Was Odessa a victory or failure?

I rememebr though that I heard the Romanians lost tens of thousands of men in this Odessa siege?

K

Romanian losses at Odessa were (killed, wounded, missing):

officers: 3,435 (22%)
NCOs: 1,385 (14%)
ranks: 85,200 (26%)

Which time period is this referring to?
Are these losses only Army losses?

Gen. Dénes

Which time period is this referring to?
Are these losses only Army losses?

Gen. Dénes

The source is the report Valoarea aportului adus de fortele romane in batalia pentru cucerirea Odessei, in ansamblul dispozitivului aliat de la aripa de sud a frontului de est (the contribution of Romanian forces in the battle of Odessa in the southern wing of the Eastern Front), 15 October 1942, MApN, Marele Stat Major, Biroul 3, Nr. 9.799/14

I believe that the given figures include all the branches of the Military.

In detail, the ARR losses were: killed 59 (21 officers, 15 NCOs, 23 ranks), wounded 81 (22 officers, 30 NCOs and technicians, 29 ranks), missing 32 (15 officers, 10 NCOs, 7 ranks). Total 172.

The valiant Romanian army took Odessa in 1941. If you doubt that battlefield success visit WorldWar2.ro, the website. Read what the Romanian generals said.

If results are any measure, the hard fighting Romanian Army that, took back its lands seized by the Soviets, was a stronger, more reliable and better led military force than the Hungarian Army in 1941.

Yet the Hungarians fought the reds to the very end. For that, they will always be wreathed in glory.

Russians attacked behind the front and they also organised attempts against romanians officials,...this it's called TERRORISM...many romanians troops died in this way...

Conquering Odessa was the only significant military action on the European fronts when an Axis ally completed a big offensive operation without German involvement on the ground.

That made this operation quite unique. Everywhere else, during 1940-1945, when an Axis ally was involved into a massive action, the Germans were present, too.

Actually German troops were involved on the ground.

The Luftwaffe also jumped in whenever the situation was dire for the Rumanians.

Gen. Dénes

Here is a photo taken by a German soldier in front of Odessa, in Aug. 1941:


[Source: eBay]

Gen. Dénes

This post has been edited by Dénes on October 31, 2008 12:51 pm

I know, Denes, that is why I wrote "without German involvement on the ground". However, Victor corrected me at that point, too.

Actually German troops were involved on the ground.

What made the operation unique on the Eastern Front is that not only the majority of forces belonged to an Axis satellite, but also the planning and conducting of operation belonged entirely to Romanian command.

Also, the Odessa was proclaimed a hero city in 1945, together with Leningrad, Stalingrad and Sevastopol.

The conquest of Odessa by the 4th Romanian Army, with limited German help, was a heroic feat. Those who have fallen in that battle should undoubtedly be revered.

However, regarding the comment above ("Read what the Romanian Generals said"), if I remember correctly from archival documents, quite a few of the Romanian Generals who were involved in the battle for Odessa admitted that the victory was very costly and that tactical mistakes were made. Antonescu, Iacobici, Klaps, Sanatescu and others discussed "lessons" learned from the Odessa campaign, after the end of the battle.

Was the objective fulfilled? Yes. Was it costly to us and not conducted at maximum efficiency? Yes, IMO.
This does not detract from the merit and heroism exhibited by troops on both sides.

So, it was a victory "a la Pyrrhus", compared - say - with the harsh defeat at Stalingrad... We should decide whether the victory in itself is more important than the losses, and whether the lessons were learned and the price was just (IMO, yes, not, not).

Limited, but vital, I'm afraid!

This post has been edited by MMM on February 16, 2009 05:44 pm