The Battle of the Orel-Kursk Bulge

The Battle of the Orel-Kursk Bulge

The days of the summer of 1943 are especially memorable for every Orel citizen, when an unprecedented battle took place on the Orel-Kursk Bugle – one of the largest in the Great Patriotic War and World War II in its scope, the forces and means involved the results and military-political consequences. During the 1943 summer military campaign at Orel and Kursk, Hitler hoped to take revenge for the defeat at Moscow and Stalingrad. The plan of the German-Fascist offensive was codenamed "Citadel".

More than four million people, more than 69 thousand guns and mortars, more than 13 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, up to 12 thousand combat aircraft were involved in fierce battles on both sides.

The Great Battle of the Orel-Kursk Bulge lasted 50 incredibly difficult days and nights – from July 5 to August 23, 1943. It included three major strategic operations of the Soviet troops: Kursk defensive (July 5-23), Oryol (July 12 – August 18) and Belgorod-Kharkov (August 3-23) offensive operations.

Two-thirds of the German troops were concentrated on the Orel salient. But the offensive initiative of a well-armed enemy was enough only for a week, during which the Hitlerite troops were stopped. The Orel offensive operation, codenamed "Kutuzov", led to the complete defeat of the enemy's "Citadel".

During the Orel offensive operation, in the early morning of August 5, 1943, the troops of the Bryansk Front, with the assistance of the Western and Central Fronts, captured the city of Orel as a result of fierce fighting. The scouts of the 380^th Rifle Division, Corporal Vasily Ivanovich Obraztsov and Private Ivan Dmitrievich Sanko, planted a Red banner on the only surviving large building – house No. 11 on Moskovskaya Street. On the same day, at 24 o'clock, the capital of our Motherland, Moscow, for the first time during the war, saluted the valiant Soviet troops who liberated the cities of Orel and Belgorod with twelve volleys of 120 guns.

Samples of military valor and fearlessness in the battles near Orel were shown by thousands of soldiers, and among them Hero of the Soviet Union fighter pilot Alexei Maresyev, submachine gunner, Lieutenant Nikolai Marinchenko, native of Orel gunner Viktor Bulychev – on the approaches of his hometown, he shot down three "tigers", destroyed 10 guns and 200 enemy infantrymen. The Normandy-Neman escadrille was fighting in the sky over Orel.

During the Battle of Orel-Kursk, 30 Hitlerite divisions, including seven tank divisions, were defeated; the Wehrmacht lost about 500 thousand people.

The victory at Orel paid a huge price: almost 430 thousand soldiers and commanders of the Red Army were killed and wounded during the fighting. On an average day, our troops lost more than 11 thousand soldiers and officers – one and a half divisions. On every square kilometer of the liberated Orel land, 20 people remained lying forever, 50 liberators were injured.

In total, more than 2.5 thousand tanks and more than a thousand aircraft were lost during the operation.

On the Orel land, in the heart of Russia, the sons of all the peoples of the Soviet Union fought with the enemy.

The defeat of the German Fascist troops on the Orel-Kursk Bulge had far-reaching military, political and diplomatic consequences had a decisive influence on the further course of not only the Great Patriotic War, but also the entire Second World War. The armed forces of Germany and its allies were forced to go on the defensive in all theaters of military operations – long before the opening of the Second Front.

The successes of the Red Army were highly appreciated by our allies in the anti-Hitler coalition. Already on August 6, 1943, US President Franklin Roosevelt sent a congratulatory telegram to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Stalin "on the occasion of the great victory at Orel."

This victory was invaluable for further strengthening the moral and political unity of the Soviet people, raising the morale of our army.

The residents of Orel, as at all times, are faithful to their duty. The memory of the soldiers who laid down their heads on our land is carefully preserved, military memorials and burials are not forgotten, and they are always well maintained. There are 874 of them in the Orel region.

The historical greatness of the feat of our people, who defended their right to freedom and existence in bloody battles, amazed the whole world with their unparalleled heroism, love for the Motherland, willingness to give their lives for it, will forever remain in the memory of descendants and will always be a sacred example of valor and honor.