Hell'S Gate: The Battle of the Cherkassy Pocket, January-February 1944

by Douglas E. Nash

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Book cover for Hell'S Gate

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Virtually unknown in the English-speaking world, the Battle of Cherkassy Pocket (also known as the Korsun Pocket) is still talked about in Russia and Germany.

Although small in scale compared to the gigantic battles of Moscow, Stalingrad and Kursk, the Battle of the Cherkassy Pocket occupies a prominent place in the Russo-German conflict of World War II. It was at Cherkassy where the last German offensive strength in the Ukraine was drained away, creating the conditions for the victorious Soviet advance into Poland, Romania, and the Balkans during the summer and autumn of 1944.

Eclipsed by a war of such gigantic proportions, the fighting along the banks of the Gniloy Tickich river should have faded into obscurity. However, to the 60,000 German soldiers who were encircled there at the end of January 1944, this was perhaps one of the most brutal, physically exhausting, and morally demanding battles they had ever experienced. The battle exemplified the cruelty of combat on the Eastern Frontm and perhap the lunacy of Hitler's orders. When the battle officially ended on February 19th, just over half the German soliders managed to escape.

The culmination of years of research, with many interviews with survivors, Hell's Gate is a riveting hour-by-hour and day-by-day account of this desperate struggle. The battle is analysed on a tactical level, through maps and military transcripts, as well as on a personal level, through the words of the enlisted men and officers who risked the roaring waters of the Gniloy Tickich to avoid certain death at the hands of their Soviet foe.
  • ISBN10 0965758435
  • ISBN13 9780965758437
  • Publish Date 1 November 2009
  • Publish Status Out of Print
  • Out of Print 19 August 2016
  • Publish Country US
  • Imprint RZM Imports,U.S.
  • Format Hardcover
  • Pages 420
  • Language English