The Crimean operation in 1944 was an offensive operation conducted by Soviet troops with the goal of liberating the Crimea from German troops during WWII. Crimea, for historical reasons, bears great importance to the Soviet Union. The great strategic position of the Crimea allows easy control of the Black Sea.
General Situation Before the Beginning of the Operation
As a result of offensive operations, Soviet troops blocked the 17th German Army in the Crimea, while capturing an important bridgehead on the southern shore. In addition, troops captured a bridgehead in the Kerch area. The top leadership of the Wehrmacht believed that with the land blockade, the further retention of the Crimea militarily seemed unlikely. However, Hitler ordered defense of Crimea, believing that abandonment of the peninsula would push Romania and Bulgaria to exit the Nazi bloc.
The Strengths and Composition of the Armies at Crimea
The 4th Ukrainian Front under the command of Army General FI Tolbukhin consisted of the 51st Army,
the 2nd Guards Army, the 19th Panzer Corps, and the 8th Air Army. A separate Maritime Army was under the command of Army General AI Eremenko. The Black Sea Fleet was commanded by Admiral FS Oktyabrsky.
The Azov military flotilla, under the command of Rear Admiral SG Gorshkov, consisted of a total of 470,000 troops, 5,982 guns and mortars, 559 tanks and self-propelled guns, and 1,250 aircraft.
The 17th Wehrmacht, under the command of General Erwin Jaenecke, composed of five German and seven Romanian divisions. There was a total of about 200,000 troops, about 3,600 guns and mortars, 215 tanks and assault guns, 148 aircraft. The headquarters of the 17th Army was located in Simferopol.
The Operation
On April 8, 1944, at 8:00 a.m. artillery and aviation preparation began in the 4th Ukrainian Front. Immediately after that, the forces launched an offensive, with the main attack by the forces of the 51st Army from the Sivash bridgehead. On the same day, the 2nd Guards Army liberated Armyansk.
For three days, the troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front fought fierce battles and by the end of the day on April 10, broke through the enemy’s defenses on the Perekop and also south of Sivash.
The rapid advance of the 19th Panzer Corps put the Kerch group at risk of encirclement and forced the enemy command to begin a hasty retreat to the west. On the night of April 11, along with the 19th Panzer Corps, the Primorsky Army launched an offensive, which, with the support of aviation from the 4th Air Army and the Black Sea Fleet, seized the city of Kerch by morning.
Soviet troops liberated Feodosia, Simferopol, Evpatoria and Saki on April 13; Sudak on April 14; and Alushta on April 15. On April 16, they came to Sevastopol. The attempt to take the city failed, and the Soviet armies began to prepare for storming of the city.
They wanted to unite all land forces under one single command. From April 16 to 30, Soviet troops repeatedly attempted to storm the city. On May 3, the Wehrmacht general Erwin Jeneke, who did not believe he could successfully defend the city, was removed from command. A general assault of Sevastopol was conducted by the Soviet command on May 5. Having started it according to plan, after four days of heavy fighting on May 9, the Soviet forces liberated the city.
On May 12, the remaining enemy troops laid down their arms. All the time during the operation, active assistance to Soviet troops was provided by Crimean guerrillas. They disrupted enemy communications, raided headquarters and columns of the Nazis and participated in the liberation of cities.
On April 11, 1944, during the retreat of the 17th Army from Crimea to Sevastopol, one of the detachments of the Crimean partisans captured the city of Stary Krym. Thus, the road was cut from the units of the 98th Infantry Division that retreated from Kerch from the 5th Army Corps of the 17th Army. On the evening of the same day, one of the regiments of this division came to the city, reinforced with tanks and assault guns. During the night battle, the Germans managed to capture one of the city quarters. During this time, German infantrymen killed the remaining civilian population that was there, around 584 people. Since the conditions of the battle did not allow, as was usually done, the German infantrymen methodically went house-to-house, shooting of them, regardless of gender and age.
Outcome
The Crimean operation ended with the complete defeat of the 17th Wehrmacht Army. The losses in the course of the battles amounted to 120,000 troops (of which 61,580 were prisoners). To this number, it is necessary to add significant losses of enemy troops during the maritime evacuation, during which the Romanian Black Sea Fleet was virtually destroyed.
Thus, the total losses of German-Romanian troops are estimated at 140,000 soldiers and officers. As a result of the liberation of the Crimea, the threat to the southern flank of the Soviet-German front was removed, and the main naval base of the Black Sea Fleet, Sevastopol, was returned to the Soviets. Having recaptured the Crimea, the Soviet Union regained control over the Black Sea, which shook Germany’s position in Romania, Turkey, and Bulgaria.
Sources:
- Vasilevsky AM A matter of all life
- Grylev A. N. Dnepr – Carpathians – Crimea.
- Litvin GA, Smirnov E. I. The liberation of the Crimea
- Kreiser Ya. Sivash – Sevastopol