7th Army (Soviet Union)
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The 7th Army (Russian: 7-я армия) was a Soviet Red Army
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 ...
during World War II, primarily against Finland. It was disbanded in 1944. It first saw action in the 1939–40 Winter War against Finland. In November 1939, just before the initial Soviet attack, it consisted of the
19th Rifle Corps The 19th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Soviet Red Army. It was part of the 23rd Army. It took part in the Great Patriotic War. Organization * 142nd Rifle Division * 115th Rifle Division Commanders * Kombrig Vsevolod Yakovlev (14.07.1937 - ...
( 24th Rifle Division, 43rd, 70th, 123 RD),
50th Rifle Corps The 50th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Soviet Red Army. It was part of the 23rd Army on 22 June 1941. It took part in the Great Patriotic War. Organization On 22 June 1941, the corps included the following units: * 43rd Rifle Division * 70t ...
(49 RD, 90 RD, 142 RD),
10th Tank Corps The 10th Tank Corps was a tank corps of the Red Army, formed twice. First Formation In May–June 1938, the 7th Mechanized Corps headquarters was relocated from Novy Petergof to Luga and converted into the 10th Tank Corps when the Red Army m ...
,
138th Rifle Division The 138th Rifle Division was twice formed as an infantry division of the Red Army, first as part of the buildup of forces immediately after the start of World War II in Europe. The first formation was based on the ''shtat'' (table of organization a ...
, and an independent tank brigade. The Army was first under Commander (Second rank) Vsevolod Yakovlev, but he was removed from command of his army and returned to Leningrad. Command of the war operation Kirill Meretskov was called-off due to extensive failures and heavy casualties, and he replaced Yakovlev as the commander of the Seventh Army. Edwards 2006, p. 125 7th Army was reformed in Autumn (second half of) 1940 in the Leningrad Military District. Before the German Operation Barbarossa began it covered the Soviet frontier to the north of
Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga (; rus, Ла́дожское о́зеро, r=Ladozhskoye ozero, p=ˈladəʂskəjə ˈozʲɪrə or rus, Ла́дога, r=Ladoga, p=ˈladəɡə, fi, Laatokka arlier in Finnish ''Nevajärvi'' ; vep, Ladog, Ladoganjärv) is a fresh ...
. Since 24 June 1941 the army included the 54th, 71st, 168th and 237th Rifle Divisions, the 26th Fortified Region, the
55th Composite Aviation Division The 55th Mixed Aviation Division was an Aviation Division of the Soviet Air Forces during World War II. History The division was formed on 25 February 1941 in the Leningrad Military District. It formed part of the 'operational army' from 22 June ...
, and some artillery and engineering formations. It became part of the Northern Front, then the Karelian Front, and conducted defensive operations in
Karelia Karelia ( Karelian and fi, Karjala, ; rus, Каре́лия, links=y, r=Karélija, p=kɐˈrʲelʲɪjə, historically ''Korjela''; sv, Karelen), the land of the Karelian people, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for ...
, however losing Ladoga Karelia to the Finns in July–August 1941. On 25 September 1941 it was renamed the 7th Separate Army, directly subordinate to
Stavka The ''Stavka'' (Russian and Ukrainian: Ставка) is a name of the high command of the armed forces formerly in the Russian Empire, Soviet Union and currently in Ukraine. In Imperial Russia ''Stavka'' referred to the administrative staff, a ...
, (VGK – the Supreme High Command), and it remained in that status until February 1944. In the middle of October 1941 – June 1944 it defended the Svir River line between Lakes Onega and Ladoga. From June to August 1944 the army, comprising now the 37th Guards,
4th Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...
, 94th, and
99th Rifle Corps The 99th Infantry Division was formed in 1942 and deployed overseas in 1944. The "Checkerboard" or "Battle Babies" division landed at the French port of Le Havre and proceeded northeast to Belgium. During the heavy fighting in the Battle of the ...
, 150th and 162nd Fortified Regions, and a number of artillery, tank, engineering and other units, as part of the Karelian Front, participated in the Svir–Petrozavodsk Operation. It was disbanded in the beginning of January 1945. On the basis of its headquarters the 9th Guards Army of the
Airborne Forces Airborne forces, airborne troops, or airborne infantry are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop or air assault. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in ai ...
was created on 18 December 1944.


Commanders

The Army was commanded by the following officers. *Commander (Second rank) Vsevolod Yakovlev (September - December 1939) *Commander (Second rank) Kirill Meretskov (December 1939 - June 1941) *Lieutenant-General
Filipp D. Gorelenko Filipp Danilovich Gorelenko (russian: Филипп Данилович Гореленко, Cherkasy Raion, 25 November 1888 – Leningrad, 25 January 1956) was a Soviet Army lieutenant general and a Hero of the Soviet Union. Biography Gorelenk ...
(June – September 1941 and November 1941 – June 1942); *Army General Kirill Meretskov (September – November 1941) *Lieutenant-General Sergey Trofimenko (July 1942 – January 1943) *Major-General Alexey Krutikov (January 1943 – August 1944), (promoted to lieutenant-general in April 1943); *Lieutenant-General Vladimir Gluzdovsky (August – November 1944)


References


Citations


Bibliography

*Keith E. Bonn (ed.), Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front, Aberjona Press, Bedford, PA, 2005 * *http://samsv.narod.ru/Arm/a07/arm.html {{Armies of the Soviet Army
007 The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
Military units and formations established in 1939 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 Military units and formations of the Soviet Union in the Winter War Continuation War