The 43rd Army Corps (
Military Unit Number
A Military Unit Number (Russian: Войсковая часть) is a numeric alternate designation for military units in the armed forces and internal troops of post-Soviet states, originally used by those of the Soviet Union
The Soviet ...
16460) was a corps of the
Soviet Army
uk, Радянська армія
, image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg
, alt =
, caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army
, start_date ...
from 1945 to 1989. The corps was first formed as the 137th Rifle Corps in late 1945 and became the 43rd Rifle Corps (Second Formation) in 1955. The corps was redesignated as the 43rd Army Corps in 1957 and was based in
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky ( rus, Петропавловск-Камчатский, a=Петропавловск-Камчатский.ogg, p=pʲɪtrɐˈpavləfsk kɐmˈtɕatskʲɪj) is a city and the administrative, industrial, scientific, and cultu ...
. In 1969, it moved to
Birobidzhan
Birobidzhan ( rus, Биробиджа́н, p=bʲɪrəbʲɪˈdʐan; yi, ביראָבידזשאַן, ''Birobidzhan'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Russia, locat ...
as a result of the
Sino-Soviet border conflict
The Sino-Soviet border conflict was a seven-month undeclared military conflict between the Soviet Union and China in 1969, following the Sino-Soviet split. The most serious border clash, which brought the world's two largest communist states t ...
. The corps was disbanded in 1989 was a result of Soviet troop reductions at the end of the
Cold War.
History
The 137th Rifle Corps was formed on 5 December 1945 in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, part of the
Far Eastern Military District
The Far Eastern Military District (russian: Дальневосточный военный округ; Dalʹnevostochnyĭ voennyĭ okrug) was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Pacific ...
, from the Kamchatka Defense Region. It was commanded by Lieutenant General
Alexey Gnechko
Alexey, Alexei, Alexie, Aleksei, or Aleksey (russian: Алексе́й ; bg, Алексей ) is a Russian and Bulgarian male first name deriving from the Greek ''Aléxios'' (), meaning "Defender", and thus of the same origin as the Latin ...
until May 1950. Gnechko was 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 veteran of the
Soviet invasion of Manchuria
The Soviet invasion of Manchuria, formally known as the Manchurian strategic offensive operation (russian: Манчжурская стратегическая наступательная операция, Manchzhurskaya Strategicheskaya Nastu ...
. The units of the corps were based in
Kamchatka
The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and west ...
and the
Northern Kuriles and included the
22nd Rifle Division,
101st Rifle Division and
255th Rifle Division. In 1948, the 101st Rifle Division became the 6th Machine Gun Artillery Division, which was disbanded in 1953. After the 1953 disbandment of the
14th Assault Army in
Chukotka its 3rd and 8th Separate Rifle Brigades became part of the corps.
[Feskov et al 2013, pp. 597–598]
In April 1955, the corps became the 43rd Rifle Corps (Second Formation). In 1955 the 255th Rifle Division was renamed the
35th Rifle Division. As part of the Soviet Army reorganization, it became the 43rd Army Corps on 25 June 1957. At the time it included the 410th Separate Motor Rifle Regiment at
Magadan and the 414th at
Anadyr Anadyr may refer to:
*Anadyr (town), a town and the administrative center of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia
*Anadyr District
*Anadyr Estuary
*Anadyr (river), a river in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia
*Anadyr Highlands
*Anadyr Lowlands
*Operati ...
. During the reorganization, the 35th Rifle Division became the
125th Motor Rifle Division and was disbanded in 1958. The 22nd Rifle Division was converted into the 22nd Motor Rifle Division. In 1960, the corps included the 22nd Motor Rifle Division and the 414th Separate Motor Rifle Regiment. In May 1969, as a result of the Sino-Soviet border conflict, corps headquarters transferred to Birobidzhan. At the same time, the
272nd Motor Rifle Division
7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube.
As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...
at
Babstovo
Babstovo () is a Types of inhabited localities in Russia, rural locality (a ''Village#Russia, selo'') in Leninsky District, Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Leninsky District of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Russia. According to the Russian Census (2010) ...
became part of the corps. The
118th Motor Rifle Division was formed in 1970 as a mobilization division subordinated to the corps. In May 1970, the 3rd Fortified Area was activated as part of the corps at Leninsk.
Between 1987 and 1989, the corps was commanded by future Soviet airborne commander Major General
Nikolai Vasilyevich Kalinin Nikolai Vasilyevich Kalinin (Russian: Николай Васильевич Калинин; 10 March 1937 – 7 March 2008) was a Red Army Colonel general. He commanded the Soviet airborne from August 1987 to January 1989, after which Kalinin became t ...
. The 118th Motor Rifle Division was disbanded in 1987. In July 1989 the 272nd Motor Rifle Division became the
128th Machine Gun Artillery Division
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
. Due to the Soviet troop reductions at the end of the Cold War, the corps disbanded on 10 October 1989.
Its units were either disbanded or reassigned to the
35th Army.
Commanders
The following officers commanded the corps.
* Lieutenant General
Alexey Gnechko
Alexey, Alexei, Alexie, Aleksei, or Aleksey (russian: Алексе́й ; bg, Алексей ) is a Russian and Bulgarian male first name deriving from the Greek ''Aléxios'' (), meaning "Defender", and thus of the same origin as the Latin ...
(5 December 1945 – May 1950)
* Lieutenant General
Viktor Urbanovich
Viktor Kazimirovich Urbanovich (; – 2 June 1977) was a Belarusian Soviet Army lieutenant general.
Urbanovich worked as a machinist in Riga and was conscripted into the railway troops of the Imperial Russian Army during World War I, but wa ...
(May 1950 – April 1953)
* Major General
Yevgeny Korkuts Yevgeni, Yevgeny, Yevgenii or Yevgeniy (russian: Евгений), also transliterated as Evgeni, Evgeny, Evgenii or Evgeniy, is the Russian form of the masculine given name Eugene. People with the name include:
:''Note: Occasionally, a person may b ...
(2 June 1953 – 13 October 1954)
* Major General
Arakel Oganezov Arakel or Aragel, an Armenian given name. It means "To send" in Armenian. With the addition of -ian, it is also a common surname as Arakelyan / Arakelian.
Arakel or Aragel may refer to: Places
* Arakel, Karabakh, a village in the Khojavend Rayon ...
(13 October 1954 – 10 February 1956)
* Major General
Arkhip Golubev Arkhip (russian: Архип) is a Russian given name deriving from the Greek name ''Archippos'' "master of horses". Notable people with the name include:
* Arkhip Kuindzhi (1842–1910), Russian-born landscape painter of Greek descent
* Arkhip Lyu ...
(4 May 1956 – 31 October 1958)
* Major General
Ivan Veremey (January 1959 – April 1961)
* Not known (1961–73)
* Major General
Alexander Kovtunov (1973–77)
* Major General
Nikolay Vasilevich Kalinin (1977–79)
* Not known (1979–85)
* Major General
Yuriy Fyodorovich Shchepin (1985–87)
* Not known (1987–89)
Composition
During the late 1980s the corps included the following units.
*
203rd Anti-Aircraft Rocket Brigade (Birobidzhan)
*
907th Separate Air Assault Battalion (Birobidzhan)
* 688th Separate Communications Battalion (Birobidzhan)
* Separate Radio Engineering Battalion PVO (Birobidzhan)
* Material Support Brigade (Birobidzhan)
* Repair and Replacement Base (Birobidzhan)
* 8th Separate Armored Train (Birobidzhan)
*
23rd Rocket Brigade
Third or 3rd may refer to:
Numbers
* 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3
* , a fraction of one third
* 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute''
Places
* 3rd Street (disambiguation)
* Third Avenue (disambiguation)
* Hig ...
(Sopka)
* Cannon Artillery Regiment (Babstovo)
* 272nd Motor Rifle Division (Babstovo)
* 118th Motor Rifle Division (Mobilization) (Birobidzhan)
* 3rd Fortified Region (Leninsk)
References
*
{{Soviet Union corps
Army corps of the Soviet Union
Military units and formations disestablished in 1989
Military units and formations established in 1957