General von Manstein, Commander-in-Chief, 11th German Army, besieged Sevastopol in winter 1941 where Alexander Solzhenitsyn was an artillery officer, cleared the Crimean Peninsula and took Kerch to secure the western access to the Caucasus oilfields.
The Crimean War of 1854-56
The Crimean War began as Russia invaded the Turkish Ottoman Empire and France and Britain allied to protect their access routes to Jerusalem. The Battle of Alma in 1854 cost the Russians immense casualties as they tried to stop the Allies from attacking Sevastopol. There were extensive entrenchments around Sevastopol where Leo Tolstoy served in the trenches. The battle of Balaklava where Russian guns on the heights, were charged by the British Light Brigade, ensured the war lasted until 1856. Florence Nightingale's nurses had to deal with horrific epidemics, which exceeded battle casualties.
General von Manstein's German 11th Army invaded the Crimea at Perekop
The Crimea was essential for access through Kerch to the Caucasus oilfields. Fourth Rumanian Army was attached to the German 11th Army which was directed south of German Southern Army Group to clear the Crimea of Red Army troops, who had withdrawn from Odessa to Perekop by sea. A Crimean peninsula occupied by Soviet forces would have been a serious threat to the southern flank of the OstFront.
On 24 September 1941, 54 Corps began the offensive on Perekop. The Soviets suffered heavy losses with the Germans attacking Red Army forces at Ishun, which had been reinforced by sea from the Sea of Azov. The Red Army was overwhelmed with 65,000 prisoners taken by 1st October.
The reinforcement of German 54 Corps with 42 Corps ensured Odessa was abandoned on 16th October with its garrison transferred to Sevastopol. Thee followed ten days of hard fighting ensuring the collapse of Soviet defences and its immediate pursuit. By 16th November the entire Crimea, except Sevastopol, was in German hands.
The Initial German Assault on Sevastopol
The Russian winter delayed the initial assault on Sevastopol until 17th December. By 30th December Colonel von Choltitz (later Commander-in Chief, German Forces, Paris) had penetrated Fort Stalin. Soviet forces meantime landed on Kerch at Feodosia. The violence continued until 3rd March when Soviet forces were annihilated with a further assault blunted by 11th April 1942. Sevastopol had to wait.
Operation Bustard, the Reconquest of the Kerch Peninsula
The enemy with 44th and 51st Soviet Armies were well prepared, so, the Germans unexpectedly attacked south along the Black Sea coast. On 8th May 1942 Operation Bustard commenced with 30 Corps and 42 Corps advancing on concentrated Red Army units and by 18th May some 170,000 Russian POWs were captured, with some Russian diehards taking refuge in caves near Kerch. Stalin issued Order No. 227 for the survivors to be herded into punishment battalions to be soaked up in the red sand of advanced positions, leaving no trace.
Operation Sturgeon, the Conquest of Sevastoplol, June-July 1842
The powerful fortress of Sevastopol along with many minor fortifications including Windmill Heights, Sugarloaf and Zapun Heights were attacked on 6th June 1942 from both north, 54 Corps and south by 30 Corps. Heavy siege artillery of 19cm, 35cm, 60cm and the 80cm calibre Big Dora were deployed.
The inner fortifications to the north of Sevastopol were breached in late June with General Petrov and 90,000 Red Army prisoners taken by 4th July. The Crimea had been cleared for use in the German offensive on the southern wing of the OstFront. General von Manstein was promoted to Feld Marschall.
The Withdrawal to the Dnieper Line by November 1943
The Crimea was abandoned to its fate when the Red Army offensive forced the Germans back to the Zaporozhye-Kherson line, late 1943. The Kuban shield was awarded to the German units who wiithdrew from the western Caucasus through Kerch and Crimea and finally to the Dnieper River line.
Stalin ordered the Crimean Tartars rounded up and deported to Siberia in late 1943 and the Chechens of Maikop and Grozny likewise in 1944. Stalin feared contact with the Germans would destabilise his regime.
Sources
- Lost Victories, The War Memoirs of Hitler's Most Brilliant General by Feld Marschall Erich von Manstein, Zenith Press 2004
- The Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Collins Fontana 1974
- The Crimean War 1854-56
Michael Manning - ' The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity' W.B.Yeats
