In the Skies over Kerch: Mithridat, Bagerovo and Cape Tarkhan, December 1943 - January 1944

The Kerch-Eltigen operation ended in failure, but the air war over eastern Crimea was only entering its most intense phase. Volume 2 of In the Skies over Kerch & Feodosia covers the evacuation from Mithridat, the costly Il-2 raids on Bagerovo, the winter landings at Cape Tarkhan, and the January offensive on Kerch. This volume opens on 7 December 1943, with the breakout force storming Mount Mithridat above Kerch, triggering four days of fierce fighting, the winter battles around Bagerovo, and failed attempts to catch Barkhorn's Messerschmitts on the ground. The narrative covers an amphibious landing at Cape Tarkhan amid a storm, the push towards Bulganak and Kerch, and the intense days when Luftwaffe fighters suffered heavy losses. The Soviet offensive stalled, shaping the fierce air and ground battles that defined this critical campaign. The book is richly illustrated, and events are reconstructed day by day from the archives of both sides, with competing accounts assessed against one another.