Where the Iron Crosses Grow

German infantry from the LIV Armeekorps crossing the Tatar Ditch on September 26, 1941. The steep walls formed an excellent defensive parapet and it was only through the use of aggressive combined-arms tactics that the Germans were able to breach this position so quickly. (Author’s collection)

Soviet prisoners taken at Perekop, September 1941. The 51st Army failed to hold either the Perekop or Ishun defensive positions, and lost about half its troops and the bulk of its field artillery. (Author’s collection)

German infantry advance south from Ishun into the Crimea. Most of the 11. Armee could only advance at a walking pace. The flat, grassy terrain made movement easy but also rendered attackers very vulnerable to defensive fire when Soviet rearguards chose to stand and fight. (Author’s collection)

Once the Soviet defense at Ishun was broken on October 26, 1941, Manstein initiated a pursuit operation. Brigade Ziegler was an extemporized motorized unit, which consisted mostly of thin-skinned wheeled vehicles. Note the alertness of the German troops – looking out for Soviet rearguards or ambushes – and the air-recognition flag on the hood of the vehicle. (Author’s collection)

A Soviet I-153 “Chaika” fighter patrols over the entrance to Sevastopol’s Severnaya Bay in 1941. At this point, naval traffic in and out of the port appears still normal, with a minesweeper and transport in the background. However once the Luftwaffe appeared over Sevastopol, most naval traffic only moved at night, in order to avoid attacks. (Author’s collection)

Romanian motorcycle troops from the 6th Motorized Rosiori Regiment were used in the pursuit after Ishun in November 1941, as well as during Operation Trappenjagd in May 1942. Note the German vehicle in the foreground, likely belonging to a liaison officer. (Nik Cornish, WH 1410)

A Soviet 152mm howitzer in a wood-framed firing position. Most of Sevastopol’s perimeter defenses in late 1941 were still fairly basic in layout, and it was not until the winter that most of the artillery was emplaced in more robust positions. (Nik Cornish, RA 105)

When the destroyer Sovershennyi was crippled by German bombers in Severnaya Bay, the Soviets stripped the wreck of its 130mm gun turrets and deployed them in two batteries on the Malakhov Hill. Matyukhin’s Battery 701 had two 130mm guns deployed in open concrete pits, which continued to operate until the final days of the siege. (Author’s collection)