7th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)
The 7th Panzer Division was an armored formation of the German Army in World War II. It participated in the Battle of France, the invasion of the Soviet Union, the occupation of Vichy France, and on the Eastern Front until the end of the war. The 7th Panzer Division is also known by its nickname, Ghost Division.
General Erwin Rommel and staff observe 7th Panzer Division practicing a river crossing at the Mosel, 1940
Rommel and staff during the Battle for France, June 1940.
A Panzer 38t in the Soviet Union, June 1941
The crew of a Panzer IV watch a burning French warship, probably the cruiser Colbert.
The Battle of Kursk was a major World War II Eastern Front battle between the forces of Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in southwestern Russia during the summer of 1943, resulting in a Soviet victory. The Battle of Kursk was the single largest battle in the history of warfare. It, along with the Battle of Stalingrad several months earlier, are the two most oft-cited turning points in the European theatre of the war. It was one of the costliest and fiercest battles of the entire Second World War, with it being the single deadliest armoured battle in history and the opening day of the battle, 5 July, being the single costliest day in the history of aerial warfare. The battle was also marked by fierce house-to-house fighting and hand-to-hand combat.
Guderian being transported to the Eastern Front, 1943
A Raupenschlepper Ost, designed in response to the poor roads of Russia, moves materiel up shortly before the Kursk offensive.
Zhukov with Ivan Konev, commander of the Steppe Front, during the Battle of Kursk
A Soviet machine gun crew during the Battle of Kursk.