The 63rd 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

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 ...

. It was formed on 10 July 1942, by the order of Headquarters Red Army Supreme Command № 994110, by renaming Stavka's 5th Reserve Army.

History

Since 12 July 1942 the army was incorporated into the newly created Stalingrad Front for defensive battles on approaches to

Stalingrad Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...

. On 30 September 1942 Stalingrad Front was renamed as

Don Front The Don Front was a front of the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War, which existed between September 1942 and February 1943, and was commanded during its entire existence by Konstantin Rokossovsky. The name refers to Don River, Russia. Fo ...

for the battle within the city. On 29 October 1942 the army subordinated to the reconstructed Southwestern Front for the

Operation Uranus Operation Uranus (russian: Опера́ция «Ура́н», Operatsiya "Uran") was the codename of the Soviet Red Army's 19–23 November 1942 strategic operation on the Eastern Front of World War II which led to the encirclement of Axis ...

counter-offensive. On 4 November 1942 the 63rd Army was reflagged as the 1st Guards Army, which was named the 3rd Guards Army since 5 December. 27 April 1943 the Army was formed for the second time on the basis of the 2nd Reserve Army. Originally it consisted of the 129th, 235th, 250th, 348th, 380th and 397th Rifle Divisions, artillery, engineering, and other parts. On 29 April 1943 the army was incorporated into the

Bryansk Front The Bryansk Front (russian: Брянский фронт) was a major formation of the Red Army during the Second World War. First Formation (August - November 1941) General Andrei Yeremenko was designated commander of the Front when it first fo ...

. Initially it conducted defensive operations along the

Zusha The Zusha (russian: Зуша) is a river in Tula and Oryol Oblast in Russia, a right tributary of the Oka. The length of the river is 234 km. The area of its basin is 6,950 km².Neruch River The Neruch (russian: Неручь) is a river in Oryol Oblast in Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its ...

s and the region south of

Mtsensk Mtsensk (russian: Мценск) is a town in Oryol Oblast, Russia, located on the Zusha River (a tributary of the Oka) northeast of Oryol, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: 28,000 (1970). History It was first mentioned i ...

. It participated in

Operation Kutuzov Operation Kutuzov was the first of the two counteroffensives launched by the Red Army as part of the Kursk Strategic Offensive Operation. It commenced on 12 July 1943, in the Central Russian Upland, against Army Group Center of the German '' He ...

at Orel, and the

Briansk Bryansk ( rus, Брянск, p=brʲansk) is a city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the River Desna, southwest of Moscow. Population: Geography Urban layout The location of the settlement was originally ass ...

and Gomel-Rechitsa Offensives. With

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 ...

at the

Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk was a major World War II Eastern Front engagement between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in the southwestern USSR during late summer 1943; it ultimately became the largest tank battle in history. ...

it comprised the 5th, 41st, 129th, 250th, 287th, 348th and 397th Rifle Divisions. On 8 October 1943 the army was assigned to the

Central Front The Central Front was a major formation of the Red Army during the Second World War formed on July 24, 1941. The Central Front describes either of two distinct organizations during the war. The first entity existed for just a month during th ...

(renamed as Belorussian Front on 20 October 1943). It was disbanded on 18 February 1944, with its troops transferred to the

3rd Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

and 48th armies.

Commanders

* Lieutenant General Vasily Kuznetzov (July 4 - November 1, 1942) * Lieutenant General Vasily Morozov (March 8 - May 14, 1943) * Lieutenant General

Vladimir Kolpakchi Vladimir Yakovlevich Kolpakchi (, ; 7 September 1899 in Kiev – 17 May 1961 in Moscow) was a Soviet general during World War II. For his role in the successful Vistula-Oder offensive he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 6 A ...

(May 14, 1943 - February 10, 1944)

Structure on 1 August 1942

*Army headquarters * 14th Guards Rifle Division - General-major

Afanasy Gryaznov Afanasy Sergeyevich Gryaznov (; 8 July 1899 – 11 September 1969) was a Soviet Army major general. Gryaznov joined the Red Army during the Russian Civil War and rose to junior command positions after its end. Holding command and staff positions i ...

(17 July to 31 December 1942) * 1st Rifle Division- General-major Semenov (17 July to 31 December 1942) * 127th Rifle Division - Colonel Zaitzev (17 July to 22 September 1942) * 153rd Rifle Division - Colonel Nikitin (17 July December to 31 1942); Colonel Karnov (from 11 October 1942) * 197th Rifle Division - General-major Zaporozhchenko (17 July to 31 December 1942) * 203rd Rifle Division - Colonel Kashlayev (17 July to 31 December 1942) ; Colonel Zdanovich (from 3 September 1942) * 36th Tank Brigade * 134th Tank Brigade * 193rd Tank Brigade *646th Tank Battalion *647th Tank Battalion *1110th Artillery Regiment *1180th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment *1249th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment *1250th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment *51st Guards Mortar Regiment *58th Guards Mortar Regiment *79th Guards Mortar Regiment *1413rd Sapper Battalion *1486th Sapper Battalion

Structure on 1 October 1942

*Army headquarters *14th Guards Rifle Division *1st Rifle Division *153rd Rifle Division *197th Rifle Division *203rd Rifle Division *

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 ...

- Colonel Belogorodskyi (26 July - 31 December 1942) *1110th Artillery Regiment *1180th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment *1249th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment *1250th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment *1257th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment *26th Machine-gun Battalion *28th Machine-gun Battalion *350th Independent Engineer Brigade *1486th Sapper Battalion

Sources and further reading

* Filippov H.C., Don Shield of Stalingrad, Volgograd, 1969
http://samsv.narod.ru/Arm/a63/arm.html
- Further Reading {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2013 063 Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations disestablished in 1944