Division

93rd Guards Rifle Division

94th Guards Rifle Division

Independent 2nd Guards Tank Corps

Independent 3rd Guards Tank Corps

Steppe Front (Ivan Konev)

This order of battle does not show the complete composition of the Steppe Front.

 In addition to the units listed below, there are also 

the 4th Guards, 27th, 47th and 53rd Armies.

5th Guards Army (Alexei Zhadov)

32nd Guards Rifle Corps (Aleksandr Rodimtsev)

13th Guards Rifle Division

66th Guards Rifle Division

6th Airborne Guards Rifle Division

33rd Guards Rifle Corps (Iosif Popov)

95th Guards Rifle Division

97th Guards Rifle Division

9th Airborne Guards Rifle Division

Independent 42nd Guards Rifle Division

Independent 10th Tank Corps

5th Guards Tank Army (Pavel Rotmistrov)

5th Guards Mechanized Corps

29th Tank Corps

5th Air Army (Sergei Goriunov)

7th Mixed Air Corps

8th Mixed Air Corps

3rd Fighter Air Corps

7th Fighter Air Corps

Pigs Heads and Tank Killers: Saukopfs and StuG IIIs

Of Saukopfs and  StuG IIIs

StuG III F /8 Survivor Belgrade

On the StuG and the pig's head or pig's snout mantlet:

The Stug III began its life as an infantry support vehicle . It went through quite a few changes during its production run .It began its career in the Battle of France and was used right up to the last days of the war. 

 Prototype manufacture was done by Alkett, which produced five prototypes in 1937 on Panzer III Ausf. B chassis. These prototypes featured a mild steel superstructure and Krupp’s short-barreled 75 mm StuK 37 L/24 cannon. Production vehicles with this gun were known as StuG III Ausführung (version) A to E.

The StuGs were organized into battalions (later renamed "brigades" for disinformation purposes) and followed their own specific doctrine. Infantry support using direct-fire was its intended role. Later there was also a strong emphasis on destroying enemy armour whenever encountered.

As the StuG III was designed to fill an infantry close support combat role, early models were fitted with a low-velocity 75 mm StuK 37 L/24 gun(Kurz)  to destroy soft-skin targets and fortifications. After the Germans encountered the Soviet KV-1 and T-34 tanks, the StuG III was first equipped with a high-velocity 75 mm StuK 40 L/43 main gun (Spring 1942) and in Autumn 1942 with the slightly longer 75 mm StuK 40 L/48 gun.(Lang)  These versions were known as the Sturmgeschütz 40 Ausführung F, Ausf. F/8 and Ausf. G.

When the StuG IV entered production in late 1943 and early 1944, the "III" was added to the name to separate it from the Panzer IV-based assault guns. All previous and following models were thereafter known as Sturmgeschütz III.

The Stug G began production in December of 1942 and was used more and more as an anti tank weapon .

The cast mantlet was introduced in production in November 1943 in StuG III Ausf. G production, but StuG IIIs with the bolted "box" mantlet continued in production until the end of the war as production of the cast mantlet was insufficient to cover all of StuG production.  StuG IV production started in December 1943. 

It was used on the StuG III Ausf. G, StuG IV and StuH. from November 1943 to the end of the war. 

The saukopf mantlet began to appear in November of 1943,but never completely replaced the welded mantlet which was seen till the end of the conflict just because of the production requirements. The official  name for this new mantlet was Topfblende,but was commonly know as the saukopf by the crews, as it resembled a pig's head or snout.

So the answer to the question: "Which model of the Stug used the Saukopf mantllet?
The cast gun mantlet was used on 

• all StuG IV (12.43-04.45) 

• StuG III Ausf G (Alkett) from 10.43-04.45 (=end) 

• StuH III Ausf G (Alkett) from 10.43-09.44 

but never on StuG III from Miag. So that is the reason the bolted mantlet was used up to the end of the war 

While the StuG III was considered self-propelled artillery it was not initially clear which arm of the Wehrmacht would handle the new weapon. The Panzer arm, the natural user of tracked fighting vehicles, had no resources to spare for the formation of StuG units, and neither did the infantry branch. It was agreed, after a discussion, it would best be employed as part of the artillery arm.

Beginning with the StuG III Ausf. G, a 7.92 mm MG34 could be mounted on a shield on top of the superstructure for added anti-infantry protection from December 1942. Some of the F/8 models were retrofitted with a shield as well. Many of the later StuG III Ausf. G models were equipped with an additional coaxial 7.92 mm MG34.

The vehicles of the Sturmgeschütz series were cheaper and faster to build than contemporary German tanks; at 82,500 RM, a StuG III Ausf G was cheaper than a Panzer III Ausf. M, which cost 103,163 RM. This was due to the omission of the turret, which greatly simplified manufacture and allowed the chassis to carry a larger gun than it could otherwise. By the end of the war, ~11,300 StuG IIIs and StuH 42s had been built

Overall, Sturmgeschütz series assault guns proved very successful and served on all fronts as assault guns and tank destroyers. Although Tigers and Panthers have earned a greater notoriety, assault guns collectively destroyed more tanks. Because of their low silhouette, StuG IIIs were easy to camouflage and a difficult target. Sturmgeschütz crews were considered to be the elite of the artillery units. Sturmgeschütz units claimed to have knocked out 20,000 tanks by 1944. As of April 10, 1945, there were 1,053 StuG IIIs and 277 StuH 42s in service.

The StuG assault guns were cost-effective compared to the heavier German tanks, though in the anti-tank role they were best used defensively, as the lack of a traversable turret was a severe disadvantage in the assault role. As the German military situation deteriorated later in the war, more StuG guns were built compared to tanks, to replace losses and bolster defenses against the encroaching Allied forces.

Variants

Production numbers from Panzer Tracts 23

StuG III prototypes (1937, 5 produced on Panzer III Ausf. B chassis): By December 1937 two vehicles were in service with Panzer Regiment 1 in Erfurt. Vehicles had eight road wheels per side with 360-millimetre (14 in) wide tracks, 14.5 mm thick soft steel superstructure and the 7.5 cm StuK 37 L/24 gun. Although not suitable for combat, they were used for training purposes as late as 1941.

StuG III Ausf. A (Sd.Kfz. 142; January 1940-May 1940, 30+6 produced by Daimler-Benz): First used in the Battle of France, the StuG III Ausf. A used a modified 5./ZW chassis (Panzer III Ausf. F) with front armor strengthened to 50 mm. The last six vehicles were built on chassis diverted from Panzer III Ausf. G production.

StuG III Ausf. B: (Sd.Kfz 142; June 1940-May 1941, 300 produced by Alkett) Widened tracks (380 mm). Two Rubber tires on each roadwheel were accordingly widened from 520x79mm to 520x95mm each. Both types of roadwheels were interchangeable. The troublesome 10-speed transmission was changed to a 6-speed one. The forwardmost return rollers were re-positioned further forward, reducing the vertical movements of the tracks before they were fed to the forward drive sprocket, and so reduced the chance of tracks being thrown. In the middle of production of the Ausf. B model, the original drive sprocket with eight round holes was changed to a new cast drive sprocket with six pie slice-shaped slots. This new drive wheel could take either 380 mm tracks or 400 mm wide tracks. 380mm tracks were not exclusive to new drive wheels. Vehicle number 90111 shows older drive wheel with wider 380mm tracks.

StuG III Ausf. C: (Sd.Kfz 142; April 1941, 50 produced) Gunner's forward view port above driver's visor was a shot trap and thus eliminated; instead, superstructure top was given an opening for gunner's periscope. Idler wheel was redesigned.

StuG III Ausf. D: (Sd.Kfz 142; May–September 1941, 150 produced) Simply a contract extension on Ausf. C. On-board intercom installed, otherwise identical to Ausf. C.

StuG III Ausf. E: (Sd.Kfz 142; September 1941-February 1942, 284 produced) Superstructure sides added extended rectangular armored boxes for radio equipment. Increased space allowed room for six additional rounds of ammunition for the main gun (giving a maximum of 50) plus a machine gun. One MG 34 and 7 drum-type magazines were carried in the right rear side of the fighting compartment to protect the vehicle from enemy infantry. Vehicle commanders were officially provided with SF14Z stereoscopic scissor periscopes. Stereoscopic scissor type periscopes for artillery spotters may have been used by vehicle commanders from the start.

StuG III Ausf. F: (Sd.Kfz 142/1; March–September 1942, 366 produced) The first real up-gunning of the StuG, this version uses the longer 7.5 cm StuK 40 L/43 gun. Firing armor-piercing Panzergranat-Patrone 39, StuK 40 L/43 could penetrate 91 mm of armor inclined 30 degrees from vertical at 500 m, 82 mm at 1,000 m, 72 mm at 1,500 m, 63 mm at 2,000 m, allowing Ausf. F to engage most Soviet armored vehicles at normal combat ranges. This change marked the StuG as being more of a tank destroyer than an infantry support vehicle. Exhaust fan was added to the rooftop to excavate fumes from spent shells, to enable firing of continuous shots. Additional 30 mm armor plates were welded to the 50 mm frontal armor from June 1942, making frontal armors 80 mm thick. From June 1942, Ausf. F were mounted with approximately 13 inch (334 mm to be exact) longer 7.5 cm StuK 40 L/48 gun. Firing above mentioned ammunition, longer L/48 could penetrate 96 mm, 85 mm, 74 mm, 64 mm respectively (30 degrees from vertical).

StuG III Ausf. F/8: (Sd.Kfz 142/1; September–December 1942, 250 produced) Introduction of an improved hull design similar to that used for the Panzer III Ausf. J / L with increased rear armor. This was 8th version of Panzer III hulls, thus the designation "F/8." This hull has towing hook holes extending from side walls. From October 1942, 30 mm thick plates of additional armor were bolted on to speed up the production line. From F/8, the 7.5 cm StuK 40 L/48 gun was standard until the very last of the Ausf. G. Due to lack of double baffle muzzle brakes, few L/48 guns mounted on F/8 were fitted with single baffle ball type muzzle brake found in Panzer IV Ausf. F2/G.

StuG III Ausf. G (Sd.Kfz. 142/1; December 1942– April 1945, ~8423 produced, 142 built on Panzer III Ausf. M chassis, 173 converted from Panzer III): The final and by far the most common of the StuG series. Upper superstructure was widened: welded boxes on either sides were abandoned. This new superstructure design increased its height to 2160mm. Backside wall of the fighting compartment got straightened, and ventilation fan on top of the superstructure was relocated to the back of fighting compartment. From March 1943, driver's periscope was abandoned. In February 1943 Alkett was joined by MIAG as second manufacturer. From May 1943, side hull skirts (schurzen) were fitted to G models for added armor protection, particularly against Russian anti-tank rifles,it is also useful against hollow-charge ammunition. Side skirts were retro-fitted to some Ausf. F/8 models, as they were be fitted to all front line StuGs and other tanks by June 1943 in preparation for the battle of Kursk. Mountings for side skirts proved inadequate, many were lost in the field. From March 1944, improved mounting was introduced, as a result side skirts are seen more often with late model Ausf G. From May 1943, 80mm thick plates were used for frontal armor instead of two plates of 50mm+30mm. However, backlog of completed 50mm armors exited. For those, 30mm additional armors still had to be welded or bolted on, until October 1943.

A rotating cupola with periscopes was added for the commander for Ausf G. However, from September 1943, lack of ball bearings (resulting from USAAF bombing of Schweinfurt–Regensburg mission) forced cupolas to be welded on. Ball bearings were once again installed from August 1944. Shot deflectors for cupolas were first installed from October 1943 from one factory, to be installed on all StuGs from February 1944. Some vehicles without shot deflectors carried several track pieces wired around the cupola for added protection.
From December 1942, a square machine gun shield for the loader was installed, allowing an MG 34 to be factory installed on a StuG for the first time. F/8 models had machine gun shields retro-fitted from early 1943. The loader's machine gun shield was later replaced by rotating machine gun mount that could be operated by the loader inside the vehicle sighting through a periscope. On April 1944, 27 of them were being field tested on the Eastern front. Favorable report lead to installation of these "remote" machine gun mounts from the summer of 1944.

Later G versions from November 1943, were fitted with the Topfblende pot mantlet (often called Saukopf "Pig's head") gun mantlet without coaxial mount. This cast mantlet with organic shape was more effective at deflecting shots than the original boxy mantlet armor of varying thickness between 45mm and 50mm. Lack of large castings meant that the trapezoid-shape mantlet was also produced until the very end. Coaxial machine gun was added first to boxy mantlets from June 1944, and then to cast Topfblende from October 1944, in the middle of "Topfblende" mantlet production. With an addition of coaxial, all StuGs carried two MG 34 machine guns from fall of 1944. Some previously completed StuGs with boxy mantlet had a coaxial machine gun hole drilled to retrofit a coaxial machine gun, while Topfblende produced from Nov. 1943 - Oct. 1944 without machine gun opening could not be tampered. Also from Nov.1943, all metal return rollers of a few different types were used due to lack of rubber supply. Zimmerit anti-magnetic coating to protect vehicles from magnetic mines were used from September 1943-September 1944 only.



Flammpanzer conversion:

At the beginning of December 1942 an experimental production of a flame-thrower version of the StuG III was begun. Ten test vehicles were constructed in all.

Instead of a main gun an ejection tube with an inside diameter of 14 mm was installed This allowed a flammable mixture to be blown down the barrel by a  pump connected to a two-stroke DKW engine.
The device was able to spew flammable material over a distance of 55 meters.

All the prototypes were sent to the Panzertruppenschule I for testing in June 1943. The Flame-StuG never made it into production and the ten experimental machines were eventually converted back to standard assault guns between January and April 1944. No Flammenwerfer Stug was ever operationally deployed.

Russians and Germans at Kursk

Russians and Germans at Kursk

Been quietly working away at my Russian Army for the Kapiti Wargames Club Armourgeddon Kursk Commemoration Battle coming up on 25 August.

IS-2s with undercoats still wet

Obtained some more Tank destroyers (gotta have those if we are re-fighting Kursk): Added two more ISU 122s and 2 SU 85 tank destroyers, 2 Zis 3 76mm guns.I also finished building the PSC StuGs (3 to the pack, Yay!) with interchangeable guns - 3 options, went for the 88 with Saukopf mount, but modelled the interchangable  Kurz and Lang barrels too, effectively creating 9 possible variations on the same theme!

Armourfast SU 85s (Left) and Italeri ISU 122s (Right) under construction

Have been painting (under-shading) 4 more IS-2s with 85mm guns, topcoats ready to go on now; bringing the IS-2 force up to 7 tanks. The rest consists of 2 KV1s, another (PST model) stll giving me uphill with the track assembly. (Hate those fiddly bits) But this will also give me the option of three guns: 85mm, 76mm and 54mm. I have chosen not to use the puny 54mm, and have built two turrets with the larger guns. (Again inter-changable) Stuarts will have to do for light armour, as Russian armoured cars in multi-packs for wargaming are almost unobtainable in this scale .

Winter Camo Whitewash T34/85

So my (pure) Soviet Tank origin army now  has:

3 x KV1 variants
7 x IS-2
4 x T34-76
1 x T34-85
2 x SU -85
4 x ISU 122

Plus lend-lease from my Western Front allies army:

5 x Churchills, Umpteen Sherman M4 variants, 6 x Stewart M5, 4 Lee/Grants, Soft skin vehicles etc

I'm also continuing to work on the German IG 33s, above,  survivors of Stalingrad, who saw action at Kursk, and surviving to cover the withdrawal back to Germany by 1945. 

Very limited numbers were built, so a rather unusual (but welcome) kit from Armourfast. Eventually replaced by the Brumbaer and Sturmtiger these medium armoured assault guns were welcome in  urban fighting and as infantry support.

                           Cossack unit also taking shape

 Russian Infantry coming along slowly

Falschimjaeger champing at the bit

Gun crews and SS Krad fahrer (Motorcyclists) at the ready

Pioneer zug waiting to be based on 20mm FoW bases

Early and Mid-war Wehrmacht Heer lined up for their basing. Shoudl arrive any day by post - have ordered laser cut MDF bases from my regular supplier in Dunedin.

Through Autumn's Golden Gown we used to kick our way...

Russian weapons teams based, and being painted