In May, 1942, the Nazi Germans launched very rapid operation against Soviet Army defending the Kerch Peninsula, in the eastern part of the Crimea, Ukrainian SSR. The Soviet forces were mostly composed of ethnic Georgians mobilized after Germans advanced in Ukrainian SSR. The operation was launched on 8 May 1942 and concluded around 18 May 1942 with the complete destruction of the Soviet defending forces. Soviet Georgian troops were surrounded by the armed forces of Field Marshal Erich von Manstein and fell under massive fire and bombing from attacking aircraft, soldiers tried to evacuate by sea but with no hope. Overall, about 120,000 ethnic Georgian soldiers were killed in ten days of the battle.