:: PHOTOGRAPH GALLERY ::

~ THE WAR IN RUSSIA ~

IV

Italian soldiers in Russia
Far behind are the days of the soft Ukrainian summer, when for the Italian soldiers the life in the villages was not so hard.

Italian bomber SM 81
In an Ukrainian airfield some Italian specialists of the Regia Aeronautica inspect the right engine of a light bomber SM 81. This aircraft was used for transport as well.

Soil eroded by tanks in the Russian steppe
As soon as the terrain began to consolidate in the spring of 1943, the grooves left by the tracks of the tanks formed again a web on the Russian countryside. During that summer the Germans would launch their last offensive on the Russian Front, called Operation Citadel, with the purpose of eradicating a dangerous projection of the Soviet Army on the frontline around Kursk. The offensive triggered the largest tank battle on History, which after some months did not provide a success for the Germans.

German tank PzKpfw IV during maintenance
Revision of the engine of a Panzerkampfwagen IV. In prevision of future combats, the crews have to perform a scrupulous maintenance of the weapons on which they must rely to protect their own lives. The PzKpfw IV was the tank produced in largest quantity for the German Army but, shadowed by the heavy tanks Tiger and Panther, its influence in the war has been probably underestimated. Over time, the characteristics of the German medium tanks would be significantly enhanced.

German motorcycle messengers in Russia
Two extenuated German messengers try to rest for at least five minutes, but remaining on their motorbikes, ready to depart at the first order.

PzKpfw III tank in Zhitomir
A Panzerkampfwagen III medium tank fighting on the streets of Zhitomir, during the Soviet offensive to retake Kiev, in 1943. Growing each day with supplies brought from behind the frontline and even beyond the Urals, the Red Army looks now as a Behemoth of many lives to the increasingly worn out Wehrmacht.

German observers in Russia
Two German observers check the effects of artillery attacks on enemy positions. Month after month, the population of the besieged Leningrad learned to live under the fire of artillery.

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