Where the Iron Crosses Grow: The Crimea 1941-44

By Robert Forczyk

Nazi and Soviet armies fought over the Crimean Peninsula for three long years using sieges, dozens of amphibious landings, and large scale maneuvers. This definitive English-language work on the savage battle for the Crimea, Where the Iron Crosses Grow sheds new light on this vital aspect of the Eastern Front.

The Crimea was one of the crucibles of the war on the Eastern Front, where first a Soviet and then a German army were surrounded, fought desperate battles and were eventually destroyed. The fighting in the region was unusual for the Eastern Front in many ways, in that naval supply, amphibious landings and naval evacuation played major roles, while both sides were also conducting ethnic cleansing as part of their strategy - the Germans eliminating the Jews and the Soviets to purging the region of Tartars.

From 1941, when the first Soviets first created the Sevastopol fortified region, the Crimea was a focal point of the war in the East. German forces under the noted commander Manstein conquered the area in 1941-42, which was followed by two years of brutal colonization and occupation before the Soviet counteroffensive in 1944 destroyed the German 17th Army.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Sep 23, 2014
• ISBN: 9781782009764

Robert Forczyk

Robert 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 retired as a lieutenant colonel from the US Army Reserves having 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). Dr Forczyk is currently a consultant in the Washington, DC area.

Reviews for Where the Iron Crosses Grow

[mancmilhist · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Robert Forczyk has produced a detailed but easily read narrative of a much neglected area of the 1941-45 Russo German war.

Whilst other authors have written extensive tracts on the initial phases of Barbarossa, Kursk, Moscow, Leningrad, etc. for some reason the battles for the Crimea have largely been ignored. 

What is even more surprising is why? From a purely military point of view it has everything. Naval battles, amphibious landings, sieges, air battles and naval evacuations the size of Dunkirk.

Logistics is key in any battle and Forczyk describes well the German quandary of trying to balance limited resources across multiple threats, as well as the friction between the Germans and their Rumanian allies who fought better, than is normally described.

The book also gives insight into Wehrmacht complicity in war crimes and the grim matter of ethnic cleansing on both sides. Whilst rightly so there is focus on German atrocities, Forczyk also describes the little known story of the Crimean Tartars where the Soviets carried out the forced deportation of 180,000 Crimean Tartars to Uzbekistan on the belief that many had collaborated with the Germans, resulting in 109,000 Tartar dead within 3 years.

The last chapter brings the book back to the present day with a contemporary view of Russia's recent invasion and annexation of the Crimea.

Overall a great addition to any Eastern Front library, but would benefit from the addition of maps.

[mcdenis-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is an historical and well documented rendition of the order of Battle in the Crimea with both failed and successful strategies by the Russian and the German armies from 1941 to 1944 resulting in the heavy loss of manpower. Heavy-duty weaponry such as the 62cm “Thor” proved to be impractical. The tenacity and flexibility of the Russians was a surprise to the Germans. Crimea was of strategic importance to both Russia and Germany. Hitler was determined to rid it of the enemies of the Third Reich and to exploit its resources. Crimea as a prize was elusive. Russia eventually gained control over the region after a two year Nazi occupation. Under Stalin’s orders the Tatars were removed and ethnically cleansed being considered as traitors to the motherland and the russification of the area began. Russia lost the Crimea in 1991 to the Ukraine peacefully. Recent efforts to annex it back to Russia by Russia to keep the Crimea out of NATO have been successful but the outcome is tenuous at best. This is a very useful text for the war historian and goes beyond 1944. Attention should be paid to the Postscript 2014, as a forecast of where all this action is heading. History tends to repeat itself and we do not learn its lessons.