22nd Army (Soviet Union)

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The 22nd Army (Russian : 22-я армия) was a field army of the Red Army during World War II.

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The 22nd Army was formed in June 1941 after the German invasion of the Soviet Union and served through World War II until its disbandment in 1945.

World War II

Originally it was formed in June 1941 within the Red Army and it comprised 51st Rifle Corps (98th, 112th, and 153rd Rifle Divisions) and 62nd Rifle Corps (170th, 174th, and 186th Rifle Divisions), and several separate regiments, including the 336th and 545th Corps Artillery Regiments. [1] Headquarters was at Velikiye Luki by 22 June 1941, and General Lieutenant Filipp Yershakov took command (who would direct the army until August 1941). Lenski notes that it was then made part of the 'Group of armies of the Reserve of the Main Command'.

During the Battle of Smolensk (1941), six rifle divisions of the army fought fiercely against what victory.mil.ru describes as sixteen Wehrmacht divisions, including three tank and three motorized, and under their assault 22nd Army was forced to retreat. [2] On July 16, 1941, the Germans managed to surround the 51st Rifle Corps, and on July 20, to seize Velikiye Luki. 48th Tank Division joined the Army by August 1, 1941. [3]

As part of the Soviet Western Front, since October, 17th the Kalinin Front, the Army conducted defensive operations on the IdritsaDrissaVitebsk frontier, participated in the Battle of Smolensk, the Kalinin defensive operation, and the Battles of Rzhev - Operation Mars in 1942. [4] General Major V. A. Yushkevich again took command in April 1942, after previously commanding the army in August–October 1941. 3rd Mechanised Corps under General Major M. Ye. Katukov joined the Army in September 1942 when it was formed, though it was later reassigned. 83rd Corps Artillery Regiment had joined the Army by 1 November 1942.

The Army's task as part of Operation Mars was as part of what in Soviet parlance was the 'Bely Offensive Operation in conjunction with 39th Army. Spearheaded by the 3rd Mechanised Corps, the army was tasked to: 'advance eastward up the Luchesa River valley, pierce the German defenses, assist in the capture of Bely, and encircle German forces around Olenino in conjunction with 39th Army.' [4] 'Early on 25 November, 22nd Army, with over 50,000 men and 270 tanks of 3rd Mechanised Corps, assaulted eastward up the Luchesa River valley. Attacking along a narrow corridor flanked by forests and frozen swamps, Soviet forces tore a gaping hole through German defences and drove German forces eastward up the valley. General Yushkevich's attack was spearheaded by Colonel I. V. Karpov's 238th Rifle Division and two regiments of Colonel M. F. Andryushenko's 185th Rifle Division, supported by a tank brigade of General Katukov's mechanised corps. The combined force routed a regiment of the German 86th Infantry Division and punctured the German front.'

In 1943, the Army fought as part of the North-Western Front since April 21, then from October 13 as part of the Baltic Front, which became 2nd Baltic Front on October 20, 1943. 22nd Army defended the river Lovat, and participated in operations at Kholm, Velikiye Luki, Leningrad-Novgorod, Staraya RussaNovorzhev, and Rezhitsa–Dvina. It then took part in the Riga Offensive Operation, part of the Baltic Offensive. Since October 1944, together with the other armies of the Front it carried out the blockade of the German Army Group Courland in the Courland Pocket. One of the Army's rifle corps was the Latvian 130th Rifle Corps that included two rifle divisions in which served a large number of Latvians in their ranks who would soon be facing their opposites in the Latvian 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS.

Postwar

Immediately after the war ended, its headquarters, along with the 109th Rifle Division, arrived in the South Ukraine in May 1945. In the Northern summer of 1945, together with the headquarters of the Separate Coastal Army, located in the Crimea, it was reorganised as the new but short-lived Tavria Military District.

It arrived in the Odessa/Tavria area with the 83rd Rifle Corps (47th, 119th, and 168th Rifle Divisions); the 100th Rifle Corps (28th, 37th, and 219th Rifle Divisions); and the 110th Rifle Corps (256th, 268th, and 394th Rifle Divisions; the latter was soon redesignated as the 48th Rifle Division). Seemingly all these forces, except the 48th Rifle Division, were disestablished rather quickly in 1945-46. [5]

Commanders

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The original 186th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Red Army, formed just before the start of the Second World War, in the Ural Military District, based on the pre-September 13, 1939 shtat. At the outbreak of war with Germany in June 1941 it was already moving west, and was soon assigned to the 22nd Army, which became part of Western Front on July 1. After the disastrous frontier battles this Front was attempting to defend along the lines of the Dvina and Dniepr Rivers, with the 22nd on the far right (north) flank. The division was initially quite successful in holding prepared positions near Polotsk, but was outflanked by German crossings elsewhere along the Dvina and forced to retreat. It became encircled west of Nevel, but was able to escape when Velikiye Luki was retaken on July 21. It held positions east of this city into late August when it was struck by a surprise panzer assault and largely overrun, which soon led to Velikiye Luki changing hands again. As the damaged division retreated in late September a former militia division in the far north was assigned the same number, and this anomaly persisted into late June 1943, when the later division was redesignated. The 186th, now in Kalinin Front, took part in the winter counteroffensive which drove a huge salient into the German lines around Toropets, and created the Rzhev salient. By February 1942 the offensive had bogged down, and the following months saw attacks and counterattacks on the west side of the salient, during which the division was fortunate to escape encirclement. Prior to Operation Mars it was transferred to 39th Army, but it played only a minor role in that offensive, and was moved in March 1943 to the reserve near Moscow for rebuilding. When it returned to the fighting front in late April it joined 25th Rifle Corps under direct command of Bryansk Front. After Operation Kutuzov began this Corps came under command of 3rd Army to serve as an exploitation force. By the first week of August the 186th had fought forward to take part in the liberation of Oryol, after which it advanced through eastern Ukraine and into Belarus. During the fall and winter of 1943/44 the division fought in a series of offensives in eastern Belarus under command of Belorussian Front, gradually closing in on the Dniepr. It was along this line at the start of the 1944 summer offensive and soon began advancing against the routed forces of Army Group Center, taking part in the capture of Babruysk and winning the Order of the Red Banner before continuing to drive westward. During this drive the division took part in the liberation of Brest, and was awarded its name as a battle honor. It was now in the 46th Rifle Corps of 65th Army, and it would remain under these commands into the postwar, moving to 2nd Belorussian Front in November. In September it forced crossings over the Narew River before the offensive was finally shut down. During the first phase of the Vistula-Oder offensive the 186th attacked out of the Serock bridgehead in the direction of Mława and Płońsk and two of its regiments were recognized for their roles in the fighting for these towns. Further awards followed for the division's role in the battle for Danzig in March. Beginning on April 18 it fought its way across both branches of the lower Oder River before advancing to the northwest. It took part in the fighting around Stettin, and in its final actions cleared the island of Rügen. After the war it was pulled back into Poland, where it was disbanded in June 1946.

The 185th Rifle Division was formed as an infantry division of the Red Army just as the Second World War had begun in the Oryol Military District, based on the pre-September 13, 1939 shtat. As a standard rifle division, it took part in the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in June 1940. In early 1941, it was selected for conversion to a motorized infantry division, but in fact, it had received little in the way of vehicles by the start of the German invasion and so was a rifle division in all but name. It was sent to join Northwestern Front in the Baltic states with its 21st Mechanized Corps, and was soon assigned to 27th Army. Under these commands the division retreated through July and August as the German 16th Army advanced behind in the general direction of Novgorod. On August 25 it was officially reorganized as a regular rifle division.

References

  1. Orbat.com/Niehorster, Order of Battle 22 June 1941, accessed May 2008
  2. Victory.mil.ru entry Archived 2012-08-05 at archive.today , accessed April 2008
  3. "Боевой состав Soviet Army on 1 August 1941". Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  4. 1 2 David Glantz, Counterpoint to Stalingrad: Operation Mars (November-December 1942) Archived 2007-08-01 at archive.today , Foreign Military Studies Office
  5. V.I. Feskov et al 2013, 489.