The 47th Army (russian: 47-я армия) of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
's
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 ...
was an
army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
-level
command
Command may refer to:
Computing
* Command (computing), a statement in a computer language
* COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS
* Command key, a modifier key on Apple Macintosh computer keyboards
* ...
active from 1941 to 1946.
History
The 47th Army was formed in late July 1941 in the
Transcaucasian Military District
The Transcaucasian Military District, a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces, traces its history to May 1921 and the incorporation of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia into the Soviet Union. It was disbanded by being redesignated as a Grou ...
as part of the Soviet Union's border defenses with Iran. On 1 August 1941 the army's composition was reported as including the
236th Rifle Division,
63rd and
76th Mountain Rifle Divisions, the 116th Howitzer Artillery Regiment (an RVGK asset), the 456th Corps Artillery Regiment, the 6th and 54th Tank Divisions, and engineering forces which included the 61st motorized engineer battalion, 75th independent engineer battalion, and the 6th and 54th pontoon bridge battalions.
Soviet units began their part of the
Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran on 25 August 1941. The 47th Army broke through the border and moved from the
Azerbaijan SSR
Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...
into
Iranian Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan or Azarbaijan ( fa, آذربایجان, ''Āzarbāijān'' ; az-Arab, آذربایجان, ''Āzerbāyjān'' ), also known as Iranian Azerbaijan, is a historical region in northwestern Iran that borders Iraq, Turkey, the Nakhchivan ...
.
They moved towards
Tabriz
Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...
and
Lake Urmia
Lake Urmia;
az, اۇرمۇ گؤلۆ, script=Arab, italic=no, Urmu gölü;
ku, گۆلائوو رمیەیێ, Gola Ûrmiyeyê;
hy, Ուրմիա լիճ, Urmia lich;
arc, ܝܡܬܐ ܕܐܘܪܡܝܐ is an endorheic salt lake in Iran. The lake is ...
. They captured the Iranian city of
Jolfa. An Iranian
reconnaissance
In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities.
Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...
aircraft discovered the forces south of Jolfa moving towards
Marand
Marand ( fa, مرند; ; also Romanized as Morand) is a city and capital of Marand County, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran.
Marand is among major cities in the province. It is located in the north-west of capital of the province Tabriz. Marand ha ...
. It was possible for the Iranian 3rd Division under General Matboodi to move
motorized infantry
Motorized infantry is infantry that is transported by trucks or other motor vehicles. It is distinguished from mechanized infantry, which is carried in armoured personnel carriers or infantry fighting vehicles, and from light infantry, which ca ...
towards
Shibli
Shibli may refer to:
* Abu Bakr Shibli, a 9th and 10th century Sufi mystic
* Ahlam Shibli (born 1970), Palestinian artist
* Shibli Nomani (1857–1914), India Muslim scholar
* Shibli, Iran
Shebli ( fa, شبلي, also Romanized as Sheblī; also ...
in order to halt the breakthrough, but due to being taken by surprise, he failed to make the proper counterattack. He also failed to destroy the bridges and highways with explosives, allowing the Soviets to rapidly move through the region.
Five Iranian bombers were intercepted trying to attack the Soviet positions around Jolfa.
On 1 October 1941 the army was reported to include the 20th and
63rdMountain Rifle Divisions (гсд), the
402nd Rifle Division, the 324th Mountain Rifle Regiment of the
77th Rifle Division #REDIRECTSecret Agent 077
Secret Agent 077 is a fictional superspy, lead character in a trilogy of Eurospy films starring Ken Clark as Dick Malloy (or Maloy).p.274 Blake, Matt & Deal, David ''The Eurospy Guide'' 2004 Luminary Press However "077" ...
(77 гсд), the
1st Mountain Cavalry Division (though listed as 1 кд not гкд in BSSA), and the
17th,
23rd and
24th Cavalry Divisions (кд).
By January 1942, the army was assigned to the
Crimean Front
The Crimean Front ( uk, Кри́мський фронт, Krýms’kyj front) was one of the Red Army fronts of World War II, which existed from January-May 1942.
Composition
It was commanded throughout its existence by Dmitr Timofeyevich Ko ...
, and fought in the
Kerch Peninsula
The Kerch Peninsula is a major and prominent geographic peninsula located at the eastern end of the Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine.
This peninsula stretches eastward toward the Taman peninsula between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. Most of the ...
in Crimea, the
Taman Peninsula
The Taman Peninsula (russian: Тама́нский полуо́стров, ''Tamanskiy poluostrov'') is a peninsula in the present-day Krasnodar Krai of Russia, which borders the Sea of Azov to the North, the Strait of Kerch to the West and the ...
and Caucasus region of southern Russia, in the
Belgorod-Kharkov Offensive, and to the east of the
Dnieper River
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...
in Ukraine until early 1944.
On 1 June 1942, the army's infantry comprised
32nd and
33rd Guards Rifle Division
The 33rd Guards Rifle Division was formed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in May 1942, based on the 2nd formation of the 3rd Airborne Corps (Soviet Union), 3rd Airborne Corps, and served in that role until after the end of the Great ...
,
77th Mountain Rifle Division, and 103rd Rifle Brigade. Artillery assigned included 547th Cannon Artillery Regiment, 18th Guards Mortar Regiment, and additionally
40th Tank Brigade
4 (four) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is tetraphobia, considered unlucky in many East Asian c ...
was part of the army.
In March 1944, the 47th Army was subordinated to the
2nd Belorussian Front
The 2nd Belorussian Front (Russian: Второй Белорусский фронт, alternative spellings are 2nd Byelorussian Front) was a military formation, of Army group size, of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. Soviet army g ...
, and then moved to the
1st Belorussian Front
The 1st Belorussian Front (Russian: Пéрвый Белорусский фронт, ''Perviy Belorusskiy front'', also romanized " Byelorussian") was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army ...
in mid-April 1944 and fought as part of this force until the end of
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 ...
in Europe. As part of the 1st BRF, the 47th Army fought in the
Vistula-Oder Offensive,
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.
...
.
Key actions that the 47th Army took part in were the liberation of
Kovel
Kovel (, ; pl, Kowel; yi, קאוולע / קאוולי ) is a city in Volyn Oblast (province), in northwestern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Kovel Raion (district). Population:
Kovel gives its name to one of the oldest runi ...
on July 6, 1944, forcing the Germans out of the
Praga
Praga is a district of Warsaw, Poland. It is on the east bank of the river Vistula. First mentioned in 1432, until 1791 it formed a separate town with its own city charter.
History
The historical Praga was a small settlement located at ...
suburb of Warsaw on September 14, 1944, and achieving a junction with troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front on April 25, 1945, that completed the encirclement of Berlin.
The 47th Army in January 1945 had nine rifle divisions (77th Rifle Corps with
185th, 234th,
328th Rifle Division
The 38th Separate Guards Vitebskaya order of Lenin Red Banner order of Suvorov Motor Rifle Brigade is a mechanized infantry brigade of the Russian Ground Forces, part of the Eastern Military District.
The brigade was formed during the 2009 Ru ...
s), 125th Rifle Corps (
60th,
76th, 175th Rifle Divisions), 129th Rifle Corps (132nd, 143rd, 260th Rifle Divisions),
Combat composition of the Soviet Army
''Boevoi sostav Sovetskoi armii'' ("Combat composition of the Soviet army") is an official Second World War Soviet Army order of battle published in five parts from 1963 through 1990 by the Voroshilov Academy of the General Staff and Voenizdat.
...
, 1 January 1945 30th Guards Gun-artillery Brigade, 31st Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division with four anti-aircraft artillery regiments (1376th, 1380th, 1386th, and 1392nd) plus a separate anti-aircraft artillery regiment (1488th), 163rd Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment, 460th Mortar Regiment, 75th rocket launcher regiment, 70th Guards Independent Tank Regiment, four regiments of self-propelled guns, an armoured train unit, a
DUKW
The DUKW (colloquially known as Duck) is a six-wheel-drive amphibious modification of the -ton CCKW trucks used by the U.S. military during World War II and the Korean War.
Designed by a partnership under military auspices of Sparkman & Step ...
truck battalion, an engineer-sapper brigade, and two flamethrower units.
The 47th Army was inactivated on February 5, 1946, in
Halle, Germany, after taking part in the occupation of eastern Germany.
Commanders
The following officers commanded the army during World War II.
* Major General
Vasily Novikov (July – October 1941)
* Major General
Konstantin Baranov (October 1941 – February 1942)
* Lieutenant General
Stepan Chernyak
Stepan ( uk, Степань; pl, Stepań; he, סטפאן) is an urban-type settlement in Sarny Raion (district) of Rivne Oblast (province) in western Ukraine. Its population was 4,073 as of the 2001 Ukrainian Census. Current population:
The ...
(February 1942)
* Major General
Konstantin Kolganov (February – May 1942)
* Major General
Grigory Kotov (May – September 1942)
* Major General
Andrei Grechko
Andrei Antonovich Grechko (, ; – 26 April 1976) was a Marshal of the Soviet Union (from 1955). He was Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union from 1967 to 1976.
Early life
Grechko was the thirteenth child born to a family of Ukrainian peasant ...
(September – October 1942)
* Lieutenant General
Fyodor Kamkov
Fyodor, Fedor (russian: Фёдор) or Feodor is the Russian form of the name " Theodore" meaning “God’s Gift”. Fedora () is the feminine form. Fyodor and Fedor are two English transliterations of the same Russian name.
It may refer to:
Gi ...
(October 1942 – January 1943)
* Lieutenant General
Konstantin Leselidze
Konstantin Nikolaevich Leselidze (russian: Константин Николаевич Леселидзе, ka, კონსტანტინე ლესელიძე, Konstantine Leselidze) (October 15, 1903 – February 21, 1944), was a Co ...
(January – March 1943)
* Major General
Alexander Ryzhov (March – July 1943)
* Major General
Pyotr Kozlov
Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov (russian: Пётр Кузьми́ч Козло́в; 3 October 1863 in Dukhovshchina – 26 September 1935 in Peterhof) was a Russian and Soviet traveller and explorer who continued the studies of Nikolai Przhevalsky in ...
(July – August 1943)
* Lieutenant General
Pavel Korzun (August – September 1943)
* Lieutenant General
Filipp Zhmachenko
Filipp Feodosyevich Zhmachenko (russian: Филипп Феодосьевич Жмаченко; – 19 June 1966) was a Soviet Army colonel general and Hero of the Soviet Union.
Biography
Zhmachenko was born on 26 November 1895 to a Ukrainian ...
(September – October 1943)
* Lieutenant General
Vitaly Polenov (October 1943 – May 1944)
* Lieutenant General
Nikolai Gusev (May – November 1944)
* Major General (promoted to Lieutenant General January 1945)
Franz Perkhorovich
Franz Iosifovich Perkhorovich (; 27 May 1894 11 October 1961) was a Belarusian Soviet Army lieutenant general and a Hero of the Soviet Union.
Perkhorovich served in World War I as an Imperial Russian Army junior officer, then joined the Bolshe ...
(November 1944 – May 1945)
References
Sources
* Bonn, Keith (ed.) ''Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front'', Bedford: Aberjona Press, 2005
External links
47th Army order of battle November 1943
{{Armies of the Soviet Army
047
Military units and formations established in 1941