Unable to call in effective air support, the Israeli defenders dug in and fought off wave after wave of Syrian tank attacks. The Israelis were manning British and American-made Centurion tanks, known for their good gunner sights. Just one Israeli armored brigade, roughly 100 or so tanks and armored vehicles stood in the way of the Syrian 7th Division, a force of 1,400 tanks, including 400 T-62s, at the time the most modern Soviet tank in the field. The war had started on the holiest day in Judaism, when Syrian soldiers supported by 1,400 tanks crossed the border and invaded the Jewish state. The Battle of the Valley of Tears was fought between Israel and Syria during the Yom Kippur War of 1973. But the British had only managed to penetrate roughly seven miles or so East of Caen.īut Goodwood did draw valuable German tanks away from the Western part of Caen, where the Americans were making their push to the city. Montgomery claimed that all the objectives were achieved and that the mission was a success. Operation Goodwood did cause some controversy. German losses were 75 tanks destroyed, mostly by airstrikes. Their casualties were 5,000 men and 250 to 300 tanks destroyed. The battle did not go the way the British intended. The Wehrmacht had only around 370 tanks at their disposal, but they included the fearsome Tiger and Tiger II tanks. The British had mustered as many as 1,100 tanks for the battle. The goal was to break through to Caen so that it could be liberated. Operation Goodwood was a British offensive that was part of the Battle for Caen, one of the main inland targets that was part of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy. Thus, the momentum swung to the side of the Soviets, who eventually won the Battle of Kursk The Germans were unable to take Prokhorovka, and although it was not destroyed (the original goal of the Soviets), the II SS-Panzer Corps was exhausted, and prevented from continuing their offensive. German tank losses were smaller by comparison, up to 80 tanks and assault guns destroyed. The Soviets lost around 400 tanks, more than half of their force. The fighting was some of the most intense in the history of armored warfare. The battle saw over 600 Soviet tanks from the 5th Guards Tank Army smash head on into around 300 German tanks from the II SS-Panzer Corps. It was long thought to be the largest tank battle in history, but according to the book Demolishing the Myth: The Tank Battle at Prokhorovka, Kursk, July 1943 by Valeriy Zamulin, a Russian military historian, that is not the case.īut that is not to say it was small or insignificant. The Battle of Prokhorovka took place during the larger Battle of Kursk. The Second Battle of El Alamein saw two legendary generals, Britain's Bernard Montgomery, and Germany's Erwin Rommel - who was nicknamed the Desert Fox - fight for the fate of North Africa. Second Battle of El Alamein: October 23 – November 11, 1942 With the Americans launching Operation Torch in November 1942, the tide against the Germans began to turn in North Africa. Five hundred German and Italian tanks, almost all of Rommel's force, were destroyed or captured. Rommel commanded a force of 116,000 German and Italian soldiers, and 540 tanks.Īfter days of hard fighting in the Egyptian desert, Montgomery was victorious. Montgomery assembled a force for a counterattack, including around 190,000 men and over 1,000 tanks. They were stopped at the First Battle of El Alamein, which, though technically a stalemate, did prevent the Afrikakorps from rolling through the rest of Egypt, and by extension the Middle East. Germany's Afrikakorps had to step in to prevent their defeat in 1941, and were able to push the British all the way into Egypt. North Africa had been a battleground since Fascist Italy's invasion of Egypt in 1940. The Second Battle of El Alamein saw two legendary generals, Britain's Bernard Montgomery, and Germany's Erwin Rommel - who was nicknamed the 'Desert Fox' - fight for the fate of North Africa.

Largest tank battles