The Don Front was a

front Front may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Front'' (1943 film), a 1943 Soviet drama film * ''The Front'', 1976 film Music * The Front (band), an American rock band signed to Columbia Records and active in the 1980s and e ...

of the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

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 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 opposin ...

, which existed between September 1942 and February 1943, and was commanded during its entire existence by

Konstantin Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich (Xaverevich) Rokossovsky (Russian: Константин Константинович Рокоссовский; pl, Konstanty Rokossowski; 21 December 1896 – 3 August 1968) was a Soviet and Polish officer who becam ...

. The name refers to

Don River, Russia The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from Central Russia to the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia, it is one of Russia's largest rivers and played an important role for traders from the Byzantine Empire. Its ...

Formation

The front was created by order of the ''STAVKA'' of the Supreme High Command on Sept. 28, 1942 in order to form a more cohesive command structure to the much-reinforced Soviet forces fighting in and around

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 that date the ''STAVKA'' ordered: The initial composition of the Don Front was as follows: * 1st Guards Army -

Kirill Moskalenko Kirill Semyonovich Moskalenko (russian: Кирилл Семёнович Москаленко, uk, Кирило Семенович Москаленко; May 11, 1902 – June 17, 1985) was a Marshal of the Soviet Union. A member of the Soviet Arm ...

, * 21st Army -

Nikolay Krylov Nikolay Krylov may refer to: *Nikolay Krylov (marshal) (1903–1972), Soviet marshal *Nikolay Krylov (mathematician, born 1879) (1879–1955), Russian mathematician *Nikolay Krylov (mathematician, born 1941) (born 1941), Russian mathematician *Niko ...

, * 24th Army - Dmitry Timofeyevich Kozlov, * 63rd Army - Vasily Kuznetsov, * 66th Army -

Rodion Malinovsky Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky (russian: Родио́н Я́ковлевич Малино́вский, ukr, Родіо́н Я́кович Малино́вський ; – 31 March 1967) was a Soviet military commander. He was Marshal of the Sovi ...

, * 4th Tank Army -

Vasily Kryuchenkin Vasily Dmitrievich Kryuchenkin (, ; January 13, 1894 – June 10, 1976, Kyiv) was a Soviet Lieutenant general during World War II who commanded several armies. Before World War II He was born in the village of Karpovka in the Orenburg Oblas ...

, *

16th Air Army The 16th Red Banner Air Army (russian: 16-я воздушная Краснознамённая армия) was the most important formation of the Special Purpose Command. Initially formed during the Second World War as a part of the Soviet Air F ...

- Sergei Rudenko. The command cadre of the new front came almost entirely from Rokossovsky's

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 ...

, leaders that he trusted and would follow him until he was ordered to take command of

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 ...

in late 1944.Dr. Boris Sokolov, ''Marshal K.K. Rokossovsky''. Helloin & Company, Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2015, pp 188-89 On the basis of the STAVKA directive of February 5, 1943, the Don Front was transformed into 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 ...

on February 15, 1943.

References

{{Fronts of the Red Army in World War II Eastern Front (World War II) Soviet fronts