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239th Rifle Division
The 239th Rifle Division was formed as an infantry division of the Red Army after a motorized division of that same number was reorganized in the first weeks of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. It was based on the ''shtat'' ( table of organization and equipment) of July 29, 1941, and remained forming up and training in Far Eastern Front until early November when the strategic situation west of Moscow required it to be moved by rail to Tula Oblast where it became encircled in the last throes of the German offensive and suffered losses in the following breakout. When Western Front went over to the counteroffensive in the first days of December the division was in the second echelon of 10th Army and took part in the drive to the west against the weakened 2nd Panzer Army. As the offensive continued it took part in the fighting for Belyov and Sukhinichi before being subordinated to the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps in January 1942 to provide infantry support. It then became involve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The army was established in January 1918. The Bolsheviks raised an army to oppose the military confederations (especially the various groups collectively known as the White Army) of their adversaries during the Russian Civil War. Starting in February 1946, the Red Army, along with the Soviet Navy, embodied the main component of the Soviet Armed Forces; taking the official name of "Soviet Army", until its dissolution in 1991. The Red Army provided the largest land force in the Allied victory in the European theatre of World War II, and its invasion of Manchuria assisted the unconditional surrender of Imperial Japan. During operations on the Eastern Front, it accounted for 75–80% of casual ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
10th Army (Soviet Union)
The 10th Army of the Soviet Union's Red Army was a field army active from 1939 to 1944. History The Army was formed in September 1939, in the Moscow Military District, and then deployed to the Western Special Military District. During the Soviet invasion of Poland it consisted, according to Steven Zaloga, of the 11th Rifle Corps ( 6th, 33rd, and 121st RD); the 16th Rifle Corps (8th, 52nd, and 55th Rifle Divisions); and the 3rd Rifle Corps (in reserve) (33 and 113 RDs), under General Ivan Zakharkin. On 22 June 1941, at the onset of Operation Barbarossa, the Army was part of the Soviet Western Front. It consisted of the 1st Rifle Corps ( 2nd and 8th Rifle Divisions); 5th Rifle Corps (including 13th, 86th, and 113th Rifle Divisions); 6th Cavalry Corps ( 6th and 36th Cavalry Divisions) and 6th and 13th Mechanised Corps, under General K.D. Golubev. It was encircled by German forces in June 1941 and largely destroyed. By late June, the German Army Group Centre surrounded ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1st Ukrainian Front
The 1st Ukrainian Front (Russian: Пéрвый Украи́нский фронт), previously the Voronezh Front (Russian: Воронежский Фронт) was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army group. Background During the first months of the war, officers from 16 regions of Ukraine conscripted about 2.5 million people from military enlistment offices. 1.3 million militiamen from the left-bank and southern regions of Ukraine fought against the enemy. In 1941, about 3.185 million citizens of the Ukrainian SSR were sent to the Soviet Red Army and Navy. Replenishing mostly the units of the Southern and Southwestern fronts, the Ukrainian people formed the basis of the 37th, 38th, and 40th armies; and the 13th and 17th rifle divisions. Due to the conscription of civilians, the proportion of Ukrainian citizens fighting in south-west Ukraine reached 50%. This significantly exceeded the percentage of Ukrainians from t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panther–Wotan Line
The Panther–Wotan line, or ''Ostwall'' in German, was a defensive line partially built by the German Wehrmacht in 1943 on the Eastern Front. The first part of the name refers to the short northern section between Lake Peipus and the Baltic Sea at Narva. It stretched all the way south towards the Black Sea along the Dnieper. Planning After a number of strategic reverses on the Eastern Front in 1942, there were calls in early 1943 for the construction of fortifications and defenses-in-depth along the Dnieper river. After the Battle of Kursk and the invasion of Italy, the need arose to both conserve forces in the east as well as shift to defensive operations. Adolf Hitler ordered the construction of the defensive lines in August 1943; with this command, he demonstrated that he had accepted the fact that Nazi Germany was no longer capable of offensive operations in the east. A large portion of the line ran along the Dnieper River, from just west of Smolensk to the Black Sea. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Order Of The Red Banner
The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of Soviet Russia, subsequently the Soviet Union, until the Order of Lenin was established in 1930. Recipients were recognised for extraordinary heroism, dedication, and courage demonstrated on the battlefield. The Order was awarded to individuals as well as to military units, cities, ships, political and social organizations, and state enterprises. In later years, it was also awarded on the twentieth and again on the thirtieth anniversary of military, police, or state security service without requiring participation in combat (the "Long Service Award" variant). Award history The Russian Order of the Red Banner was established during the Russian Civil War by decree of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
59th Army (Soviet Union)
The 59th Army was a field army of the Soviet Union's Red Army. It was formed in November 1941 in the Siberian Military District. It was soon redeployed to the Arkhangelsk Military District and by December was part of the Volkhov Front. From January to April 1942, it fought in the Lyuban offensive operation, an unsuccessful attempt to relieve Leningrad. For the next two years, the army defended its bridgehead on the Volkhov River. During spring 1944, it fought in the Leningrad–Novgorod offensive, which broke the siege of Leningrad. During the summer of 1944, the army fought in the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk offensive, helping to end the Continuation War. In December, the army transferred to the Sandomierz bridgehead, from which it launched the Vistula–Oder offensive in January 1945. At the end of January, the army crossed the Oder and then fought in the Lower Silesian offensive and the Upper Silesian offensive. By late March it was in the Sudetes. In May 1945, the army launched ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
8th Army (Soviet Union)
The 8th Army was a field army of the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War. Winter War The 8th Army was formed in October 1939 (or 14 September 1939) from the Novgorod Army Operational Group of the Leningrad Military District with the task of providing security of the Northwestern borders of the USSR. (The Novgorod Group had been created a month before, on 13 August 1939 by the order No. 0129 of the Chairman of the People's Commissariat for Defence, Marshal of the Soviet Union K.E. Voroshilov. The Group was created for operations in Estonia and Latvia.) On 30 November 1939 the Soviet Union attacked Finland in the Winter War. The strength of the 8th Army, or overall the Red Army, in the north of Lake Ladoga (Ladoga Karelia), surprised the Finnish general staff. The Finns deployed only two divisions, and they had a support group of three brigades, bringing their total strength to over 30,000 uniforms. The Soviets had a division for almost all roads leading west to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2nd Shock Army
The 2nd Shock Army (russian: 2-я Ударная армия) was a field army of the Soviet Union during the Second World War. This type of formation was created in accordance with prewar doctrine that called for Shock Armies to ''overcome difficult defensive dispositions in order to create a tactical penetration of sufficient breadth and depth to permit the commitment of mobile formations for deeper exploitation.'' However, as the war went on, Shock Armies lost this specific role and reverted, in general, to ordinary frontline formations. Formation The 2nd Shock Army was formed from the Volkhov Front's 26th Army in December 1941 and initially consisted of the 327th Rifle Division and eight separate rifle brigades. During the Lyuban offensive operation in early 1942, the 2nd Shock Army broke through German lines, was cut off from reinforcement along the Volkhov River by a German counter-attack, and was not permitted to retreat. When the order for retreat finally came in, the 2nd w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volkhov Front
The Volkhov Front (russian: Волховский фронт) was a major formation of the Red Army during the first period of the Second World War. It was formed as an expediency of an early attempt to halt the advance of the Wehrmacht Army Group North in its offensive thrust towards Leningrad. Initially the front operated to the south of Leningrad, with its flank on Lake Ladoga. First formation The Volkhov Front was formed on 17 December 1941 from the left wing of the Leningrad Front and elements of the Reserve of the Supreme High Command (''Stavka'' Reserve) during the conduct of the Tikhvin Offensive operation under the command of the Army General Kirill Meretskov, with General Grigory Stelmakh (former commander of the 4th Army) as Chief of Staff and Army Commissar of 1st rank A.I.Zaporozhets.Meretskov, On the service of the nation, Ch.6 Initially Sokolov's 26th Army (later 2nd Shock Army) and Galanin's 59th Armies were allocated to the Front's formation. The Front also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
31st Army (Soviet Union)
The 31st Army was a field army of the Red Army during the Second World War. Formation The army was formed on July 15, 1941 in the Moscow Military District. It was ordered to create a defensive line along Ostashkov - Selizharovo - Rzhev. The army was stationed between the 27th Army to the north and the 49th Army to the south. 31st Army was formed with the following units: : 244th Rifle Division : 246th Rifle Division : 247th Rifle Division : 249th Rifle Division and on August 1, it was assigned to the Reserve Front, and added the following units: : 119th Rifle Division : 110th Tank Division :43rd Corps Artillery Regiment :766th Antitank Artillery Regiment :537th Miner-Sapper Battalion The army was assigned to the Reserve Front on July 30, 1941, and it moved to the defensive line along Ostashkov - Yeltsy - Tishina River. It entered combat on October 2, 1941. At that time, the army was composed of: : 5th Rifle Division :110th Rifle Division : 119th Rifle Division : 247th Rifl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
50th Army (Soviet Union)
The 50th Army was a Soviet field army during World War II. It was formed in mid-August, 1941 and deployed on the southwest approaches to Moscow. Partly encircled and destroyed by German Second Panzer Army in the opening stages of Operation Typhoon, enough of the army escaped that it could be reinforced to successfully defend the city of Tula in November. It was at this time that the 50th came under the command of Lt. Gen. Ivan Boldin, who continued in command until February, 1945. During most of its career the army was relatively small and accordingly served in secondary roles. It finished the war in East Prussia, under the command of Lt. Gen. Fyodor Ozerov, as part of 3rd Belorussian Front. Formation The Army became active on August 16, 1941, along the Desna River as part of the newly-forming Bryansk Front. The Army's first commander, Major General Mikhail Petrov, issued his Combat Order No. 1 on that date. In it, he recorded the composition of the 50th Army as follows: * 217th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1st Guards Cavalry Corps
1st Guards Cavalry Zhytomyr Red Banner Corps (Russian: 1-й гвардейский кавалерийский Житомирский Краснознаменный корпус) was a military unit of the Soviet Red Army which was renamed from the 2nd Cavalry Corps. Led by Pavel Belov it was involved in several colossal combat operations during the Great Patriotic War, with its most stupendous accomplishments seen during the Battle of Moscow. Despite being a cavalry unit, the guards have a long and robust history of successful warfare among all allied units. The cavalry men proved themselves as valuable units from the early days of Operation Barbarossa until the last days of the war. Belov's group was the first major formation to successfully push the Germans back during the counter-offensive of the Battle of Moscow. By 1942, the unit had its reputation as the "Fire Squad" from Stalin himself. During the Battle of Rzhev-Vyazma the Cavalry Corps was among the few units to break ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
