Battle of the Kerch Peninsula

Part of the Eastern Front of World War II

German Panzer IV tank and infantry in battle on the Kerch Peninsula in May 1942.

Date	26 December 1941 – 19 May 1942 (4 months, and 23 days)
Location	Crimean Peninsula, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Result	Axis victory

Belligerents

Germany

Romania

Bulgaria

Soviet Union

Commanders and leaders

Casualties and losses

~9,000 casualties

170,000 dead or captured (including civilians)
wounded unknown

Battle of the Kerch Peninsula (German: Unternehmen Trappenjagd) (Russian Керченско-Феодосийская десантная операция (Kerchensko-Feodosiyskaya desantnaya operatsiya, 'Kerch-Feodosiya landing operation') was a World War II offensive by German and Romanian armies against the Soviet Crimean Front forces defending the Kerch Peninsula, in the eastern part of the Crimea. It was launched on 8 May 1942 and concluded around 18 May 1942 with the near complete destruction of the Soviet defending forces. The Red Army lost over 170,000 men killed or taken prisoner, and three armies (44th, 47th, and 51st) with twenty-one divisions. The operation was one of the battles immediately preceding the German summer offensive (Case Blue), and its successful conclusion enabled the Axis to end the siege of Sevastopol in the following months.

Some groups of Soviet survivors refused to surrender and fought on for many months, hiding in the catacombs of the quarries. Many of these soldiers were occupying the caves along with many civilians, who had fled the city of Kerch.

On 26 December 1941, the Soviets landed on Kerch, and on 30 December executed another landing near Feodosiya with the 44th and 51st Armies. The operation was to drive to Sevastopol and relieve the garrison, now encircled by the German 11th Army. The 46th Infantry Division, under Generalleutnant Kurt Himer, was the only division in a position to be able to block the Soviet advance. Manstein believed it could contain the landing, but the Soviets consolidated their bridgeheads and defeated the attacking Romanian brigades. As a result, the XLII Corps commander, Lieutenant General Hans Graf von Sponeck, chose to withdraw the 46th Infantry division from Kerch through the Parpach narrows to avoid being caught and encircled by Soviet forces advancing from the landing zones located at the extreme east (Kerch) and west (Feodosiya) of the peninsula. Manstein diverted the XXX Corps to support XLII Corps, forming a new front at Feodosiya. They succeeded in sealing off the Soviet armies in the Kerch peninsula. The Soviet landings had saved Sevastopol and seized the initiative. Casualties were high. The Germans lost 8,595 between 17 and 31 December. The Soviets lost 7,000 killed and another 20,000 as prisoners of war.

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