II./KG 55 began airdrops to the Taman Peninsula and Armavir-Krasnodar area in February 1943 based at Saki. It had only seven He 111H-6s on 13 February. It began to re-equip with H-16s on 1 March and then attacked Bataisk with the new type on 11 April. More bombing operations against the port of Novorossik (15 April) and anti-aircraft artillery positions at Labardinka (18 April) as well as targets along the Taman Peninsular from 27 April to 4 May. From Stalino it flew more attacks against Bataisk on 9 May. The group flew its 10,000th mission on 11 May 1943. It returned to Taman (26 May), Krymaskaya (27 May), targets Krasnodar (30 May). It moved to the central sector at Sechchinskaya and Karachev. III "Gruppe" spent the new year and spring supporting defensive operations around Taman, Rostov and Anastasiyevka (7–22 February) and its own base was bombed (7 February). On 23 February the group moved to Kirovograd to support Manstein's offensive at Kharkov until 14 March. On 18 March it bombed Belgorod and relocated back to Kirovograd to Samorsk in Crimea for operations over the Taman Peninsular from 5 April. "Major" Wilhelm Antrup took command on 6 May from "Oberstleutnant" Wolfganag Queisner. Operations southwest of Krymskaya (3 and 4 May), Tikhoretsk-Kratpotkin (16 May), Russkaya (25 May), Krymskaya (26 May) and an attack on Krapotkin train station followed on 28 May. On 30 May the group flew its last operation before flying north to take part in Operation Citadel at Seshchinskaya.