Sevastopol 1942

Description

In late July 1941, Hitler ordered Army Group South to seize the Crimea as part of its operations to secure the Ukraine and the Donets Basin, in order to protect the vital Romanian oil refineries at Ploesti from Soviet air attack. After weeks of heavy fighting, the Germans breached the Soviet defenses and overran most of the Crimea. By November 1941 the only remaining Soviet foothold in the area was the heavily fortified naval base at Sevastopol.
Operation Sturgeon Haul, the final assault on Sevastopol, was one of the very few joint service German operations of World War II, with two German corps and a Romanian corps supported by a huge artillery siege train, the Luftwaffe’s crack VIII Flieger Korps and a flotilla of S-Boats provided by the Kriegsmarine. This volume closely examines the impact of logistics, weather and joint operational planning upon the last major German victory in World War II (1939-1945).

Dr Robert A. Forczyk has a PhD in International Relations and National Security from the University of Maryland and a strong background in European and Asian military history. He is currently a lieutenant colonel in the US Army Reserves and has served 18 years as an armour officer in the US 2nd and 4th Infantry Divisions and as an intelligence officer in the 29th Infantry Division (Light). The author lives in Laurel, MD. Origins of the campaign/Chronology/Opposing plans/Opposing leaders/Opposing forces/Operation Trappenjagd, 8-21 May 1942/Air and naval operations around Sevastopol 1941-42/Operation Störfang – the third assault on Sevastopol/Aftermath/The battlefield today/Bibliography/Index

“The content of the book is well-presented, and more importantly, written from in-depth research… [Sevastopol] was one of the greatest sieges of the Eastern Front of the European War, and Sevastopol 1942: Von Manstein’s Triumph provides the details a reader will need to learn of this battle.” —C. Peter Chen, World War II Database (January 28, 2008)“Robert Forczyk’s Sevastopol 1942: Von Manstein’s Triumph is a masterpiece of command strategies and battle tactics and should be center of any World War II library. Joining others in the ‘Campaign’ series, it surveys the mission of the Army Group South to seize the Crimea to prevent Soviet air attacks on the Polesti oilfields in Romania. Vintage black and white photos help document a moving history.” —California Bookwatch (April 2008)“Robert Forczyk covers the preparations, and all the various battles in and around Sevastopol in a manner that is both interesting and easy to read. This is all superbly illustrated by Howard Gerrard and with an excellent choice of maps, diagrams, and period photographs to lead us through what could have been a confusing set of operations. It is an excellent book on a part of WWII that rarely gets any sort of press. One that I know you will enjoy reading as much as I did.” —Scott Van Aken, modelingmadness.com (January 2008)“Forcyzk skillfully weaves together the story of the German campaign to seize the city, interspersing logistics, operational planning and military movements, leaders, and the terrain and weather into an excellent overview of the Stevastopol campaign…this is perhaps the finest general overview of the Sevastopol campaign on the market.” —Scott Mingus, Charge! (January 12, 2008)

Additional information