Hi Martin & Igorn,
Igorn, would it be possible for you to establish the Russian tank units that fought against Pz.Rgt. 31 and their actual losses?
Martin, I don't unfortunately have details of the losses for this engagement but some thoughts on the units involved, maybe Igorn could supply some figures on losses for you.
As Igorn has already stated the attack on 12/07/43 came from the 11th Guards Army, OOB is as follows;
11th Guards Army - Lt Gen I Kh Bagramian
8th Guards Rifle Corps - Maj Gen P F Malyshev
11th Guards Rifle Division - Maj Gen I F Fediun'kin
26th Guards Rifle Division - Maj Gen N N Korzhenevsky
83rd Guards Rifle Division - Maj Gen Ia S Vorob'ev
16th Guards Rifle Corps - Maj Gen A V Lapshov (KIA on 13/07/43)
1st Guards Rifle Division - Maj Gen N A Kropotin
16th Guards Rifle Division - Maj Gen P G Shafranov
31st Guards Rifle Division - Col I K Shcherbin
169th Rifle Division - Maj Gen Ia F Eremenko
36th Guards Rifle Corps - Maj Gen A S Ksenefontov
5th Guards Rifle Division - Col N L Soldatov
18th Guards Rifle Division - Col M N Zavodovsky
84th Guards Rifle Division - Maj Gen G B Peters
11th Guards Army Tank & SPG units
10th Guards Tank Bgde - Col A R Burlyga
29th Guards Tank Bgde - Col S I Tokerov
43rd Guards Tank Bgde - Col M P Lukashev
213th Tank Bgde - Lt Col V S Gaev
2nd Guards Separate Heavy Tank Reg - Col M F Kutuzov
4th Guards Separate Tank Reg
1453rd Self Propelled Artillery Reg (152mm)
On hand strength returns: 268 Tanks & 12 SPGs
Attached forces to 11th Guards Army included
1st Tank Corps - Maj Gen V V Butkov
89th Tank Bgde - Col K N Bannikov
117th Tank Bgde - Lt Col A S Voronkov
159th Tank Bgde - Col S P Khaidukov
44th Motorised Rifle Bgde
1437th Self Propelled Artillery Reg (85mm)
On hand strength returns: 168 Tanks & 16 SPGs
5th Tank Corps - Maj Gen M S Sakhno
24th Tank Bgde - Col V S Sytnik (KIA 17/07/43)
41st Tank Bgde - Col S I Alaev
70th Tank Bgde - Col S V Kuznetsov (KIA 15/07/43)
5th Motorised Rifle Bgde
1435th Self Propelled Artillery Reg (85mm)
731st Separate Anti Tank Artillery Btn
277th Mortar Reg
On hand strength returns: 168 Tanks & 16 SPGs
Personnel Losses for the 11th Guards Army (incl attached units) 12/07-30/07/43 were;
12,768 Irrevocable
38,513 Medical
51,281 Total
11th Guards Army and supporting units were to spearhead the Northern arm of the Orel Operation, its goal to attack southward, east of Zhizdra to sever the Briansk-Orel rail line near Karachev and isolate and destroy the German forces around Orel, in conjunction with forces from the Briansk and Central fronts attacking from the east and south.
Bagramian concentrated 59,777 men, 615 Tanks & SPGs and almost 3000 Guns & Mortars in his 16km penetration sector alone and had made extensive efforts to conceal his intentions. German intelligence seriously underestimated the strength of the forces in Bagramian's group. German intelligence had failed to identify a full half of the Guards Rifle formations and failed to detect the forward deployment of both the 1st & 5th Tank Corps.
At 3.30am 12/07/43 Soviet Artillery opened its offensive with a 2 hour 40 minute barrage that ripped up the German tactical defence zone. During the last 10 minutes of the barrage forward Rifle Battalions of the the first echelon Rifle Divisions moved into the assault positions accompanied by Tank Companies from the Army Tank Brigades and Regiments.
The 8th Guards Rifle Corps & 36th Guards Rifle Corps six Guards Rifle Divisions were the first echelon in the assault of 12/07/43. They attacked on a 16km wide assault zone at the junction between the German 211th & 293rd Infantry Divisions, smashing two Infantry regiments they brushed the defenders aside and with it the first defensive belt.
On the afternoon of the 12/07/43 Bagramian introduced his second echelon, 16th Guards Rifle Corps to attempt to break through the second defensive zone. The German 5th Panzer Division slowed the attack late in the afternoon and Bagramian immediately introduced his mobile exploitation force to attempt to counter the German armoured resistance. He introduced the 5th Tank Corps and by nightfall had advanced another 10 kms and reached Ul'ianov, in the heart of the German second defensive belt. Here the 5th Tank Corps was halted by the 5th German Panzer Division and forced the Tank Corps to prepare a deliberate assault the next morning.
I presume the Germans pre-empted this assault judging by the information you have already posted. The next day the 1st Tank Corps wasn't actually committed until 14.30pm, so the action that took place at dawn on 13/07/43 was by my guess with units of Maj Gen Sakhno's 5th Tank Corps. Any of the 11th Guards Army Tank units I think would have still been fighting at the point of penetration or mopping up and had not advanced as far as Ul'ianov, although that's only my opinion and I suppose we couldn't discount them from the engagement, but I think it highly unlikely. Its also worth noting here, that over the course of the next 4 days 2 of the 5th Corps Tank Bgde Commanders were KIA, which probably stands as a testament to the ferocity of the fighting.
I would have liked to pin it down to a Brigade but I'm afraid I only have info at the Operational level and not the Tactical, sorry.
Hope this helps anyway.
Regards
David