The 10th Mechanized Corps was a formation in the Soviet

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

during the Second World War.

First formation

Initially formed in March 1941 in response the German victories of 1940 it was attached to the

Leningrad Military District The Leningrad Military District was a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In 2010 it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern Fleet and the Baltic Fleet to form the new Western Military District ...

, & held in reserve near Leningrad Fortified Region in

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

It was under the command of Major General I.G. Lazarev when the German

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named afte ...

began in June 1941. It initially comprised the 21st and 24th Tank Divisions, & the 198th Mechanized Division. The 10th Mechanized Corps was transported to Finish border near

Imatra Imatra is a town and municipality in southeastern Finland. Imatra is dominated by Lake Saimaa, the Vuoksi River and the border with Russia. On the other side of the border, away from the centre of Imatra, lies the Russian town of Svetogorsk. ...

, so it was not involved in the first battles of

, being brought out of reserve on 10 July 1941. From that date it formed part of the

Luga Operational Group Luga may refer to: * Mateo Noriel Luga, Ibanag revolutionary * Luga, Germany, a place in Saxony, Germany *Luga, Russia, several inhabited localities in Russia *Luga Bay, a bay in the Gulf of Finland, Russia *Luga (river), a river in Novgorod and Le ...

under the command of Lieutenant General K. P. Piadyshev, defending the 'Luga Line'. The Luga Line defences were constructed by 55,000 civilians & which and extended from

Narva Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru county, at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia international border. With 5 ...

Shimsk Shimsk ( rus, Шимск, p=ʂɨmsk) is an urban locality (a work settlement) and the administrative center of Shimsky District of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. Municipally, it is incorporated as Shimskoye Urban Settlement, the only urban settlement ...

Lake Ilmen Lake Ilmen ( rus, И́льмень, p=ˈilʲmʲɪnʲ) is a large lake in the Novgorod Oblast of Russia. A historically important lake, it formed a vital part of the medieval trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks. The city of Novgorod - ...

. It first engaged

8th Panzer Division The 8th Panzer Division was a formation of the ''Wehrmacht'' ''Heer''. The division was formed by reorganising the 3rd Light Division in October 1939. It was transferred to the west and fought in the Battle of France, in May 1940, and the Germ ...

on 13 July 1941 along with the 177th Rifle Division isolating it from its neighbouring divisions for several days around

Dno Dno (russian: Дно) is a town and the administrative center of Dnovsky District in Pskov Oblast, Russia, located at the intersection of the Pskov– Bologoye and St. Petersburg–Vitebsk railways, east of Pskov, the administrative cen ...

& costing it 70 of its 150 tanks destroyed or damaged. However the Luga Operational Group was encircled & destroyed on 8 August 1941 near Krasnogvardeisk which resulted in losses of 30,000 men, 120 tanks, and 400 guns. The 10th Mechanized Corps was officially disbanded a short time later although individual units continued to exist separately for a short while. By September 1941 the 198th Mechanized Division had become the 198th Rifle Division and the 24th Tank Division had been dissolved and reformed as the 124th Tank Battalion and 12th Tank Regiment.

Second Formation

A second ''10th Mechanized Corps'' was formed in December 1944, but it was only combat ready in summer 1945.
It was part of the active army from August 9 to September 3, 1945. and took part in the Harbin–Kirin Offensive Operation during the

Soviet invasion of Manchuria The Soviet invasion of Manchuria, formally known as the Manchurian strategic offensive operation (russian: Манчжурская стратегическая наступательная операция, Manchzhurskaya Strategicheskaya Nastu ...

. After the war, the corps was reorganized in January 1946 into the 10th Mechanized Division (military unit 71516), which was part of the 25th Army of the

Primorsky Military District The Primorsky Military District was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces that existed in from 1945 to 1953. Formed from the headquarters of the 1st Far East Front after the end of World War II, the district controlled troops on the territ ...

. Until 1948, it was stationed in Korea along with other units of the 25th Army. Then it was withdrawn to the USSR, transferred to the 5th Army, the staff was stationed in the village of Sibirtsevo, Primorsky Territory. In 1957, it was reorganized into the 84th Motorized Rifle Division, stationed in the town of Suchan, Primorsky Territory. The division was disbanded on July 1, 1958.Tankfront
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Footnotes

*On 22 June 1941 10th Mechanized Corps consisted 26,168 Men, 469 Tanks, 86 Armoured Cars, 75 Artillery Pieces, 157 Mortars, 1000 Vehicles, 34 Tractors & 460 Motorcycles including lighter models

T-26 The T-26 tank was a Soviet light tank used during many conflicts of the Interwar period and in World War II. It was a development of the British Vickers 6-Ton tank and was one of the most successful tank designs of the 1930s until its light ...

, Bt 7, &

T-28 The T-28 was a Soviet multi-turreted medium tank. The prototype was completed in 1931, and production began in late 1932. It was an infantry support tank intended to break through fortified defences. The T-28 was designed to complement the hea ...

's models. *On 11 July 1941 Col P Poluboiarov, Northwestern Front armoured directorate reported that from 10 July, the 21st Tank Division of the 10th Mechanized Corps was put at the disposal of the front. It consisted of one tank regiment, a motorized rifle regiment, an artillery battalion, & other divisional units. It had around 100 old light tanks.

First formation

Second Formation

Footnotes

Sources & References

Further reading