Part of the daily log from a German security unit in the Crimea, for March 17, 1942. Note the numerous notations for “Juden Akten” or Jewish Action, indicating liquidation operations against local civilians. The banality of evil is quite evident on this piece of bureaucratic memorabilia, with the most interesting touch being that the Germans actually used a stamp for ethnic-cleansing activities. (NARA)
German R-Boats. The Kriegsmarine transferred the 3. Räumbootsflotille to the Black Sea in July 1942, and these small warships played a major role in the operations around the Crimea in 1943–44. Although intended primarily for coastal minesweeping, the R-Boats proved quite useful as convoy escorts, anti-submarine vessels, and even in surface combat against the Azov Flotilla’s motor gunboats. (Nik Cornish, WH 1180)
German high-speed landing barges (MFP) unloading troops on the Sea of Azov, 1943. As a bonus from the aborted Operation Sealion, the versatile MFP proved well-suited to the shallow waters off the Crimea. Soviet naval forces never had much luck in efforts to interdict MFP coastal traffic, and it was not until the Luftwaffe lost its bases in the Crimea that Soviet air power could inflict significant losses on these craft. (Author’s collection)
A Soviet MO-IV sub-chaser, SKA-038, operating off the Crimea. The Black Sea Fleet had 42 vessels of this type in service at the start of the war and built another 75 in 1941–44. This 50-ton, wooden-hulled vessel served as a jack-of-all trades in the Black Sea and was useful for landing troops and for escort duties. Although armed with two 45mm 21K guns, the MO-IV boats were much slower than the German Schnellboote, but about evenly matched with the R-Boats. (Author’s collection)
Scouts from the 2nd Guards Rifle Division “Tamanskaya” land near Yenikale on November 4, 1943. Small groups of scouts were landed on the rocky coastline by light vessels from the Azov Flotilla, but the Soviets lacked the amphibious craft to land tanks or heavy artillery across this type of terrain. The failure to secure the port of Kerch in the initial phase of the Kerch–Eltigen operation greatly delayed the Coastal Army’s breakout from their lodgment. (Author’s collection)
Troops of the 346th Rifle Division crossing the Sivash on November 1, 1943. Soldiers had to link arms during the crossing, lest they become mired in the soft bottom. It took over two hours to walk across this 1½-mile wide ford, but the Soviet crossing was initially unopposed and took the Germans completely by surprise. Note that all the infantrymen are armed with PPSH submachine guns, and the flat Crimean coast in the distance. (Author’s collection)
The Soviet 10th Rifle Corps had great difficulty in moving heavy weapons across the Sivash, and boats were nearly useless. Here, a 45mm anti-tank gun and two horses are being transported on two small boats, which must be pushed across the mud, rather than floated. It is interesting that German engineers thought that the Sivash could not be crossed by a large unit, and the ability of the Red Army to adapt and persevere in this kind of situation often dumfounded the more conventional German approach to warfare. (Author’s collection)
Tanks from the 19th Tank Corps race through Simferopol on April 13, 1944, after the breakout from the Sivash bridgehead. Vasilevsky’s decision to transfer this tank corps across the Sivash bridge rendered the German stand at Perekop futile and caused the entire Axis position in the Crimea to disintegrate virtually overnight. The 19th Tank Corps started the operation with 221 tanks and assault guns, including 63 British-built Valentine tanks. (Author’s collection)
The freighter Totila under attack by Il-2 Sturmoviks on the morning of May 10, 1944, off Sevastopol. When it sank, it took an estimated 3,000 German and 1,000 Romanian troops with it. Soviet aircraft did not seriously interfere with the Axis evacuation from the Crimea until the final stages of the operation, but the concentration of Axis merchant shipping off the Chersonese was an easy target. (Author’s collection)
A group of smiling female partisans in the Crimea, May 1944. Soviet partisans participated in the liberation of some of the coastal cities, such as Yalta and Alushta, which were close to their operating areas, but they completely failed to interfere with the retreat of V Armeekorps through the Yaila Mountains. Had the partisans delayed this German retreat by even a few days, the Red Army would almost certainly have overrun Sevastopol before the Axis had a chance to evacuate the rest of AOK 17. (Author’s collection)
Soviet troops from the 2nd Guards Army in Sevastopol, May 10, 1944. The destroyed StuG-III assault gun in the foreground was probably blown up by the retreating Germans. Note that the building at left is the same one that the destroyer Svobodnyi was photographed next to in June 1942. (Author’s collection)
German troops emerge from shattered buildings in Sevastopol to surrender on May 9–10, 1944. It is unclear exactly how many Axis troops were captured in the final days in the Crimea, but probably in the neighborhood of 8,000–10,000. (Author’s collection)
Soviet naval infantrymen entering Sevastopol near Nakhimov Square, May 10, 1944. Fort Constantine can be seen in the background. At the end, the Germans put up no real resistance inside Sevastopol but instead made a beeline for the evacuation beaches. (Nik Cornish, RA 190)
Two Germans who attempted to flee from the Chersonese on a raft are captured by a Soviet naval infantryman. A handful of Germans escaped on improvised rafts or floating debris, but most fell victim to strafing attacks by Soviet fighters. Hitler’s refusal to authorize an earlier evacuation condemned much of AOK 17’s troops to death or capture. (Author’s collection)
A Ukrainian BTR-70 armored personnel carrier occupies a defensive position near the Perekop Isthmus, March 2014. As in previous Crimean campaigns, control of the Perekop Isthmus is key terrain that both sides moved quickly to block.
Russian airborne troops arrived quickly in the Crimea in March 2014 in order to secure key facilities, but wore masks to conceal their identity. Nevertheless, their equipment – including RPG launchers – clearly identified them as regular troops and not the local patriots claimed by Russian television. Once the Crimea was annexed, Russian President Putin admitted that these men were, in fact, Russian troops.
The face of Russian imperialism in the 21st century looks remarkably like it did in the previous three centuries. Russian agitators used violence to terrorize anyone in the Crimea who opposed their annexation plan. Note the Cossack wielding a whip – ample proof that very little has changed in the age-old game to dominate the Crimea.