open a relief of the encircled 542nd Infantry Regiment. The next day, July 24th, 1942, the 9th Panzer Division along with the 385th Infantry Division, began an offensive aimed towards Lomovo to outflank Soviet “Group Chibisov” consisting of the 1st and 2nd Tank Corps. Bitter fighting ensued over the course of the next days with the commanding general, Johannes Bäßler, was seriously wounded and relieved of command. Heinrich-Hermann von Hülsen, commander of the 9th Panzer Grenadier Regiment then assumed command. The fighting to stabilize the front German northern flank around Zemlyansk, northwest of Voronezh continued until July 29th, 1942 when the front of the 7th Corps was stabilized and the 9th Panzer Division was released. Operation Mars The 9th Panzer Division, commanded by General Walter Scheller, fought in the Second Rzhev-Sychyovka Offensive Operation also referred to as Operation Mars. After the initial Soviet breakthrough by the Soviet 20th Army on November 26th, the 9th Panzer Division was ordered to form two kampfgruppen to attack up the Rzhev-Sychevka road to stem the advance of Soviet 20th Army to the west. Operation Citadel During a lull in hostilities in early 1943, the division was again reorganized and reequipped, sent to Orel and transferred to Army Group Center, where it participated in Operation Citadel and the Battle of Kursk in the summer of that year as a part of XLVII Panzer Corps, 9th Army. Fighting alongside the 2nd, 4th and 20th Panzer divisions and the 6th Infantry Division, it tried unsuccessfully to break through the Soviet defensive belt. The division fought on the front for an extended period of time, suffering heavy casualties. In one engagement, the division lost 70 tanks to Soviet Ilyushin Il-2 aircraft in just 20 minutes. After an advance of only 15 km and suffering heavy casualties, it abandoned its attempt to reach Kursk. Following the German defeat at Kursk, the 9th Panzer Division was heavily engaged in the German retreat to the Mius-Front, a line of German fortifications along the Mius River. It covered the retreat of the 2nd Panzer Army and the 9th Army, north of Orel and Kirov, then fought in a series of battles east of Bryansk at the end of August. The division participated in fights at Stalino, Zaporozhye, Odessa, and Dnieper. During these fights it suffered mounting losses, and by January 1944 it was reduced to 13 tanks and substantially under-strength infantry and