German Railways in the East

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Der Alte Fritz
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Re: German Railways in the East

#421

Post by Der Alte Fritz » 17 Mar 2015, 12:24

Image
Behelfsmäßige Feldbahnbrücke über das Tal der Moch im großen Donbogen im Jahr 1942.
Makeshift field railway bridge over the valley of Moch in large Don bend in the year 1942

Any ideas where this is?

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Re: German Railways in the East

#422

Post by GregSingh » 18 Mar 2015, 06:07

We know of the following in the Don bend:

Feldbahn I - from Bf.Schelistowka (Шелистовка)
Feldbahn II - from Bf.Obliwskaja (Обливская)
Feldbahn III - from Bf.Tschir (Чир)

I checked all three areas on the 30's and 40's both Soviet / German maps and couldn't find a thing.

It's possibly Mokh (Мох) - Moss in English.

This photo appeared in Waffen-Arsenal 167 - Deutsche Eisenbahnpioniere bis 1945.


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Re: German Railways in the East

#423

Post by Der Alte Fritz » 18 Mar 2015, 08:46

Mis-spelling of the word MOCT? See this picture of the railway bridge over Donets at Bela
https://ssl.panoramio.com/photo/86636691

There is supposed to be a map showing the Feldbahn across Russia in one of those rolls that I sent you but I have not found it yet. Can you let me know when you do.

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Kerch Strait Train ferry

#424

Post by udondave » 20 Mar 2015, 22:52

Hi all,

I'm looking for confirmation/ information regarding this photo of a train ferry across the Kerch Strait (Crimea).

Thank you, Dave
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Re: German Railways in the East

#425

Post by GregSingh » 24 Mar 2015, 06:30

Unfortunately as far as I can see, there is nothing on this photo to confirm that it was actually taken in the Kerch Strait. Number or a name of the barge would have helped a lot, but there is none...
There was no regular train services between Kerch or Feodosia and Taman in 1941-43, so no "train ferry" as such.

Nice photo though. Do you have any of cableway (Drahtseilbahn) ?

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Re: German Railways in the East

#426

Post by udondave » 24 Mar 2015, 06:54

Hi Greg,
Thanks for your reply. This is a bit of a mystery I'm hoping we can solve.

The surrounding photos on the negatives are Crimea then in the Caucasus so I was trying to join the dots, so to speak. Did such ferry service exist in Crimea or Ukraine?

I'll post some more pics in the series.

Cheers, Dave
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Re: German Railways in the East

#427

Post by Der Alte Fritz » 24 Mar 2015, 12:31

It is not a train ferry because the wagons have been loaded sideways to the length of the barge. They must have been loaded by crane onto track tied onto the barge superstrucure. So it is probably a temporary expedient around summer 1942.

This Russian article explains the Krech crossing as planned by the Germas but actually completed by the Soviets
http://www.perekop.ru/kerch-strait-bridge-1944/

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Re: German Railways in the East

#428

Post by GregSingh » 25 Mar 2015, 04:18

More about Feldbahn.

There was another railroad build in the Don river bend in second half of 1942 (in addition to Feldbahn I-III).
Front line stabilized along Don river in the Woronesh (Voronezh / Воронеж) area and double-track rail line from Voronezh to Liski (Лиски) was firmly in Soviet hands, with Don rail bridge at Liski/Swoboda (Svoboda / Свобода) destroyed.

To allow traffic between Walujki and Rossosch a new railroad was constructed from Ostrogoshsk (Ostrogozhsk / Острогожск) to Jewdakowo (Yevdakovo / Евдаково).

According to Russians articles that link got nickname Берлинка (Berlin's road ?).
A Soviet's POW camp was built nearby and local population forced to work on the project.

Here are some links:
ДОРОГА НА КРОВИ (Road on blood ?)
«Берлинка». Дорога на костях (Road on the bones - Berlin's road ?)
Apparently one track of the double track link from Jewdakowo to Liski was dismantled and rails used for a new railroad.

This map shows Ostrogoshsk-Jewdakowo link (south of Liski) as under construction.
Railroads in Don bend.jpg
Railroads in Don bend 1942
Link is ready on this map from December 1942.
FEK3.jpg
Fek3 - ende 1942
As you can see on this map Ostrogoshsk and Liski were already connected by railroad along Tichaja Sosna and Don rivers, but Soviets north of Don in Swoboda kept that link under constant fire, so it was never used.
Ostrogozhsk-Yevdakovo.jpg
Ostrogoshsk, Swoboda, Liski, Jewdakowo area

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Re: German Railways in the East

#429

Post by GregSingh » 25 Mar 2015, 04:55

More on Ostrogoshsk-Jewdakowo railroad.
Although it no longer exists, earthworks can still be seen in satellite view of the area and it's possible to track exact location of the railroad using recent 1:25000 Russian maps!

Apparently local population was quite hostile towards German Army - according to German POW Franz Hummel interrogated by Soviets in 1943:
[..Soldier Erich Mueller went to sleep in the hut, and the next morning they found him in the courtyard stabbed with pitchforks. Detachment of the gendarmerie conducted the investigation and, despite the fact that the instigators did not find those responsible, some of the villagers were shot..]

And here is a monument to those who died building the railroad from http://www.train-photo.ru/
Monument.jpg
Ostrogoshsk-Jewdakowo railroad monument

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Re: German Railways in the East

#430

Post by Der Alte Fritz » 25 Mar 2015, 09:32

That is the second account we have of forced labour being used in construction in areas close to the front.
Away from the front line the number of Soviet civilians working on the German railways was huge.
But the building of these feldbahn still poses the question, that if they were able to get the materials forward for these construction projects, why were they only able to restore two bridges over the Don and Donets? In that account of the Kerch bridge, the Germans have obviously shipped quite a lot of material forward during the summer of 1942 to build it.

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Re: German Railways in the East

#431

Post by udondave » 25 Mar 2015, 10:33

I'm certainly no expert in this area.... Regarding the Kerch Bridge, Albert Speer recalled: 'because of the frequency of earth tremors, provision had to be made for extra strength girders which would have required vast quantities of precious steel. In addition , as Zeitzler pointed out during the situation conference, if we transported building materials for the bridge over the inadequate railroad facilities of the Crimea, we would be forced to curtail the shipments needed to maintain our defensive positions'.

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Re: German Railways in the East

#432

Post by Der Alte Fritz » 25 Mar 2015, 11:15

Certainly everything I read about points to a lack of capacity and an inability to deliver supplies and construction materials in sufficient quantites.
In which case one can view their activities as an indication of their priorities
1. Temporary bridge over the Don at Rostov August
2. Rebuild lines from Stalino to Rostov July-Sept
3. Open line to Stalingrad area by rebuilding bridge over Donets Sept
4. Build field railway to support garrisons along Don bend over the winter Oct

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Re: German Railways in the East

#433

Post by GregSingh » 25 Mar 2015, 13:20

Some interesting fragments from Kriegstagebuch, Admiral Schwarzes Meer:

3 October, 1942
[..]I have discovered that difficulties caused by lack of space on the railways have led to the habit of going by steamer and warship as far as Romania. I have informed all the commands under my authority that leave personnel are on no account to travel by sea. The relevant orders will be issued[..]

16 October, 1942
[..]Experience shows that rail transport from Constantza to the Crimea takes up to three months. Hence naval transport from Constantza to the Crimea was devised as a quicker method[..]

24 December, 1942
[..]The railway on the Crimea, harbor installations for loading and unloading and, above all, transportation from the harbors on the Taman Peninsula, are the bottlenecks[..]

30 December, 1942
[..]Railway facilities across the Crimea are at present still so limited that the Navy will have to continue carrying out further transport operations especially as supplies for the 4th Air Force have now also to be undertaken. This means that in addition to a freight of 500 tons by rail, daily transshipment from Sevastopol must be increased to 600 tons by lighter and 100 tons by naval ferry barge. This average daily freight of 700 tons carried by small vessels must be transported along the south coast of the Crimea direct to the harbors east of Kerch Strait[..]

Situation improved somewhat in 1943 and under 5 April, 1943 we have this:

[..]In a conference with Lt. General Dostler (Army Group A plenipotentiary for supplies for 17th Army H.Q.) about future movement of supplies for the Army, it was laid down that the 250,000 men and 80,000 horses belonging to 17th Army H.Q. at the Kuban bridgehead require the following:
a. Supplies: 2,000 tons. This includes a certain amount for reserve.
b. Construction material: 300 tons (including 100 tons of timber from Yalta).
c. Railroad equipment: 200 tons.
Total 2,500 tons.
Those figures are to be regarded as the Army's final demands.

Unloading points will be:
Taman: 860 tons
Senaya: 600 tons
Kossa Chushka: 200 tons
Anapa: 240 tons.
Temriuk: 600 tons.

The following amounts can be brought up each day:
1/2 trainload = 250 tons, to Theodosia.
3 trainloads = 1,500 tons to Kerch.
1/2 trainload = 250 tons to Genichesk.

The railroad cannot cope with more than this. The remaining 500 tons must, as already requested, be taken by ship from Sevastopol[..]
Last edited by GregSingh on 25 Mar 2015, 23:38, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: German Railways in the East

#434

Post by Der Alte Fritz » 25 Mar 2015, 14:51

Excellent find!
Well as we have seen trains could not take the direct route to the Crimea because of destroyed bridges, so they had to go down the main train track to Dnepropetrovsk and then head south from here.
The last section is interesting as although 5 trains a day are arriving at Kerch they are only delivering 1,500 tonnes or 300 tonnes a train, so the track must be in pretty poor condition as standard supply trains (as listed on page 1 of this thread) are 450 tonnes. The trains arriving at the port in the south and the port at the neck of the Crimea would appear to be standard trains carrying 500 tonnes

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Re: German Railways in the East

#435

Post by GregSingh » 25 Mar 2015, 23:37

Der Alte Fritz wrote:5 trains a day are arriving at Kerch they are only delivering 1,500 tonnes or 300 tonnes a train
Sorry, my mistake. It's 3 trainloads = 1,500 tons to Kerch.

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