The Battle of Kursk
Following the Soviet victory at Stalingrad the Soviet lines presented an exposed position near Kursk. German forces, re-equipped with Tiger and Panther tanks, determined to attack the exposed Soviets with support from Luftwaffe bombers and large numbers of Elefant tank destroyers. In early July 1943 the Germans launched an assault called Operation Citadel against the Soviets.
On July 4 a German tank platoon commanded by Lieutenant Helmut Wendorff found itself pinned down by superior Soviet forces. Wittmann launched a counterattack which destroyed 13 T-34 tanks and two Soviet tank destroyers, rescuing the trapped platoon. Over the course of the next several days, units led by Wittmann destroyed 13 tanks, at least nine of which were T-34s, and five other types of Soviet armored combat vehicles.
Kursk was the largest tank battle in history, in which more than 5,500 tanks and armored vehicles engaged. Both sides lost more than 1,500 vehicles. The Tigers and Panthers proved to be superior on the battlefield at Kursk and at Kharkov to the south, and the Soviets sustained more than 600,000 casualties. But the sheer numbers of Soviet tanks and men proved to be too much for the Germans to defeat. Losses of equipment and men forced the Germans to withdraw.
LSSAH casualties as a percentage of overall strength were extremely high, both in men and materials, and the division was ordered to withdraw from the front lines after the German defeat at Kursk. The division had lost more than 2,700 men during the attack and withdrawal, and several tanks and support vehicles.
Removed from the line, the division was sent to Italy to rebuild its strength and to be held in reserve against the Allies invasion of Sicily. The presence of the SS unit was also expected to help stabilize the Italian situation which was chaotic following the removal of Mussolini.