The 47th Army () was a

field army A field army (also known as numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps. It may be subordinate to an army group. Air army, Air armies are the equivalent formations in air forces, and ...

of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, active from 1941 to 1946.

History

The 47th Army was formed in late July 1941 in the

Transcaucasian Military District The Transcaucasian Military District, a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces, traces its history to May 1921 and the incorporation of First Republic of Armenia, Armenia, Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, Azerbaijan, and Democratic Republic ...

as part of the Soviet Union's border defenses with Iran. On 1 August 1941 the army's composition was reported as including the 236th Rifle Division, 63rd and 76th Mountain Rifle Divisions, the 116th Howitzer Artillery Regiment (an RVGK asset), the 456th Corps Artillery Regiment, the 6th and 54th Tank Divisions, and engineering forces which included the 61st motorized engineer battalion, 75th independent engineer battalion, and the 6th and 54th pontoon bridge battalions. Soviet units began their part of the

Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran The Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran, also known as the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Persia, was the joint invasion of the neutral Imperial State of Iran by the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union in August 1941. The two powers announced that they w ...

on 25 August 1941. The 47th Army broke through the border and moved from the

Azerbaijan SSR The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, also referred to as the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic, Azerbaijan SSR, Azerbaijani SSR, AzSSR, Soviet Azerbaijan or simply Azerbaijan, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union be ...

into

Iranian Azerbaijan Azerbaijan or Azarbaijan (, , ), also known as Iranian Azerbaijan, is a historical region in northwestern Iran that borders Iraq and Turkey to the west and Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Azerbaijani exclave of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republ ...

. They moved towards

Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...

and

Lake Urmia Lake Urmia is an endorheic salt lake in Iran. The lake is located between the provinces of East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan in Iran, and west of the southern portion of the Caspian Sea. At its greatest extent, it was the largest lake in th ...

. They captured the Iranian city of Jolfa. An Iranian

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

aircraft discovered the forces south of Jolfa moving towards Marand. It was possible for the Iranian 3rd Division under General Matboodi to move

motorized infantry Motorized infantry is infantry that is transported by trucks or other motor vehicles. It is distinguished from mechanized infantry, which is carried in armoured personnel carriers or infantry fighting vehicles, and from light infantry, which c ...

towards Shibli in order to halt the breakthrough, but due to being taken by surprise, he failed to make the proper counterattack. He also failed to destroy the bridges and highways with explosives, allowing the Soviets to rapidly move through the region. Five Iranian bombers were intercepted trying to attack the Soviet positions around Jolfa. On 1 October 1941 the army was reported to include the 20th and 63rd Mountain Rifle Divisions, the 402nd Rifle Division, the 324th Mountain Rifle Regiment of the 77th Mountain Rifle Division, the 1st Mountain Cavalry Division (though listed as 1 кд not гкд in BSSA), and the 17th, 23rd and 24th Cavalry Divisions (кд). By January 1942, the army was assigned to the Crimean Front, and fought in the

Kerch Peninsula The Kerch Peninsula is a major and prominent geographic peninsula located at the eastern end of the Crimean Peninsula. This peninsula stretches eastward toward the Taman Peninsula between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. Most of the peninsula i ...

in Crimea, the Taman Peninsula and Caucasus region of southern Russia, in the Belgorod-Kharkov Offensive, and to the east of the

Dnieper River The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

in Ukraine until early 1944. On 1 June 1942, the army's infantry comprised 32nd and 33rd Guards Rifle Division, 77th Mountain Rifle Division, and 103rd Rifle Brigade. Artillery assigned included 547th Cannon Artillery Regiment, 18th Guards Mortar Regiment, and additionally 40th Tank Brigade was part of the army. In March 1944, the 47th Army was subordinated to the

2nd Belorussian Front The 2nd Belorussian Front (, ''Vtoroi Belorusskiy front'', also romanized "Byelorussian SSR, Byelorussian"), was a Front (military formation), major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army group. I ...

, and then moved to the

1st Belorussian Front The 1st Belorussian Front (, ''Pervyy Belorusskiy front'', also romanized " Byelorussian"), known without a numeral as the Belorussian Front between October 1943 and February 1944, was a major formation of the Red Army during World War II, bein ...

in mid-April 1944 and fought as part of this force until the end of

in Europe. As part of the 1st BRF, the 47th Army fought in the Vistula-Oder Offensive, East Pomeranian Offensive, and the Berlin Offensive. Key actions that the 47th Army took part in were the liberation of

Kovel Kovel (, ; ; ) is a city in Volyn Oblast, northwestern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Kovel Raion within the oblast. Population: Kovel gives its name to one of the oldest runic inscriptions which were lost during World War I ...

on July 6, 1944, forcing the Germans out of the

Praga Praga is a district of Warsaw, Poland. It is on the east bank of the river Vistula. First mentioned in 1432, until 1791 it formed a separate town with its own city charter. History The historical Praga was a small settlement located at the e ...

suburb of Warsaw on September 14, 1944, and achieving a junction with troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front on April 25, 1945, that completed the encirclement of Berlin. The 47th Army in January 1945 had nine rifle divisions (77th Rifle Corps with 185th, 234th, 328th Rifle Divisions), 125th Rifle Corps ( 60th, 76th, 175th Rifle Divisions), 129th Rifle Corps (132nd, 143rd, 260th Rifle Divisions), Combat composition of the Soviet Army, 1 January 1945 30th Guards Gun-artillery Brigade, 31st Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division with four anti-aircraft artillery regiments (1376th, 1380th, 1386th, and 1392nd) plus a separate anti-aircraft artillery regiment (1488th), 163rd Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment, 460th Mortar Regiment, 75th rocket launcher regiment, 70th Guards Independent Tank Regiment, four regiments of self-propelled guns, an armoured train unit, a

DUKW The DUKW (GMC type nomenclature, colloquially known as Duck) is a six-wheel-drive amphibious modification of the GMC CCKW "deuce-and-a-half" 2½-ton trucks used by the U.S. military during World War II and the Korean War. Designed by a part ...

truck battalion, an engineer-sapper brigade, and two flamethrower units. The 47th Army was inactivated on February 5, 1946, in Halle, Germany, after taking part in the occupation of eastern Germany.

Commanders

The following officers commanded the army during World War II. * Major General Vasily Novikov (July – October 1941) * Major General Konstantin Baranov (October 1941 – February 1942) * Lieutenant General Stepan Chernyak (February 1942) * Major General Konstantin Kolganov (February – May 1942) * Major General Grigory Kotov (May – September 1942) * Major General

Andrei Grechko Andrei Antonovich Grechko (; ; – 26 April 1976) was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. He served as the Soviet minister of defence from 1967 to 1976. Born to a Ukrainian peasant family near Rosto ...

(September – October 1942) * Lieutenant General Fyodor Kamkov (October 1942 – January 1943) * Lieutenant General Konstantin Leselidze (January – March 1943) * Major General Alexander Ryzhov (March – July 1943) * Major General

Pyotr Kozlov Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov (; 3 October 1863 in Dukhovshchina – 26 September 1935 in Peterhof) was a Russian and Soviet traveller and explorer who continued the studies of Nikolai Przhevalsky in Mongolia and Tibet. Biography Although prepar ...

(July – August 1943) * Lieutenant General Pavel Korzun (August – September 1943) * Lieutenant General Filipp Zhmachenko (September – October 1943) * Lieutenant General Vitaly Polenov (October 1943 – May 1944) * Lieutenant General Nikolai Gusev (May – November 1944) * Major General (promoted to Lieutenant General January 1945) Frants Perkhorovich (November 1944 – February 1946)

References

Sources

* Bonn, Keith (ed.) ''Slaughterhouse: The Handbook of the Eastern Front'', Bedford: Aberjona Press, 2005

External links

47th Army order of battle November 1943
{{Armies of the Soviet Army 047 Military units and formations established in 1941