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                        Biggest tank battle in the West

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                        6 replies
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                        Anonymous
                        • Member since
                          November 2005
                        Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 12, 2004 10:23 AM
                        It's hard to categorize, because how do you define the boundaries of a "tank battle?"

                        Ok, that said, Tongue [:P], here are the ones I am familiar with:

                        Largest tank battle in history: Sinai 1973
                        Largest Tank Battle of WWII: Prohorovka 1943
                        Largest Tank Batte on the Western Front: Arracourt 1944
                        Largest Tank Battle including British Troops: Operation Goodwood 1944

                        Even the Russians themselves scoff at Prohorovka being the biggest battle, as other engagements saw over 1,500 Russian tanks involved all in one operation.
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                        Anonymous
                        • Member since
                          November 2005
                        Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 12, 2004 9:42 AM
                        I saw in www.achtungpanzer.com that Wittmann himself and his kompanie destroyed significant number of vehicles (in one day) on 13th June 1944.
                        "During this short engagement, Wittmann's company destroyed 4 Sherman Firefly, 20 Cromwell, 3 Stuart, 3 M4 Sherman OP, 14 half-tracks, 16 Bren Carriers and 2 6 pdr anti-tank guns".
                        So, I would assume there was really "a clash of steel" in Villiers Bocage, Caen and St.Lo.
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                        Anonymous
                        • Member since
                          November 2005
                        Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 12, 2004 9:13 AM
                        I was thinkin more along the lines of operation cobra. That was the American breatout of Normandy. First B-17 carpet bombed and blew the crap out of everything on the ground. But that was at first. The Germans farther back from the line reorganized and stopped the advance for a while.
                        There is also the Failese pocket. According to my books, after this battle, German armor was rearly encountered. So I assume that there was a big battle there.
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                        Anonymous
                        • Member since
                          November 2005
                        Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 12, 2004 7:59 AM
                        How about Operation Goodwood (one of the breakout attempts by the 21st Army Group at Caen in Normandy)? I don't have the numbers but the sheer volume of losses by the Brits, Cdn and Polish forces at the hands of German AT units and AFVs should say something eh? I recall a number of 400 Allied vehicles knocked out. Can anyone clarify?
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                        subfixer
                        • Member since
                          March 2004
                        • From: Spartanburg, SC
                        Posted by subfixer on Friday, March 12, 2004 7:44 AM
                        The British 8th Army and the Afrika Korps would probably be the best example. The desert was so vast that the armies used what was close to sea battle tactics. The Krupp 88 kinda put the Germans at an unfair advantage but the British did have air superiority.

                        I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

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                        Anonymous
                        • Member since
                          November 2005
                        Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 12, 2004 3:44 AM
                        I can't think of any because I don't think the terrain suited an outright tank to tank battle on such a huge scale. You'de get the odd platoon vs. platoon though.. You need big wide open spaces. Hedgerows, hillsides and small villages aren't really all that accomodating for huge formations.
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                        Anonymous
                        • Member since
                          November 2005
                        Biggest tank battle in the West
                        Posted by Anonymous on Friday, March 12, 2004 1:15 AM
                        Everybody knows that Kursk was the biggest tank battle of all time. But I was wondering, did anything of that sort happen on the Western Front? As a kid growing up, I wondered if that tank battle from The Battle of the Bulge ever happened the way it did. Was there ever a large scale tank battle between American/British forces and the German Panzers? Did the Germans whittle their units away in defensive strategy as they lacked the air power to protect their armor? What about 1939-40 especially in France? Did French Soumas and British Matildas wrestle with their Panzer III and IV counterparts. The only place they probably did tangle in large numbers was probably in North Africa. But as I ask again, anything happen on the Western Front?
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