The 32nd Rifle Corps was a corps of the

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 ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, formed twice. Each formation was a distinct unit, unrelated to the other.

First formation

The corps headquarters formed in the

Transbaikal Military District The Transbaikal Military District (russian: Забайкальский военный округ) was a military district of first the Soviet Armed Forces and then the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, formed on May 17, 1935 and included the ...

in September 1939. It was commanded by Major General

Trofim Kolomiets Trofim Kolomiets (1894 – April 1971) was a Soviet Army commander. Biography Kolomiets was born in Elisavetgrad, in the Kherson Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine). He fought in the Imperial Russian Army during World W ...

, its second and last commander, from 29 November 1939. On 22 June 1941 the corps included the 46th and 152nd Rifle Divisions and was part of the 16th Army. The corps and the 16th Army were transferred west and became part of the Southwestern Front in late June. On 2 July they were transferred to the Western Front after the German breakthrough in the

Battle of Białystok–Minsk The Battle of Białystok–Minsk was a German strategic operation conducted by the Wehrmacht's Army Group Centre under Field Marshal Fedor von Bock during the penetration of the Soviet border region in the opening stage of Operation Barbarossa, ...

. The units of the corps were committed in attempts to recapture

Smolensk Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest c ...

in mid-July. As the 152nd Rifle Division was placed under direct army control, the corps headquarters was left with only the 46th Division under its control by 17 July. The corps headquarters was disbanded on 15 August 1941 as the Red Army eliminated most corps headquarters due to command and control difficulties.

Second formation

The corps headquarters was reformed as part of the 3rd Guards Army in late April and early May 1943 under the command of Major General Dmitry Zherebin, who commanded it for its entire existence. The corps later served with the

5th Guards Army The 5th Guards Army was a Soviet Guards formation which fought in many critical actions during World War II under the command of General Aleksey Semenovich Zhadov. The 5th Guards Army was formed in spring 1943 from the 66th Army in recognition o ...

and the

5th Shock Army The 5th Shock Army was a Red Army field army of World War II. The army was formed on 9 December 1942 by redesignating the 10th Reserve Army. The army was formed two times prior to this with neither formation lasting more than a month before bein ...

and fought in the Donbass Strategic Offensive, the Nikopol–Krivoy Rog Offensive, the Uman–Botoșani Offensive, the Warsaw–Poznan Offensive, the East Pomeranian Offensive, and the

Berlin Offensive The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major Offensive (military), offensives of the European theatre of World War II. ...

. The corps captured a bridgehead on the left bank of

Oder The Oder ( , ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows thr ...

and later took Kustrin between 30 January and 30 March 1945. It broke through German defenses and participated in the capture of the

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

city center between 16 April and 2 May. For his leadership of the corps Zherebin was made a

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...

and the corps received the honorific Berlin. Postwar, the 32nd served as part of the 5th Shock Army of the

Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany The Western Group of Forces (WGF),. previously known as the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (GSOFG). and the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG),. were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany. The Group of Soviet Occupati ...

. The corps headquarters was disbanded in December 1946. Its

60th Guards Rifle Division The 60th Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in January, 1943, based on the 2nd formation of the 278th Rifle Division, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. The division ...

was disbanded, while the

295th Rifle Division The 295th Rifle Division () was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army and later the Soviet Army, formed twice. The 295th's first formation was formed in the summer of 1941 and destroyed within months during the Battle of Kiev. Refo ...

was sent to the North Caucasus and the 18th Mechanized Division transferred to the

3rd Shock Army The 3rd Shock Army (russian: Третья ударная армия) was a field army of the Red Army formed during the Second World War. The "Shock" armies were created with the specific structure to engage and destroy significant enemy forces ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * {{Soviet Union corps Rifle corps of the Soviet Union