A German 15.0cm sFH 18 gun firing on Soviet positions at the start of Ninth Army’s offensive against the Soviet Central Frontat Kursk. The Germans suffered a marked inferiority in heavy artillery compared to the Russians, so many guns having been lost in the 1942 campaign and at Stalingrad. It was for this reason that the Stukagruppen were to play such an important, if costly, role during the battle.
