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WWII On This Day: July 7

What happened on July 7 during World War II? This date brings together 3 events from 1943 and 1944, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1943
A Soviet 45 mm 53-K anti-tank gun crew in the Ponyri sector, July 1943.
A Soviet 45 mm 53-K anti-tank gun crew in the Ponyri sector, July 1943. Pavel Troshkin · Public domain in Russia Source
Battle of Kursk 1943

Ponyri blocks the northern railway axis

German attacks struck Ponyri and the adjoining heights on 7 July. The railway village sat on one of the approaches through Central Front's second defensive belt, and repeated attacks drew in infantry, armour, artillery and Soviet reserves. Ponyri changed hands in part and repeatedly during the following days. Soviet anti-tank guns, tanks, artillery and freshly laid mines covered the approaches while German formations tried to expand the breach. The fighting consumed combat power without opening the road toward Kursk.

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A Tiger tank of the SS panzer corps during the battle of Kursk, July 1943.
Bundesarchiv Bild 101III-Zschaeckel-206-35 · CC BY-SA 3.0 DE · Source
Battle of Kursk 1943

The 5th Guards Tank Army begins moving toward Prokhorovka

Rotmistrov's 5th Guards Tank Army moved from the Steppe Front reserve toward the southern face in a long road march. The army was being committed before the German penetration had been fully contained, which imposed immediate demands for concentration, refuelling and coordination with Voronezh Front. Its arrival changed Vatutin's options. The southern defence could now be reinforced by a large mobile formation, and a counterattack could be prepared against II SS Panzer Corps if the German advance continued toward the Prokhorovka area.

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1944
U.S. Fifteenth Air Force B-24 bombers flying over a smoking oil refinery at Ploiești, Romania, on 31 May 1944.
Richard R. Ganczak / USAAF · Library of Congress cph.3b43591 · Public domain (US)
The Oil Campaign

Leuna is hit again after partial recovery

By early July the Leuna works had returned to a substantial fraction of its capacity following the May raids. On 7 July another Eighth Air Force attack interrupted production again. Plant engineering records later examined by the Strategic Bombing Survey show how rapidly output could revive when the power system, compressors and feed lines were repaired. The attacking force still faced a difficult aiming problem. A broad factory complex could be clearly identified from the air while the individual machines needed to stop production occupied much smaller targets. German smoke…

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