Further reading
- Bergström, Christer (2007). Barbarossa: The Air Battle: July-December 1941 (1 ed.). Hersham: Midland Publishing. ISBN 1-85780-270-5.
| 10th Mechanized Corps | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1941 1945-1946 |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Branch | Armoured Forces |
| Type | Mechanized Corps |
| Engagements | Siege of Leningrad |
The 10th Mechanized Corps was a formation in the Soviet Red Army during the Second World War.
The corps was initially formed in March 1941 in response the German victories of 1940. It was attached to the Leningrad Military District, and was held in reserve near the Leningrad Fortified Region in Soviet Union. [1] It was under the command of Major General I.G. Lazarev when the German Operation Barbarossa began in June 1941. [2] It initially comprised the 21st and 24th Tank Divisions, and the 198th Mechanized Division. [3] [Note 1]
The 10th Mechanized Corps was transported to the Finnish border near Imatra, so it was not involved in the first battles of Operation Barbarossa, being brought out of reserve on 10 July 1941. [4] [5] [Note 2] From that date, it formed part of the Luga Operational Group under the command of Lieutenant General K. P. Piadyshev , defending the 'Luga Line'. The Luga Line defenses were constructed by 55,000 civilians, which were extended from Narva to Shimsk on Lake Ilmen. It first engaged the 8th Panzer Division on 13 July 1941 along with the 177th Rifle Division, isolating it from its neighbouring divisions for several days around Dno, resulting in 70 of its 150 tanks being either destroyed or damaged. [6]
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. [7]
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. [8]
The second 10th Mechanized Corps was formed in December 1944. It did not fight in World War II. However, it participated in the Harbin–Kirin offensive operation during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. [9]
After the war, in January 1946, the corps was reorganized into the 10th Mechanized Division; [10] it was part of the 25th Army of the Primorsky Military District. [11] The division was stationed in Korea along with other units from the 25th Army until 1948. [10] After being stationed in Korea, it was withdrawn back to the USSR and transferred to the 5th Army. The staff were stationed in the village of Sibirtsevo, Primorsky Krai. [11]
In 1957, it was reorganized into the 84th Motorized Rifle Division, stationed in the town of Suchan, Primorsky Krai. The division was disbanded on 1 July 1958. [12]
Its creation in December 1944 on a special, reduced staff (204th tank, 42nd, 72nd mechanized brigades), without a number of support and rear units (repair battalion, auto company and chemical protection company), was dictated not only by the relative lack of tank formations in the Far East, but also by the theater of the upcoming military operations.
A mechanised corps was a Soviet armoured formation used prior to the beginning of World War II and reintroduced during the war, in 1942.
The Battle of Raseiniai was a large tank battle that took place in the early stages of Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The battle was fought between the elements of the German 4th Panzer Group and the Soviet 3rd Mechanized Corps with the 12th Mechanised Corps, in Lithuania, 75 km (47 mi) north-west of Kaunas. The Red Army tried to contain and destroy the German troops that had crossed the Neman River but was unable to prevent them from advancing.
The 7th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army, formed twice.
The 23rd Army was a Field Army of the Soviet Union's Red Army.
The 1st Mechanized Corps was a mechanized corps of the Red Army during World War II that formed twice.
The 69th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army and later the Soviet Army, formed twice.
The 24th Tank Division was a tank division of the Soviet Union, formed twice. The division's first formation was formed in the spring of 1941 and fought in the Leningrad Strategic Defensive before being broken up into two smaller brigades. The division's second formation was originally formed in 1956 as the 24th Heavy Tank Division and became a regular tank division in 1957. It became a training division in 1960 and was redesignated the 54th District Training Center in 1987 before being disbanded in 1995.
The 25th Mechanized Corps was a Mechanized corps of the Red Army. Formed in March 1941, the corps fought in the Battle of Smolensk. Its headquarters and that of the 20th Rifle Corps were combined in August 1941 to form the Bryansk Front headquarters.
The 26th Mechanized Corps was a Mechanized corps of the Red Army. The mechanized corps of the Red Army were reorganized after Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The corps was reorganized and disbanded before it saw action.
The 7th Mechanized Corps was a mechanized corps of the Red Army, formed three times. The corps was first formed in 1934 in the Leningrad Military District and was converted into the 10th Tank Corps in 1938. The corps was reformed in the summer of 1940 in the Moscow Military District and fought in the Battle of Smolensk, after which its headquarters became part of Group Yartsevo's headquarters. The corps was formed a third time in August and September 1943. The third formation fought in the Dnieper–Carpathian Offensive, Uman–Botoșani Offensive, Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive, Battle of Debrecen, Budapest Offensive, Bratislava–Brno Offensive, Prague Offensive, and the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. Postwar, the corps' third formation became a division and was disbanded in 1957.
The 11th Mechanized Corps was a mechanized corps of the Red Army, formed twice. The corps was first formed as one of the original two Red Army mechanized corps from the 11th Rifle Division in Leningrad. In 1934 it was transferred to the Transbaikal Military District and in 1938 became the 20th Tank Corps. The corps was reformed in March 1941 in western Belarus. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the understrength corps was destroyed in the Battle of Białystok–Minsk.
The 81st Guards Rifle Division is an infantry division of the Russian Ground Forces, previously serving in the Red Army and the Soviet Army. It was formed after the Battle of Stalingrad from the 422nd Rifle Division in recognition of that division's actions during the battle, specifically the encirclement and the siege of the German forces in the city. The 81st Guards continued a record of distinguished service through the rest of the Great Patriotic War, and continued to serve postwar, as a rifle division and later a motor rifle division, until being reorganized as the 57th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade in 2009 in the Russian Ground Forces. Most of its postwar service was in the Soviet (Russian) far east, where it was originally formed as the 422nd.
The 17th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Red Army and later the Soviet Army, formed three times.
The 215th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army during World War II that continued to serve in the Soviet Army during the early years of the Cold War. It was the successor to a motorized division of that same number that was destroyed during the Battle of Kiev in September 1941.
The 22nd Tank Division was a Division sized unit of the Red Army that existed from March 1941–July 1941.
The 30th Tank Division was a Division sized unit of the Red Army that existed from March 1941–July 1941.
The 210th Rifle Division was formed as an infantry division of the Red Army after a motorized division of that same number was badly damaged and then redesignated as a cavalry division in the first weeks of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. It served through nearly the remainder of the war on a quiet sector in Transbaikal Front, entirely as part of 36th Army. During July 1945, in the leadup to the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, it was transferred to the 86th Rifle Corps, still in 36th Army. This Army was in the second echelon of the invading forces and saw very little, if any, actual combat, but the division was nevertheless given a battle honor. It was transferred to 17th Army and was disbanded with it by mid-1946.
The 28th Tank Division was an armored division of the Red Army, created during the prewar buildup of forces in the Baltic Special Military District, based on a light tank brigade and a motorized rifle brigade, and fought against German Army Group North during the first months of Operation Barbarossa. It was initially under command of the 12th Mechanized Corps of 8th Army. It was noteworthy for being the first wartime command of Ivan Chernyakhovskii, who went on to lead the 3rd Belorussian Front. The division's tank regiments were largely destroyed in the first battles, but not without inflicting losses themselves, after which the remnants fell back through Latvia and Estonia, receiving enough reinforcements and replacements to remain combat-effective. It served well at Novgorod and in the early fighting around Demyansk, as part of 27th Army, but in November the Stavka ordered it to be converted to the 241st Rifle Division.
The 198th Rifle Division was formed as an infantry division of the Red Army after a motorized division of that same number was reorganized in the first months of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. It was based on the shtat of July 29, 1941, with several modifications. It entered combat as a rifle division during the Tikhvin Offensive in December 1941 as a reinforcement for 54th Army, helping to drive elements of Army Group North back to the Volkhov River from their earlier gains. It would remain along that river line into early 1944.
