The 6th Air Army was an air army of the

Red Army's Air Force The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...

during the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

and from 1946-1949. It was formed twice : in 1942 as part of the Red Army's Air Forces, and redesignated in 1944, and in 1946 and redesignated in 1949. The 6th Air Army was first formed on 14 June 1942 from the Air Forces of the

North-Western Front The Northwestern Front (Russian: ''Северо-Западный фронт'') was a military formation of the Red Army during the Winter War and World War II. It was operational with the 7th and 13th Armies during the Winter War. It was re-cr ...

, and its first commander was Major General of Aviation Daniil Kondratyuk, who held command to January 1943. On 1 July 1942 the army included the 239th and

240th Fighter Aviation Division The 240th Fighter Aviation Division (240 IAD) was a fighter aircraft formation of the Soviet Air Forces during World War II. It saw its most eventful actions during that war, and in 1949 became the 119th Fighter Aviation Division. History Worl ...

s, 241st Bomber Aviation Division, 242nd Night Bomber Aviation Division, 243rd Assault Aviation Division, 514th and 645th Light Bomber Aviation Regiments, 642nd, 644th, 649th, and 677th Composite Aviation Regiments (сап), 699th Transport Aviation Regiment, and the 6th Reconnaissance Aviation Squadron. During its World War II service, the 6th Air Army included for a time the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, the all-female '

Night Witches "Night Witches" (german: die Nachthexen; russian: Ночные ведьмы, ) was a World War II German nickname for the all-female military aviators of the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, known later as the 46th "Taman" Guards Night Bomber Aviat ...

'. It was assigned initially to the

until February 1944, and after that to the 1st and

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 ...

s. In the summer and early fall of 1944, the army provided air support for

Operation Bagration Operation Bagration (; russian: Операция Багратио́н, Operatsiya Bagration) was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (russian: Белорусская наступательная оп ...

, the Soviet recapture of Belarus and eastern Poland, and the

Lublin–Brest Offensive The Lublin–Brest Offensive (russian: Люблин‐Брестская наступательная операция, 18 July – 2 August 1944) was a part of the Operation Bagration strategic offensive by the Soviet Red Army to clear the Nazi ...

, which brought the Red Army to the

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

. On 8 September, the army was withdrawn 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 Stav ...

. During the war, the army's units flew more than 120,000 sorties. On 31 October 1944, the army headquarters was transformed into the headquarters of the

Air Force of the Polish Army The Air Force of the Polish Army ( pl, Lotnictwo Wojska Polskiego), unofficially known as the People's Polish Air Force was the name of the Soviet-controlled Polish Air Force in the USSR between 1943 and 1947 created alongside the Polish People ...

. In 1946, the 6th Air Army was reformed in

Alma Ata Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to 1936 as an autonomous republic as part of t ...

to provide air support for the

Turkestan Military District The Turkestan Military District (russian: Туркестанский военный округ (ТуркВО), ''Turkestansky voyenyi okrug (TurkVO)'') was a military district of both the Imperial Russian Army and the Soviet Armed Forces, with it ...

, under the command of Lieutenant General of Aviation Vladimir Izotov. In September 1947, Lieutenant General Mikhail Kosykh took command of the army. The 6th Air Army was redesignated the 73rd Air Army on 10 January 1949. Among the Army's units in the 1980s was the

9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment The 9th "Odessa" Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment was a "regiment of aces" unit in the Soviet Air Forces created to assist the USSR in gaining air supremacy over the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. Second World War Pilots admitted to the ...

. After being renamed the Air Forces of the Central Asian Military District from 1980 to 1988, 73rd Air Army was disbanded in 1993.

Army Commanders during World War II

* Major General of Aviation Daniil Kondratyuk (June 1942 - January 1943); * Major General of Aviation, from May 1943 Lieutenant General of Aviation Fyodor Polynin (January 1943 - October 1944).

References

{{Armies of the Soviet Air Forces Air armies of the Red Air Force in World War II