In the Skies over Kerch & Feodosia, Crimean Air War 1943-44 Volume 3

By late January 1944, the fighting on the Kerch Peninsula had settled into a stalemate, but in the air above, it had not. This concluding volume of In the Skies over Kerch & Feodosia covers the last two and a half months of the campaign and is, in many ways, the most revealing. February belonged to the fighters: with the strike aircraft grounded by mud and weather, Soviet pilots claimed 120 enemy aircraft, while German records admit to 16 or 17.

Three further strands run through the volume. The Soviet naval Il-2 regiments maintained a punishing campaign against the German boat bases at Feodosia and Kiik-Atlama, culminating in the disastrous raid on 13 March and the massed strikes in April. Over the bridgehead at night, a handful of Kittyhawk and LaGG-3 pilots inflicted unexpected losses on the Luftwaffe, and on 2 March, four Stukas were lost to Soviet interceptors.

The book closes with the German retreat in April, when the 4th Air Army had the sky almost to itself. The whole campaign is assessed based on archival evidence, and the judgements are unsparing in both directions. This volume includes extensive supporting appendices, including complete loss listings for the Soviet fighter and ground-attack divisions and the German and Romanian units engaged.