Korsun Pocket Visit

[Popeye127]

Hello all

Some friends and I are visiting Korsun in October and I'd be grateful if anyone who has visited/is familiar with the region could offer any tips or advise of specific locations of memorials, museums etc?

I have both Zetterling's Korsun Pocket and am currently reading Hell's Gate by Doug Nash but any additional information would be appreciated. Only musuem I'm currently aware of is at Korsun.

Many thanks in advance
Popeye

[Werter]

Hello Popeye

Department of the Army Pamphlet 20-234
Operations of Encircled Forces German Experiences in Russia

http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/20234/20234.html


Kesselausbruch bei Tscherkassy 1944

http://forum.panzer-archiv.de/viewtopic.php?t=1379


Regards,
Ivan

[Popeye127]

Thanks Ivan

I have the Zetterling and Nash books but all other info is always appreciated.

Thanks again
P

[Popeye127]

Back from Korsun pocket trip and was excellent. A huge thanks to Martinski for all his input, guidework, translations and sheer knowledge of both the battle and the area today- along with being an excellent host in general.

A full report will be posted in due course

P

[Popeye]

Korsun Pocket Trip October 2010
Our party first discussed a trip to Ukraine from the UK in December 2009, some research on the web and recommendations from the Feldgrau website suggested Martin would be an excellent point of contact for arranging aspects of the trip in Ukraine. We made contact with Martin by email and he put together an itinerary to allow us to maximise our time on the battlefield, we had also struggled to find accommodation in Korsun itself but Martin sorted this and also dinner facilities for our group to have dinner each evening. Below I have detailed our daily itinerary as put together by Martin

Friday
Flew into Kiev airport and collected our cars for drive to Hotel Rus as arranged by Martin. We had booked our own cars before confirming all details of trip with Martin, we are fairly experienced at driving in Eastern Europe but I would suggest that best way of travelling is by minibus which Martin had offered to arrange- for our next trip this is what we will do. Over Friday evening we shared a few beers with Martin and he explained in detail with aid of maps the planned itinerary.

Saturday
Drove to The Great Patriotic War Museum where Martin had arranged that we met with the Museum Director Mrs Lyubov Vladimirovna Legasova and an English speaking guide. Our guide Tamara was excellent and gave us an full in depth tour and translation of the museum, we were also given coffee and biscuits in the VIP meeting room where the Museum Director explained the work of the museum and we were given the opportunity to sign the visitors book. After this we were given the opportunity to view some original Russian films in the private cinema area within the museum which was a very interesting experience. Another great experience was the opportunity to ascend the “Mother of the Fatherland” statue for a view over Kiev, our group found this very worthwhile as it gave us a great overview of the city. Finally we toured the outside exhibit area for a chance to inspect some Red Army military equipment from different era’s. The whole museum experience was excellent and a truly unforgettable experience, our group was very grateful to the Director, our guide and to Martin for making it all happen.

After the museum tour we travelled directly from Kiev to Korsun with Martin guiding, when we arrived at the Korsun Hotel we found the Director of the Korsun Museum waiting to greet us and we were delighted when Mrs Praskovya Yakovlevna Stepenkina could join us for dinner, with Martin translating we learned more about the town of Korsun and the museum

Sunday
In the morning Martin arranged for us to travel to the Korsun Museum where the Director Mrs Praskovya Yakovlevna Stepenkina was waiting to show us around the museum starting with the outside area consisting of Soviet era military vehicles. After this Mrs Praskovya Yakovlevna Stepenkina gave us an in depth tour of her museum and again with Martin translating we found this very worthwhile. While perhaps smaller and not having access to the same resources as the Kiev museum we found the Korsun museum to be an exceptionally interesting tour- perhaps this was due to the more intimate nature or perhaps due to its location on the actual battlefield, either way we would thoroughly recommend it. Mrs Praskovya Yakovlevna Stepenkina also gave us access onto the museum roof so that we could gain an overview of the town and surrounding area, again this was excellent and was an example of how Martin had worked with the locals to ensure that our trip was memorable

From the Museum we walked through the park to the small hill adjacent to the museum, this hill was where The Wiking had buried their dead and there was recent evidence of where the German War Graves Commission had returned to exhume the bodies and return them to Kiev (Southern Cemetery) for reburial. Yet another interesting aspect which we would have missed with without Martin and the Director. Alexander from the local Governors office also joined out group at this point. Alexander is responsible for monitoring the recovery of artefacts from the battlefield so was able to provide up to date information on the recent discoveries- including a parcel of hand grenades recently found in the village of Shanderowka near to Stemmermans headquarters building

We then had lunch at the museum in the cellar cafe, in a strange twist this area was where the bodies previously mentioned as being removed from the hill were stored before being sent to Kiev.

After lunch Martin guided us along the road to Lyssianka stopping at various monuments along the way. We also visited the village of Khilki which was the jumping off point for one of the breakout columns, this small village is relatively unchanged and many buildings remain deserted and in ruins.

We had dinner this evening within the Museum where we were again joined by Mrs Praskovya Yakovlevna Stepenkina and also Alexander, a great evening was had and we learned many a Ukrainian toast over vodka!

Monday
Set off for Shanderovka, it was hard to imagine the chaos that once ensued in this now sleepy village although various Russian memorials serve as a reminder of the terrible struggle. A small museum ran by the local teacher opened specially for us also, large photo albums within this museum showed the changing eras of Shanderovka since the war and proved interesting. On to the next village Komarowka where Mrs Irina Nikolaevna Kaminskaya of the local school showed us a memorial prepared by the school children, a selection of artefacts, photographs and other exhibits were on display and added to the stories of Mrs Irina Nikolaevna Kaminskaya translated by Martin this had been a very worthwhile excursion.

We then took the old road from Shanderovka to Nova Buda, this was just a sandy track so it was easy to imagine that in the depths of a wet winter this would just become a quagmire, the views were also excellent and demonstrated how crucial this ridge and Nova Buda were to the defence of Shanderovka. Nova Buda again was now just a sleepy village but having read so many accounts of the heavy fighting here the sense of history was palpable

Finally we set off for Lysianka and the Gniloy Tikich, enroute Martin stopped us on Hill 239 to show us where the various positions were and also where German columns had crossed the road enroute to the river. Arriving at the Gniloy Tikich it was hard to imagine such a small water providing such obstacle. Closer inspection though showed the banks to be soft and given the extra volume of water due to it being winter gave a clue to how different things would have been. Martin and Alexander then guided us downstream through a woodland path to where the Wiking had crossed. Testimonies describing a Pz III and a half-track being driven into the water to form a bridge. Parts of a Stug III have been recovered from a nearby site where the 1.SS-Pz.Div. “Leibstandarte” came to their rescue. I personally found a metal bearing (not sure which type of vehicle it was from) and there was also horse bones protruding from the mud.

Monday evening we spent back in Kiev so that we could see more of the city before flying out on Tuesday.

I would like to conclude by thanking Martin and everyone involved for all work they put in to make our trip so memorable and also everyone we met for the warm and friendly welcome we received.

Next month a smaller group visits Kaliningrad, I may put up a small report and images if of interest.

[sniper1shot]

Thank you for the great description of your schedule. Sounds like a great trip!

[Popeye]

It was a great trip, it's hard to convey in print but actually visiting old battlefields and seeing the lie of the land I find very worthwhile.

Just back from Kaliningrad/Koenigsberg and surrounding area and one thing that sticks in my mind is the biting cold, we drove East (on better roads than Britain has these days) to the original defence line then traced back the villages where heavy fighting took place. One village in particular (I need to check name) which had an old WW1 monument (all shot up) and German graveyard (from both wars) along with bunker remains was so cold it felt like our faces were freezing off. To think of the people exposed to that in poor clothing, lack of food and forced to trek West off the main roads was pretty sobering.

Also visited some of the battlefields from Napoleons "Polish gamble" campaign. I've never really been into military history from that era but after reading some books it was fascinating to visit the towns where the fighting took place- the battlefields are so compact that with some research you can see exactly where the cannons were, routes of attack by each each general etc. Coupled with the different mentality of that era and political intrigue (nothing changes) it's a very interesting period.

P

[John W. Howard]

Sounds like a great trip, and nothing contributes to the understanding of a battle more than actually seeing the lay of the land. Congrats!!

[parabellum]

Hello!
Have you any photos from this trip?