The 56th Army was a

field army A field army (or numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps and may be subordinate to an army group. Likewise, air armies are equivalent formation within some air forces, and with ...

of the Soviet Union'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 ...

that was created in 1941, and then disbanded to create the second formation of the

Separate Coastal Army The Separate Coastal Army (russian: Приморская армия), also translated to English as Independent Coastal Army, was an army-level unit in the Red Army that fought in World War II. It was established on July 18, 1941, by the order o ...

in 1943. The 56th Army was employed by the Soviets in the struggle against Germany during World War II.

History

The 56th Army was formed in October 1941 and subordinated to the

North Caucasus Military District The North Caucasus Military District was a military district of the Russian Armed Forces, which became in 2010 the Southern Military District and lately also included the Black Sea Fleet and Caspian Flotilla. It comprised the Republic of Adygeya, ...

. Subordinated to the

Southern Front (Soviet Union) The Southern Front was a front, a formation about the size of an army group of the Soviet Army during the Second World War. The Southern Front directed military operations during the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina in 1940 and ...

in December 1941, the 56th Army was made up of the following units, as well as five regiments of artillery and a rocket-launcher regiment. : 31st Rifle Division : 106th Rifle Division : 343rd Rifle Division : 347th Rifle Division : 353rd Rifle Division :11th Rifle Brigade :13th Rifle Brigade :16th Rifle Brigade :78th Rifle Brigade :33rd NKVD Motorized Rifle Regiment : 62nd Cavalry Division : 64th Cavalry Division : 70th Cavalry Division : "NO" Cavalry Division : 54th Tank Brigade :8th Tank Battalion In January 1942 the army comprised the 31st, 106th, 343rd, and 347th Rifle Divisions, the 13th and 16th Rifle Brigades, the Rostov Separate Rifle Regiment of the People's Militia, and the 62nd, 64th, 70th Cavalry Divisions. Among prominent actions, the 56th Army fought during the successful Soviet liberation of

Rostov Rostov ( rus, Росто́в, p=rɐˈstof) is a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, one of the oldest in the country and a tourist center of the Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero, northeast of Moscow. Population: While t ...

in late 1941 and spearheaded the

amphibious landings Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducte ...

in the Crimea in late 1943. The 56th Army was disbanded in November 1943 to create the second formation of the

.Glantz, p. 58

Commanders

* Lieutenant General

Fyodor Remezov Fyodor Nikitich Remezov (; 6 June 1990) was a Soviet Army general during World War II who commanded several armies and military districts. Remezov joined the Red Army in 1918 and fought in the Russian Civil War as a junior commander. After the ...

(October 1941December 1941) * Major General Viktor Tsyganov (December 1941July 1942) * Major General Alexander Ryzhov (July 1942January 1943) * Major General (promoted to Lieutenant General April 1943)

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 ...

(JanuaryOctober 1943) * Lieutenant General Kondrat Melnik (OctoberNovember 1943)

Notes

References

* David Glantz, Companion to Colossus Reborn, University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, 2005

History

Commanders

Notes

References

Further reading