Battlefield

In July 1943 the Russian City of Kursk was at the heart of the largest tank battle in history. The German General Sculdaran was not keen on the enterprise from the start but the Fuhrer had made up his mind and realised what lay ahead. It was to be a bloody business indeed, that would eventually put an end to Hitler's offensive power on the eastern front.

The atrocities and hatred that typified the Russo-German confrontations of World War two came to a climax in the Spring of 1943 on the Kursk Salient.

It was clear to both the Germans and the British in 1940 that whoever controlled the airspace above Europe would be able to bring the civilian and military infrastructure and morale to a halt with effective bombing raids.

It was the battle in the air over Europe that dictated what was possible strategically on the ground. As the war turned in the Allies favour the cities of Hamburg, Cologne, Darmstadt and Dresden were firebombed causing 200.000 deaths.

It is easy to see the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 as the key assaults that finally defeated the Japanese in the Second World War.

The Russian invasion, well planned and supported and advancing at the rate of 100 kilometres a day, took the Japanese by surprise, but although their High Command back home surrendered a few days later, many of the Japanese troops - fanatical patriots and fighters - refused to surrender.