Good points, Martin. I had forgotten about the Carell time period. That would make sense in regards to his praise of Stalin's spies. But I still have one major problem- the speed of information still dosen't seem to work. Hitler did not decide on the date of July 5 until July 2- only three days beforehand. And yet somehow Stalin knew about this to the hour of the attack. Three days does not seem like enough time to intercept, decode, and share such info. Again, ULTRA decripts were shared through normal diplomatic channels, which often took weeks- the Bletchley park boys certainly did their work, but even they could not fight diplomatic red tape, I would think...
And one more thing- if I remember correctly, the instructions on July 2 were given to the generals IN PERSON by Hitler- if that was the case, there would have been nothing for ULTRA to intercept, correct?
Quote:
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On Monday, 22 March, 1943, the British War Office received indisputable evidence that the Germans were preparing for a summer offensive in the Kusk salient
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That would seem not to explain how Stalin knew the exact hour the attack was to commence...
We should certainly try to get more info on this...
Erich- I've been using that site for a while now! I wonder about some of his info though- he certainly has plenty of sources listed, but then he does not cite any of his info. I'd like to know which of those sources he relys on, etc.
Great site though!
I get the idea that in many cases the stukas were used before an attack actually started on a certian position. The stukas would soften the position up (considering the lack of artillery), then the main attack would commence. Direct air support would have definetely been far more difficult- distinguishing friends from enemies and so on. But you're right- besides mentions of Rudel's tank busting stukas, the air element seems to get little notice.
I haven't read about that account, Erich... I have read something about many russian planes being wiped out on the ground by a stroke of luck early in the battle, July 5 I think. But my memory could be failing me on this one...
Friedrich, if you know about the stukas, why did you dismiss air support in your previous post???
