544117 - WAFFEN-SS TIGER CREWS AT KURSK: The Men of SS Panzer Regiments 1, 2 & 3 in Operation Citadel, July 5-15, 1943

By Col French L MacLean, United States Army (Ret)

Kursk is often labeled the “Greatest Tank Battle in History”. The Wehrmacht fielded a total of just 120 Tiger tanks during the engagement, including 35 from the 2nd SS Panzer Corps. This corps comprised of the three most controversial divisions of the Second World War: Leibstandarte, Das Reich, and Totenkopf. The war crimes committed by these units (at places like Oradour, Malmedy, and Le Paradis) remain contentious topics of discussion to this day, and their fighting qualities have been analyzed for decades. By examining a focused group of men in great detail, specifically the 226 Tiger crewmen at Kursk, the author provides an insight into the sprawling and enigmatic organization that was the Waffen-SS. This project aims to scrape away the mythology surrounding the most feared soldiers, who crewed the most iconic tank, at one of the most vicious battles of the Second World War.