Thread by @PhillipsPOBrien

For WWII Twitter, another nail in the coffin to the myth of the Battle of Prokhorovka and the overall importance of the Battle of Kursk campaign. Amazing how these myths have endured with no evidence to back them up. Thanks @DrBenWheatley

https://twitter.com/DrBenWheatley/status/1370534817801064450

For the first time hard documentary evidence of German armor losses during the (mythical) battle of Prokhorovka. During the days that the battle occurred German armor losses in the units involved were tiny--just a handful of panzers.

Seems to be a loss rate commensurate to normal wear and tear more than an indication of no special engagement at all. (larger point--battles are generally overrated in understanding equipment losses in the war)

In many ways what is even more important is that it helps reinforce the recent scholarship (which has sadly not penetrated as much as it should into general discussion) about how small German losses were during Kursk as a whole. A few hundred AFV's were lost during the campaign

In 1943 the Germans built around 11,000 AFV, so Kursk losses were a tiny part of losses for the year. German armor losses during the entire Kursk campaign equalled about .02 % of their 1943 armament production. They could lose more than this in a single strategic bombing raid.

Still--come July I plan to read many breathless descriptions of the supposed decisive Battle of Kursk which dealt a hammer blow to German Power.

All nonsense.