The 5th Shock Army was a

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. 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 being redesignated.

Formation

The 5th Shock Army was formed on December 8, 1942, based upon the headquarters of the 10th Reserve Army, which was assigned to the

Reserve of the Supreme High Command The Reserve of the Supreme High Command (Russian: Резерв Верховного Главнокомандования; also known as the '' Stavka'' Reserve or RVGK ( ru , РВГК)) comprises reserve military formations and units; the Sta ...

at the time. It was formed within Stalingrad Front, and was brought together in the remarkably short span of four days (December 9–12). Its first commanding officer was Lt. General M.M. Popov. The composition of the army on formation was: *

87th Rifle Division The 87th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, active before, during the Second World War and afterwards. First formation It formed in the first half of 1936 in the Kiev Military District as the personnel division for the defe ...

* 7th Tank Corps * 23rd Tank Corps, all from the reserves of Stalingrad Front; * 300th Rifle Division * 315th Rifle Division, both from 51st Army; * 4th Mechanized Corps, from 57th Army; *

4th Guards Rifle Division The 4th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division on September 18, 1941, from the 1st formation of the 161st Rifle Division as one of the original Guards formations of the Red Army, in recognition of that division's partici ...

* 258th Rifle Division * 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps, all from 5th Tank Army; * Additional artillery and support units. After the German 6th Army was encircled at Stalingrad it was apparent to both sides that there were two possible routes that a German relief operation could follow: from the west from the area of the confluence of the

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

and

Chir River The Chir (russian: Чир) is a river in Rostov and Volgograd oblasts of Russia. It is a right tributary of the Don, and is long, with a drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a singl ...

s; or from the southwest from the area around

Kotelnikovo Kotelnikovo (russian: Котельниково) is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities *Kotelnikovo, Volgograd Oblast, a town in Kotelnikovsky District of Volgograd Oblast; administratively incorporated as a town ...

. As the distance from the west was significantly shorter than from the southwest, 5th Shock was formed specifically to counter the former threat, which it successfully carried out over the next two weeks.

Operational history

1942–43

Assigned to the Stalingrad Front, on 26 December 1942 the unit participated in

Operation Saturn Operation Little Saturn was a Red Army offensive on the Eastern Front of World War II that led to battles in Don and Chir rivers region in German-occupied Soviet Union territory in 16–30 December 1942. The success of Operation Uranus, launch ...

. Its composition on 1 January 1943 was as follows: :

: 258th Rifle Division : 315th Rifle Division :5th Destroyer Brigade : 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps ::

5th Guards Cavalry Division The 5th Guards Cavalry Division (Bessarabian–Tannenberg, Order of Lenin, Grigory Kotovsky, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov) was a military unit in the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Armed Forces) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the ...

6th Guards Cavalry Division 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

:: 32nd Cavalry Division ::152nd Mortar Regiment ::8th Cavalry Artillery Battalion ::3rd Guards Tank Destroyer Battalion :274th Howitzer Artillery Regiment :331st Howitzer Artillery Regiment :1162nd Gun Artillery Regiment :507th Tank Destroyer Regiment :764th Tank Destroyer Regiment :21st Guards Mortar Regiment :1068th Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment ( 2nd Anti-aircraft Artillery Division) :258th Engineer Battalion :827th Engineer Battalion Transferred to the new Southern Front (the former Stalingrad Front), the army took part in the Salsk-Rostov Offensive as part of the

4th Ukrainian Front The 4th Ukrainian Front (Russian: Четвёртый Украинский фронт) was the name of two distinct Red Army strategic army groups that fought on the Eastern Front in World War II. The front was first formed on 20 October 1943, by ...

. In August 1943, it finally succeeded in breaking through the German

Mius-Front The Mius-Front was a heavily fortified German Nazi defensive line along the Mius River in the Donbas region of the Soviet Union and Ukraine during World War II. It was created by the Germans in October 1941, under direction of General Paul Ludwi ...

defensive line on the river Mius, after which it participated in the Melitopol Offensive during the

Battle of the Dnieper The Battle of the Dnieper was a military campaign that took place in 1943 in Ukraine on the Eastern Front of World War II. One of the largest operations of the war, it involved almost 4,000,000 troops at a time stretched on a front. Over four ...

. On 1 August 1943, the army was composed of the following formations: :

31st Guards Rifle Corps 31 (thirty-one) is the natural number following 30 and preceding 32. It is a prime number. In mathematics 31 is the 11th prime number. It is a superprime and a self prime (after 3, 5, and 7), as no integer added up to its base 10 digits ...

:: 34th Guards Rifle Division :: 40th Guards Rifle Division : 96th Guards Rifle Division :

126th Rifle 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 ...

: 127th Rifle Division :

221st Rifle Division The 221st Rifle Division was formed as an infantry division of the Red Army after a motorized division of that same number was redesignated about four weeks after the start of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. After several further redesigna ...

: 315th Rifle Division :1st Guards Destroyer Brigade :506th Gun Artillery Regiment :1162nd Gun Artillery Regiment :331st Howitzer Artillery Regiment :8th Anti-tank Artillery Brigade :15th Anti-tank Artillery Brigade :491st Tank Destroyer Regiment :507th Tank Destroyer Regiment :489th Mortar Regiment : 15th Anti-aircraft Artillery Division ::342nd Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment ::723rd Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment ::1264th Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment :1617th Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment : 32nd Guards Tank Brigade :22nd Separate Guards Tank Regiment :28th Armored Train Battalion :43rd Special-Designation Engineer Brigade :258th Engineer Battalion :827th Engineer Battalion

1944

In 1944, as part of the

3rd Ukrainian Front The 3rd Ukrainian Front (Russian: Третий Украинский фронт) was a Front of the Red Army during World War II. It was founded on 20 October 1943, on the basis of a Stavka order of October 16, 1943, by renaming the Southwester ...

, the army took part in the liberation of the

Right-Bank Ukraine Right-bank Ukraine ( uk , Правобережна Україна, ''Pravoberezhna Ukrayina''; russian: Правобережная Украина, ''Pravoberezhnaya Ukraina''; pl, Prawobrzeżna Ukraina, sk, Pravobrežná Ukrajina, hu, Jobb p ...

and in the Jassy–Kishinev Offensive. On 1 August 1944, the unit consisted of the following formations: : 10th Guards Rifle Corps :: 49th Guards Rifle Division ::

86th Guards Rifle Division The 86th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in April 1943, based on the 2nd formation of the 98th Rifle Division, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War and well into th ...

:: 109th Guards Rifle Division : 32nd Rifle Corps ::

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 ...

:: 295th Rifle Division ::

416th Rifle Division The 416th Rifle Division was formed for the first time as a standard Red Army rifle division late in 1941, after the Soviet winter counteroffensive had begun, but was soon re-designated. A second formation began in March 1942, this time as an Azer ...

: 248th Rifle Division : 266th Rifle Division :44th Guards Gun Artillery Brigade :92nd Corps Artillery Regiment :507th Tank Destroyer Regiment :521st Tank Destroyer Regiment :489th Mortar Regiment :1617th Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment :61st Engineer-Sapper Brigade In early September the army was transferred to the

, relocated to the area 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 ...

, in Ukraine, and on 30 October 1944 it was transferred 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 ...

1945

In 1945, the army took part in the Warsaw-Poznan Offensive and Berlin Strategic Offensive operations. During the final assault on

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 ...

the army was heavily reinforced and composed of: Rifle :

26th Guards Rifle Corps 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

89th Guards Rifle Division The 89th Guards Rifle Division was reformed as an elite infantry division of the Red Army in April 1943, based on the 1940 formation of the 160th Rifle Division, and served in that role until after the end of the Great Patriotic War. It would figh ...

:: 94th Guards Rifle Division :: 266th Rifle Division :

9th Rifle Corps The 9th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Red Army. Located in Simferopol during the beginning of the war in the east. History The corps headquarters was formed in accordance with orders of the North Caucasus Military District of 6 June and 26 Aug ...

230th Rifle Division The 230th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, originally formed as one of the first reserve rifle divisions following the German invasion of the USSR. After being hastily organized it joined the fighting front along the lower D ...

:: 248th Rifle Division :: 301st Rifle Division : 32nd Rifle Corps ::

:: 295th Rifle Division ::

Artillery : 6th Artillery Penetration Corps :: 2nd Artillery Penetration Division :::20th Light Artillery Brigade :::16th Guards Gun Artillery Brigade :::4th Guards Heavy Howitzer Artillery Brigade :::121st High-Power Howitzer Artillery Brigade :::5th Mortar Brigade :::68th Artillery Reconnaissance Battalion :: 14th Artillery Penetration Division :::169th Light Artillery Brigade :::172nd Howitzer Artillery Brigade :::176th Heavy Howitzer Artillery Brigade :::122nd High-Power Howitzer Artillery Brigade :::21st Heavy Mortar Brigade :::24th Mortar Brigade :::6th Guards Mortar Brigade ::112th Artillery Reconnaissance Battalion : 44th Guards Cannon Artillery Brigade :97th Heavy Howitzer Artillery Brigade ( 22nd Artillery Penetration Division) :124th Howitzer Artillery Brigade :32nd Special-power Artillery Battalion :322nd Special-power Artillery Battalion :331st Special-power Artillery Battalion :3rd Guards Anti-tank Artillery Brigade :4th Guards Anti-tank Artillery Brigade :39th Anti-tank Artillery Brigade :507th Tank Destroyer Regiment :35th Guards Mortar Brigade :32nd Mortar Brigade (22nd Artillery Penetration Division) :6th Heavy Mortar Brigade (22nd Artillery Penetration Division) :489th Mortar Regiment :2nd Guards Mortar Brigade :25th Guards Mortar Brigade :41st Guards Mortar Brigade (22nd Artillery Penetration Division) :37th Guards Mortar Regiment :92nd Guards Mortar Regiment : 2nd Guards Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division ::302nd Guards Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment ::303rd Guards Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment ::304th Guards Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment ::306th Guards Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment :1617th Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment :4th Separate Artillery Observation Balloon Battalion Armor and Engineers : 11th Tank Corps ::20th Tank Brigade ::36th Tank Brigade ::65th Tank Brigade ::12th Motorized Rifle Brigade ::50th Guards Heavy Tank Regiment ::1071st Light Artillery Regiment ::1461st SU Regiment ::1493rd SU Regiment ::93rd Motorcycle Battalion ::243rd Mortar Regiment ::115th Guards Mortar Battalion ::1388th Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment :220th Tank Brigade :11th Guards Heavy Tank Brigade :67th Guards Heavy Tank Brigade :92nd Engineer Tank Regiment :396th Guards Heavy SU Regiment :1504th SU Regiment :61st Engineer-Sapper Brigade :8th Flamethrower Battalion

Post war occupation

The army took part in the

Berlin Victory Parade of 1945 The Berlin Victory Parade of 1945 was held by the Allies of World War II on 7 September 1945 in Berlin, the capital of the defeated Nazi Germany, shortly after the end of World War II. The four participating countries were the Soviet Union, the Un ...

. The 5th Shock Army was then assigned occupation duties in eastern Germany and was responsible for securing the

area. When 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 ...

was formed the army was composed of: :*

:** 248th Rifle Division :** 301st Rifle Division :*

:**

:** 94th Guards Rifle Division :** 266th Rifle Division :* 32nd Rifle Corps ::*

::* 295th Rifle Division ::*

:* three Separate Tank Brigades The army was disbanded in December 1946.

Commanders

*Lieutenant General

Markian Popov Markian Mikhaylovich Popov (; 1902–1969) was a Soviet military commander, Army General (26 August 1943), and Hero of the Soviet Union (1965). Early life Markian Popov was born in 1902 in Ust-Medvediskaya in the Don Host Oblast (now Volgograd ...

: (December 1942) *Lieutenant General

Vyacheslav Tsvetayev Vyacheslav Dmitrievich Tsvetaev (russian: Цветаев, Вячеслав Дмитриевич, 17 January 1893 – 11 August 1950) was a Soviet general and Hero of the Soviet Union. Biography He was born into a family of railway workers in ...

(Colonel General, Sept 1943): (December 1942 – May 1944) *Lieutenant General Nikolai Berzarin (Colonel General, April 1945): (May 1944 – 16 June 1945) (died while Berlin Commandant) *Colonel General

Alexander Gorbatov Alexander Vasilyevich Gorbatov (russian: Алекса́ндр Васи́льевич Горба́тов; 21 March 1891 – 7 December 1973) was a Russian and Soviet officer who served as an officer in the Imperial Russian Army during the Fi ...

: (June 1945 – 1946)

References

*''Military Encyclopedic Dictionary''. M .: Military Publishing, 1984. 863 pp. *''The Great Patriotic War 1941–1945'': Reference Dictionary. M .: Politizdat, 1988. *Marchand, Jean-Luc. ''Order of Battle Soviet Army World War 2''. The Nafziger Collection, 24 Volumes

External links

{{Armies of the Soviet Army Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations disestablished in 1946 5