Kerch Crimea during the Second World War.

I live in the city of Kerch. And I want to show you the place of fighting in Kerch.


fighting Kerch landing near Kerch in 1942

Same place today

 

Crimea is a beautiful place. Sad that so much horror has been brought there.

I read von Mansteins accounts of the campaign not to long ago, but it was focused on an operational level and doesn't give a good insight on how it was to fight at the front.

Thanks for the photos '77.

 

Manstein conducted a military operation "hunting bustards, in which the 3 Red army crushed on the Kerch Peninsula. Basically take advantage of aviation and a poor command of the Red Army.

 

Great pics, thanx Toxiz!

 

All thanks for the comment. I'll do a couple fotos in the city. And how will warm, I'll go to the field fighting.

 

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYsYtRSqg1g[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTIW4X1wy8I[/YOUTUBE]


First liberation January 1942. Mount Mithridates Kerch

 

Excellent photos and amazing finds. Thanks for sharing!

 

Awesome Toxiz! By the way, is the medic on the lower right corner in the first photo a really young boy, or is the medic a she?

 

Although not Toxiz, its no doubt a girl.

 

Thanks for your feedback. Yes it is a girl. In the Red Army fought a girl volunteers. By the way, fought over the Kerch girls pilots. They were bombing the german positions at night in light airplanes. The Germans nicknamed them the "Night witches".

 

great post 77

 

Manstein's codename, by the way was Operation TRAPPEN. Manstein recieved command of the German Eleventh Army only as a result of his predecessor (General von Schobert) death in a plane crash, (the aircraft actually crash-landed in a minefield). Eleventh Army was far too weak to both contain Sevastopl and clear the Kerch peninsula at the same time. Luftwaffe support for "Trappen" was lavish, and at the expense of everywhere else on the Southern front.

Manstein was forced to attack frontally, as the isthmus leading to the peninsula was only 19 miles wide. Manstein was, "...very skillful: the Russians, in the Crimea, were not." Russian forces fell back "in a nightmare of confusion and incompetence....defeated by a numerically inferior enemy." 'Trappen' kicked off on May 8th, and fighting ceased on 15th May, according to the Germans, (Halder). Russian sources list organised resistence as "coming to an end on the 18th of May", with isolated resistance continuing until 21st of May.

170,000 Russian prisoners marched into captivity. German claims for tanks taken amounted to 258 and more than 1,100 guns. Some 7,558 Germans were killed in action, whilst 120,000 russian soldiers managed to escape to the Taman peninsula, according to Soviet record. Russian commander, Lt Gen. Kozlov was reprimanded by his political commisar Lev Mekhlis. But Stalin, "was unimpressed and replied sarcastically that Mekhlis should not have blamed Kozlov, but taken responsibility himself." ...(Source...Bellamy...Page 456)

Bellamy...Page 457
Russian operations of the Kerch Peninsula and the Battle of Kharkov were probably the most stupendously costly front operations the Russians ever engaged in. It all depends, of course on how you measure it. They were the most costly locally, and in terms of losses per day, rather than over a longer period. In the first two weeks of the war, in June-July 1941, the Western Front had suffered 23,207 losses per day in the face of the German onslaught. In the Western Ukraine, in the same period, the South-Western and Southern Fronts had taken 16,106 losses per day. But these operations were much bigger, involving bigger groups of forces. By comparison, in the Kerch defensive operation from 8 to 9 May 1942, the russians lost 14,714 people per day, and in the battle of Khar'kov, from 12 to 19 May, 15,399 per day. Overall, however, we are looking at 177,000 lost on the Kerch peninsula and 277,000 at Kharkov. These compare with 418,000 for the Western Front in the first two weeks of the war and 242,000 for the two fronts in Western Ukraine. by comparison, again, the daily loss in the defensive phase at Stalingrad between July and November 1942 would be just 5,151, and in the offensive phase, from November 1942 to February 1943, 6,392 losses per day. And even at moscow the daily losses were fewer - although again, much greater forces were involved overall. The defensive phase cost the Russians 9,825 losses per day, although across the four fronts and over more than two months, while the counter-offensive cost 10,910 per day from four fronts, again about over a month.
You could therefore argue that Kerch and Kharkov in early summer 1942 were the hardest, most intense hits the Russians ever took.
It was about to change.

Pity it was for the German Army that Manstein was not in control of Operation "Fall Blau", for the Stalingrad offensive. Instead, they got a 'yes man',Paulus.
It should be noted that Erich von Manstein was a supporter of 'Blau', advising Hitler of the benefits. This most capable General could have, by this record, made a significant difference to the outcome of 'Blau'. As it was, Manstein was only called into the operation to bail the Sixth army out of trouble (Operation "Wintersturm").

By the time Manstein intervened, Paulus was vacillating, too concerned about obeying the "Hold Fast" order for Mansteins operation to successfully tip the scales.....

 

Commissar Lev Mekhlis, was hoping to save his skin by blaming the military commanders with his telegrams to Stalin. However, finally Stalin had enough and sent this telegram to Mekhlin:

You maintain the strange position of a mere onlooker who bears no responsibility for affairs on the Crimean Front. This position may be very comfortable but it is rotten to the core. On the Crimean Front you are not a mere onlooker, but the responsible representative of GHQ, who answers for all successes and failures of the front, and is duty bound to put right on the spot mistakes made by the command. You,and the command are responsible for the fact that the Front left flank was entirely unprotected..."

From "Siege" by Patrick McTaggart