Russia 1942 ▶ Battle Of Kerch Crimea "Unternehmen Trappenjagd" Krim Kertsch Керчь Tatar Wall

Russia 1942 ▶ Battle Of Kerch Crimea "Unternehmen Trappenjagd" Krim Kertsch Керчь Tatar Wall Tatarengraben - Erich von Manstein, Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen, COS Chef des Stabes 11. Armee Otto Wöhler
German History Archive ▶
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Operation "Bustard Hunt" (8 to 19 May 1942) was the code name for the German-Romanian enterprise to conquer the Kerch Peninsula on the eastern side of the Crimea. Prior to this, the German Wehrmacht had been repulsed by Soviet troops after the conquest of the Crimean peninsula with multiple landing operations in the winter of 1941/42 (Kerch-Feodossija Operation). For the planned summer offensive "Fall Blau" it was important that a possible flank threat was removed by the Crimea. For this reason the Kerch peninsula was to be reconquered first and then the fortress Sevastopol was to be taken. The Germans were confronted with blatant mistakes of the Soviet military leadership. Thus they had concentrated the majority of their troops in the northern front advance Kiet-Korpetsch. Due to their numerical superiority, the Soviet troops did not count on an attack by the Germans. For this reason they refrained from building deep defences and lines of defence, and their command posts and artillery positions were poorly camouflaged. The German surprise attack began on May 8, 1942 at 4:15 a.m. After 3 ½ hours the breakthrough through the second line of defence, an antitank ditch, was achieved. The surprise effect was intensified by landing a battalion of Infantry Regiment 436 (132nd Infantry Division) with collapsible assault boats behind the second line of defence. Targeted artillery fire and the operations of the VIII. Air Corps on the command structure of the Crimean front quickly paralysed Soviet troops. After overcoming the tank pit, the 22nd Tank Division was pulled forward. The aim was to advance to the Sea of Azov and complete the containment of the 51st Army. Furthermore, a motorized advance division of the Corps (Colonel Groddeck) was sent eastwards. Its purpose was to connect with the 436 Infantry Regiment, destroy enemy communication links, prevent the establishment of a new enemy line of defence behind the Tartar Trench and secure the eastern flank created by an encirclement of the Soviet 51st Army. It was not the Soviet resistance that stopped the German troops for the time being, but a strong thunderstorm that caused both motorized units (22nd Tank Division and Brigade Groddeck) to get completely stuck. On 11 May 1942 the 22nd Panzer Division reached the coast, thus enclosing large parts of the Soviet 51st Army. The corps that quickly advanced from the west (XXXXII. and VII. around.) removed the cauldron and pursued troops that had escaped from the cauldron along the north coast and in the middle section. Thus all three corps of the 11th Army drove the Soviet troops in front of them. It was not until Kerch that the Soviet units were able to build up a defence and put up a tough fight, because they wanted to evacuate as many units as possible across the Kerch Strait. Kerch was attacked simultaneously from the south and north, the main objective was to capture the port, which was achieved on 14 May 1942 by Infantry Regiment 213 of the 170th Infantry Division. The battles for the conquest of Kerch lasted until May 20, 1942. Some Soviet units entrenched themselves for weeks, moreover large parts of the town were undermined like mines and formed an underground labyrinth of resistance nests.
The losses of the German troops amounted to 3397 soldiers (600 of whom died), 8 tanks, 3 assault guns and 9 guns. Three Soviet armies (44., 47. and 51.) with 21 divisions were destroyed. The Soviet losses amounted to about 28,000 killed, 170,000 prisoners, 1133 destroyed guns, 258 destroyed tanks and 417 destroyed airplanes. Only about 37,000 soldiers were able to save themselves under heavy German air and artillery attacks on the Taman Peninsula beyond the Kerch Strait. In barely 14 days the 11th Army had eliminated the threat on its eastern flank and crushed a triple superior enemy. The fortress Sevastopol was now on its own.