Any one suggest a good book on the battle of Sevastopol? Also for the experts out here;how come Germany simply did'nt by-pass it?They brought up some elaborate guns just to blast it to bits then shipped them home and dis-mantled them.Go figure!
The Crimea area would have been a threat to the right flank during summer 1942 offensive to the Stalingrad and Caucasus so Hitler wanted it outta way first. AS well the Russians could bomb the Ploesti from the Crimea, it was supposed. And Red Army at Crimea was putting political pressure on Turkey. I know one interesting book on the mentioned battles: Bidermann, Gottlob Herbert. In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front. [ 26. February 2004, 11:08 AM: Message edited by: Kai-Petri ]
Thank you Gents! I remember reading about it some time ago but forgot where.I have that book some where.
Sevastopol was the main base of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet. Therefore it had to be reduced and taken to prevent the Soviet Navy —far superior than the German one, if any— to make raids against Bulgarian or Romanian ports or the German rear —which they did at Kerch peninsula in late 1941— or bomb the Romanian vital oil fields at Ploiesti. Reducing this whole threat was needed to make the German strategic position stronger and more favourable.
Yes, thanx for reminding of the Soviet Fleet Friedrich, almost forgot about it! Here´s something different but interesting: M.A.S. and midget submarines in the Black Sea 1942-1943 http://www.regiamarina.it/blacksea.htm
man this site is so slowwwwwwwwwwww........ Otto where are U ? anyone interested in the KM S-boot accounts in the Schwarzen Meer ?
Just finished reading "Last Days of Sevastopol" by Boris Voyetekhov,a Soviet journalist who covered thr seige. Read more like somethig off the Red Army propaganda press to me. According to him,everyone there were "heroes".Every other page was hero this,hero that.And the "fritz's" were devils."Shooting at downed Soviet pilots as they parachuted out;taking the most seriously wounded Soviets and arrange them in the shape of swastikas,pour gas on them and light them." Two things stood out in this book though[true ?].Russian "divers" salvaging everything from medical supplies to engines from sunken ships at the harbors.While artillery barrages were on. And this one which I've never heard before; every officer there was accompanied by a political commissar. Which might explain why "there were so many heroes".
I've got a 1943 copy of the Sevastopol book, Framert. As you rightly say, Voyetekhov was a playwright and journalist ; the book is more of a 'period piece' ( mine has a great Soviet-heroic-poster type dustjacket ). True, it's not much good for historical impartiality, but such books do have some value - they give an insight into the propaganda and Nationalist feelings of the time.