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I think he is referring to the approximately 200 Panthers in XXXXVIII Panzer Korps, those in the 39th Panzer Regiment, more specifically 51st and 52nd Panzerabteilung. As I'm sure you know, most of those broke down or caught fire in the first day, when the unit lost 160(!) Panthers. For the remainder of the battle the unit strength hovered around 40 tanks.
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This was what I meant, Erich. The 200 panthers attached to 'Großdeutschland' Panzer division.
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Did Hitler ordering the retreat of his SS divisions to stem the tide at Salerno lose the battle for Kursk or was it already lost?
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Brat, the battle was lost by the time.
The pincer movement had failed. The northern flank had advanced 17 kiloemtres at an enormous costs. By the 13th, ALL of marshal Von Kluge's forces were engaged and the Red Army was already attacking the III Panzer Army - to the north of the IX Army in the northern part of the salient. So, the northern pincer not only was not advancing, but was being treathened from its flank.
In the south, however, Von Manstein's troops were inflicting heavy casualties to the Red Army and were gaining ground - 35 kilometres inside enemy lines - and several bridgeheads. Von Manstein's troops - the WSS Panzer divisions - still had enough forces to go on with the fighting and he still had some 10 divisions in reserve. However, there were also signs of Soviet attacks in his southern flank along the Mius. Then Hitler transferred the SS Panzerkorps from Kursk and Von Manstein lost his opportunity of squeezing the salient from the south - which in any case, would have been useless, since the northern pincer was halted.
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Did the allies time their invasion to happen during the greatest tank battle in history?!!
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I am not sure of this. I have never read of such level of co-operation in WWII as there was in WWI, but I guess the Allies - thanks to ULTRA - knew when the German offensive in Kursk was going to take place.
